New ESU Executive Committee takes office 1 July

BRUSSELS – Allan Päll (25) from Estonia has started on 1 July as the new Chairperson of the European Students’ Union (ESU). Päll: “My biggest priority during my one-year mandate will be the issue of funding in higher education. We will support our members in their fight for maintaining and increasing investment in higher education.” He added: “Secondly, as the interest in finishing the Bologna Process goals is visibly diminishing, I will push for turning this trend around.”

Päll will work closely together with the rest of the ESU Executive Committee, which is responsible steering and coordinating the student organisation, both politically and financially, on a day-today basis. Karina Ufert (Lithuania) is ESU’s new Vice-Chairperson and the other three new EC members are Kaloyan Kostadinov (Bulgaria), Nevena Vuksanovic (Serbia) and Rok Primozic (Slovenia ).

Furthermore, the ESU Academic Affairs Committee has been replaced as per 1 July and now consists out of Laura Howell (UK), Fernando Miguel Palomares (Spain), Rahel Siegrist (Switzerland) and Magnus Malnes (Norway). The Committee for Internal Development (CID) will also be reinforced by the membership of Luis Coelho (Portugal).

ESU is the umbrella organisation of 45 national unions of students from 38 European countries and represents students at the European level.  Päll was elected during the 60th Board Meeting of ESU which took place from 5 to 7 May in Tallinn.

Short biography Päll

Päll is a political science student from Estonia and has been the Vice-Chairperson of ESU since 2009. Päll has previously led social policy and student financing policy and research in the Federation of Estonian Student Unions (Eesti Üliõpilaskondade Liit). In the academic year 2008/09 he was also elected Vice-Chairperson of EÜL.As the Vice-Chairperson of ESU he was in charge of the Secretariat and coordinated the work on EU policies and quality assurance of higher education. He also led ESU’s project “Quest for Quality for Students” which researches the students’ view on quality and information provision and builds a quality concept from the students’ perspective.

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Published:  1 July 2011