EYF'15 Prep Kit

Enka Youth Forum

December, 11-14 2015

Academic Preparation Kit

Put together by: Nazlı Nur Tamer, Mustafa Sinan Gürbüz, Nahit Mücellit, Alp Bartu Hızal, Alparslan Ufukoğlu, Arda Acar, Arman Sabah, Berk Yazar, Berrak Güloğlu, Cansu Kolay, Doğan Tamer, Ece Balekoğlu, Ecenur Yavaş, Ekin Arıbaş, Erkut Şengül, Gülce Özataç, Kerem Akıllıoğlu, Kerem Şenol, Mert Ege Açıkgöz, Simay Yaşbay, Şule Kahraman

Academic Preparation Kit

Academic Preparation Kit Dear delegates of EYF’15, The Chairs’ Team of EYF’15 proudly presents you the Academic Preparation Kit for the 5th Enka Youth Forum.

Within this document you will find the topic overviews prepared by your Chairpersons, which are aimed to introduce you to the complexity and the importance of the issues that will be discussed within each committee. I should remind you that the topic overviews are prepared to be your point of departure for your own research before your arrival to the forum and should not be, in no means, your only source of information. Within each topic overview you will find information related to the core issues, key terms and questions, the social relevance of the topic and its importance, stakeholders, conflicts, and the legislative backgrounds that govern the topics you will be discussing at the forum. I strongly encourage all of you to carefully study the topic overviews, conduct your own research, raise questions and form your own educated opinions about your topics.

This year’s team The World of a Thousand Colors, is the core of many of our Committee Topics.

Discrimination against genders, races, religions and many other subjects will be the subjects of discussion for 4 days between December 11th and 14th. Moving forward, I dearly hope that the colors of the world become apparent in every part of your life. After all, nothing is beautiful without colors.

Recent developments in international and domestic affairs, monetary and economic supervision, internal and institutional arrangements as well as the EU’s and worlds development will also be discussed in EYF. Answers to challenges, whether positive or negative, create both opportunities and threats to a great range of stakeholders. The Chairs’ Team is providing you with a guide to the topics that will be discussed in EYF’15 in this Academic Preparation Kit and is urging you to inform and challenge yourselves at EYF’15.

I am looking forward to meeting you all in less than a month in Enka Schools to be a part of the world of a thousand colors.

My best,

Nazlı Nur Tamer President of Enka Youth Forum 2015

Academic Preparation Kit

AFET | Committee on Foreign Affairs Ongoing dispute for a century: Regarding the claims of the both sides about the 1915 Armenian deportations, how could the EU and the UN ensure a period of trustworthy research and investigation while causing no harm to the international relations of both Turkey and Armenia?

Arman Sabah & Alparslan Ufukoğlu AGRI | Committee on Agriculture and Rural Affairs Feeding seven billion: Keeping in mind that the rise in human population and the fall in agricultural efficiency oppose a great threat, what can the EU and its Member States do in cooperation with the private sector and FOA to increase agricultural production whilst protecting the environment?

Erkut Şengül & Berk Yazar CULT | Committee on Culture and Education Easy as ABC?: Having observed that children of immigrant families are facing notable difficulties throughout their academic life, what measures should be taken in order to provide equal education opportunities to students with migration or different ethnic backgrounds?

Nahit Mücellit & Cansu Kolay DEVE | Committee on Development Global Green Economy: Regarding to Horizon 2020 and European countries’ green policy, what actions should the EU and its Member States take in order to develop and implement “Global Green Economy” plan ?

Kerem Akıllıoğlu & Ecenur Yavaş DROI | Committee on Human Rights Red light to human trafficking: Keeping in mind that as many as 27 million men, women, and children are trafficking victims at any given time, what measures can be taken against human trafficking, forced and child prostitution in light of the “Directive on Human Trafficking”?

Ekin Arıbaş & Ece Balekoğlu FEMM | Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality Working dads and stay-home moms: What should be done to eliminate workplace biases regarding gender in order for men and women to be able to freely choose their own roles in the community?

Berrak Güloğlu & Simay Yaşbay ITRE | Committee on Industry, Research and Energy Century of research: Bearing in mind that EU’s ICT research is still less than half of that of US’s, what can be done to provide the necessary infrastructure and funding for research and technological improvements in order to maintain Europe’s competitive edge through increased coordination?

Kerem Şenol & Bartu Hızal

Academic Preparation Kit JURI | Committee on Legal Affairs The integrity of the Union: What kind of regulations should be implemented in order to protect the integrity of the EU regarding the legal procedure of State Disintegration in cases like Yugoslavia?

Mustafa Sinan Gürbüz & Gülce Özataç LIBE | Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Je Suis Charlie?: In light of the adoption of the “Mosque Ban Act” in Switzerland, banning of hijab and burqa in France and the anti-Semitist propagandas in Denmark, how can the peace and freedom of the religious minorities be ensured?

Mert Ege Açıkgöz & Şule Kahraman SEDE | Committee on Security and Defense Road to Europe or road to death: Noting that more than 275 000 migrants entered the EU irregularly in 2014, representing an increase of 138% compared to the same period in 2013, which targets should the EU set in terms of illegal migration and how can it balance the legality and humanity of its actions?

Arda Acar & Doğan Tamer

AFET Committee on Foreign Affairs

Arman Sabah & Alparslan UfukoÄ&#x;lu

AFET – Committee on Foreign Affairs

AFET – Committee on Foreign Affairs Ongoing dispute for a century: Regarding the claims of the both sides about the 1915 Armenian deportations, how could the EU and the UN ensure a period of trustworthy research and investigation while causing no harm to the international relations of both Turkey and Armenia?

By Arman SABAH & Alparslan UFUKOĞLU I.

Key Terms        

II.

Key Questions    

III.

Ethnicity : The fact or state of belonging to a social group that has a common national or cultural tradition Discrimination: The unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people, especially on the grounds of race, age, or sex Immigration: The action of coming to live permanently in a foreign country Minority: The smaller number or part, especially a number or part representing less than half of the whole Ethnic Cleansing: The mass expulsion or killing of members of one ethnic or religious group in an area by those of another.

War: A state of armed conflict between different countries or different groups within a country Diplomacy: The profession, activity, or skill of managing international relations, typically by a country’s representatives abroad Evidence: The available body of facts or information indicating whether a belief or proposition is true or valid

How can EU and UN resolve this problem without harming both nations?

How must the ideal procedure be?

Which sources must be used to solve this issue?

How can the discrimination by some groups against Armenians in Turkey be prevented?

Social Relevance In 1915, leaders of the Turkish government set in motion to expel and massacre Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire. Though reports vary, most sources agree that there were about 2 million Armenians in the Ottoman Empire at the time of the events. By the early 1920s, when the deportations finally ended, some 1.5 million of Turkey’s Armenians were dead, with many more

AFET – Committee on Foreign Affairs forcibly removed from the country. Today, most historians call this event a genocide–a premeditated and systematic campaign to exterminate an entire people.

However, the Turkish government does not acknowledge the enormity or scope of these events. Despite pressure from Armenians and social justice advocates throughout the world, it is still illegal in Turkey to talk about what happened to Armenians during this era.

IV.

Stakeholders

The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination: a body of human rights experts tasked with monitoring the implementation of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. The committee demands and examines the reports of member countries and addresses its concerns and recommendations to the state party in the form of concluding observations.

The European Commission: The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union; it proposes legislations, implements decisions, upholds treaties and manages daily business of the European Union. There are members of the commission (commissioners) such as Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion whose responsibilities are matters relating to equal opportunity, employment, discrimination and social affairs.

Commissioner for Human Rights: An independent and impartial non-judicial institution established by the Council of Europe to promote awareness of and respect for human rights in the member states. The activities of this institution focus on three major areas: country visits and dialogue with national authorities and civil society, thematic studies and advice on systematic human rights work and awareness-raising activities

V.

Conflicts

On 2 November 1914, the Ottoman Empire opened the Middle Eastern theater of World War I by entering hostilities on the side of the Central Powers and against the Allies. The battles of the Caucasus Campaign, the Persian Campaign and the Gallipoli Campaign affected several populous Armenian centers. Before entering the war, the Ottoman government had sent representatives to the Armenian congress at Erzurum to persuade Ottoman Armenians to facilitate its conquest of Transcaucasia by inciting an insurrection of Russian Armenians against the Russian army in the event a Caucasus front was opened On 24 December 1914, Minister of War Enver Pasha implemented a plan to encircle and destroy the Russian Caucasus Army at Sarikamish in order to regain territories lost to Russia after the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78. Enver Pasha's forces were routed in the battle, and almost completely destroyed.

Returning to Constantinople, Enver Pasha publicly blamed his defeat on Armenians in the region having actively sided with the Russians.

With the dissolution of the Russian Empire in the wake of the Feb 1917 revolution and of the Transcaucasian Federation in May 1918, the Armenians of the South Caucasus declared their independence and formally established the First Republic of Armenia. In its two years of existence, the tiny republic, with its capital in Yerevan, was beset with a number of debilitating problems, ranging from fierce territorial disputes with its neighbors and an appalling refugee crisis.

AFET – Committee on Foreign Affairs Based on interviews held in October and November 2014, with officials and civil society representatives in Ankara, Yerevan, and Tbilisi, the authors of this article believe that current efforts to normalize diplomatic relations could also help push along the process of Turkish-Armenian societal reconciliation. The idea of promoting reconciliation through official normalization would be in line with the ideas and legacy of Hrant Dink, a Turkish- Armenian journalist from Istanbul, who was assassinated in January 2007 by a young Turkish nationalist. Dink long objected to the idea of using outside pressure – through international governmental, parliamentary, and other institutional resolutions – to force the Turkish state and society to recognize the Armenian genocide. He believed history could not be legislated. Support for reconciliation and recognition would have to come from within Turkey. In his articles, Dink advocated for an open democratic dialogue about the events of 1915 to provide the Turkish public with a more informed understanding of the events. He encouraged closer societal contacts between Armenia and Turkey, which he considered crucial to a deeper comprehension of the complexities of the past by both sides.

VI.

Facts & Figures Armenian–Turkish relations have been strained by a number of historical and political issues, mainly the topic of the Armenian Genocide and Turkey's continuing position that it did not take place. Although there are currently no formal diplomatic relations between the two modern states, it was announced on October 10, 2009 that both countries had agreed to establish mutual diplomatic recognition. However those diplomatic efforts to normalize the relations initiated by the two countries with mediation efforts of Switzerland have faltered because of the non-resolution of the Nagarno-Karabakh conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Turkey recognized the state of Armenia soon after its 1991 independence, but the two countries failed to establish formal diplomatic relations. In 1993 Turkey reacted to the war in Nagarno-Karabakh by closing its borders with Armenia and did not wish to take part in this conflict. Turkish former President Abdullah Gül became the first ever Turkish leader to visit Armenia and announced a provisional roadmap for normalizing diplomatic ties. However, due to intense internal pressure on both sides, and disagreements between the two countries, the diplomatic thaw between Armenia and Turkey was short-lived, and the brief opening came to a close.

VII.

Legislative Background

Being one of the first countries to recognize the independence of Armenia on 16 December 1991, Turkey, provided humanitarian assistance to Armenia which was facing economic difficulties after independence and actively supported the country’s integration with regional and Euro-Atlantic organizations. However, favorable conditions to establish diplomatic relations with this country have not been materialized.

Turkey wishes to normalize its bilateral relations with Armenia in order to contribute to an atmosphere of comprehensive peace and cooperation in the South Caucasus. With this objective in mind, Turkey started to unilaterally implement certain confidence-building measures.

AFET – Committee on Foreign Affairs Within the framework of our desire to normalize our relations and resolution of our bilateral problems and as a result of the negotiation process facilitated by Switzerland, “Protocol on Establishment of Diplomatic Relations” and “Protocol on Development of Relations” between Turkey and Armenia on 10 October 2009 in Zurich. These two protocols provide a framework for the normalization of bilateral relations.

The protocols have been submitted to relevant authorities for ratification. The Armenian government on the other hand, upon its relevant regulations, first sent the protocols to its Constitutional Court in order to have their constitutionality to be approved. Consequently, the Court found the protocols to be commensurate with the Armenian Constitution with its reasoned statement, which contained contradictory elements to the letter and the spirit of the Protocols. Afterwards, the protocols were submitted to the Armenian National Parliament. On 22 April 2010 the Armenian President H.E. Mr. Sargsyan made a statement addressing the suspension of the ratification process of the Protocols.

Turkey remains committed to taking the normalization process forward pending the emergence of conducive political conditions in the region. In this regard, Turkey, as a member of the OSCE Minsk Group, and a country in the region, continues to support the efforts towards the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Turkey works on creative ideas in order for the NK negotiation process to gain a new momentum. Turkey is of the opinion that regional cooperation opportunities will encourage the parties towards a settlement. We sincerely believe that if all the interested parties display the necessary political will, and are encouraged in the right direction; our hopes for comprehensive peace in the South Caucasus will certainly be realized.

VIII.

Keywords      

Armenian Turkish Armenia Relationship Collective nation 1915

AGRI Committee on Agriculture & Rural Affairs

Erkut Şengül & Berk Yazar

AGRI – Committee on Agriculture and Rural Affairs

AGRI – Committee on Agriculture and Rural Affairs Feeding seven billion: Keeping in mind that the rise in the human population and the fall in agricultural efficiency oppose a great threat, what can the EU and its Member States do in cooperation with the private sector and FAO to increase agricultural production whilst protecting the environment?

By Erkut ŞENGÜL & Berk YAZAR I. Key Terms Agricultural efficiency: Agricultural efficiency is measured as the ratio of agricultural outputs to agricultural inputs. Nearly 50% of the world labor force is employed in agriculture. Distribution in the late 1980’s ranged from 64% of the economically active in Africa to less than 4% in America and Canada.

In Asia the figure was 61%; South America, 24%; Eastern Europe and Russia 15%; Western Europe 7%.

FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization): Achieving food security for all is at the heart of FAO's efforts – to make sure people have regular access to enough high-quality food to lead active, healthy lives. Main goals of FAO are the eradication of hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition; the elimination of poverty and the driving forward of economic and social progress for all; and, the sustainable management and utilization of natural resources, including land, water, air, climate and genetic resources for the benefit of present and future generations.

Food Security: Food security is a condition related to the supply of food, and individuals' access to it. It exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.

Yield Gap: Current rate of yield increase for major food crops is not fast enough to meet demand on existing farmland. Given limited land suitable for crop production and population soon to exceed 9 billion, ensuring food security while protecting carbon-rich and biodiverse rainforests, wetlands, and grasslands depends on achieving highest possible yields on existing farm land.

Greenhouse Gas: is a gas in an atmosphere that absorbs and emits radiation within the thermal infrared range. This process is the fundamental cause of the greenhouse effect. The primary greenhouse gases in Earth’s atmosphere are water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and ozone.

II. Key Questions •

What kind of goods and services does the EU export?

•

How can EU turn a wasteland into an agriculture area?

•

What kind of progress can be made about agriculture in order to increase yield?

AGRI – Committee on Agriculture and Rural Affairs •

What can be done to decrease the harmful effects of chemicals to environment?

•

What kind of policy should EU take in order to increase the agricultural production?

•

What measures can the EU take to decrease food waste along its food supply chain and by consumers?

•

What role should the EU play in cooperation with non-European actors to enhance food security and decrease the negative externalities of agriculture on the environment?

III.

Social Relevance

In todays globalizing world human population is increasing rapidly. Unfortunately, the limited resources we have are not always enough to tackle the increases in population. Food is a fundamental human right and yet one in nine people around the world go hungry every day. There are 209 million fewer hungry people now than in 1990. The returns on investments in agricultural research are well documented. There is overwhelming evidence that over the past five decades, agricultural productivity around the world has been greatly enhanced by agricultural research and development that has helped to improve the livelihoods of millions of the world’s poorest people. This means targeted investments in research and adoption of research outputs can produce direct and meaningful benefits to food-insecure people, most of whom are smallholder farmers.

With the technologic developments in last years and the effort international community, agricultural productions have been increased. However, ratio of the famine will be increased in time in the case with no solution about the damage on nature, which caused by increase in agricultural production.

Agricultural production encapsulates forty percent of land surface of the world and seventy percent of water usage. Greenhouse gasses result in negative effects to biodiversity and trigger global warming.

According to expectations, world population will be nine billion in 2050. This raise will also increase meat and dairy consumption. As a consequence, demand for agricultural output, negative externality and environmental effects will be twice as much when compared to today.

IV. Stakeholders EESC (European Economic and Social Committee): helps ensure that European policies and legislation tie in better with economic, social and civic circumstances on the ground, by assisting the European Parliament, Council and European Commission, making use of EESC members' experience and representativeness, dialogue and efforts to secure consensus serving the general interest.

World Farmers’ Organization: WFO is an international organization of “Farmers for Farmers”, which aims to bring together all the national producer and farm cooperative organizations with the objective of developing policies which favor and support farmers’ causes in developed and developing

AGRI – Committee on Agriculture and Rural Affairs countries around the world.

Copa-Cogeca: It’s the first European farmer’s representative organization. Copa brings together 60 EU farmers’ organizations. Cogeca brings together 35 EU agricultural cooperative organizations. These two organizations represents 30 million farmers and their families.

FoodDrinkEurope: it facilitates the development of an environment in which all European food and drink companies, whatever their size, can meet the needs of consumers and society, while competing effectively for sustainable growth.

International Feed Industry Federation: IFIF represents the global feed industry as an essential participant in the food chain that provides sustainable, safe, nutritious and affordable food for a growing world population. Overall, IFIF members represent over 80% of the compound animal feed production worldwide. IFIF is made up of national and regional feed associations from Africa, Asia Pacific, Europe, North and South America and the Middle East, as well feed related organizations and corporate members from around the globe.

V. Conflicts Agriculture1 plays a crucial role in the economy of developing countries and provides the main source of food, income and employment to their rural populations. Improvements in agriculture and land use are fundamental in achieving food security, poverty alleviation and overall sustainable development. Here are some of the main problems about this topic: • World’s population growth • Agriculture and socio-culture • European Union’s policy about agriculture • Insufficient agricultural areas • Damage to the environment • Food insecurity2

The world population is increasing day by day. It is important to realize that there are approximately 7 billion people in our world. With this in mind, demands and wishes about agriculture will increase proportionately with the major growth in population3. Although the world powers have a policy4 about agricultural production5 issue, we can safely conclude that these policies are not working very well. According to statistics of FAO6, most of the farmers use technology while farming and by the rise of the technology usage in farming we can easily see that there is a fall in organic agriculture7.

Environmental safety, effects on health, yield productivity, nutritional benefits, economic impacts, funding and support. All of these are issues associated with the practice of biotech and organic. But what if we talk about another issue? The impact of these agricultural practices on the socio-cultural values of a society. Is it true that societies dependent on biotechnology are more complacent, have a

AGRI – Committee on Agriculture and Rural Affairs notion of abundance and security, are more wasteful and more of a welfare society rather than a proactive one? A great question for a subject like this. Unfortunately, these are all true. Farmers produce so many luxurious products like beef, coffee and dairy products. Because of this, world’s limited resources are being used for luxury items instead of those that are vital for human life such as grains, fruit and vegetables.

The food and fibers that are vital in the sustainability of the entire world population are produced just on 3% of the planet land. 97% of the land area is either not used for agriculture or is used for the production of non-vital crops. It is a major problem that the usage of these lands is not enough to feed 7 billion people. It is important to state that 50% of labor force is generated through agriculture. Food production is dependent upon agricultural resources mainly land and water resources, but intensive cultivation, increased use of fertilizer, pesticide, conventional soil management practices and improper use of irrigation water resources leading to poor crop yield. Sadly, large fertile areas fell prey to water logging and salinity, making farmers more vulnerable.

• As it is mentioned in the second paragraph, technology is playing an important role in • • • • • •

agriculture. Technology in agriculture consists of some main things like: Modern transportation Cooling facilities Genetically produced plant Development of animal feeds Breeding of animals which are resistant to diseases Irrigation of plants Nitrogen Fertilizers

These inventions make farmers’ job easier than it was before. The flip side of these improvements is that the environmental damage increases because of the use of technological resources6. Nitrogen fertilizers are one of the major reasons behind water and air pollution. The crop projections imply slower growth in the use of these fertilizers than in the past, but the increase could still be significant for pollution. Projections also suggest a 60 percent increase in emissions of ammonia and methane from the livestock sector. Comprehensive measures will be needed to control and reduce air and water pollution from these sources.

AGRI – Committee on Agriculture and Rural Affairs VI. Facts & Figures 

The food and fibers that sustains the entire population of this planet is produced just on 3% of the planet land. 97% of the land area is not crop or grazing land.



It has been estimated that only 0.1% of applied pesticides reach the target pests, leaving the bulk of the pesticides (99.9%) to impact the environment.



In World War II, poor farming practices had damaged about 550 million hectares (an area equivalent to 38% of all farmland in use today).



The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) estimates that about 13% of the world's irrigated land is either waterlogged or excessively salty, and another 33% is affected to some degree. Salinization affects 28% of the irrigated land in the United States and 23% in China.



The 16 foods that account for the most calories consumed worldwide, plus cotton, occupy 95% of the irrigated agricultural land in the world, while consuming 92% of irrigation ware and 70% of the fertilizer.



Approximately 30 to 50% of food production is wasted.



Western Europe accounts for 11% of the global diet gap.



50% of labor force is generated through agriculture.

VII. Legislative Background

AGRI – Committee on Agriculture and Rural Affairs To start with the European Union’s policy. It consists of 2 main points. These are “direct payments and the rural development programme”.

In the direct payment system, the single farm payment will be replaced by a new direct payment made up of a basic payment, a payment for greening and a further payment for young farmers. Young farmers are eligible to be part of the ‘young farmers’ scheme’, they will receive an additional payment. The payment will be approximately 25% of the payment under the Basic Payments Scheme for each of the first 5 years.

The rural development programme began on 1 January 2015 and it supports a range of schemes. Over the next 7 years EU will invest over £3.5 billion to grow the rural economy and improve the environment under this programme. In this program, there are some states that include “environment, productivity and growth”. The aim of environment scheme is to support measures to restore, preserve and enhance our natural environment. The aim of productivity scheme is to support measures to make farming, forestry and land-based businesses more competitive and efficient. EU will spend around £140m on; supporting innovation to help translate research into practice skills and training, greater co-operation and collaboration between farmers and others in land-based sectors (including agri-food) and projects which deliver multiple benefits (such as tackling environmental problems alongside improving agricultural output). The aim of growth scheme is to support rural economic growth. EU will allocate £177 million (5%) to the local enterprise partnerships through this scheme. EU will also allocate £140 million (4%) of the funding to LEADER Local Action Groups. Leader Local Action Groups are groups that aim to improve the quality of life and prosperity of rural communities through locally driven initiatives.

To sum up the policy about agriculture is prepared mostly for farmers to be more comfortable. This policy contains several sections about agriculture • • • • • • •

It helps farmers produce sufficient quantities of food for Europe It ensures this food is safe (for example through traceability) It protects farmers from excessive price volatility and market crises It helps them invest in modernizing their farms It sustains viable rural communities, with diverse economies It creates and maintains jobs in the food industry It protects the environment & animal welfare.

The common agricultural policy should take better account of water concerns, say EU Auditors A report published by the European Court of Auditors (ECA) reveals that the EU has been only partially successful in integrating water policy goals into the common agricultural policy1 (CAP). The audit highlighted weaknesses in the two instruments currently used to integrate water concerns into the CAP and pointed out delays and weaknesses in the implementation of the Water Framework Directive.

The EU Auditors also noted that our water is limited. They are not commensurate with the policy ambitions set for the CAP and the even more ambitious goals set by the CAP regulations for the 2014-2020 period.

The ECA also found that monitoring and evaluation systems, both directly related to the CAP and those providing more general data did not provide the information necessary to fully inform

AGRI – Committee on Agriculture and Rural Affairs policy-making as regards pressures on water coming from agricultural activities, though noting some useful initiatives. Based on its findings, the ECA recommended that: •

• • •

•

EU Commission proposes the necessary modifications to the current instruments (cross-compliance and rural development) or, where appropriate, new instruments capable of meeting the more ambitious goals with respect to the integration of water policy objectives into the CAP. Member States should address the weaknesses highlighted in relation to cross-compliance and improve their use of rural development funding to better meet the water policy objectives The Commission and Member states must address the delays in implementation of the Water Framework Directive and improve the quality of their river basin management plans by describing individual measures and making them sufficiently clear and concrete at an operational level The Commission should ensure it has information that, at the very least, is capable of measuring the evolution of the pressures placed on water by agricultural practices and the Member States themselves are requested to provide data on water in a more timely, reliable and consistent manner.

VIII. • • • • • • •

Keywords

Food and Agriculture Organization World Food Program Technological Agriculture Industrialization Productivity Organic Agriculture Pesticides

CULT Committee Culture & Education

Nahit M端cellit & Cansu Kolay

CULT – Committee on Culture and Education

CULT – Committee on Culture and Education “Easy as ABC?: Having observed that children of immigrant families are facing notable difficulties throughout their academic life, what measures should be taken in order to provide equal education opportunities to students with migration or different ethnic backgrounds?”

by Nahit MÜCELLİT & Cansu KOLAY I.

Key Terms 1. Immigrant: Someone who enters another country to live there permanently 2. Mother Tongue: The first language learned by a person, native 3. Interpreter: A person who interprets, especially one who translates speech orally or into sign languages.

4. Pupil: A person who is taught by another especially a school child or student in relation to a teacher.

5. Tuition: The training or instruction provided by a teacher or tutor.

II.

Key Questions 1. From what facilities is the EACEA responsible of in migrants’ adjustment process?

2. How can the EACEA or NGO’s accelerate language learning process for migrant children?

3. How can Member States increase efficiency of resource people given by schools or local authorities to migrant families & pupils to ease integration process?

4. What is the importance of usage of curriculum in integration process?

5. To overcome the stereotypes about classmates with different ethnicities what measures must be taken?

III.

Social Relevance Integration of migrant children is a significant process that should be taken into consideration to provide standardized academic career as natives. Whilst the process of integration continues, there will be a gap –cultural, lingual, and academic- between the migrant pupils and the others. If the integration process finalizes with not sufficient & effective steps –without filling the gapincompetence of pupil complicates the process and individuals’ participation in social life. It can be claimed as integration of migrant also effects and speeds up the “otherization”. According to the surveys in Member States, stereotypes about different ethnicities are also significant in –mostlyprimary and secondary education. In growing duration, stereotypes that children are exposed to constitute the background which migrant pupils will face.

CULT – Committee on Culture and Education IV.

Stakeholders 1. EACEA: Education, Audiovisual, and Culture Executive Agency of the European Commission.

Agency manages projects like Erasmus+, Eurydice Network, and Creative Europe etc.

2. Education, Youth, Culture and Sport Council(EYCS): The policy areas covered by the EYCS Council are the responsibility of member states. The EU's role in areas of education, youth, culture and sport is therefore to provide a framework for cooperation between member states, for exchange of information and experience on areas of common interest.

The EYCS Council is composed of the ministers responsible for education, culture, youth, media, communication and sport from all EU member states. Council meetings are also attended by a representative from the European Commission - usually the Commissioner for education, culture, multilingualism and youth.

The Council mostly adopts incentive measures and recommendations. Nevertheless, the initiatives agreed by the Council, such as the Erasmus+ or Creative Europe programs, can have a very direct impact on EU citizens. In some cases, where the treaties allow, the Council can also adopt legislative acts.

The EYCS Council is also closely involved in monitoring the progress of the education and youth aspects of the Europe 2020 strategy, as well as in developing the cultural sector's contribution to a more innovative Europe.

V.

Conflicts

1. Communication Between Schools And Immigrant Families Parental involvement in the education of children is important to children's success at school.

However, many immigrant parents are likely to encounter difficulties of a linguistic or cultural nature and measures to ensure that information is passed on efficiently between schools and immigrant families, specifically by using languages other than those used at school, are therefore essential.

Measures enhancing communication between schools and immigrant families, general education (ISCED 0-3), 2007/08 None of these 3 measures

Written information on the school system in the language of origin Use of interpreters

Resource persons for immigrant families and pupils

CULT – Committee on Culture and Education 1.1. Publishing information on the school system in the mother tongue of immigrant families In around two thirds of the countries, written information in the school system is published in several languages of origin of the immigrant families present in the country or region in question.

This information generally covers all levels of education, from pre-primary to upper secondary.

Measures of this type have, in general, been introduced recently, dating from only 2007 or 2008 in certain countries (Finland and Iceland).

In around half of the countries, the national or top-level education authorities are responsible for these publications. In Luxembourg, apart from the publication of documents by the Ministry of Education in French and German (official languages) as well as in Portuguese (mother tongue of 20 % of pupils), invitations and/or information letters sent to parents are translated upon request to other languages by intercultural mediators and translators working for the foreign pupils' school service of the Ministry of Education. In the Czech Republic and Liechtenstein, national organizations responsible for social affairs publish information on the education system in a number of different languages. In the United Kingdom (Northern Ireland), a multilingual website for newcomers and their parents has been set up by the five Education and Library Boards in cooperation with each other. In some countries, in addition to the initiatives taken by the ministry responsible for education, other centralized agencies also produce publications of this type. In Ireland, such information is also produced by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, the National Qualifications Authority of Ireland, the Reception and Integration Agency, the National Educational Welfare Board (NEWB), the All Ireland Programme for Immigrant Parents and The Jesuit Refugee Service, as an example.

National or top-level education authorities

Other central-level agency or association

Local or school authorities

No information published in the language of origin

Data not available

1.2. Use of interpreters: encouraged but rarely a statutory right Interpreters are used in numerous countries in a variety of situations requiring communication between schools and immigrant families, at the primary and secondary education levels. Depending on the country, this practice may be a statutory right for families, may be the subject of a central-level recommendation that schools are supposed to implement, in some cases receiving specific resources from central government, or may be adopted as a local level initiative

CULT – Committee on Culture and Education In several countries that recommend the use of interpreters for communications with immigrant families, the national or regional public authorities provide schools with specific services or resources for this purpose. In the French Community of Belgium, this is the case when mediators in charge of violence and school dropout problems meet with immigrant families. In addition, a pilot project that ran from September 2007 to December 2008, aimed to involve interpreters in the school setting to facilitate communication between parents of immigrant origin and their child's school. The project was managed by a private organization and co-funded by the government of the French Community and the European Fund for Refugees. It concentrated on new arrivals, refugees, and asylum seekers.

Access to interpretation services is a statutory right in six countries and applies to a specific category of immigrant families (refugees) or in very specific situations requiring contact between immigrant families and schools. In these countries, with the exception of Hungary, national recommendations, national resources, or local initiatives cover those situations where this statutory right does not apply.

As an example, in Slovenia, foreign persons who are in contact with the public services may request interpreters, but must pay for them. Thus, in practice, schools tend to ask the families of immigrant parents who need interpretation services or bilingual pupils at the school to serve this function. These methods are also recommended in the 2007 strategy for the integration of immigrant pupils in the education system. In Finland, public authorities are encouraged to provide interpretation services during the meetings they organize with immigrant families. In Sweden, there are no express recommendations to schools on the use of interpreters, but schools have an obligation to ensure effective communication with all parents and must therefore adopt the measures necessary.

However, in various cases and in particular when no central or local recommendations exist on the use of interpreters, the schools must bear the cost of such services. As a result, ‘volunteer’ interpreters may then be used – i.e. persons made available by charitable organizations (German speaking Community of Belgium), NGOs (Ireland), teachers at the school who speak the required languages (Austria), other immigrant parents (Ireland), or a bilingual member of the school learning support staff (United Kingdom (England)). In Ireland, during the meetings when sensitive subjects are discussed, interpretation services are used by schools at their own expense. Some local schools have networked together and used cultural mediation projects to offer interpretation and translation services. However, resources are provided when the services of National Educational Psychological Services are used in special circumstances and for refugee families, for example when the parents initially visit a school to register their children.

1.3. Resource persons responsible for reception and orientation of immigrant pupils: often teachers, rarely established structures Among the methods used to promote communication between schools and immigrant families, the appointment of resource persons specifically responsible for welcoming and guiding immigrant pupils and serving as a liaison with their families is a widespread practice in Europe. These persons may be school staff, provided by the central or local education authorities, or be part of a local unit specifically responsible for immigrant families. The appointment of resource persons may be required under the regulations or recommendations applicable to schools or municipalities, or may be initiated by parties other than the central education authorities, i.e. mainly the schools themselves. The regulations and recommendations governing resource persons have generally been issued fairly recently.

CULT – Committee on Culture and Education

Resource persons required by central-level regulation or recommendation

Resource persons decided at local level

Local integration units required by regulation or recommendation

No resource persons or local units

Data not available

1

VI.

Facts & Figures Some facts about Member States; 1. Austria: The Ministry of Education recommends bilingual teachers to be involved in specific needs diagnosis procedure, since children with an inadequate command of German are often mistaken with special-needs children.

2. Latvia: Teachers working in schools serving ethnic minorities in which immigrant pupils may enrol are likely to serve as resource persons for these pupils.

3. United Kingdom: Schools have always been able to offer languages spoken by their pupils within the modern foreign languages curriculum, if they wish. From 2008/09, there have been revisions to the curriculum intended to make it easier for them to do so.

3. Hungary: If schools do not have sufficient material and human resources to organise mother tongue tuition themselves, the Ministry of Education recommends seeking advice and assistance from the diplomatic mission of the relevant country.

VII.

Legislative Background A number of European countries have recently established strategic policies concerning the phenomenon of migration in their educational systems that see the linguistic diversity linked to the mother tongue of immigrant pupils as a benefit and reflect a readiness to cultivate this diversity.

1

http://www.nesse.fr/nesse/activities/reports/activities/reports/education-and-migration-pdf Education and Migration strategies for integrating migrant children in European schools and societies, Professor Friedrich Heckmann

CULT – Committee on Culture and Education  In Germany, a 2007 statement entitled 'Integration as a chance – together for more equality' issued jointly by the Standing Conference of Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs and organizations for people with a migration background stressed in particular the importance of linguistic diversity and of including the languages of origin of immigrant children in everyday school life.  In Estonia, the Integration strategy 2008-2013 specifically seeks to establish, in education and other areas, conditions in which every person will be able to maintain his or her language and culture of origin.  In Spain, the Strategic Plan for Citizenship and Integration 2007-2010 includes among its lines of action the preservation of languages and cultures of origin and provides for their promotion within the education system via various methods.  In Portugal, in 2005 the Ministry of Education issued a document containing general recommendations for the promotion of mother tongues and cultures of origin as well as proposals for specific projects that reflect these principles.  In Finland, the 2007-2012 government plan for education and research underlines the importance of taking the presence of immigrant pupils in schools into account and introduces measures that enable these pupils both to succeed in the national educational system and to receive lessons in their mother tongue.  In Ireland, in a report on its national strategy for intercultural education that will be implemented as of 2009, Greece, in its most recent strategic framework on policy and educational actions to be taken, Luxembourg, and Slovenia in its 2007 strategy for the integration of immigrant pupils in the education system and its 2009-2011 educational and cultural policy, have all adopted similar policies.

VIII.

Keywords

Immigration, EACEA, Interpreters, Migrant, Eurydice, Education Strategies, Mother Tongue, Language Learning, Pupil, Resource People.

DEVE Committee on Development

Kerem Akıllıoğlu & Ecenur Yavaş

DEVE- Committee on Development

DEVE - Committee on Development Global Green Economy: Regarding the Horizon 2020 and European countries' green policy, what actions should the EU and its Member States take in order to develop and implement a "Global Green Economy" plan?

by Kerem AKILLIOÄžLU & Ecenur YAVAĹž I.

Key Terms: 1. Green Economy: Green economy is one whose growth in income and employment is driven by public and private investments that reduce carbon emissions and pollution, enhance energy and resource efficiency, and prevent the loss of biodiversity, socially inclusive and ecosystem services.

2. Green Policy: The policies that try to minimize the human impact on the nature by regulations made on the economy, daily life, manufacture, energy etc.

3. Global Green Economy: As known, environmental problems cannot be solved by projects held in restricted areas. For reducing carbon emission and pollution, solving these kind of problems related to the humankind and global warming, the world needs a global energy and economy plan, we need to create Global Green Economy as an economy plan that considers developing countries and the global market.

II.

Key Questions: 1. Is growth and development possible with green policy?

2. What does green economy promote?

3. Can market economy provide public goods?

DEVE- Committee on Development 4. Are there any examples of successful programs that increased growth and productivity by using a green policy?

5. Does the green economy transition rational and affordable?

6. Is the green economy a pretense for rich countries to erect “green� trade barriers on developing countries?

7. How can the public be motivated about transition to green economy?

III.

Social Relevance:

According to the Eurostat data, the main entity that keeps data on the EU, Sweden leads the way for all EU members with 51 percent of its energy coming from renewables.

Sweden is also one of the first three EU countries to surpass its renewable energy goals for 2020. Bulgaria, and Estonia also met their renewable energy goals 8 years ahead of

DEVE- Committee on Development schedule, fueled by substantial growth in wind power. Biofuels also chipped in a fairly large assist for Estonia.

The EU also publishes a progress report on renewable energy every two years. "The report shows once again that Europe is good at renewables, and that renewables are good for Europe. We have three times more renewable power per capita in Europe than anywhere else in the rest of the world. We have more than one million people working in a renewable energy sector worth over €130 bn a year and we export €35 bn worth of renewables every year," Miguel Arias Cañete, Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy, said. Renewables will continue to play a key role in helping the EU meet its energy needs beyond 2020.

In the light of all the implementations EU’s trying to build a green economy for years and we can say that it is impossible to provide human well-being by building green economy in a restricted area. Bearing the mind the global warming, greenhouse gas emissions and all the environmental problems of the 21st century, we need to take an action. As the people of the world, we need global green economy and global policies. As the leader of green policies, EU must take actions for the world.

IV.

Stakeholders: 1. European Commission: European Commission’s duty is producing new programs and policies and managing the old ones in the EU. It has also created the green policies that EU countries are using today. It supports the green economy and it plays an important role on these kinds of policies. a. Renewable Energy Directive: The Renewable Energy Directive1 establishes an overall policy for the production and promotion of energy from renewable sources in the EU. It requires the EU to fulfil at least 20% of its total energy needs with renewables by 2020 – to be achieved through the attainment of individual national targets. This directive is the key factor of EU’s sustainable energy policy and the EU countries have already agreed on a new renewable energy target of at least 27% of final energy consumption in the EU as a whole by 2030. This target is part of the EU's energy and climate goals for 2030.

2. United Nations: UN is an international organization that is currently made up of 193 Member States. Each of the 193 Member States of the United Nations is a member of the General Assembly. UN’s importance about green policy is that it is the largest organization worldwide and it already had the green economy programs founded. b. PAGE: The Partnership for Action on Green Economy2 founded after the 2012 UN Conference on Sustainable Development as a direct response.

1

http://ec.europa.eu/clima/policies/strategies/index_en.htm

2

http://www.un-page.org/

DEVE- Committee on Development PAGE is one of the most active foundations about environment and development. It also has a sub- programme named environmantel governance. Some of it’s main topics are climate change, ecosystem management, chemicals & waste, resource efficiency… c. REDD: United Nations Collaborative Initiative on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation3 (REDD+) in developing countries. The Program was launched in 2008. The UN-REDD Program supports nationally led REDD+ processes and promotes the informed and meaningful involvement of all stakeholders, including indigenous peoples and other forest-dependent communities, in national and international REDD+ implementation. d. UNFCCC: In 1992, countries adopted the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change4 (UNFCCC) as a response to the problem of global warming. Five years later, they adopted the Kyoto Protocol, which strengthens the Convention by setting legally binding emission reduction requirements for 37 industrialized countries. The ultimate objective of both treaties is to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that will prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system.

V.

Conflicts:

A Green Economy can be thought of as an alternative vision for growth and development; one that can generate growth and improvements in people’s lives in ways consistent with sustainable development. A Green Economy promotes a triple bottom line: sustaining and advancing economic, environmental and social well-being.

During the transition there will be short-term, nontrivial losses associated with changes in industry and market structure (e.g., a decline of the coal industry and related job losses.) and there will be “missing markets” – meaning that markets do not systematically account for the inherent value of services provided by nature, like water filtration or coastal protection.

At this point we should consider the fact that a “market economy” alone cannot provide public goods, like efficient electricity grids, sanitation or public transportation. And economic policy is often shaped by those who wield power, with strong vested interests, and rarely captures the voice and perspectives of those most at risk.

Some countries feel that they are lagging in green technology know-how and therefore will be at a competitive disadvantage in the race for future markets. Others feel that the Green Economy is a pretense for rich countries to erect “green” trade barriers on developing country exports. These are all legitimate concerns that deserve attention. Also we’re still in

3 4

http://www.un-redd.org/ http://newsroom.unfccc.int/

DEVE- Committee on Development the wake of the global financial crisis and many people perceive Green Economy solutions as expensive and developing countries are concerned that transitioning to a Green Economy will hinder economic growth and the ability to reduce poverty.

Planning agencies and finance ministries should adopt a more diverse and representative set of economic indicators that focus less exclusively on growth and track the pace and progress of development.

Identify and take advantage of political leadership when available as this will be crucial in order to limit the undue influence of “dirty” economic holdouts.

Timing is everything when it comes to big policy reforms. Green Economy advocates will need to be ready when that window of opportunity presents itself.

Ultimately, the widespread transition to a Green Economy will depend on whether or not the long-term public interest is reflected in today’s economic policies.

VI.

Facts& Figures: 1. The EU countries are the leaders of green economy by adopting national “green growth” or “low carbon” economic strategies.

2. Renewables will continue to play a key role in helping the EU meet its energy needs beyond 2020.

3. EU states have more than one million people working in a renewable energy sector worth over €130 bn a year and we export €35 bn worth of renewables every year.

4. After the Chernobyl nuclear accident in 1986 the German particle physicist Gerhard Knies, calculated that the world’s deserts receive enough energy in a few hours to provide for humanity’s power needs for a whole year.

5. In 2012, it is estimated that the total number of people working in eco-industries is around 3.4 million which represents around 1% of the total workforce, and that the eco-industries have a turnover of around EUR 550 million.

6. The eco-industry is one of Europe's biggest sectors with an annual turnover of €319 billion and has been growing by around 8% per annum.

7. The cost of wind energy per kWh has fallen by 50% over the last 15 years.

8. Solar photovoltaic systems, which convert sunlight into electricity, are more than 60% cheaper today than they were in 1990.

9. In 2009, Denmark exported €5.6 billion worth of wind technology and created new jobs – it employs almost 25,000 people compared to around 15,000 in 2000.

10. It is estimated that around 20% of material use in the EU is inefficient and that investment to remedy this would pay back in one to six years.

11. By 2009 the EU’s emissions were some 17% lower than in 1990.

DEVE- Committee on Development 12. The PERBIOF project in Italy, funded under the EU LIFE program, developed an innovative technology for treating municipal and/or industrial wastewater. By using this technology, €72 million can be saved in costs per year.

VII.

Legislative Background: There are many examples of successful, large-scale programs that increase growth or productivity and do so in a sustainable manner. For example: 1. The Republic of Korea has adopted a five-year plan for green growth for the period 2009–2013, allocating 2 percent of its gross domestic product to investment in several green sectors such as renewable energy, energy efficiency, clean technology and water. The government has also launched the Global Green Growth Institute.

2. In Mexico City, crippling congestion led to a major effort to promote Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), a sophisticated bus system that uses dedicated lanes on city streets.

Significant public investment in the BRT has reduced commuting times and air pollution and improved access to public transit for those less able to afford private cars.

3. China now invests more than any other country in renewable energy. Its total installed wind capacity grew 64 percent in 2010. This growth is driven by a national policy that sees clean energy as a major market in the near future, and one in which China wants to gain a competitive edge.

Every two years, EU countries report on their progress towards the EU's 2020 renewable energy goals. Based on the national reports, the European Commission produces an EU-wide report which gives an overview of renewable energy policy developments in EU countries.

Findings from the latest EU-wide report in 2015: 

25 EU countries are expected to meet their 2013/2014 interim renewable energy targets



In 2014, the projected share of renewable energy in the gross final energy consumption is 15.3%



The EU's 2020 renewables target has resulted in around 326 Mt of avoided CO2 emissions in 2012, rising to 388 Mt in 2013



It has also led to a reduction in the EU's demand for fossil fuels to the tune of 116 Mtoe (2013 figure)



The 2014 projected share of renewable energy in transport is 5.7% meaning that achieving the target will be challenging but feasible, with some EU countries making good progress.

DEVE- Committee on Development VIII.

Keywords: Global green economy, development, renewable energy, emissions, climate change.

IX.

Useful Links:     

http://www.greengrowthknowledge.org/map http://www.dw.com/en/brazil-commits-to-37-percent-reduction-in-greenhouse-gases/a18744713 http://www.greengrowthknowledge.org/ http://www.teebweb.org/ https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/topics/greeneconomy

DROI Committee on Human Rights

Ece Balekoğlu & Ekin Arıbaş

DROI - Committee on Human Rights

DROI – Committee on Human Rights Red light to human trafficking: Keeping in mind that as many as 27 million men, women, and children are trafficking victims at any given time, what measures can be taken against human trafficking, forced and child prostitution in light of the "Directive on Human Trafficking"?

by Ece BALEKOĞLU & Ekin ARIBAŞ I.

Key Terms 1. Human Trafficking: Trafficking in Persons as the recruitment, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of power or by making use of a position of vulnerability, the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation.

2. Exploitation: The action or fact of treating someone unfairly in order to benefit from their work.

3. Labor: Productive activity, especially for the sake of economic gain.

4. Coercion: Threats of serious harm or physical restraint against any person; any scheme, plan or pattern intended to cause a person to believe that failure to perform an act would result in serious harm to or physical restraint against any person; or threatened abuse of the legal process.

5. Slavery: A person who is the property of wholly subject to another; a bond servant.

6. Involuntary Servitude: Includes a condition of servitude induced by means of (a) any scheme, plan, or pattern intended to cause a person to believe that, if the person did not enter into or continue in such condition that person or another person would suffer serious harm or physical restraint; or (b) the abuse or threatened abuse of the legal process.

7. Debt Bondage: The status or condition of a debtor arising from a pledge by the debtor of his or her personal services or of those of a person under his or her control as a security for debt, if the value of those services as reasonably assessed is not applied toward the liquidation of the debt or the length and nature of those services are not respectively limited and defined.

II.

Key Questions

How does Human Trafficking differ from migrant smuggling?

What types of industries are involved with Human Trafficking?

What are the major challenges faced in the battle against Human Trafficking?

DROI - Committee on Human Rights Do many traffickers get caught and convicted?

What is the most commonly identified form of Human Trafficking?

III.

Social Relevance

Victims of human trafficking and modern-day slavery work in factories, fields, brothels, street corners, as child soldiers, in private homes, or in innumerable other settings, hidden behind walls or in plain view. The most common industries involved with human trafficking include agriculture, construction, garment and textile manufacturing, catering and restaurants, domestic work, entertainment and the sex industry.

Anyone can be a victim of human trafficking. Victims may be:  Men, women and children  Of varying ages  Of varying levels of education  Any race or ethnicity  Voluntary migrants escaping poverty, gender-based discrimination or political persecution, who become enslaved  Individuals seeking better employment and livelihood opportunities who are then tricked into slavery  Persons abducted involuntarily and held against their will through force, fraud or deception Each case of human trafficking is unique. Whether the human trafficker is an individual acting alone or part of a larger organization, they reap financial gain from their victim through force, fraud, or coercion. They may fraudulently influence their victim with the false incentive of a job or better living conditions. Traffickers may even kidnap their victims.

Traffickers use a variety of tactics to intimidate their victims, including:      

Physical violence, torture, and starvation Rape and other sexual abuse Psychological abuse, coercion, and blackmail Drug addiction Threats of violence against their family or loved ones Confiscation of passports or other important documentation

Each of us can play a part in combating modern-day slavery, whether directly or indirectly. There are amazing individuals who are putting time and effort into combating modern-day slavery domestically and internationally in their communities, while others travel across international borders. Depending on your available time, resources, and priorities, decide what you are willing to do and take action now.1 Some minor solutions may include: 1

http://www.humantraffickingsearch.net/takeaction_community.html

DROI - Committee on Human Rights         

IV.

Establishing a Stop Modern-Slavery group in your community, Utilizing social media for getting the word out, Using posters, ads, billboards and commercials for public awareness, Organize an event which includes speakers who are specialized especially in Human Trafficking, Educating the young in schools, Starting or improving rehabilitation services for the ones who were abused, Informing the society about the causes and solutions of Human Trafficking, Creating a map, including the previous Human Trafficking cases to prevent people to go those places without any protection, If you are a victim of Human Trafficking; sharing your unacceptable experience with local, state and federal representatives.

Stakeholders

1. European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) 2: The FRA is an EU body tasked with "collecting and analyzing data on fundamental rights with reference to, in principle, all rights listed in the Charter"; however, it is intended to focus particularly on "the thematic areas within the scope of EU law" 2. Love146: It is a U.S.-based 501(c)(3) non-profit international human rights organization that works toward the abolition of child trafficking and exploitation through survivor care, prevention education, professional training, grassroots empowerment, and contributing a growing body of research 3. Coalition Against Trafficking in Women (CATW)3: CATW is a non-governmental organization that works to end human trafficking and the commercial sexual exploitation of women and children worldwide.

4. European Union Commission4: The Commission is acting as a facilitator for EU States to share best practices and to boost the almost non-existent collection of reliable data on trafficking across the EU. To step up cooperation in this area, the Commission will continue forging strong partnerships with NGOs, the private sector, law enforcement bodies as well as with non-EU countries that are source or transit countries.

V.

Conflicts

Human traffickers force people to be slaves in a wide variety of industries and circumstances. The most prevalent ones on a worldwide level are agriculture, mining and forced prostitution. Victims may be women and children who have been abducted, sold or 2

http://fra.europa.eu/en/about-fra/who-we-are

3

http://www.catwinternational.org/WhoWeAre

http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/what-we-do/policies/organized-crime-and-humantrafficking/trafficking-in-human-beings/index_en.htm 4

DROI - Committee on Human Rights tricked into commercial sex; or women, children and men in forced labor, in industries such as domestic servitude, agriculture, construction, restaurant, mining or manufacturing, and are held by force with no remuneration or opportunity to leave. Some people are enslaved through debt bondage, where the slaveholder forces a victim—or entire families— to work without pay to pay off a bogus, illegal ‘debt’. Other victims are captured and used by marauders in armed conflicts.

Trafficking in human beings is not new, but the complexity of this phenomenon has grown exponentially in the past fifteen years, and continues to grow in scope and magnitude each year. This is facilitated by a number of interconnected factors including the substantial increase in the number of people in the developing world as a result of high rates of population growth; the changing social and economic conditions that have brought large numbers of people from rural areas into urban centers where they don’t have jobs or employment prospects, government corruption that turns a blind eye to trafficking.

Gender discrimination and the feminization of poverty also contribute to the vulnerability of women and children who often cannot find jobs to support their families. Extreme poverty produces the supply of victims. The demand for commercial sex and cheap goods and labor create the market for victims worldwide.

Globalization and the promise of good jobs and economic opportunity serve to lure women and men to what they believe will bring them a better life. While many trafficking victims are abducted or are tricked into a trafficking situation, some trafficking victims begin by migrating voluntarily. They choose to leave their community or country of origin for economic, personal or political reasons, and only after they arrive at their destination does the trafficker use force or coercion to keep them under his or her control.

Although often confused with smuggling, human trafficking is a distinct issue. In the case of smuggling, migrants pay an ‘agent’ to help them illegally cross a national border.

After arriving in the desired destination, the relationship between migrant and ‘agent’ ends.

Migrants are free to move wherever they choose and pursue or not pursue employment opportunities at will. In the case of trafficking, on the other hand, upon arrival at the destination, the agent either sells the migrants to a slaveholder or becomes the slaveholder him or herself.

Determining whether a person has been trafficked or smuggled is often a complicated process that is based on the determination of three factors: the use or threat of force, fraud or coercion. People are recruited in several different ways such as through fake employment agencies, acquaintances, newspaper ads, front businesses, word of mouth or abduction. Traffickers may be neighbors, friends, returnees, and agricultural operators, owners of small businesses, diplomats and even families.

Increasingly, however, the traffickers are organized crime syndicates, often in collaboration with corrupt law enforcement entities, government officials or employers, who may use several intermediaries from the first point of contact to the final destination of the victim. If the victim is transported, they use both legal and illegal means of transport and various techniques to keep their victim enslaved. They may keep them under lock and key or in isolation from the public and from their family members or support networks, confiscate

DROI - Committee on Human Rights their passports or identification documents, use the threat of violence against the enslaved person or their families, threaten them with shame, fear of imprisonment or deportation, and control their money.

Human trafficking has grown in part as a result of the advances in internet and communication technology, which make information fast, anonymous, and easily accessible to predators and traffickers worldwide. According to Moisés Naím, author of Illicit: How Smugglers, Traffickers and Copycats are Hijacking the Global Economy, “…the modern-day slave auction is electronic, wherein local pimps can examine and purchase via e-mail women and girls from wholesalers in other countries and where retail customers can order up the prostitute of their choice.”

Because of unique factors within each country and the many forms of human trafficking, there is no 'one-size-fits-all' solution. Eliminating human trafficking requires focused and serious action by countries of origin, transit or destination, by international organizations, and by individuals within communities where slavery exists.

Human trafficking is a devastating human rights violation and a human tragedy, but social workers can help in at least three ways: 1. Identify victims of slavery and trafficking and assist them to get help, 2. Serve in the organizations that specialize in assisting trafficking victims and improving upon the current ‘promising practices’ of rehabilitation and reintegration, 3. Educate vulnerable populations about the dangers of human trafficking as a form of prevention.

All of these roles need to be filled in every community where human trafficking exists in order to locate victims, help them rebuild their lives, prevent others from being trafficked and enslaved, and end this horrific crime once and for all.

Victims trafficked to Europe often come from Brazil, the Andean Region, South-East Europe and Russian federation, grand majority of the victims being from Brazil and Romania specifically. The traffickers are often Western European, Balkan, Eastern European, North African, Turkish, Nigerian or Chinese.

VI.

Facts & Figures

According to U.S. Department of State, human trafficking is one of the fastest growing crimes in the world. Human trafficking is the world’s second largest criminal enterprise, after drugs.

According to ILO Global Estimate of Forced Labor 2012: Results and Methodology, June 2012, there are an estimated 5.5 million children in the trafficking industry.

DROI - Committee on Human Rights According to Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, 2007, the average age at which girls first become victims of prostitution is 12-14. For boys, the average age of entry into prostitution is 11-13.

According to 2010 Trafficking in Persons Report, U.S. Department State, it’s estimated that only 0.4% of victims has been identified.

VII.

Legislative Background

The Legislation and Case Law section provides an overview of anti-trafficking European and international legislation and relevant case law of EU Member States. National legislation can be found in the Member States5 and EU policy documents in the EU Policy6 section.

The international legislative anti-trafficking framework has been consolidated through the elaboration of several instruments. On the international level, the United Nations Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons and at regional level the2005 Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings are key instruments.

At the EU level, the new Directive 2011/36/EU7, on preventing and combating trafficking in human beings and protecting its victims, and replacing Council Framework Decision 2002/629/JHA, has been formally adopted on the 5 April 2011. It makes explicit that the definition of trafficking in human beings covers also trafficking for forced begging, for the exploitation of criminal activities, for the removal of organs as well as for illegal adoption or forced marriages. The instrument also introduces tougher penalties for traffickers as well as better protection of and assistance to victims. It is based on international standards and further expands them.

Complementary to this, the Council Directive 2004/81 introduced a residence permit for victims who cooperate with the competent authorities. This means that every victim of human trafficking who is not an EU national and is staying irregularly should be offered a socalled reflection period. During this period, the victim can make a decision on whether to cooperate with the authorities in criminal proceedings.

Pertaining to case law, there is an increasing body of jurisprudence on trafficking in human beings.

EU Action8 

Harmonization of EU States’ criminal laws e.g. common definition of the criminal offence of trafficking in human beings.

https://ec.europa.eu/anti-trafficking/node/2950 https://ec.europa.eu/anti-trafficking/node/3965 7 http://ec.europa.eu/anti-trafficking/node/4522 8 http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/elibrary/multimedia/infographics/index_en.htm#0801262488c18d4a/c_ 5 6

DROI - Committee on Human Rights 

Possibility to not prosecute and apply penalties to victims for unlawful activities they were forced to commit by traffickers.



Possibility to prosecute EU nationals for human trafficking offences committed in another EU State or outside the EU.



Robust provisions on victim’s protection, including special measures for children.



Victims’ support, such as shelters, medical and psychological assistance, translation services.

EU Strategy 2012-2016 Over 40 concrete actions under five priorities to prevent human trafficking protect victims and prosecute traffickers.

EU Anti-Trafficking Coordinator Mandated to improve coordination and coherence among EU institutions, EU agencies, EU States and international actors and to develop existing and new EU policies to address trafficking in human beings.

VIII.

Keywords     

Consent Human Smuggling Sex Trafficking Child Prostitution Commercial Sex Act

FEMM Commitee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality

Berrak Güloğlu & Simay Yaşbay

FEMM – Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality

FEMM -

Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality

“Working dads and stay-home moms: What should be done to eliminate social stereotypes and workplace biases regarding gender in order for men and women to be able to freely choose their own roles in the community?”

by Berrak GÜLOĞLU & Simay YAŞBAY

I.         

 

Key Terms Stereotype: A simplified and standardized conception or image invested with special meaning and held in common by members of a group.

Pressure: A constraining or compelling force or influence.

Sexism: Discrimination or devaluation based on a person's sex or gender, as in restricted job opportunities, especially such discrimination directed against women.

Patriarchy: Male-dominated social structures leading to the oppression of women.

Feminism: The doctrine advocating social, political, and all other rights of women equal to those of men.

Bias: A particular tendency, trend, inclination, feeling, or opinion, especially one that is preconceived or unreasoned.

Social Role: The characteristic and expected social behavior of an individual.

Economic Freedom: Economic freedom or economic liberty or right to economic liberty denotes the ability of members of a society to undertake economic direction and actions.

Discrimination: treatment or consideration of, or making a distinction in favor of or against, a person or thing based on the group, class, or category to which that person or thing belongs rather than on individual merit.

Sexual Orientation: The preference for sexual partners of one gender or the other.

Social Stratification: The hierarchical or vertical division of society according to rank, caste, or class.

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Key Questions

What are the reasons behind the concept of “gender roles” of society?

Which steps can be taken in order to get over the obstacles caused by the concept of the “gender roles”?

What kind of complications are women and men facing in the workplaces and at home?

What are the causes of those complications?

What can be done in order to get those complications exceeded both on the familiar and governmental basis?

The backlash to feminism (the “f-word”) is often media based. How can the correct media representation of feminism be sustained?

How could the ratio of women's attendance to education be increased?

How could the security of women in workplaces be provided by eliminating psychological and physical violence? What further actions should be taken?

What further steps should be taken to provide women's attendance to governance and fair representation?

FEMM – Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality 

What is government's duty to prevent inequality between the incomes of men and women?

In what ways are men also affected by gender stereotypes?

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III.

Social Relevance

One of the most important social structures that organizes social interaction is status—a category or position a person occupies that is a significant determinant of how she or he will be defined and treated. We occupy a number of statuses simultaneously, referred to as a status set, such as mother, daughter, attorney, patient, employee, and passenger. All societies categorize members by status and then rank the statuses in some fashion, thereby creating a system of social stratification. People whose status sets are comprised of lowranked ascribed statuses more than high-ranked achieved statuses are near the bottom of the social stratification system and vulnerable to social stigma, prejudice, and discrimination.

To date, there is no known society in which the status of female is consistently ranked higher than that of male.

IV.

Stakeholders:

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Women in Development Europe (WIDE+): Recommendations to UN Human Rights Council on the protection of the family and the contribution of families in realizing the right to and adequate standard of living

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The European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE): is an autonomous body of the European Union, established to contribute to and strengthen the promotion of gender equality, including gender mainstreaming in all EU policies and the resulting national policies, and the fight against discrimination based on sex, as well as to raise EU citizens’ awareness of gender equality.

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The Parliamentary Committee for Gender Equality: The scope of activities of the Committee involves determining and monitoring the policy implementation. The Committee participates in drafting, implementing, and analyzing the results of the National Policy for the Promotion of Gender Equality.

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The Advisory Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men: assists the Commission in formulating and implementing the European Union activities aimed at promoting equality between women and men.

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European Women’s Lobby (EWL): The European Women's Lobby (EWL) is the largest umbrella organization of women's associations in the European Union.

V.

Conflicts:

Educational Basis: Throughout the developing world, beliefs about a woman’s biological unsuitability for other than domestic roles have restricted opportunities for education and achieving literacy. Women’s gain in education is associated with the power to engage in the

FEMM – Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality research and scholarship offering alternatives to prevailing androcentric views.

Family Basis: Feminist scholars in the 1960s and 1970s viewed the traditional patriarchal family as a major site for the oppression of women. They asserted that when the patriarchal family is regarded as beneficial to social stability, it hampers the movement into egalitarian roles desired by both men and women.

Workplace: Operating in workplace relations, these processes conserve inequality by driving the gender-labeling of jobs, constructing people as gender-interested actors, contributing to employers' discriminatory preferences, and mediating men's and women's perceptions of alternatives and their willingness to settle for given job outcomes.

Feminism, the “F-Word”: Why is feminism is considered the “f-word.” Feminism is a movement to end the oppression of women. It uses women’s perceptions and experiences to devise strategies for overcoming oppression. It embraces political goals that offer gender equality. We will see throughout this text that public support for feminist goals and women’s empowerment is widespread. A large majority of American women agree that feminism has altered their lives for the better. Many women, however, refuse to identify themselves as feminists.

Stereotypes: A gender stereotype consists of beliefs about the psychological traits and characteristics of, as well as the activities appropriate to, men or women. Gender roles are defined by behaviors, but gender stereotypes are beliefs and attitudes about masculinity and femininity. The concepts of gender role and gender stereotype tend to be related. When people associate a pattern of behavior with either women or men, they may overlook individual variations and exceptions and come to believe that the behavior is inevitably associated with one gender but not the other. Therefore, gender roles furnish the material for gender stereotypes.

For several decades now, women have fought for equality in the workplace. Men are told to think like a woman and women are told to act like a man. But the advice tends to reinforce stereotypical traits like empathy for women and aggressiveness for men. And while these stereotypes are often exaggerated, research shows gender characteristics do exist and play an influential role in the workplace.

Differences come into play when women can suffer discrimination in male-dominated roles, such as outdoor manual labor. Men might face discrimination in domestic roles traditionally dominated by multinational females, such as housekeeping.

Where differences might lie between the sexes is that some industries might be dominated by a particular gender. For example, if men dominate the electricians’ field, women in the same industry may be discriminated against and may not be given the same respect. On the other hand, if women dominate the teaching field in an area, men working in teaching industry are more likely to be discriminated against.

FEMM – Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality Table 1:

Table 2:

Table 3:

FEMM – Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality

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VII.

Facts and Figures: Women carry the burden of two thirds of the total hours of work performed, they earn mere 10 percent of the world's income but own 1 percent of property.

Of the 192 countries in the world, only 12 have a female head of state.

Worldwide, women on average earn two-thirds of what men earn.

A study using data from 219 countries from 1970 to 2009 found that, for every one additional year of education for women of reproductive age, child mortality decreased by 9.5 per cent Increasing women and girls’ education contributes to higher economic growth.

Increased educational attainment accounts for about 50 per cent of the economic growth in OECD countries over the past 50 years, of which over half is due to girls having had access to higher levels of education and achieving greater equality in the number of years spent in education between men and women. But, for the majority of women, significant gains in education have not translated into better labour market outcomes Women tend to have less access to formal financial institutions and saving mechanisms. While 55 per cent of men report having an account at a formal financial institution, only 47 per cent of women do worldwide. This gap is largest among lower middle-income economies as well as in South Asia and the Middle East and North Africa.

Working men are now spending significantly more time per workday with their children than they did in the 1970s. Modern fathers spend an average of 4.1 hours with their children under the age of 13 on workdays, up from two hours in 1977. The amount of time mothers spend with their children hasn't changed as much but has increased from 4.5 hours in 1977 to 5.4 hours.

Despite changing roles at home and in society, men still have advantages in the workplace. This permits them to negotiate entry-level salaries 7.6 percent higher than women. Where only 7 percent of women were able to negotiate for more money, more than 50 percent of men did the same.

Legislative Background

FEMM – Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality The EU works to promote women’s rights within multilateral organizations such as the United Nations. It participates in the UN Commission on the Status of Women and is an active supporter of a resolution on renewed efforts to eliminate all forms of violence against women. 

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The Employment Equality Directive: Directive 2000/78/EC – or the Employment Equality Directive – prohibits discrimination on grounds of religion and belief, age, disability and sexual orientation. It covers the fields of: - employment & occupation - vocational training - membership of employer and employee organizations The legislation sets out minimum requirements. Member States may therefore provide for a higher level of protection against discrimination in national legislation.

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A High Level Conference on Women, Peace and Security, hosted by the EU in Belgium on 9 September 2010, called for greater accountability and monitoring of respect for women's rights in armed conflicts, notably by the UN Security Council.

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The mid-term review of the Gender Equality Strategy, published on 14 October 2013, found that, half-way through the strategy’s five-year time scale, the Commission was delivering on its commitments (MEMO/13/882). It had taken action in the majority of areas covered, in particular action to improve the gender balance in economic decision-making (see IP/12/1205 and MEMO/12/860), promoting equal pay (IP/13/165 and IP/14/222), tackling violence against women (see factsheet for more information) and female genital mutilation (IP/15/4201) and promoting gender equality through the Europe 2020 strategy.

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Action on sex discrimination has a long history at European level, going right back to the beginnings of the European Community. Since 1957, the EEC Treaty has contained a provision prohibiting unequal pay for men and women. From 1975, the EU has issued several directives on sex discrimination and the European Court of Justice has given a great number of judgments on sex discrimination cases.

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Equal pay: EU law (Directive 2006/54/EC) prohibits all discrimination on grounds of gender in relation to pay. Despite the EU legislation on equal pay, there is still a gender pay gap of about 17% (EU average). This is because, while direct discrimination has been relatively easy to tackle, enforcing the principle of equal pay for work of equal value is more difficult.

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Equal treatment in access to jobs and training EU law (Directive 2006/54/EC) aims to ensure that men and women are treated equally in access to: jobs (including selection criteria); self-employment; occupations; vocational training; career advancement; working conditions (including dismissals).

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Self-employment The Directive 2010/41/EU: grants female self-employed workers and female assisting

FEMM – Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality spouses or life partners a maternity allowance for at least 14 weeks; gives assisting spouses or life partners an entitlement to social protection. 

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Implementing and modernizing EU legislation on the equal treatment of men and women The directive covers the following three principles: equal pay; equal treatment in occupational social security schemes; equal treatment in access to employment, vocational training and promotion and in working conditions .It also improves procedures to make application of the principles more effective, and provides harmonized definitions of key terms - "discrimination" (direct and indirect), "harassment", "sexual harassment", "pay" and "occupational social security schemes".

Key Terms: androcentric empowerment feminism gender sex sexism sexual orientation patriarchy stereotypes gender roles

Additional Information: Difference between Gender and Sex “Sex refers to the biological characteristics distinguishing male and female. This definition emphasizes male and female differences in chromosomes, anatomy, hormones, reproductive systems, and other physiological components. Gender refers to those social, cultural, and psychological traits linked to males and females through particular social contexts. Sex makes us male or female; gender makes us masculine or feminine. Sex is an ascribed status because a person is born with it, but gender is an achieved status because it must be learned.”

John Stuart Mill, The Subjection of Women (1869)

IX.

Resources:   

https://www.contemporaryfamilies.org/wpcontent/uploads/2013/10/2007_Briefing_Cotter_Moms-and-jobs.pdf http://www.unwomen.org/en/how-we-work/un-system-coordination/women-inthe-united-nations/reports-and-monitoring# http://www.un.org/womenwatch/osagi/pdf/Work%20Life%20Policy,%20Practice%2 0and%20Potential%20background%20paper%20for%20EGM.pdf

FEMM – Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality       

http://empowermentinternational.org/2008/08/01/how-a-lack-of-educationadversely-affects-girls/ https://www.theparliamentmagazine.eu/articles/opinion/lack-education-makingwomen-powerless http://ideas.time.com/2012/10/04/womens-inhumanity-to-women/ http://www.theguardian.com/women-in-leadership/2015/jul/15/think-managerthink-man-women-leaders-biase-workplace http://www.workplacefairness.org/sexual-gender-discrimination http://www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/economic-empowerment/facts-andfigures http://smallbusiness.chron.com/dominance-discrimination-workplace-women14563.html

ITRE Committee on Industry, Research & Energy

Alp Bartu Hızal & Kerem Şenol

ITRE – Committee on Industry, Research and Energy

ITRE– Committee on Industry, Research and Energy Century of research: Bearing in mind that EU's ICT research is still less than half of that of US's, what can be done to provide necessary infrastructure and funding for research and technological improvements in order to maintain Europe's competitive edge through increased coordination?

?by Alp Bartu HIZAL & Kerem ŞENOL

I.

Key Terms 1. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) : It is a term that includes any communication device or application, encompassing: radio, television, cellular phones, computer and network hardware and software, satellite systems and so on, as well as the various services and applications associated with them, such as videoconferencing and distance learning.

2. Horizon 2020: Horizon 2020 is the financial instrument of the European Commission that runs from 2014 to 2020 with a €70.2 billion budget. This programme's main aim is to create new growth and jobs in Europe.

3. Leadership in Enabling and Industrial Technologies (LEIT): The Leadership in Enabling and Industrial Technology (LET) programme focuses on areas of research and innovation with a strong industrial dimension and where mastering new technological opportunities will enable and drive innovation.1 4. Innovation: The process of translating an idea or invention into a good or service for the benefit of the society.

5. Advanced Computing: Any innovations in semiconductor technologies (including fabrication, processing and manufacturing); computer architectures, computing hardware, algorithms and programming approaches; and software developments that improve computing performance or provide new or improved functionality.

6. Future Internet: It is a general term for research and development activities for the internet.

7. Content Technologies: The developments related to content creation, distribution, access, retrieval and interaction.

1

http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/horizon2020/en/h2020-section/leadership-enabling-and-industrial-technologies

ITRE – Committee on Industry, Research and Energy 8. Information Management: It is the collection and management of information from one or more sources and the distribution of that information to one or more audiences.

9. Robotics: The study of robots including every development in this section of engineering.

10. Photonics: Photonics is an area of study that involves the use of radiant energy (such as light), whose fundamental element is the photon.

11.Micro and Nano-Electronic Technologies: Nano electronics is basically nanotechnology2 applied in the context of electronic circuits and systems.

12. Digital Age: The digital age, also called the information age, is defined as the time period starting in the 1970s with the introduction of the personal computer with subsequent technology introduced providing the ability to transfer information freely and quickly.

13. Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SME): The European Commission defines SMEs3 as "An enterprise which employs less than 250 people; has an annual turnover of less than €50 million and/or balance sheet assets of less than €43 million; and has no more than 25% of its capital or voting rights owned by a larger firm or public body".

14. Standardization: It is the process by which specifications are set. These specifications help ensure that products retain the ability to connect with each other, boosting innovation, and keeping ICT markets open and competitive.

II.

Key Questions 1) What is the current state of EU on the research of ICT? 2) What is the expected development rate of EU on ICT research by 2020?

3) What is the recent Work Programme of EU on ICT based on?

4) How are the SMEs related with ICT research?

5) What is the total budget for the research of ICT? a) Is this budget enough to make innovations on ICT? b) How can the EU fund these innovations if more budget is needed?

2 3

http://www.eurotraining.net/pdf/university_education_report.pdf http://www.gdrc.org/sustbiz/what-are-smes.html

ITRE – Committee on Industry, Research and Energy III.

Social Relevance

Information and Communication Technologies are electronic tools used to convey, manipulate and store information which means that they are used in every single part of the modern human life. It influences the political, social and economic life in a great way. By this way governments can trade more money in less time and the trading speed is increasing by each development. With the increase in the speed of economic life, society started to demand a faster and better infrastructure of ICT. This situation resulted in the beginning of the digital age.

As social and economic life is controlled by digital systems, it became a common fact that a developed country mean a great infrastructure of ICT. These technologies are used in every part of the daily life such as education and health which affects every age group. Regarding this, a government must fund its ICT researches in order to guarantee a better life for its citizens, which shows the development rate of a country.

World Health Organization also sees ICTs as contributors to health improvement in three ways; advanced training of doctors, delivery mechanism to poor regions and transparency and efficiency of governments which is important for the delivery of publicly provided health services.

With the development in ICTs, more useful information will be shared which will trigger the development of many third world countries. It is important to fund the ICT researches in order to guarantee a more livable life not for the society of developed countries but for every person around the world.

IV.

Stakeholders 1. European Commission: The European Commission is the EU's politically independent executive arm. It is alone responsible for drawing up proposals for new European legislation, and it implements the decisions of the European Parliament and the Council of the EU. The President defines the policy direction for the Commission, which enables the Commissioners together to decide strategic objectives, and produce the annual work programme.

2. The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI): The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI)4 is a non-profit organization that establishes telecommunications standards for Europe. ETSI guidelines are voluntary and almost always comply with standards produced by international bodies.

4

http://searchnetworking.techtarget.com/definition/ETSI

ITRE – Committee on Industry, Research and Energy 3. The European Committee for Standardization (CEN): CEN5 is an association which brings together the National Standardization Bodies of 33 European countries. It is responsible for developing and defining voluntary standards at European level.

4. The European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC): The European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC)6 is responsible for standardization in the electrotechnical engineering field. CENELEC prepares voluntary standards, which help facilitate trade between countries, create new markets, cut compliance costs and support the development of a Single European Market.

5. The European Multi Stakeholder Platform (MSP)7 on ICT Standardization: Based on a European Commission Decision to advise on matters related to the implementation of ICT standardization policies, it deals with potential future ICT standardization needs in support of European legislation, policies and public procurement; technical specifications for public procurements, developed by global ICT standards-developing organizations; cooperation between ICT standards-setting organizations; the Rolling Plan, which provides a multi-annual overview of the needs for preliminary or complementary ICT standardization activities in support of the EU policy activities.

V.

Conflicts Since 1995 the productivity gap between US and EU has widened. After 1995, ICT in US started to grow much faster than in the EU. This situation resulted in the enlargement of the gap between these nations. US had given more importance to ICT and they have funded each new development while EU had invested only one third of what US had.

The main reason for the lower investment in ICT is the SMEs whose roles EU overemphasizes. US had given more importance to large firms to create a relationship between large organizations and large markets while EU created a relationship between small organizations and large markets. As a result, small organizations in the EU couldn't recoup their investments in ICT. Thus, these organizations made even less investments in ICT. Regarding the amount of SMEs in United Kingdom and Greece and their productivity rates, it is seen that having a higher number of SMEs result in unproductiveness.

When looked at telecommunications of both US and EU, it is seen that there are twice as many broadband providers in EU than in US. Also the small size of many European providers results in higher costs and less capital to invest8.

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https://www.cen.eu/Pages/default.aspx http://www.cenelec.eu/aboutcenelec/whoweare/index.html 7 https://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/news/common-documents-multi-stakeholder-platform-platform 8 http://www.policy-network.net/pno_detail.aspx?ID=4878&title=Getting+Europe+up+to+scale+for+the+ICT-enabled+economy 6

ITRE – Committee on Industry, Research and Energy In order to grow its economy and narrow the productivity gap between US, EU needs to reconsider its policies. The encouragement to small firms have to be decreased and large firms should be encouraged more. Larger firms deal with larger markets which brings together an increase in the economy.

Although, SMEs play a great role on the slow development of ICT in Europe, they are not the only reason for it. Economic growth also has a huge part in this situation. The economic growth of a country can be determined by the change in the GDP. Not all the European Nations have the same GDP which shows that there are both advanced and less developed economies. Financial strength has a great impact on the ICT research. While there are many countries in Europe going through economic crisis, there is less chance of collecting adequate amount of financial aid to improve the current state of ICT research. That's why, EU should reconsider its policies to gain the maximum amount of aid for the development of ICT.

ITRE – Committee on Industry, Research and Energy

VI.

Facts & Figures 1.

ICT underpins innovation and competitiveness across a broad range of private and public markets and sectors.9 2. Six main activity lines have been identified in the ICT-LEIT part of the Work Programme under the topic "A new generation of components and systems":10 a) Advanced Computing b) Future Internet c) Content technologies and information management d) Robotics e) Micro- and nano-electronic technologies, f) Photonics

9

http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/data/ref/h2020/wp/2016_2017/main/h2020-wp1617-leit-ict_en.pdf http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/data/ref/h2020/wp/2014_2015/main/h2020-wp1415-leit-ict_en.pdf

10

ITRE – Committee on Industry, Research and Energy VII.

Legislative Background

Legislation, and changes to legislation are a fact of life for all organizations and provide one of those ‘must-do’ situations where legislative requirements must be complied with. For example, many countries have introduced data protection laws that may trigger changes to software needed to conform to legislative requirements.

Many acts of legislation have been introduced since the early 1990s to make acts such as computer hacking, fraud, blackmail and the spread of computer viruses illegal. Prior to that time, older laws did not anticipate the new realities introduced by the widespread use of ICT. The German Government gives importance to R&D activities in ICT industry. To encourage R&D activity and investment in R&D in ICT, it offers several funding programs. The Government has taken a initiative to invest and spend around 3% of national GDP in R&D. The Austrian government has released an ICT Research and Development Strategy 2020 which mainly focuses on development of ICT sector in Austria.

French Government gives preferential treatment to IT equipment with depreciation rates as low as 40%.

Besides, it also gives preferential treatment to SMEs. The French government has completely abolished local business taxes from 1st January 2010 for productive investment.

VIII.

Keywords      

Innovation Communication Information Interconnection Media Nano-Technologies

JURI Committee on Legal Affairs

Mustafa Sinan Gürbüz & Gülce Özataç

JURI – Committee on Legal Affairs

JURI - Committee on Legal Affairs The integrity of the Union: What kind of regulations should implemented in order to protect the integrity of the EU regarding the legal procedure of state disintegration in cases like Yugoslavia?

by Mustafa Sinan GÜRBÜZ & Gülce ÖZATAÇ I.

Key Terms

Integrity: The state of being whole, entire or undiminished. As we consider the European Union as a whole, the member states are meant to act unanimously when making diplomatic decisions in order to give the union the much needed stability. Division of a member country (like in with the case of Yugoslavia) means political instability for the union, so the integrity is one of the key elements which keeps the union together.

European Union: The European Union is a politico-economic union of 28 member states that are located primarily in Europe. With an estimated population of over 508 million, the EU operates through a system of supranational institutions and intergovernmental-negotiated decisions by the member states. Covering approx. 1/10 of the world population, 1/4 of global nominal GDP and a having a very high Human Development Index; the union maintains permanent diplomatic missions throughout the world and represent itself at the UN, the WTO, the G8 and the G20. Because of its global influence, the EU has been described as a current or potential superpower.

Disintegration of Yugoslavia: The disintegration of Yugoslavia occurred as a result of a series of political upheavals and conflicts during the early 1990s. After a period of political crisis in 1980's, constituent republics of SFR Yugoslavia split apart, but the unsolved issues caused bitter inter-ethnic Yugoslav wars. As a former European country, the disintegration of Yugoslavia, followed by the ethnic wars exemplifies the possible dangers of a possible disintegration within the EU, as such a problem would not only affect the country, but the whole union.

Legal procedure: The juridical and diplomatic steps, which should be taken by the union and its institutions such as European Parliament and the Court of Justice of the EU in case of such a conflict. The legal procedure would play an important role within the problem, so coordinated movement between those institutions and the member states would help to give the union the much needed stability and integrity.

II.

Key Questions - What kind of possible conflicts can lead the union into disintegration?

JURI – Committee on Legal Affairs - In case of a disintegration scenario, what kind of diplomatic procedure should be followed in order to result in less damage for the union?

- What kind of policies should the EU follow in order to transfuse the collective consciousness idea to the member states?

- What kind of causes are possible threats which can drift the member states into a disintegration scenario?

- What kind of role do economic problems and Eurozone crisis play within the disintegration possibility?

III. Social Relevance The present crisis of the Euro is a near perfect example of how causal complexity, unanticipated consequences, and decisional uncertainty can have a significant and cumulative impact on regional integration. In theory, this should be the crisis that will drive the EU from economic to political integration. In practice, the outcome—at least, so far—has been the exact opposite. Could it be that what was supposed to be a ‘good’ crisis has turned out to be a very ‘bad’ one? Drivers for disintegration are numerous and come from outside and inside the EU. The EU is becoming less and less attractive for candidate countries, and a possible enlargement – or the welcoming of Croatia – is seen as a threat by many Europeans.

In a period of crisis and soaring unemployment, old jealousies and misunderstandings surface again: fear of the other, fear of the migrant have become main subjects of conversations with concrete implications for the end of labor restrictions in Bulgaria and Romania. Not only is the crisis of greater magnitude at the supranational level, but it also seems to have penetrated much deeper and more negatively into national political institutions and public opinion. It is even plausible to imagine a vicious triangle emerging: first, the collapse of the Euro; then, the collapse of the European Union and, finally, the collapse of democracy in its member states. Apart from economics and politics, the need to be part of a family increases strong nationalistic claims, where different regions in Europe see their independent movements growing. Two famous examples i.e. Cataluña and its conflict with Spain, and Scotland, who organized a referendum regarding their place in Great Britain.

IV. Stakeholders European Central Bank: The European Central Bank is the central bank for the euro and administers monetary policy of the Eurozone, which consists of 19 EU member states and is one of the largest currency areas in the world. It is one of the world's most important central banks and is one of the seven institutions of the European Union listed in the Treaty on European Union. The capital stock of the bank is owned by the central banks of all 28 EU member states.

JURI – Committee on Legal Affairs European Council: The European Council is the institution of the European Union that comprises the heads of state or government of the member states, along with the council's own president and the president of the Commission. The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy also takes part in its meetings.

European Commission: The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the EU treaties and managing the day-to-day business of the EU. Commissioners swear an oath at the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg, pledging to respect the treaties and to be completely independent in carrying out their duties during their mandate.

V. Conflicts Europe is in trouble. The risk that the EU will disintegrate is more than a scare story that politicians are using to force austerity measures on unhappy voters. It is a clear and present danger. The notion that the EU cannot fall apart because this would cost too much, offers weak reassurance. The Habsburg, Soviet, and Yugoslav experiences suggest that the high economic (and other) costs of disintegration are not enough to keep it from happening. Nor does the scarcity of strong feeling against the EU provide much solace. The EU’s disintegration does not need not to be the result of a victory by anti-EU forces over proEU forces. If it happens, it will probably be an unintended consequence of the Union’s paralysis, compounded by the elites’ misreading of national political dynamics.

There are many aspects that play an important role within the problem such as Scottish and Catalan referendums and other political cases, but the lead actor of this possible disintegration scenario is Eurozone Crisis. At its core, the Eurozone financial crisis is a crisis of sovereign debt, but its roots lie in the United States’ financial crisis beginning in 2007, which precipitated the global financial crisis. With the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008 and the beginning of the global recession, states in the Eurozone with high levels of public debt faced restricted access to international bond markets as banks facing a liquidity crisis reduced long term lending in favor of short-term securities, leading to the possibility of insolvency for the debtor states. The threat of insolvency led to the EU/IMF bailouts and the austerity requirements that accompanied them. A combination of factors allowed Portugal, Greece, and Italy to acquire the high levels of public debt that ultimately caused their sovereign debt crises. Countries in the Eurozone are bound by the European Monetary Union and use the Euro as a common currency, but they do not have a fiscal union; therefore, states control their own taxation and spending. When the peripheral countries joined the Euro, they were able to borrow at much lower interest rates than they otherwise would have been allowed without the internationally perceived security of the Euro.

Additionally, the global recession induced states to support the financial sector and acquire public debt in order to ensure the continued functioning of the stock market, a move that switched the brunt of the crisis to the public sector in its second phase. When states were

JURI – Committee on Legal Affairs no longer able to access international bond markets to the same extent, the insolvency threat followed.

The Eurozone crisis was unprecedented in many ways. Its large scale and rapid spread were remarkable. The resolution of the crisis has relied heavily upon the deep involvement of the EU and the IMF in debtor states’ finances, resulting in the potential for resentment by debtor states and expanded EU authority over member states’ finances, seen in the austerity requirements accompanying Greece’s bailouts. The primary crisis resolution mechanisms for economically failing states have been EU/IMF bailout packages and the requirements they entail. The immense spread and depth of the economic crisis across Europe has differentiated it from crises contained within individual states and has impacted the prerogatives of international institutions tasked with resolving it.

VI. Facts & Figures •

The first leg of the Eurozone crisis, i.e. contagion and GDP collapse: Sharp drop in export and investment activity, markets turmoil. In mid-2009, a tentative V-shape recovery led by a rebound in global trade and significant growth in emerging markets.

•

The second leg, i.e. Greece + banking/debt crisis in Europe: Increase in public debt, widening in government bond spreads, interbank market closure, frantic policy reaction.

•

The third leg, i.e. Italy: Too big to fail, too big to be saved. A more gradual and difficult recovery. Eventually, accommodative monetary policy + softer fiscal policy, but also debt overhang and fallouts of the balance sheet recession.

•

The Scottish Referendum: The independence referendum question, which voters answered with "Yes" or "No", was "Should Scotland be an independent country?"

The "No" side won, with 2,001,926 (55.3%) voting against independence and 1,617,989 (44.7%) voting in favor. The turnout of 84.6% was the highest recorded for an election or referendum in the United Kingdom since the introduction of universal suffrage.

VII. Legislative Background The Scottish Independence Referendum, which could be a cornerstone for the disintegration of not only the Great Britain, but also the whole European Union is one of the key events which form the legislative background of the issue. There were debates as to whether the Scottish Parliament had the power to legislate for a referendum relating to the issue of Scottish independence, as the constitution is a reserved matter for the UK Parliament. The Scottish government insisted in 2010 that they could legislate for a referendum, as it would be an "advisory referendum on extending the powers of the

JURI – Committee on Legal Affairs Scottish Parliament", whose result would "have no legal effect on the Union". Lord Wallace, Advocate General for Scotland, said in January 2012 that holding a referendum concerning the constitution would be outside the legislative power of the Scottish Parliament and that private individuals could challenge a Scottish Parliament referendum bill.

The two governments signed the Edinburgh Agreement, which allowed for the temporary transfer of legal authority. In accordance with the Edinburgh Agreement, the UK government drafted an Order in Council granting the Scottish Parliament the necessary powers to hold, on or before 31 December 2014, an independence referendum. The draft Order was approved by resolutions of both Houses of Parliament, and the Order, titled The Scotland Act 1998 (Modification of Schedule 5) Order 2013, was approved by The Queen, following the advice of Her Ministers, at a meeting of the Privy Council on 12 February 2013.

Under the powers temporarily transferred from Westminster under the section 30 Order, the Scottish Parliament adopted the Scottish Independence Referendum Act 2013, summoning the referendum, defining the question to be asked, giving the date on which the referendum was to be held, and establishing the rules governing the holding of the referendum. The Bill for the Act was passed by the Scottish Parliament on 14 November 2013 and received Royal Assent on 17 December 2013. Under section 36 of the Act, it came into force the day after Royal Assent.

IIX. Keywords -Integration/disintegration -Scottish and Catalan referendums -Eurozone crisis -Disintegration of Yugoslavia -European Central Bank -European Commission

LIBE Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice, & Home Affairs

Şule Kahraman & Mert Ege Açıkgöz

LIBE – Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs

LIBE – Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Je suis Charlie? In light of the adoption of the “Mosque Ban Act” in Switzerland, banning of hijab and burqa in France and the anti-Semitist propagandas in Denmark, how can the peace and freedom of the religious minorities be ensured?

by Şule Kahraman & Mert Ege Açıkgöz I.

Key Terms 1. Je suis Charlie: In the aftermath of the Charlie Hebdo attacks, people have expressed their support for freedom of speech through the hashtag #jesuischarlie on social media, which means “I am Charlie” in English and later became the slogan of the movement.

2. Mosque Ban Act: In 2009 the far-right Swiss People’s Party pushed for a referendum that resulted in the banning of minarets from all the mosques in Switzerland, an act considered against human rights by many.

3. Burqa ban in France: France has banned the public wearing of burqas 2011 in the context that burqa symbolized oppressed women and was becoming a political symbol.

4. Danish attacks: Following the Charlie Hebdo attacks in February 2015, a Danish person has killed two Jewish people, one of them a movie director, in the name of Anti-Semitism.

5. Freedom of speech: Covered in Article 11 in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union1 (EU) and Article 10 in the European Convention on Human Rights2 (ECHR). These cover the right to freedom of opinion and expression, and the right to hold opinions and receive information without interference and regardless of frontiers.

6. Freedom of thought, conscience and religion: Covered in Article 10 in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU and Article 9 in the ECHR. Everyone is entitled to change his or her religion or belief, and practice one’s religion in public or private.

7. Religious minorities: Minority of the population of a country state holds one particular religion.

Minority religions may be subject to stigma or discrimination. An example of a stigma is using the term cult with its extremely negative connotations for certain new religious movements.

8. Xenophobia: “an unreasonable fear or hatred of foreigners or strangers or of that which is foreign or strange.” Dictionary.com.

9. Extremism: “the holding of extreme political or religious views; fanaticism.” Dictionary.com

1

European Union: “Charter of fundamental rights of the European Union”, article 11 (page 11) http://www.europarl.europa.eu/charter/pdf/text_en.pdf 2

European Court of Human Rights, Council of Europe: “European Convention on Human Rights”, article 10 (page 11) http://www.echr.coe.int/Documents/Convention_ENG.pdf

LIBE – Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs II.

Key Questions 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

III.

Could there be limitations to freedom of speech? If yes, what limitations?

Where does the thin line between criticism and insult lie?

How does social media, in general, affect the chain of events?

What is the source of extremist feelings and movements? Where does extremism come from?

Do extremists come from non-European countries? If yes, what does such a fact mean?

Among EU citizens, do minorities feel safer than Europeans? Are they threats to each other?

What kind of security measures should be taken to make minorities feel safer?

To what extent the results of Swiss minaret referendum in 2009 reflect religious minorities? Is referendum the right method to make a decision concerning minorities?

Social Relevance At this point, it is redundant to explain the significance of this issue. Anyone with even a hint of European news knows that this is a hot topic. Only recently, Islamic State committed terrorist acts that left 130 people dead and many more injured. But what are the repercussions of this and what does EU need to do? Well, this is why God gave us research tools. (or did he? there hasn’t been a conclusive research on this yet.)

Europe’s aging population always welcomed immigrants as fresh work force. However, it was never easy for the people to accept differing cultures. We know this well from the “Alamancıs” and their struggles. In the recent years, with the Syrian crisis and other conflicts, there has been an influx of refugees and immigrants to the EU that exceeds previous years’ numbers by a huge margin.

This creates the phobia of Islamisation of Europe and the rise of the far-right to combat this. At this point, the Member States feel the need to protect the essence of their nations (whatever that is) and this creates a thin line to thread on and could lead to the oppression of minorities. If left

unresolved, this could result in tension in public and a bias towards minorities for the actions of terrorist groups or simply for the fact that they are different. Already people commit hate crimes and minor

LIBE – Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs offenses such as ripping the burqa from someone’s head and accusing them of being aggressive.3 It is important to make sure Europe thrives from variety rather than try to snuff it out.

IV.

Stakeholders 1. European Institutions: The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) is an international court set up in 1959 ruling on State or Individual applications alleging violations of civil and political rights set out in the ECHR. The ECtHR monitors respect for the human rights of 800 million Europeans in 47 Council of Europe Member States that have ratified the Convention. 4 2. Citizens, religion practitioners, NGOs and social groups (such as immigrants): The receivers and users of civil liberties.

3. The Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA): One of the EU’s decentralised agencies providing expert advice to the institutions of the EU and the Member States. The FRA helps to ensure that the fundamental rights of people living in the EU are protected.5

V.

Conflicts In this section, we’ll go over the outline of the conflict. It is already mentioned above how this is an important problem for the EU but it is helpful to analyze these in detail. This is to give you a sense of the problem and help you think on the key questions. You should also check out the useful links provided in the end of the prep kit and do research on your own.

Refugees It is imperative to study the phenomena of refugees, one of the biggest influx of refugees ever recorded, to understand why Europe’s tolerance towards diversity has decreased. Number one reason is that they are blamed for the terrorist attacks on countries and for many other things such as theft, rape and vandalism. Countries like Bulgaria who close their borders on the account that they don’t want to experience the same things other countries do are examples of the case that people equate the humanitarian mission of saving people in dire help with many burdens.

No matter what anyone says, politicians work for the public and their main concern is satisfying its needs. When the public shows signs of conflict, the legislatures look for solutions. In the case of

3

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/22/frances-headscarf-war-attack-on-freedom

4

Council of Europe (2014): “European Court of Human Rights” http://www.coe.int/t/democracy/migration/bodies/echr_en.asp

5

The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA): “About FRA” http://fra.europa.eu/en/about-fra

LIBE – Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Switzerland and France, banning public displays of a religion was the governments’ way of combating the negative influences the public feared. Most of Europe is Christian and it is natural to react to a burqa wearing person if one isn’t accustomed to such a thing. So far 4 million people had to leave Syria and thousands of these refugees reach the shores of EU each month. It is hard to integrate these newcomers to an entirely new environment without causing disturbance but is it a viable solution to limit the rights of these groups?

Safety vs Freedom, Islamisation of Europe, Culture Clash The underlining reason behind incidents such as the NSA Scandal, this has always been a key issue in understanding today’s politics. How much right does a government have to interfere in the daily lives of its citizens in the name of safety? Should governments prevent free speech in the hopes that it will prevent bad ideas from spreading? What are these bad ideas and who decided that they are bad?

To start with, there are harmful ideas that should be prevented. Spreading hate and fear is unacceptable. The pro- argument for the burqa ban is that many women are forced to wear it and that this is against free will. In simple words, to combat community pressure the government chose to ban the item altogether. It is not hard to guess that some people actually wish to wear the burqa simply because they believe they should. Banning the clothing and the minarets of Islam to combat the Islamisation of Europe could be criticized as a path towards assimilation.

What is this Islamisation of Europe? The name is pretty self-explanatory. The public fear that Europe is losing its identity and values is based on the notion that Islam doesn’t share the values.

The idea that rise of Islam will bring the chaos of the Middle East and cause Europe to drift away from secularity is an important reason behind the current legislations that are criticized for limiting minority groups.

France is going through tough times and the international community expressed its support against terror. However, it is crucial to keep the outrage contained against terror rather than have it spread against anyone who is different. Today, in Turkey, people blame the Syrians and the government for opening the borders to refugees for the situation of the country. People who don’t speak Turkish or look foreign are targeted for abuse. This could be the case in Europe and is the case for some parts of it already. It is suspected that some terrorists sneak into Europe under the pretense of being a refugee/immigrant and spread their ideologies. This raises the question of safety vs freedom/help again and how far the EU should go to keep its people safe. Because people in Europe definitely don’t feel safe in the light of the recent developments and the growing tensions for the couple of years and this problem needs to be addressed.

LIBE – Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs VI.

Facts & Figures 1. The French Council of the Muslim Faith recorded a 110 % increase in reported cases of Islamophobia between January 2014 and January 2015.6 2. 1.374 anti-Semitic hate crimes were reported in Germany in 2012, 221 anti-Semitic hate crimes in Sweden and 307 in United Kingdom and 4 in Ireland.7 3. Jewish people wearing visible symbols of their religion are the most likely to be the targets of anti-Semitic incidents. 8 4. The top 50 countries in the Press Freedom Index include 31 European ones.

5. Despite the EU Member States’ high scoring in the Press Freedom Index, developments have sullied the performance of some countries with regard to protection of freedom of information.

United Kingdom and France are two striking examples to this.

6. In 2014, 47 violations to the European Convention on Human Rights regarding freedom of expression were reported in France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Italy, Switzerland, Slovenia and Turkey. 24 of these were reported in Turkey. 9

VII.

Legislative Background Freedom of speech is covered in Article 19 in UDHR, Article 11 in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU and Chapter 10 in the ECHR. Freedom of thought, conscience and religion is covered in Article 18 in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 10 in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU and Article 9 in the ECHR. Freedom of speech is granted explicit protection in international law by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which is binding in 150 nations. All Member States in the EU are signatories of the ECHR in addition to having constitutional and legal rights to freedom of expression on the national level.

6

European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA)(2015): “Reactions to the Paris attacks in the EU: fundamental rights considerations” http://fra.europa.eu/sites/default/files/fra-2015-paper-01-2015-post-paris-attacks-fundamentalrightsconsiderations-0_en.pdf 7

European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA)(2014): “Antisemitism – Summary overview of data available in the European Union 2003–2013” (Page 10, table 1) http://fra.europa.eu/sites/default/files/fra-2014_antisemitism-update-20032013_web.pdf 8

European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA)(2014): “Antisemitism – Summary overview of data available in the European Union 2003–2013” (Page 11) http://fra.europa.eu/sites/default/files/fra-2014_antisemitism-update-20032013_web.pdf 9

Council of Europe, European Court on Human Rights: “Violations by Article and by State - 2014” http://www.echr.coe.int/Documents/Stats_violation_2014_ENG.pdf

LIBE – Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs No hate speech movement: No hate speech movement is a project by the Council of Europe for human rights online and against the expression of hate speech in all forms. 10 European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI): ECRI is a body of the Council of Europe entrusted with the task of combating racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, antisemitism and intolerance in Europe from the perspective of the protection of human rights, in the light of the ECHR, its additional protocols and related caselaw.

VIII.

Keywords Mosque Ban Act, hijab, burqa, Swiss minaret referendum, anti-Semitist propagandas, media freedom, xenophobia, Islamophobia, extremist.

IX.

Useful Links

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2015/11/muslims-face-worsening-environment-hate-uk151118054323264.html http://theconversation.com/after-paris-europe-must-lead-the-fight-against-islamophobia-50808 http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/26/muslim-leaders-in-uk-warn-of-worrying-levels-of-islamophobia http://www.mintpressnews.com/anti-semitism-islamophobia-on-the-rise-in-europe/207452/ comments section for this one

Especially

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/16/copenhagen-attacks-danish-police-charge-two-men http://thinkprogress.org/world/2015/02/17/3623767/antsemitism-europe/ http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/22/frances-headscarf-war-attack-on-freedom http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/8444177/BurkaFranceNational-FrontMarine-LePenMuslimFadela-AmaraAndre-Gerinhijab.html To understand both sides of an argument http://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/nov/29/switzerland-bans-mosque-minarets http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/15/world/europe/paris-terrorist-attacks.html?_r=1 http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/15/world/europe/paris-terrorist-attacks.html?_r=1

10

Council of Europe, No hate speech movement: the campaign http://www.nohatespeechmovement.org/campaign

the

SEDE Committee on Security and Defense

Arda Acar & DoÄ&#x;an Tamer

SEDE – Committee on Security and Defense

SEDE– Committee on Security and Defense Road to Europe or road to death: Noting that more than 275000 migrants entered the EU irregularly in 2014, representing an increase of 138% compared to the same period in 2013, which targets should the EU set in terms of illegal migration and how can it balance the legality and humanity of its actions?

by Arda ACAR & Doğan TAMER I.

Key Terms 1. Migrants: People who travel to a different country or place because of some specific reasons such as unemployment, war, etc.

2. Illegal Migration: Migration of people across national borders in the way that violates immigration laws of the countries.

3. EU: European Union is a politic-economical union consisted of 28 members that are primarily located in Europe.

II.

Key Questions 1.

2.

3.

4.

To what extend is EU responsible of providing safety for migrants?

What is the main reason behind increasing migration?

Which threats should the EU be concerned about?

How can the EU member states can provide safety for their own citizens in current regulations about migration?

5. Why can the EU not prevent illegal immigration from its borders with neighboring countries?

6. How do illegal organizations such as ISIS take advantage of increasing immigrants in Europe?

III.

Social Relevance

Rise in the number of people migrating to Europe in illegal ways, especially from the Middle Eastern countries where wars and political instability occur, increases the concerns of EU citizens and EU Member States about the migration issue since it causes conflicts and points of debate. European Union is having difficulty in determination and prevention of illegal migration to its borders from Mediterranean countries and its neighbors through several ways such as illegal human trafficking. Thus, EU has to communicate with its neighbors such as Russia and Turkey who also suffer from the same problem, play a transit role in the route of illegal immigration and seek for their support to solve the problem. Otherwise illegal migration will cause many problems in EU Member State borders affecting its citizens’ daily lives in economic, political and social ways which will be detailed in the Conflicts section.

Migration of large groups of people from very different and unique culture to another brings many problems such as lack of communication which leads to xenophobia, islamophobia and racism. This point of view becomes a paradox by undermining help and again increasing the gap between two sides who are

SEDE – Committee on Security and Defense citizens and refugees. If it is still impossible to control migration in a well-organized plan, after all precautions and measures taken, then the EU must do whatever it needs to provide adaptation opportunities for refugees to be able to be a part of the society and social life of EU Member State citizens.

It is also very important to make people realize that what kind of pain refugees suffer too. Social awareness and social togetherness is important as much as legal measurements and cautions in the solution of the problem.

IV.

Stakeholders 1. The European Union: European Union is an economic-political union consisted of 28 member states primarily based on Europe. EU is responsible for the development of its member states and creating a peaceful environment to its citizens.

2. EU Citizens: Citizens of EU Member States who get affected from the issue of migration in terms of social, cultural and economic aspects.

3. Refugees: People who migrate by leaving behind everything they have in order to start a new life because of the intolerable situations in their own countries.

V.

Conflicts

More than 750.000 migrants are estimated to have arrived in Europe by sea so far this year according to International Organization for Migration. Many refugees have died in the hopes of finding a new life.

There are lots of debating points about how EU should approach to the issue of migration. Increasing migration is also causing many problems in European borders in aspects of culture, economy, safety and politics.

To begin with, from the cultural aspects, the migration of big number of refugee groups causes social misunderstandings which threatens the peaceful atmosphere among citizens and refugees caused by the lack of communication between refugees and citizens arising from the differences between their cultures.

As ambiguity increases, the racism towards the refugees also increases which again harming the idea of peace in the region.

From the economic aspects, immigrants who enter EU member states illegally can cause the situation of refugees being used by employers to benefit in terms of labor and economics. Illegal use of immigrants do not require as much cost as legal workers especially in the work areas requiring man power since employers pay less salary and are not obligated to pay insurance for illegal workers. So, especially the unemployed part of the citizens complain about the situation while there is a huge need for young aged workers in Europe. There are also economic measures that EU members have to take into consideration while deciding their refugee policies since it needs resources and funds to manage migration.

From the safety point of view, increasing immigration also gives some organizations the chance to organize criminal activity in EU member states as much as it increases the risk of terrorism attacks.

SEDE – Committee on Security and Defense Terrorist organizations such as ISIS, use the same way of human trafficking and illegal transportation as the immigrants in order to position their activists and to plan their attacks. There are many speculations that even some of the refugees are part of terrorist organizations. For example, just in the bombing occurred outside the French national soccer stadium in Paris, suicide bomber was found with a Syrian passport, and prosecutors state that his fingerprints match those of someone who passed through Greece in October. Lastly, from the political point of view, governments’ approach to the issue shapes their political alliances in international politics and their position in national politics.

It is important for Europe and its citizens to understand that this is the duty of people to help each other and provide refugees a better, equal life without any exceptions by not just considering their own point of view.

VI.

Facts & Figures

1

1

http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304547704579561402484152042

SEDE – Committee on Security and Defense

VII.

Legislative Background The EU council has set a quota chart that includes 120.000 refugees to be hosted in member European countries. The quota for each country is set by income and land they can reserve for refugees. Germany and France support the highest quotas. Hungary, Czech Republic, Romania and Slovakia refuse the quotas and tried a vote to remove them, however they failed. After this incident Slovakia remains as the only country still not accepting the quota system. The EU decided that if a country doesn’t support the quotas they must pay a fine that will be used for supporting refugees in another country. This regulation has not yet been used.

VIII.

Keywords

Immigration laws, European Union, refugees, reasons of refugee problem, EU and citizens’ approach to refugees, increasing number of migration, illegal migration.

IX.

USEFUL LINKS: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34131911 http://data.unhcr.org/mediterranean/regional.php http://europa.eu/eu-law/index_en.htm

http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statisticsexplained/index.php/Migration_and_migrant_population_statistics http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/what-we-do/policies/international-affairs/global-approachto-migration/index_en.htm http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/immigration/10865652/Illegal-immigration-to-Europeshows-sharp-rise.html http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304547704579561402484152042 http://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2015/sep/23/refugee-crisis-eu-summit-amid-resentmentover-quota-deal-live-updates