Dear Friends,

The last two months have seen a flurry of activity at ESU HQ. The current executive committee held their first Board Meeting in such a capacity, we said goodbye to long standing volunteer and later project officer, Anthony Camilleri and student rights were consistently in the news, in ways both positive and negative.  The current financial crisis has caused budgetary restraint with knock on consequences for Higher Education funding, to which ESU is of course party. However, this has not stalled our dedication to ensuring student rights are kept in the spotlight and that each and every European has the opportunity to access quality higher education institutions. The French presidency is coming to an end, and whilst higher education has featured quite prominently, it has failed o obe addressed in a way that entirely meets the needs of students across the continent. 

Looking ahead to 2009, we are excited to have a new Plan of Work in place which will focus strongly on building an even stronger student movement across Europe with a special emphasis on quality assurance, equity and a stronger role for the social dimension in the Bologna Process. Key events will be the Bologna Ministerial meeting in Belgium in May and the European parliamentary elections in June. ESU will also expand its' training and capacity building activities as we seek to strengthen the role of our national union member in the decisions affecting them. 

Before embarking on all of these activities, we will enjoy the holidays and we sincerely hope you will to,

Thanks for all your support in 2008,

The ESU team in Brussels