The official opening of the European Youth Conference took place today in Centrum Judaicum in Berlin. Peter Ruhenstroth-Bauer, Permanent State Secretary, German Federal Ministry for Family, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth, and Pierre Mairesse, Acting Director for Youth, Sports and Relations with the Citizens, European Commission, Directorate General for Education and Culture, welcomed the 180 guests and participants.

The opening was followed by a "Talkshow" featuring Ruth Siemaszko, Divisional Manager, Children, Young People and Families Strategy Division, Department for Education and Skills in the UK, EU-Presidency, Ralf-René Weingärnter, Director for Youth and Sports, Council of Europe (CoE), Mr Bashy Quraishy, European Network Against Racism (ENAR) and Mr Christoph Erbslöh, participant of the 2001 conference. Then Beate Winkler, Director, European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC) and Renaldas Vaisbrodas, President of the European Youth Forum (EYF) gave two key note speeches.