The European Youth Parliament (EYP) was founded in 1987 in Fontainebleau, France.

It is there that three of the first four International Sessions were held, starting in 1988, about a year after the idea took form.

Since 2004, EYP is internationally run by the Heinz-Schwarzkopf-Stiftung. There are 33 National Committees which together with the Governing Body in Berlin run all EYP activities.
In the Netherlands, EYP started in 1998. Starting out very small, with only a few schools participating, the organisation grew over the years to include more schools. Originally there was only a National Selection Conference at which schools would be selected for the International Sessions. With more schools joining the organisation, expansion was needed. Therefore, since 2005, EYP the Netherlands organises its Preliminary Rounds, which are two one-day session in a weekend. Starting out with two weekends per year, we now host three weekends of Preliminary Rounds per year, next to a National Selection Conference of three days.

In May 2009, EYP the Netherlands had another milestone in its history, when an International Forum was organised in Rotterdam.