Federation of Estonian Student Unions
Encyclopedia
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| Office | F.R.Kreutzwaldi 4, 10120, Tallinn Tallinn Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of with a population of 414,940. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is in the list... , Estonia Estonia Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies... |
| Founded in | 1991 |
| Member Unions | 23 |
| Working Language | Estonian |
| Executive Committee | Maris Mälzer (Chairperson) Eimar Veldre (Vice-Chairperson) |
| Chair of the Council | Heiki Lemba |
Eesti Üliõpilaskondade Liit (EÜL) (formerly known as FESU) is a federation of Estonian student unions. It was founded on 23. November 1991, shortly after Estonia regained independence. EÜL as umbrella organization currently represents over 95% (64 460) of Estonian students.
EÜL’s main goal is to represent students’ interests on national level. Main issues being dealth with are student rights, educational and social issues. EÜL works closely together with Riigikogu (the parliament), the government, different ministries, higher education institutions and other partners. EÜL is also a leading NGO in Estonia and sometimes also represents students in schools, youth in general or just NGOs in different committees. EÜL is recognised as a partner by the Ministry of Education and Research. EÜL is a member of European Students' Union.
Structure
EÜL’s main decision body is the EÜL Board where all of our member student bodies are represented. Currently EÜL has 23 members. There are 34 higher education institutions (HEI) in Estonia, but not all have working student unions. Membership of EÜL is voluntary for a student body but all Estonian students are automatically members of their HEI student body. There are no membership fees for the students for belonging to student unions or student bodies.The Board decides main future plans and policies, adopts the plan of work, is in charge of the budget and elects the Executive Committee (EC) and other committees. The 40-45 member Board is elected by the local unions, all students of all members are eligible to be elected as member of the council or the board. Each member of EÜL shall have 1 member and additional 1 member on EÜL Board for every 2000 students (a HEI with 6200 students has 4 members on EÜL Board). The Board assembles regularly 5 to 6 times per year.
The Executive Committee currently consists of 2 people with a 2 year mandate – the Chairperson and the Vice-Chairperson.
Since 2000 EÜL ECs have usually had a mandate of one year. From 2006 to 2007 was a transition period in which the start of the mandate was pushed from January to July to be more compatible with local unions democratic cycle thus the mandate for Executive Committees was longer than 12 months.
In February 2009 the Board decided change the mandate of the EC to two full years beginning from 1st of July 2009. Concurrently with that, the EC will consist of only the Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson. This is aimed at more professional leadership in EÜL. The Executive Committee is heading EÜL secretariat and EÜL foundations which consists of 12 to 20 employees and project managers working in the EÜL office.
Other structures in EÜL are the Council which advises the EC on strategical decisions and on extraordinary financial issues, the Policy Committee that advises the EC on policy and when necessary also represents students on national level and the Internal Audit Committee which supervises the EC and makes sure that EÜL governance is complying with the law and the decisions of the Board.
| 1991-1992 | Sulev Alajõe, Agu Vahur, Kaarel Tarand |
| 1992-1994 | Katrin Unt, Indrek Ild, Imre Sams, Indrek Ostrat |
| 1995-1996 | Meelis Kitsing, Arne Otter, Martti Kalda |
| 1996-1997 | Lauri Kööp, Lembit Uibo, Peeter Suislepp, Mare Tralla, Mart Rekkara |
| 1997-1998 | Peeter Suislepp, Lauri Kööp, Raul Järg, Leif Kalev |
| 1998-1999 | Riina Tamm, Leif Kalev, Raul Järg, Ivar Liivamägi, Riho Unt, Illimar Mattus |
| 2000 | Leif Kalev, Riho Unt, Rain Veetõusme, Tarvo Sarmet, Herman Kalmus |
| 2001 | Birgit Lao, Herman Kalmus, Leif Kalev, Arne Otter, Alari Vainomees, Ardi Ravalepik |
| 2002 | Ando Heilmann, Piret Hartman, Antti Andreimann |
| 2003 | Piret Hartman, Madis Masing, Reigo Kimmel, Kerli Albin, Kairi Saar |
| 2004 | Madis Masing, Allan Selirand, Lauri Paeveer |
| 2005 | Allan Selirand, Eveli Soode, Lauri Paeveer |
| 2006-2007 | Heiki Lemba, Ivar Veskioja, Marja-Liisa Alop |
| 2007-2008 | Eimar Veldre, Annika Kruuse, Catlyn Kirna, Maris Mälzer |
| 2008-2009 | Joonas Pärenson, Allan Päll, Olga Tšerjomuškina, Grete Mägi (until 01.01.2009) |
Other activities
EÜL also distributes the International Student Identity CardInternational Student Identity Card
The International Student Identity Card is a photo identification card that identifies the holder as a full-time student. It is currently a form of identification that is internationally recognized .Cardholders gain access to special discounts with many companies, particularly on travel-related...
which is an identity card for students, teachers and youth in general. The ISIC card is the main source of revenue for EÜL.
EÜL also finances and publishes the national student newspaper Eesti Üliõpilasleht, owns work-study programs’ coordinator MIR Travel and organises student days in Tallinn. EÜL also offers modern electronic card systems for educational institutions that are based on ISIC cards under the project Minu Kool.