The Autumn Council of Members (COMEM) of the European Youth Forum (YFJ) started in Madrid, Spain, on 27th November 2015. Almost 200 delegates from two pillars - the International Non-Governmental Youth Organisations (INGYOs) and the National Youth Councils (NYCs) gathered together to discuss a range of topics connected with youth in Europe.

As usual, the COMEM started with the presentation of the implementation of the Work Plan by the Board and Secretariat of YFJ. The participants had a space to check the publications made by YFJ, as well as to directly address their questions to the representatives of YFJ.

The same day, the participants were invited to attend one of the Thematic Squares organised by the member organisations. YEE, along with 2 other organisations (Service Civil International (SCI), Conseil de la Jeunesse (CJ)) organised the thematic square dedicated to the Conference of Parties 21 (COP21) called "Getting ready to COP21" where delegates had a chance to discuss their organisations' activities during COP21, which took place in Paris in December 2015, as well as to discuss further actions of the Climate Change Network which was created in May 2015 by the YFJ.

Later on the same day, the participants had a choice to attend 7 policy commissions which were: A Roadmap for the next Structured Dialogue cycle: Enabling all young people to engage in a diverse, connected and inclusive Europe; Climate Matters: The vision of European Youth for COP21; Better access to EU funding for youth organisations; Students at Risk; Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership; Protection and Integration of Young Refugees in Europe; Towards a Youth Policy paper on Anti-Discrimination.

CJE (Consejo de la Juventud de España), the hosting organisation, organised a public plenary in the EC Representation in Madrid with the former president of EP, representatives from the universities, as well as representatives of CJE.

The second day started with discussion of membership issues. Currently YFJ has 100 member organisations. This was followed with discussion about the resolution amendments. All the resolutions were discussed and adopted, except the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, which some of the Member Organisations considered not relevant to their work.

In my point of view, this meeting was a showcase that the members are united when it comes to environmental issues.

Zaruhi Stepanyan
Project Officer