On 15 December 1995, the European Youth Centre Budapest was inaugurated. The second European Youth Centre, its mission was to extend the scope of the Council of Europe's work to include young people in central and eastern Europe and to be the Organisation’s institutional presence in the region.

Interest in hosting such a centre was expressed by the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic, Hungary and Poland. Finally, the Committee of Ministers accepted the generous proposal of the Hungarian authorities to establish the Centre in Budapest, the largest Council of Europe permanent structure in a member state, outside the headquarters in France. With this decision, the Council of Europe conveyed its commitment to the countries in transition in central and eastern Europe. By its generous offer to host the EYCB, Hungary in turn had expressed its desire and pledged to play a key role in our Organisation’s work with and for the benefit of young people, a pledge it has repeatedly reaffirmed since the Centre opened.

To celebrate the countless milestones and achievements of this quarter century, a dedicated micro-site was launched to collect and showcase the history of the EYCB: EYCB25 (coe.int)