The European Students' Union is the umbrella organisation of 46 national unions of students from 40 countries, representing almost 20 million students. The aim of ESU is to represent and promote the educational, social, economic and cultural interests of students at a European level towards all relevant bodies and in particular those of the European Union, Council of Europe and UNESCO. ESU is representing the voice of the students in Europe by being a consultative member to the Bologna Process. ESU is also a full member of the European Youth Forum, the ESU nominee for 2006 was elected as YFJ president.
History
On 17 October 1982, seven National Unions of Students from the United Kingdom, Sweden, Iceland, France, Denmark, Norway and Austria established the Western European Students Information Bureau at a gathering in Stockholm. In February 1990, WESIB dropped the "W" to become the European Student Information Bureau following the political upheaval in Europe at the time. In 1992 the name was yes changed yet again, into the National Unions of Students in Europe. This reflected the recognition of the changing mission of ESIB from being a pure information sharing organisation into political organisation that represented the views of students to European institutions. In May 2007, the name current name, European Students' Union, was introduced. Over the years the office of ESU has moved around Europe and was first hosted by the member NUSes. Following the establishment of WESIB in Stockholm the office was based in the SFS Office in Sweden from 1982 until 1985, funded by a grant by the Swedish Government. By 1985 the grant was running low and so NUS UK offered to host WESIB in their London headquarters. In 1988 the office moved to the ÖH offices in Vienna and remained there until 2000, when it was decided that for reasons of being near the European institutions the office should move to Brussels and was hosted by VVS.
Structures
The highest structure of ESU is the Board Meeting, bringing together representatives from all the National Unions of Students it represents. The Board Meeting sets the policy direction of the organisation, and elects members to the Executive Committee to run the organisation.
Executive Committee
The Executive Committee is elected for a one-year term at the annual Board Meeting by representatives of the member organisations, with each country given two votes. The President and Vice-Presidents together make up the Presidency of ESU, and are responsible for the day-to-day operations of the organisation along with the seven General Members of the EC.
Member organisations
Candidate members
Candidate members are NUSes that have submitted an application of membership to ESU, but have not yet been granted member status by the Board Meeting. Candidate members retain their status for one year and are subject to a "study visit" by ESU to ensure they meet membership criteria. As of March 2020, there are no candidate members.
Associate organisations
Associate members of ESU are pan-European and international student organisations that have similar goals to ESU. The criteria for associate membership require the organisation to be democratic and student-run, have either students or NUSes as members, and represent students from at least 8 countries that are parties to the European Cultural Convention. Associate organizations can attend and speak at all ESU meetings, but cannot vote at Board Meetings.
