About

Meet the new EYL40 Class of 2024!

This year’s EYL40 Class of 2024 includes an Olympic swimmer, a glaciologist, politicians from all levels of government and members of national parliaments, a winemaker, green tech entrepreneurs and social activists, prize-winning journalists, Unicorn and start-up founders and CEOs, a pioneering playwright of Roma feminist theatre and many more!

 

 


Bold leadership, ground-breaking ideas, unparalleled passion …

We’ve learned time and again that the challenges of the 21st century and of our ever complex world cannot be addressed using the rulebooks of the past. The world is screaming for a new type of leadership and a Renewed Social Contract in which the private sector, local and multilateral institutions, and citizens can collaborate and drive change.

Today’s leaders may look back in time for inspiration, but they must lead with innovation.

The European Young Leaders represent an alternative infrastructure of leadership – a new generation of leaders able to inspire action and generate change. Together, their passion, diversity of backgrounds and opinions, and innovative thinking create the right formula for generating fresh ideas to build a more forward-thinking Europe.

Our European leaders are scientists, artists, journalists, entrepreneurs and astronomers. They are citizens and their thinking is not bound by local and multilateral institutions, traditional political frameworks or bureaucracy. They provide alternative perspectives to EU decision-makers and challenge the status quo.

They help take Europe out of Brussels. In their own countries, cities and communities, the European Young Leaders also play an essential role in reconnecting people with and rebuilding trust in politics by engaging a wider community around key EU policy issues that need a whole-of-economy, whole-of-society approach to progress more quickly. They are facilitating citizens’ participation in the creation of a more equal, innovative and inclusive Europe and helping build a European identity.

The programme in the next years will take a new localism lens, bringing together these thinkers and leaders to act on some of the key issues affecting Europe’s future: supporting the green and digital transformation, strengthening our democracy, improving relations with our neighbours, increasing power sharing and building a more diverse Europe.

Succeeding in these policies and getting more citizens engaged in European elections will be our litmus test.


Tune in to the EYL40s on Friends of Europe’s podcasts

Policy Voices | Are we alone in the universe?

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Policy Voices | Are we alone in the universe?

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Policy Voices | Like Goebbels: Polish propaganda and the demise of democracy

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Policy Voices | Like Goebbels: Polish propaganda and the demise of democracy

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Policy Voices | The Netherlands chose the far-right. What happens next?

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Policy Voices | The Netherlands chose the far-right. What happens next?

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Policy Voices Podcast | Keeping the human in the loop: How to make a success story of AI in health

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Policy Voices Podcast | Keeping the human in the loop: How to make a success story of AI in health

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Continue to Meet the EYL

Meet the EYL40

Nasima Razmyar
Nasima Razmyar

Member of the Finnish Parliament and 2018 European Young Leader (EYL40)

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Nasima is an Afghan-Finnish politician.  She is currently a member of the Finnish Parliament, where she is a member of the Education and Culture Committee and the Environment Committee. Until recently she served as deputy mayor of Helsinki and a former member of the Finnish Parliament, representing the Social Democratic Party. She also works with Finnish NGOs that work to promote gender and ethnic equality in Finland. Nasima’s family first moved to Finland from Afghanistan in 1992, and her refugee experience has shaped her political career, in which she prioritises social welfare such as education, the environment, and housing. Nasima is the first Member of Finnish Parliament to have a refugee background, and in 2010 was named refugee woman of the year by the Finnish Refugee Council for her work to promote equality and the preservation of the Finnish welfare system.

Emma Reynolds
Emma Reynolds

Managing Director of Public Affairs, Policy & Research at TheCityUK and 2013 European Young Leader (EYL40)

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Emma is a public affairs expert and former politician, who currently serves as the Managing Director at TheCityUK, an advocacy group for the financial and professional services industry in the United Kingdom. She is a former member of the British Parliament, during which time she was a member of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, shadow Europe minister and shadow housing minister, as well as shadow secretary for communities and local government. Prior to becoming an MP, Emma helped set up a business which supported British companies in understanding and influencing EU laws. She was also a political advisor to Geoff Hoon during his time as Minister for Europe Minister and Labour Chief Whip, and worked for the Party of European Socialists in Brussels as an advisor to Robin Cook.

Photo of Olga Richterová
Olga Richterová

Deputy Speaker of the Czech Chamber of Deputies and 2023 European Young Leaders (EYL40)

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A Czech politician, who serves in the Czech Chamber of Deputies, Olga Richterová is the Deputy Speaker of the parliament’s lower house and former vice-chair of the Česká pirátská strana (Czech Pirate Party). Throughout her political career, she has been a vocal advocate for freedom of information and progressive social, health, housing and urban planning policies. Richterová sits on parliamentary committees concerning social health borders, consumer protection, freedom of speech and the media, foreign relations and military intelligence. Previously, she previously represented Prague’s tenth district as a member of the municipal council and founded a civic watchdog association, Zaostřeno na Desítku (Focused on District Nr. 10), to provide the district’s residents with objective information and increase citizen engagement. In addition to her political pursuits, she has published a collection of poems, “Napříč kůrou” (“Through the crust”).

Photo of Liesje Schreinemacher
Liesje Schreinemacher

Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation and 2023 European Young Leader (EYL40)

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Liesje Schreinemacher is the Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation in the Netherlands. She supports development cooperation to assist regions that face poverty, climate change, terrorism and migration challenges. Notably, Schreinemacher has fostered a new partnership with UNICEF to ease the food and nutrition crisis in Sub-Saharan Africa. She currently represents the Netherlands at several regional development banks and international financial institutions, including the Asian Development Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the Joint World Bank-IMF Development Committee. While serving as a member of the European Parliament, she was the vice-president of the LGBTI Intergroup and supported the proposal for common charging ports as a shadow rapporteur. A lawyer who specialises in construction and contract law, she has also served as an advisor at the Dutch Ministry of Defence and worked as an assistant to two members of the Dutch parliament.

Monica Semedo
Monica Semedo

Member of the European Parliament Committee on Employment and Social Affairs, rapporteur on cultural recovery in the EU and 2020-2021 European Young Leader (EYL40)

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Monica is a Luxembourgish TV presenter and politician, and was elected as a Member of the European Parliament in 2019. Having worked as a journalist and TV presenter for over two decades, Monica is well-known amongst Luxembourg’s public. Having won a seat in the European Parliament for Luxembourg’s Democratic Party and serving as a full member of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs, Monica has expressed her intent to prioritise equal opportunities for children and young people in particular as well as an equal platform for entrepreneurs. Monica has been actively engaged in charity work, including for cancer research and as a former ambassador for SOS Children’s Villages and Fairtrade.

Michal Šimečka
Michal Šimečka

Vice-President of National Council of Slovakia, Chair of Progressive Slovakia and 2022 European Young Leader (EYL40)

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Michal Šimečka is the Vice-President of the National Council of Slovakia and Chair of Progressive Slovakia, a pro-European national political party. Prior to this, he was the first Slovak politician to serve as a vice-president of the European Parliament. The highest-ranked Slovak in the Parliament’s history, Šimečka was responsible for democracy and human rights. He is a former vice-president of Renew Europe and was the rapporteur for a key proposal to introduce a new mechanism for the protection of democracy, the rule of law and European values in member states. A champion of a free, secure and democratic Europe, Šimečka is a Founding Member and Chair of Progressive Slovakia, a pro-European party in Slovakia. Previously, he worked as a senior researcher at the Institute of International Relations Prague, studying European integration and security, and served as an advisor to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic. Šimečka began his professional career as a journalist for SME, a Slovak newspaper, and then the Financial Times.

Photo of Hanke Bruins Slot
Hanke Bruins Slot

Dutch Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations and 2015-2016 European Young Leader (EYL40)

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Hanke is currently serving as the Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations in the Dutch government. She is a former military officer, former vice-governor at the Province of Utrecht. As a member of the Dutch parliament, Hanke served as the Christian Democratic Appeal party’s spokesperson on health and defence issues, while also focusing on local government, medical law, psychiatry and sports. Prior to her career in politics, Hanke attended the Dutch Royal Military Academy (KMA), where she undertook officer training and specialised as an artillery commander. She went on to serve in Afghanistan as a tank platoon commander, where she was promoted to acting field officer, assisting the Director of Operations of the Land Forces Command Staff. She has also worked in the Dutch Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations as a senior policy officer and is avid hockey player, who won the Rabobank Premier Division national indoor hockey championship in 2005.

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Jens Spahn

Member of the Bundestag, Deputy Chairman on the CDU/CSU Parliamentary Group and 2012 European Young Leader (EYL40)

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Jens is the Deputy Chairman of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group. He was formally the Federal Minister of Health in the Cabinet of Angela Merkel. He has been a member of the Bundestag since 2002, with responsibility for health policies, and a Member of the CDU/CSU Youth Group. He has gathered his experience in government during his time as the Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister of Finance, a post he has held since July 2015. He holds a degree in Banking and Political Science from the University of Hagen, and previously worked as a banker in his hometown of Munster. Jens is a founding member of the ‘Young Member of Parliament’ cross-party group that promotes integration and equality in politics and society.

Tamara Srzentić
Tamara Srzentić

Former Montenegrin minister for public administration, digital society and media, and 2022 European Young Leader (EYL40)

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Tamara served as the minister for public administration, digital society and media in Montenegro, in which role she advocated for public administration reform, digital transformation and the development of e-government services. Prior to this, Tamara was integral to the launch of the Government of California’s Digital Innovation Office, established to improve the state’s digital services. In this capacity, she led the COVID-19 digital response, the Policy Design Lab and the Inclusive by Design initiative. She is also the Co-Founder and former deputy director of the Office of Innovation at the California Health and Human Services Agency, where she was responsible for driving innovation to provide critical healthcare and social services. She has been involved with a number of organisations and programmes, including Alchemist, CivicMakers, Code for America, New America and most recently, Regional School of Public Administration (ReSPA), where she provides support for public administration reform in the Western Balkans.

Michał Szczerba
Michał Szczerba

Member of Parliament, Sejm, Poland and 2014 European Young Leader (EYL40)

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Michal is currently a Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the Polish Parliament and sits on the Justice and Human Rights Committee. Before he started working for the Sejm, the lower house of the Polish parliament, in 2007, he was the Representative of the Parliament to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly and sat on the State Treasury Committee. Previously, Michal worked as an expert on EU funding for restructuring and modernising agriculture and was on the Wola District Council of Warsaw. In 2011, Michal received the Order of Honour from the President of the Republic of Georgia, and has been part of numerous leadership training programmes. He holds an MSc in Sociology from the University of Warsaw.

Irene Tinagli
Irene Tinagli

Member of the European Parliament and former Chair of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, Trustee of Friends of Europe and 2014 European Young Leader (EYL40)

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Irene Tinagli is an Italian economist and politician who has been serving in the European Parliament since 2019. Before coming to Brussels, Tinagli was a Member of the Italian Parliament, sitting on the Committee on Public and Private Employment and on the Committee on Infancy and Childhood. She also taught Management and Organisation Design at the Carlos III University in Madrid and worked as an expert for the European Commission on creativity and innovation. In Italy, Tinagli served as an advisor to the Minister of Culture, the Minister of Education and the Minister of Justice.

Photo of Oana-Silvia Țoiu
Oana-Silvia Țoiu

Vice President of the Chamber of Deputies in the Romanian Parliament and 2023 European Young Leader (EYL40)

Show more information on Oana-Silvia Țoiu

Oana-Silvia Țoiu is a Romanian social entrepreneur-turned-politician, who currently serves as a Vice President of the Chamber of Deputies in the Romanian Parliament. She advocates for a more inclusive and entrepreneurial workforce, while championing youth and women. Having successfully passed laws that offer financial support for single-parent doctors during school closures, improved flexible work schemes for employees and housing rights for victims of domestic violence, Țoiu most recently put forward a start-up and private investment package. She previously served as the state secretary in the Romanian Ministry of Labour and Family. Prior to entering politics, she embarked on various social entrepreneurial ventures, including as a former executive at Mesteshukar ButiQ, a network of Roma artisans and international designers. She also co-founded Social Innovation Solutions, an accelerator that invests in educational and future-oriented solutions by engaging and connecting entrepreneurs, NGOs, academia, youth and policymakers throughout Europe.

Cezary Tomczyk
Cezary Tomczyk

Polish Secretary of State for National Defence and 2017 European Young Leader (EYL40)

Show more information on Cezary Tomczyk

Currently serving as the State Secretary at the Polish Ministry of National Defence, Cezary Tomczyk’s political career spans more than two decades. He previously held the position of secretary of state and spokesperson in the government of Eva Kopacz and was also nominated as shadow deputy minister for the Civic Platform. After being elected as member of the Polish Parliament at the age of 23, Tomczyk sat in the Committee on National Defence and the Committee on EU Affairs, in addition to chairing the Permanent Subcommittee on the Multiannual Financial Framework. He was notably awarded the Medal of Merit for National Defence by the Polish Ministry of National Defense in recognition for his services to the development and strengthening of the defence of his country.

Małgorzata Tracz
Małgorzata Tracz

Polish Member of Parliament, Co-Chair of Poland’s Green Party and 2020-2021 European Young Leader (EYL40)

Show more information on Małgorzata Tracz

Małgorzata is one of the first members of the Green Party to be elected to the Polish parliament. In her role as Co-Chair of the Green Party, she has successfully promoted a stronger climate agenda, most notably through her actions for cleaner air and the reduction of smog in Polish cities, as well as raising citizen awareness about environmental issues. A strong advocate of equality, democracy and the rule of law, Małgorzata is a vocal activist for the rights of women and minorities. She is a member of the women’s rights movement, Committee Ratujmy Kobiety (“Let’s save women”), which led the first against the national abortion ban from 2016 through 2018. She is also a member of the Polish Women’s Congress and Ecological Association EKO-UNIA.

Vlad Voiculescu
Vlad Voiculescu

Member of the European Parliament, former Romanian minister and 2020-2021 European Young Leader (EYL40)

Show more information on Vlad Voiculescu

Vlad Voiculescu is a member of the European Parliament, health policy expert and patient advocate, who until recently has served as the Romanian minister of health. After pursuing a career in finance, Voiculescu became active in public service, serving as the Romanian Finance Minister’s chief of staff before becoming the minister of health in the Dacian Cioloș government.  He has been involved in patient advocacy, both at the national and European levels for over a decade. Voiculescu is the founder of an international network of volunteers that helped over 2,500 cancer patients receive essential medicines that were missing in Romania, a story that featured in the HBO documentary The Network’. He is also the Co-Founder of MagiCAMP, which seeks to provide support to children diagnosed with cancer and other serious illnesses. For this work, the European Parliament awarded Voiculescu its ‘European Citizen’s Prize.’

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Selection process

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS/NOMINATIONS FOR THE EYL CLASS OF 2025 IS NOW OPEN

The European Young Leaders (EYL40) programme is a unique, inventive and multi-stakeholder programme that aims to promote a European identity by engaging the continent’s most promising talents in initiatives that will shape Europe’s future.

The European Young Leaders represent a new generation of European leaders from all over the continent and various backgrounds, including politics, business, civil society, academia, arts, science and the media.

The programme acts as a forum for those who have already established themselves at the forefront of their professions to meet, discuss and collaborate with their counterparts from other fields of expertise. Previous candidates include government ministers, CEOs, Michelin-starred chefs, international film directors and high-profile journalists.

Since the launch of the programme, we have gradually taken steps to ensure the diversity and exceptional quality of its selection process. We have made sure that its comprehensive and competitive nature ensures the identification and selection of remarkable individuals.

We aim to select 40+ European Young Leaders of diverse backgrounds to enable a broad exchange of ideas, creating the basis for a new generation of engaged European leaders.

SELECTION CRITERIA

  • Candidates must be between 30 and 40 years of age (born on or after 1 January 1985).
  • Candidates must be a national of an EU member state, the UK, Ukraine, Moldova or one of the 6 Balkan states currently on the path towards EU integration (Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Kosovo*, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia).
  • Candidates should have established themselves at the highest levels of their chosen profession or be on track to do so.
  • Candidates must be committed to serve society at large through noteworthy contributions and have demonstrated a record of significant achievements and outstanding professional experience.
  • Candidates are also evaluated based on their ability to contribute to the enrichment of the programme as a whole.
  • Candidates are required to be fluent in English as it is the working language of the programme.
  • Candidates must commit to participating in at least one of the two EYL seminars during the programme year, usually scheduled for March and September.

Please click HERE for the Selection Guidelines 2025 that will give you an idea of the process and will provide you with a link to the nomination/application form.

Should you have any questions or need any additional information, please do not hesitate to contact us at eyl40@friendsofeurope.org.

We look forward to receiving your applications and nominations.

* References to Kosovo here are used without prejudice to positions on status and are in line with UN Security Council resolution 1244/99 and the International Court of Justice Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.

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