T ABLE OF C ONTENTS 1. Procedure of General Assembly
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2. Committee on Constitutional Affairs (AFCO)
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3. Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (EMPL)
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4. Committee on Environment, Health and Food Safety (ENVI)
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5. Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality (FEMM)
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6. Committee on International Trade (INTA)
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7. Committee on Industry, Energy and Research I (ITRE I)
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8. Committee on Industry, Energy and Research II (ITRE II)
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9. Committee on Legal Affairs
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10. Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs
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11. Committee on Security and Defence
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Procedure of the General Assembly
General Rules The wish to speak is indicated by raising the Committee placard. The authority of the Board is absolute.
Procedure and time settings 1. Presentation of the Motion for a Resolution – the Board read out the topic; 2. A member of the Proposing Committee reads out the Operative Clauses; 3. Points of Information (asked for by any Committees and answered by the Proposing Committee); 4. Defence Speech (maximum 3 minutes); 5. Attack Speech (maximum 3 minutes); 6. Open Debate on the Motion for a Resolution; 7. Summation Speech (maximum 3 minutes); 8. Voting procedure – the votes are collected by the Chairpersons; 9. Announcement of the voting results by the Board.
Points of Information These are requests for brief explanations of the meaning of specific words and abbreviations. Please note that translations are not Points of Information.
Points of Personal Privilege These are requests for a Delegate to repeat a point that was inaudible. Failure to understand the language being spoken does not make for a Point of Personal Privilege
Direct Responses Once per Debate, each Committee may use the ‘Direct Response’ sign. Should a Committee member raise the Committee Placard and the ‘Direct Response’ sign during the Open Debate, he/she will immediately be recognised by the Board and given the floor as soon as
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the point being made is concluded. A Direct Response can only be used to refer to and discuss the point made directly beforehand. If two or more Direct Responses are requested at once, the Board will decide which Committee to recognise. In this case, the second Direct Response shall only be held if it can be referred to the first Direct Response, so on and so forth.
Points of Order These can be raised by the Chairperson if a Delegate feels the Board have not properly followed the Parliamentary procedure. Ultimately, the authority of the Board is absolute.
Defence Speech One member of the Proposing Committee delivers the Defence Speech from the podium. It is used to explain the rationale of the overall lines of the Resolution and convince the Plenary that the Resolution is worthy of being adopted. This speech can last a maximum of three minutes.
Attack Speeches An individual Delegate from a Committee other than that proposing the Resolution at hand delivers an Attack Speech from the podium. It reflects an individual opinion and is used to point out the flaws of the approach taken by the Proposing Committee and should propose alternative solutions. Oftentimes, an Attack Speech is concluded with an appeal to the Plenary not to adopt the Resolution in the present form.
Summation Speech One or two members of the Proposing Committee deliver the Summation Speech from the podium; the microphone can only be passed once. It is used to summarise the debate, respond to main, selected criticism and to once more explain why the chosen approach is the most sensible. It typically concludes with an appeal to vote in favour of the Resolution. This speech can last a maximum of three minutes.
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M OTION FOR A R ESOLUTION BY T HE C OMMITTEE ON C ONSTITUTIONAL A FFAIRS Equality is a basic principle of democracy yet not reflected in the EU’s democratically elected institution. How can the EU abolish the inequality considering the distribution of seats in the European Parliament?
The European Youth Parliament, A. Aware of the fact that the current distribution of seats in the European Parliament (EP) is based on a system of degressive proportionality which leads to overrepresentation of the smaller Member States in the EP, B. Noting with regret that degressive proportionality results in the strong variety between Member States in votes needed for a single seat, with a German seat representing over 800.000 inhabitants and a Maltese seat representing just under 70.000 people, C. Further noting that under the current rules laid down in the Treaty of Lisbon (2009) the amount of seats in the EP is set at 750, with each country being allotted between six and 96 seats, which have to be unanimously agreed upon by the Council of the European Union (Council of the EU), an unelected EU institution, D. Keeping in mind that if the seats were allocated completely proportionally several Member States would not be eligible for even a single seat in the EP due to their tiny population and would not have any Parliamentary representation;
1. Calls for a reform of the allocation of seats so that each MS will get 3 seats and 1 additional seat for every 600.000 inhabitants it has; 2. Urges the EP to remove its cap of allocating a maximum of 96 seats to a MS for all upcoming elections to guarantee that the larger MS will never be severely underrepresented; 3. Requests that all involvement of the Council of the EU in the allocation of seats in the EP be removed, instead relying solely on the aforementioned electoral reforms; 4. Supports revising the total number of EP seats every decade in order to keep up with demographic changes across MS.
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M OTION FOR A R ESOLUTION BY T HE C OMMITTEE ON E MPLOYMENT AND S OCIAL A FFAIRS With soaring numbers of youth unemployment and the recently implemented Youth Guarantee, what additionally measures should the EU adopt to build on its current strategy?
The European Youth Parliament, A. B. C. D.
1. 2. 3. 4.
Alarmed by the increasing threat to European societies and economies constituted by high youth unemployment rates, Deeply disturbed by the growing lack of employment prospects caused by turbulent market conditions in some of the Member States, Noting with approval measures taken to resolve current youth unemployment by the European Commission, Recognises the importance of education for employment prospects;
Endorses the Youth Guarantee and calls for its adoption by the Council and its implementation by Member States; Encourages stimulating regulation for the flexible market and enlarged social security rights for temporary workers; Calls upon the European Commission to initiate a proposal through the ordinary legislative procedure increasing market accessibility and competitiveness; Recommends Member States to offer tax benefits to companies consisting of at least 10% youth labourers.
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M OTION FOR A R ESOLUTION BY T HE C OMMITTEE ON E NVIRONMENT , H EALTH AND F OOD S AFETY Green urban transport: with 3 out of 4 citizens in the EU living in cities and an increased demand for urban mobility, how should the EU further develop its Urban Mobility Package to ensure a sustainable and a resource-efficient transport system?
The European Youth Parliament, A.
Expressing its concern that urban mobility accounts for 40% of all CO2 emissions of road transport and up to 70% of other pollutants from transport,
B.
Noting with regret that the field of urban transportation is lagging in terms of innovation,
C.
Emphasising the need to promote green public urban transportation to EU citizens,
D.
Deeply concerned by the underutilization of EU funded urban transportation projects;
1.
Calls upon Member States to ban fuel powered vehicles from their most populous areas, and decrease their parking spaces;
2.
Encourages the European Commission to better promote urban mobility innovation through initiatives such as SUMP and CIVITAS;
3.
Further recommends the EU to install an EU wide campaign using primarily social media to promote all forms of green and public urban transportation to citizens:
4.
Further requests the EU to re-evaluate the way they allocate funding for urban transportation projects.
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MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION BY THE COMMITTEE ON WOMEN’S RIGHTS AND GENDER EQUALITY A 31% difference in income per year between men and women in the EU: as the gender pay gap remains despite undertaken measures, what further steps should the EU take to ensure a fair and equal payment regardless of gender?
The European Youth Parliament, A. Deeply concerned by the existence and extent of the gender pay gap, B. Noting with regret that the representation of women on company boards is vastly lower than male; C. Alarmed by the influence of gender stereotypes on women’s opportunities on the labour market; D. Fully aware that the position of women on the labour market is deprived by: i)
The possible expectation of children,
ii)
Costs of maternity leave,
iii) The inability to work full-time due to family commitments;
1. Recommends the implementation of a non-departmental public body monitoring gender 1 equality such as the Equality and Human Rights Commission ; 2. Encourages Member States to implement gender quotas to increase gender diversity in companies; 3. Calls upon Member States to intensify sanctions on companies disobeying gender equality laws; 4. Further recommends national governments to improve the position of women on the labour market by: a) Offering (more) financial support to single-parent families with a high at-riskof-poverty-rate, b) Funding the expansion and improvement of childcare facilities enabling women to return to the workforce sooner. 1
The Equality and Human Rights Commission was established in Great-Britain by the Equality Act 2006 and came into being in 2007. The Commission has responsibility for the promotion and enforcement of equality and nondiscrimination laws in England, Scotland and Wales.! 2
A business arrangement in which two or more parties agree to pool their resources for the purpose of
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MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION BY THE COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL TRADE Human rights and global competitiveness: Now that trade agreements are an exclusive EU competence, how can the EU maintain a competitive position on the markets whilst advocating good governance and the protection of human rights in its trade agreements?
The European Youth Parliament,
A. Guided by European values and standards on human rights, good governance, rule of law and social, and economic sustainability,
B. Aware of different priorities regarding the aforementioned values and standards between the European Union (EU) international trading partners, C. Emphasizing the interdependence between the EU and its associated trading partners, D. Deeply concerned by the fact that the production process of some goods imported into the EU is not in line with European values;
1. Requests the European Commission (EC) to introduce a labelling system for imports which will assess the working conditions of the production process related to these imports;
2. Further requests the EC to set up an independent labelling regulatory body, which will: a) set the required standards concerning labour conditions, b) rate the products according to the required standards;
3. Recommends compliance investigations to be conducted at EU outsourcing companies every 5 years and sanctions in the form of a profit percentage based fine to be applied in the absence of substantial progress;
4. Encourages joint ventures2 between EU companies and foreign trading partners that do not meet the European values and standards.
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A business arrangement in which two or more parties agree to pool their resources for the purpose of accomplishing a specific task. In a joint venture each of the parties is responsible for profits, losses, costs associated with it. However, the venture is separate from the parties’ other business interests.
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M OTION FOR A R ESOLUTION BY T HE C OMMITTEE ON I NDUSTRY , R ESEARCH AND E NERGY I Establishing the app economy: with the air of a gold rush in the current application technology market, how can the EU develop its technological capacities and ensure an accessible platform for developers?
The European Youth Parliament, A.
Noting with regret the lack of willingness by consumers to pay for apps,
B.
Fully aware of the opportunities for developers in contract-labour,
C.
Recognizing poor regulation disfavouring developers Europe,
D.
Taking into account the unfair revenue division in contract labour between developers and large employers;
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Calls upon Eurapp to help developers reduce their acquaintance costs by funding their advertisements;
2.
Encourages the European Commission to allocate funding to StartUp Europe allowing start-ups to connect with costumers;
3.
Expresses its hope for adoption of the Connected Continent proposal including the 4G investment;
4.
Recommends the European Commission to initiate a proposal that allows for economic sanctioning of corporations who take more than 15% of app-developers’ revenues.
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M OTION FOR A R ESOLUTION BY T HE C OMMITTEE ON I NDUSTRY , R ESEARCH AND E NERGY II Conscious uncoupling: As an overall energy dependence of 53,4% in the EU causes many potential threats on to the economic and political stability, what can the EU do to reduce its reliance on imported energy?
The European Youth Parliament, A.
Taking into account that an increase in energy independency may result in high economic costs and inefficient energy systems on the short term,
B.
Noting the high instability of and the cooled relations with current energy exporters, illustrated by the political upheaval of the Middle-Eastern countries during the Arab Spring and the current Ukraine-Russia crisis,
C.
Recalling EU’s existing targets and policy frameworks for a more sustainable energy system,
D.
Keeping in mind that fluctuations in energy supply can result in a lack of energy;
1.
Urges Member States to act according to the European Energy Security Strategy from May 2014;
2.
Recommends to spread the energy import more evenly between current exporters, such as the OPEC countries and Russia;
3.
Encourages EU citizens and corporations to make renewable energy sources more efficient and conduct further research on the possibilities to generate energy;
4.
Emphasises the great importance of finding alternative means for the production of energy, in particular nuclear energy.
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M OTION FOR A R ESOLUTION BY T HE C OMMITTEE ON L EGAL A FFAIRS The line between freedom of speech and the right to online privacy: as the European Court of Justice has recently ruled that citizens have the “Right to be forgotten�, how can the EU ensure this verdict is complied with adequately whilst maintaining a free and accessible Web?
The European Youth Parliament, A.
Affirming that the freedom of expression is a fundamental right in the European Union,
B.
Noting with concern the lack of online privacy leading to the misperception of personal data,
C.
Acknowledges the complexity of marking information as inappropriate,
D.
Bearing in mind that the right to be forgotten has incited 90.000 requests for the removal since may 2014;
1.
Advices the European Commission to make a case-by-case assessment, in which fundamental rights will be balanced against the inaccuracy, inadequacy, irrelevance or excessiveness of the data;
2.
Encourages the European Union Agency for Network and Information Security (ENISA) to offer European wide data protection workshops to EU citizens;
3.
Expresses its hope for EU citizens and search engine parties to resolve matters on their own account;
4.
Urges search engine companies to abide by EU legislation and avoid sanctions.
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MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION BY THE COMMITTEE ON CIVIL LIBERTIES, JUSTICE AND HOME AFFAIRS With more refugees than ever crossing external borders into Europe, how can the rights of refugees be safeguarded while respecting Member States' sovereignty?
The European Youth Parliament,
A. Deeply disturbed by laws which criminalise aiding irregular migrants around EU borders, B. Alarmed by the fact that 70% of all asylum applications are processed by 5 EU Member States,
C. Takes note of the current violations of the non-refoulement principle associated with the Dublin III agreement through:
i) pushbacks occurring at sea, ii) Member States’ interpreting common European criteria for granting asylum differently,
D. Deeply concerned by the rise of xenophobic movements causing wide anti-refugee sentiments in the EU;
1. Calls upon the European Commission to initiate legislation allowing for the aid of people in distress along the EU borders; 2. Urges Member States to share responsibilities in the area of immigration by enabling Frontex to have its own human, technical and financial resources;
3. Calls for the full abidance by the non-refoulement principle by all Member States of the European Union and Frontex and the revision of the Dublin III agreement in order to comply with this principle;
4. Recommends the introduction of high school education on foreign culture, different religions and the multicultural society to put emphasis on the advantages of immigration as well as the associated difficulties.
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M OTION FOR A R ESOLUTION BY T HE C OMMITTEE ON S ECURITY AND D EFENCE In light of developments close to the EU’s borders, an increasing number of international conflicts and Member State’s rethinking cuts to military spending, how far should the EU go in developing its military capacities?
The European Youth Parliament, A.
Deeply concerned about internal conflicts within the EU, especially concerning separatist movements,
B.
Respecting the current military power balance in the EU,
C.
Taking into account the diversity of the military goals and interests of the Member States,
D.
Observing that Member States currently do not allocate an equal amount of national budgets to military services;
1.
Calls for the expansion of the EU’s military capacities under the supervision of the EUMS;
2.
Encourages Member States to create a common EU policy that includes a) A quota on military staff b) Conscription;
3.
Calls upon the European Commission to set a minimum for Member States of 3% of national budgets to be allocated to military spending;
4.
Calls for a common obligatory military conscription in the EU requiring every person between the ages of 18 and 26 to serve in national armies for a period of at least 2 years, at any time chosen by the citizen.
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