Preparation Kit for the 28th NSC of EYP Greece

EUROPEAN YOUTH PARLIAMENT PARLEMENT EUROPEEN DES JEUNES HELLAS GREECE ΕΥΡΩΠΑΪΚΟ ΚΟΙΝΟΒΟΥΛΙΟ ΝΕΩΝ ΕΛΛΑΔΟΣ

28th National Selection Conference

Preparation Kit EYP GREECE

Table of Contents Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 2 Committee on Constitutional Affairs (AFCO) ............................................................................ 3 Committee on Constitutional Affairs II (AFCO II)....................................................................... 8 Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET) ...................................................................................... 13 Committee on Climate Change (CLIM) .................................................................................... 17 Committee on Culture and Education (CULT) ......................................................................... 23 Committee on Human Rights (DROI)....................................................................................... 30 Committee on Development (DEVE) ....................................................................................... 35 Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (EMPL) ........................................................... 40 Committee on Gender Equality (FEMM) ................................................................................. 46 Committee on Security and Defense(SEDE) ............................................................................ 51

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Introduction Dearest delegates, hard-working organisers, inspirational chairs, fascinating journalists, welcome to the first of many introductions you will be hearing from me. This well prepared booklet, which took more than 100 man-hours to create, will briefly introduce you to your topic, walk you through all of the vital background information, inspire your inquisitive minds to think beyond our limits, and greatly prepare you for the 28th National Selection Conference of the European Youth Parliament Greece.

I will for now just leave you with 3 small pieces of advice to help you through the next two weeks until we finally meet: -

Read your topic overview at least twice; the more knowledge a committee has, the more powerful and emotion-filled time you will have - Take a closer look to some concrete topic overviews which can be linked to your committee topic.

- As you are just about to arrive to the session shout out the following: o “Goodbye normal world! I’m leaving you for the next three days for the experience of a lifetime!”

We wish you a successful preparation and interesting reading!

Good luck everyone, we are looking forward to meeting every single one of you.

Nathan Hunter President

Despina Papadopoulou Head- Organiser

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Committee on Constitutional Affairs I(AFCO I)

Topic Overview During the 2009 European elections, just 29% of 18-24 year- olds voted and became the core group of abstention party. Which further steps should the European Union take in order to reach a deeper involvement of youth in the next European elections? By Maria Kรถpping and Christos Papadogeorgopoulos

Key terms European Parliament elections: European Parliament (EP) elections take place every five years and each Member State has the right to elect a fixed number of Members of the European Parliament (MEPs). Elections are contested by national political parties, but once MEPs are elected, most of them become part of transnational political groups. Voting practices vary across the EU.

Low turnout: Vote turnout refers to the percentage of eligible voters that deliver their vote at an election. At EP elections, this percentage tends to be particularly low compared to turnout at national ones, threatening to diminish the legitimacy of the EP as a democratic institution.

Democratic participation: The engagement in decision making, through direct or indirect democratic means, which involves all the citizens who have become of age.

Direct and Indirect democracy: Direct democracy is a system where cirizens decide upon policy initiatives for themselves, whereas following indirect democracy, the socalled representative democracy, they vote for representatives which take decisions for them.

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Euroscepticism: criticism of the EU and opposition to the process of political European integration. Traditionally, the main source of Euroscepticism is due to the belief that integration weakens the Member State itself.

Relevance and explanation of the issue The participation in European Parliament (EP) elections has been constantly decreasing in the past 40 years. While in 1979, 62% of eligible voters delivered their vote, in 2009 the voting turnout was at only 43%1. Young people aged 18-24 have historically been the age group with lowest turnout - in 2009, less than 33% of this group went to the polls. The high percentage of young people abstaining from EP elections is a major issue for the EU since it means that the youth loses influence over European politics. Furthermore, the decreasing turnout may diminish the legitimacy of the electoral process, the EP and the EU as a whole. The issue has a high priority, but has proven to be difficult to tackle for both the EU institutions and the Member States’ governments.

The causes of this phenomenon are many. First of all, many citizens perceive EP elections as less important than national elections. Another reason for low participation may be lack of information: in a 2009 post-electoral survey only 44% of 18-24 year old citizens said they had all the necessary information to choose for whom to vote. While this survey indicates a lack of information, it does not support the argument that the young Europeans generally have a more negative attitude towards the EU: 54% of young people said they trusted the EU institutions, compared to an EU average of 50%. Furthermore, percentages of young people considering themselves European citizens, feeling attached to Europe and positively considering the EU membership of their country were all above the EU average. It also is important to mention that as found in a study conducted by London School of Economics, young people are not always apathetic or unwilling to participate, but

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http://ec.europa.eu/news/eu_explained/130313_en.htm

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they rather feel that the political system is neither sufficiently listening nor adapting to their hopes and needs2.

Administration of EU elections is run by each Member State according to national rules. Proposals put forward by the EP’s Committee on Constitutional Affairs to boost participation in 2009 elections had minimal effects. Being restricted with regard to institutional changes EP, resorted to an elaborate communication strategy in 2009 that included spending €18 million on an EU-wide promotional campaign.

When it comes to electoral systems, the situation within the EU is very heterogeneous, i.e. it varies from country to country. Four EU countries (Greece, Belgium, Cyprus and Luxembourg) have compulsory voting systems of different kinds, meaning it is obligatory by law for people to deliver their vote at elections.

Other countries have tried to facilitate public participation. For example, Estonia has been experimenting e-voting. In some countries it is possible to vote by mail (Germany), by proxy (the Netherlands) or by messenger (Sweden). Finally, in Sweden, Finland and Lithuania it is also possible to vote in advance.

Key questions    

How can the EU and its Member States encourage young people to deliver their vote at EP elections?

What can be done to make young European citizens understand the importance of making use of their right to vote at all elections?

How can the EU make sure that young Europeans have all the necessary information in order to form their opinion and deliver their vote wisely?

Does the low turnout suggest a decrease in legitimacy for the EP due to mistrust or could it merely be a sign that the youth trust European governance to the extent that they do not feel the need to vote?

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http://ec.europa.eu/youth/documents/lse_study_on_youth_participation_-_2013.pdf

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Key actors European Parliament: The second largest democratic electorate in the world. 751 MEPs are elected once every 5 years by European citizens. This EU institution has legislative power (co-legislator – it can veto decisions made by the EC yet cannot initiate legislation), and it also supervises the work of the European Commission. This is the only democratically elected body of the EU’s institutions.

European Commission (EC): An administrative body that proposes legislation and initiates policy. The EC has 28 Commissioners, one from each Member State, which are in charge of the Directorates-General. Both the aforementioned Commissioners and the President of the EC are acting at the general interest of the EU and not of their individual countries.

National governments: The Member States’ national governments are in charge of encouraging citizens to vote in the European elections through education and access to information.

Measures already in place White Paper on Youth: paper launched by the Commission in 2001. It proposes Member States to develop cooperation in four areas: “participation”, “information”, “voluntary activities” and “a greater understanding and knowledge of youth”. It also stressed the importance of taking the youngsters' reality more into account in other relevant policies.

European Youth Pact: Adopted by the European Council in 2005, this pact aims to improve education, training, mobility, employment and social inclusion of young people. The Council emphasised the importance of the active participation of everyone involved, particularly youth organisations.

EU’s Structured Dialogue: it is a direct follow-up of the White Paper on Youth and an instrument to actively involve young people in politics, shaping debates and dialogue in relation to the European agenda.

New EU Youth Strategy: it was outlined in a Council Resolution on a “Renewed framework for European cooperation in the youth field (2010-2018)”: its two main 6

objectives are to provide more and equal opportunities for young people in education and in the labour market and also encourage young people to be active citizens and participate in society. Participation is one of its eight fields of action.

Links for further research 

Compulsory voting as a solution to the problem of lack of participation?

Working document of the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) http://www.ceps.eu/files/book/1886.pdf

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European Commission Youth Policies Participation: http://ec.europa.eu/youth/youth-policies/participation_en.htm European Commission Youth Archive: European Youth Policies http://ec.europa.eu/youth/archive/policies/policies_en.html EU Youth Strategy 2010-2018 http://ec.europa.eu/youth/policy/eu-youth-strategy_en.htm

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Youth participation in Democratic Life http://ec.europa.eu/youth/documents/lse_study_on_youth_participation__2013.pdf

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Youth participation in EP elections (Library Briefing of the EP) http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/bibliotheque/briefing/2011/11020 6/LDM_BRI%282011%29110206_REV1_EN.pdf

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Committee on Constitutional Affairs II (AFCO II)

Topic Overview Subsidiarity versus sustainability: Due to the nature of the EU’s environmental policy as shared competence, Member States enjoy a high degree of autonomy in the implementation of EU directives regarding environmental protection. In the face of the transnational effects of issues surrounding climate change and pollution, should the EU’s legislative powers be strengthened in this field and, if so, to which degree?

By Irida Karasmanoglou and Egzon Gashi

1. Key terms Environmental Policy - the laws, regulations, and other policy mechanisms concerning environmental issues and sustainability. These issues generally include air and water pollution, solid waste management, biodiversity, ecosystem management, maintenance of biodiversity, the protection of natural resources, wildlife and endangered species.

EU Directive - a legislative act of the European Union that lay down certain end results that must be achieved in every Member State and are used to bring different national laws into line with each other National authorities have to adapt their laws to meet these goals, but are free to decide how to do so. Directives may concern one or more Member States, or all of them.

Shared Competence entail that two different decision-makers share the right to decide and make laws. When the EU and its member states share a competence, the member state loses its 'competence' (power to take decisions) when the EU decides to regulate. EU legislation does not only replace the content of a national law, it also removes the national right to legislate in the covered area.

Autonomy: 1. the right or condition of self-government; 2. a self-governing country or region; 3. freedom from external control or influence, independence.

Climate Change - a change in global or regional climate patterns, in particular a change apparent from the mid to late 20th century onwards and attributed largely to the increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide produced by the use of fossil fuels.

Pollution - the presence in or introduction into the environment of a substance which has harmful or poisonous effects.

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Relevance and explanation of the issue Europe - and the world - are facing many different environmental issues and challenges these days. Many of them do not fit nicely into neat categories — or, indeed, they fit into too many.

The European Union environmental policy enhances natural capital, promotes a resource-efficient economy and safeguard people’s health. A coordinated environmental strategy across the Union ensures synergies and coherence between EU policies and, given the relevance of environmental legislation for many business sectors, should ensure a level playing field for their activities.

Despite all the EU environmental policies, most of the Member States are having very low environment protection standards. That means that Pollution, whichever form they belong to, is still happening, and this all legally. There are no restrictions, no maximum and/or minimum, no standard set, speaking European-wide.

Since 1973, EU environmental policy making has been guided by Environmental Action Programmes. They have given mandate and direction to the European Commission. Implementation was often characterised by compromise, which is the reason why the EU is still on an environmentally unsustainable pathway and is failing to fully protect its citizens from environmental hazards. However, the European Environmental Bureau is convinced that such EAPs, with a strong political commitment of all EU decision making bodies, are necessary and shall continue to be. This is especially true now since protection of the environment requires increasingly fundamental changes in our economic and social practice.

Effective implementation is an important indicator of the EU's problem-solving capacity. Especially in the environmental field, an area where implementation deficits are most prominent, this insight led to a significant change in policy instruments. Rather than relying on patterns of interventionist regulation, EU environmental policy is increasingly based on flexible instruments taking account of national context constellations.

The Environmental issue is still a shared competence between the EU and the Member States, which means that the Member States are not having any minimum standard to follow when it comes to environment.

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Key Questions   

Should the EU Member States agree on a European-wide environmental protection strategy which is going to be obligatory for all Member States?

Should the EU take autonomy from the Member States, for the good of the environment?

Besides the Political, Legislative and Economic, should the EU add the Environmental one to the Accession criteria for EU candidate and potentialcandidate countries?

Key actors The European Union (EU) is an political and economic European supranational governance institution consisting of 28 European countries.

The European Commission (EC) is the executive body of the European Union responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and day-to-day running of the EU. A member state of the EU (national states) is a state that is party to treaties of the EU and thereby subject to the privileges and obligations of EU membership.

Council of the European Union is the third of the seven institutions of the European Union (EU) as listed in the Treaty on European Union. It is part of the essentially bicameral EU legislature, representing the executives of EU member states, the other legislative body being the European Parliament. The Council is composed of several configurations of twenty-eight national ministers (one per state). The exact membership of the configuration depends upon the topic.

European Parliament - directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union (EU).

The European Environmental Bureau - Europe's largest coalition of grassroots

environmental organisations that gives an expert insight on a vast amount of environmental issues; ranging from biodiversity, to waste, nanotechnology, chemicals, Eco label, and climate change and many others.

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The European Environment Agency (EEA) is an agency of the European Union that provides sound, independent information on the environment while developing, adopting, implementing and evaluating environmental policy, and also the general public. Currently, the EEA has 33 member countries.

Measures already in place The European Climate Change Programme is a comprehensive package of policy measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It was launched in June 2000 and came as a request from the EU Council towards the Commission. The development of the first ECCP (2000-2004) involved all the relevant groups of stakeholders working together, including representatives from the Commission’s different departments (DGs), the Member States, industry and environmental groups. The second European Climate Change Programme (ECCP II) was launched in October 2005. The second programme was initiated in order to further explore cost-effective options for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in synergy with the EU’s Lisbon strategy’ for increasing economic growth and job creation.

Climate Adaption Strategy - a measure proposed and adopted by all Member States since this April. It is focusing on three priority objectives: 1. Promoting action by Member States; 2. “Climate-proofing” action at EU level; and 3. better informed decision-making.

The Environment Council is composed of environment ministers who meet about four times a year. It decides by qualified majority in co-decision with the European Parliament.

7th EU Environment Action Programme which will guide EU policy action on environment and climate policy for the next seven years.

Links for further research 

Climate Change in the West Balkans - UNEP

http://www.unep.at/documents_unep/ENVSEC/Climate_Change/Climate-change-westbalkans.pdf

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United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/convkp/conveng.pdf

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EU Adaptation Strategy

http://ec.europa.eu/clima/policies/adaptation/what/index_en.htm 11

http://ec.europa.eu/clima/policies/adaptation/

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European Environmental Bureau

http://www.eeb.org/index.cfm/about-eeb/

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European Climate Changing Programme I

http://ec.europa.eu/clima/policies/eccp/

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European Climate Changing Programme II

http://ec.europa.eu/clima/policies/eccp/second/index_en.htm

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World Health Organization | Programmes and projects – Climate change and human health – risks and responses summary, 2003

http://www.who.int/globalchange/summary/en/index.html

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Kyoto Protocol

http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/convkp/kpeng.pdf

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EU Legislation

http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/environment/general_provisions/index_en.htm

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Greenhouse gas emission trends (CSI 010/CLIM 050) - Assessment published May 2013

http://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/indicators/greenhouse-gas-emissiontrends/greenhouse-gas-emission-trends-assessment-5

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EnviroNational emissions reported to the UNFCCC and to the EU Greenhouse Gas Monitoring Mechanism

http://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/data/national-emissions-reported-to-theunfccc-and-to-the-eu-greenhouse-gas-monitoring-mechanism-7

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Waste indicators on generation and landfilling measuring sustainable development 2004-2010

http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/product_details/publication?p_produc t_code=KS-SF-13-022  7th EU Environment Action Programme http://ec.europa.eu/environment/newprg/pdf/PE00064_en.pdf

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Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET)

Topic Overview French weapons in Georgia, Italian combat helicopters and German communication technology in Libya: Global military conflicts evoke a booming international trade of arms in which the EU has become the world’s biggest supplier. Which priorities should the EU and its Member States set in order to discourage arms trade whilst still maintaining trade relations with the Middle East and other regions of conflict?

By Elisa Martinelli and Ilias- Marios Oikonomou

Key terms Global military conflicts: conflicts that arise in an area of the world and soon involve other countries, either when it comes to supporting one of the parties or taking a more active role in the conflict itself.

Trade relations: economic relationships between countries based on the exchange of goods. They usually follow signed agreements, designed to regulate the trade in a more efficient and fair way.

Peacekeeping: the action of actively maintaining truce between two nations, often achieved through military intervention.

Middle East (ME) and Northern African (NA) conflicts: areas where the situation is not stable and the conflicts are more likely to arise.

Relevance and explanation of the issue For centuries wars have always showed two different sides of the very same coin. On the one hand countries in a conflict zone desperately try to get enough weapons to avoid defend themselves, and on the other hand powerful nations increase their arms production to make profits out of someone else's tragedy.

This is still happening today, when countries such as the United States, Russia and some Member States of the EU are exporting arms to those areas where the 13

situation is not stable. Even though the EU's stance on solving conflicts lays in its role of a peacekeeping mediator, the trade of weapons offers a chance to improve some states' economies, becoming an important part of the profits, especially in times of crises.

Nowadays, 75% of this trade is done by the UK, France and Italy, meaning that countries with different economies and cultures are ready to sacrifice the EU’s role of a peacekeeper.

The countries where the weaponry is sold are mainly Saudi Arabia, China and Iran for the UK, Singapore and North Africa for France and Egypt for Italy.

As showed by these data, the majority of the countries involved in buying weapons from EU Member States are located in Middle East and North Africa, where conflicts are more likely to arise. While this trade is getting more significant every year, the EU has no common policy when it comes to any kind of intervention in these areas, including the weapon trade with one of the sides of the conflict.

Four EU countries are among the six major traders globally, exporting arms everywhere around Earth. United Kingdom earns profits of more than 1.86 billion Pounds annually, while exports to Libya alone bring profits that rise up to 250 million Euros. It is crucial to realise that arms trading is supporting the strongest European Union economies. On a global level, 2.5% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is accounted to military trading, while 185 Euros are being spent per person for arms.

It is obvious that trade of arms is an important part of EU economy and a full abandonment of this area without, at least, a well-prepared plan would have huge impact on a financial level. For example, United Kingdom would lose more than 2 billion Euros per year.

Simultaneously, Amnesty International in its reports raises questions about the potential use of arms to violate human rights. Although Russia, China and the United States seem to be the basic supplier of Middle East or Northern African countries, they cannot “take the blame” in total. France has been accused to support alGaddafi’s Libyan troops, while the UK has provided arms to Bahrain and law enforcement equipment to Yemen.

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Key questions What role should the EU play during peacetime in terms of arms trading?

Can the EU ensure that arms will not be used for suppression and human rights violation?

Should the EU Member States continue to make independent decision on how to develop this kind of trade?

Key actors European countries: they proposed the creation of an Arms Trade Treaty, which also led to the EU Common Position on Arms Exports. United Kingdom and France supported these initiatives, including criteria concerning human rights in the treaties.

On the other hand, Russia refuses to publish arms export details, while it also opposes the inclusion of binding rules in the treaties concerning human rights.

Middle East and Northern Africa: they are being afflicted by conflicts, while many leaders are accused of suppressing civilians and human rights.

Military companies and industries: they are supporting this trade believing that it is just another sector of the economy for every country. They especially underline that every country should be able to defend their citizens and they therefore need to be ready if a conflict suddenly arises.

Measures already in place Common Position on Arms Export: since 1998, with the latest amendment done in 2008. The European External Action Service demands the Member States to follow 15

the rules of the Position, which ask for respect for human rights in the country of destination, preservation of regional peace and guarantee that military technology will not be turned against allied countries or civilians of the recipient country.

Links for further research http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-2333694 http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/big-six-arms-exporters-2012-06-11 http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/othercommittees/committee-on-arms-export-controls/news/pn-report/ http://www.globalissues.org/article/75/world-military-spending http://www.sipri.org/yearbook/2013/03 http://www.eeas.europa.eu/non-proliferation-and-disarmament/arms-exportcontrol/ http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cmsUpload/08675r2en8.pdf

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Committee on Climate Change (CLIM)

Topic Overview Two degrees and more: with the scientific community claiming that the global warming cannot realistically be kept under the desired limits anymore, what measures should Europe take to prepare for extreme weather phenomena and their consequences for the environment, public health and food supplies? By Emy Mylona and Aikaterini- Maria Koukou

Key Terms Global warming: an increase in the average temperature of the earth's atmosphere, sufficient to cause changes in the climate.

Severe weather events: any dangerous meteorological or hydro-meteorological phenomena of varying duration, with the risk of causing major damage, serious social disruption and/or loss of human life. General forms of severe weather include thunderstorms, hurricanes, hailstorms, tornadoes, snowstorms, blizzards, heat waves and dust storms.

'2 Celsius degrees' target: the target for both the EU as a whole and its Member States to limit the global average temperature increase to 2° Celsius, compared with pre-industrial levels introduced in 2007 by the European Commission.

Relevance and explanation of the issue “I'm not a climate scientist, but the signs that we see are exactly what climate scientists have warned us would occur when global temperatures rise.� - Connie Hedegaard, European Commissioner for Climate Action According to climate scientists and meteorological researchers, extreme weather events have been rare, with a maximum rate of 5%, but lately they occur more often than in the past. These phenomena have been attributed to global warming, with a

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2012 study3 indicating an increasing threat from extreme weather conditions. The most important change in the climate is a category of summertime extremely hot outliers, more than three standard deviations (3σ) warmer than the climatology statistics of the period between 1951 and 1980. Severe weather can occur under a variety of situations, but three characteristics are generally always present: a temperature or moisture boundary and instability in the atmosphere, as relatively warm air near the surface and relatively cool air at mid-levels of the troposphere will create unstable conditions. Moreover, high moisture content of the near surface air will increase its instability.

The decade 2000-2009 has been the warmest on record and attention should be drawn to the fact that Europe was affected to a higher degree than the global average. The EU has been intensively concerned when it comes to climate change and its impact on human life and this is the reason why the European Commission also puts the reduction of gas emission by 20% as one of the goals of “Europe 2020”.

In fact it seems that gas emissions, not only are unhealthy for the EU population, but they're also one of the main causes of global warming and climate change in general.

However, despite the efforts made by the Union and its Member States, most of the scientists indicate that the situation could be nowadays irreversible. Europe 2020 appears not to reach its goals concerning climate change without implementing additional measures. Only fourteen of the Member States are expected to reach their national target with measures already implemented Positive responses to the reduction of emissions already came from Estonia, Poland and Luxembourg where they were higher in 2011 than in 2013.

Alarmingly enough, extreme weather phenomena are “on our doorstep”, as openly stated by José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission. “Much of Northern Europe has experienced its warmest and driest spring on record, with as little as 25% of its usual rainfall”, while floods and heat waves or draughts hit Central, Southern or Eastern Europe respectively. Taking into account the recent extreme weather events of 2013, the economic and social costs are huge. For instance, in 2010 the damages and losses due to climate-related incidents was estimated at 15 billion. In the UK the average flood damage costs are currently estimated at £1.1 billion per year.

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“Perception of climate change”, James Hansen, Makiko Satoa, and Reto Ruedy (March, 2012/PNAS)

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Moreover, maintaining existing levels of flood defense would require increasing the expenses for the government to over ÂŁ1 billion per year by 2035.4 Last but not least, the overall estimated cost in 2013 was 22 billion euros, troubling the national economies hit by the storms.

Europe seemed to be unprepared to face such extreme natural phenomena since a common and already planned crisis management approach was not implemented among the Member States affected, such as UK and Germany. Therefore, the national economies carry the burden on their own and the Union appears not present enough in establishing a European mechanism that could serve as additional support to the Member States.

Regarding the social impact of the severe weather events and more particularly their impact on food supply, one can argue that Europe is at major loss. EU agriculture has a share of 18% in world food exports, worth â‚Ź 76 billion. In production values, EU agriculture provides more than 40% of total food production. Extreme weather conditions dramatically affect the agricultural sector and have put a heavy strain on food production This could lead to skyrocketing food prices like the ones seen back in 2007 and 2008 when food was in short supply due to similar events. The consequences of these results affect both the national economies and the stability of the global market.

In addition, climate change will have both direct effects on human health, such as changes in the incidence of diseases transmitted by insects, especially mosquitoes and ticks, and also indirect effects through changes in water and air quality.

Furthermore, we should take into account the heat waves of 2007, which affected most of Southern Europe and the Balkans. In Hungary, one of the countries hit the most by these phenomena, eight days where the temperature was higher than 40°C, heat has resulted in more than 500 deaths.

There have been suggestions that these figures underestimate the true extent of heat mortality, since preliminary estimates for other countries in Europe, such as Bulgaria, attributed no more than 20 excess of deaths because of the heat.

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http://www.parliament.uk/topics/Flooding.htm

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Key questions: How can the EU better prepare itself in case of this kind of emergencies?

How can the EU help those Member States in need when extreme weather events occur?

How can the EU achieve the measures that have to be taken both in the short and in the long term?

How can the EU act effectively in all cases?

What further measures can the EU implement to tackle this issue and its impact on the environment, public health and food supply?

Key Actors: European Environment Agency (EEA): advisory agency with the aim of ameliorating the development, adoption, implementation and evaluation of the EU's environmental policies.

European Academies Science Advisory Council (EASAC): additional advisory body for further research on climate change and its consequences.

Directorate-General for Climate Action ("DG CLIMA"): agency that has been established under the framework of the EEA. It leads international negotiations on climate, helps the EU to deal with the consequences of climate change and to meet its targets for 2020. Moreover, it develops and implements the EU Emissions Trading System.

Measures already in place: Meteoalarm: system developed by the Network of European Meteorological Service, focused on the extreme weather conditions forecasts.

Extreme Weather impacts on European Networks of Transport (EWENT): a research project, which studies the effects of extreme weather events on the safety and 20

reliability of traffic systems. It also estimates the cost effects of weather-related disruptions.

EuroHEAT: a project running from 2005 to 2007 that was coordinated by the World Health Organisation-Europe and co-funded by the European Commission Directorate-General for Health and Consumers. It quantified the health effects of heat in the Member States and the options for improving their health systems’ response.

European Climate Change Programme (ECCP): a comprehensive package of policies aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Each of the EU Member States has also to complement the ECCP with its own domestic actions. The goal of the ECCP is to identify and develop all the necessary elements of common strategy of implementing the Kyoto Protocol. 5 Europe 2020: a 10-year growth strategy, whose targets also include “climate change and energy sustainability”. Among other goals, it is especially focused on tackling the effects of global warming when it comes to the environmental sector.

Links for further research: http://ec.europa.eu/europe2020/europe-2020-in-a-nutshell/index_en.htm http://unfccc.int/kyoto_protocol/items/2830.php http://ec.europa.eu/clima/policies/g-gas/progress/index_en.htm http://ec.europa.eu/clima/policies/eccp/ https://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/futurium/en/content/future-climate http://www.easac.eu/ http://www.weather-project.eu/weather/inhalte/research-network/ewent.php http://ec.europa.eu/health/ph_threats/climate/docs/com_2009_147_en.pdf http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2007:0002:FIN:EN:PDF

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http://unfccc.int/kyoto_protocol/items/2830.php

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http://www.euro.who.int/en/health-topics/environment-and-health/Climatechange/activities/prevention,-preparedness-and-response/heathealth-actionplans/about-euroheat http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0020/189020/e96853.pdf http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/oct/28/britain-storm-winds-deathflooding

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Committee on Culture and Education (CULT)

Topic Overview The other languages of Europe: with eleven Member States not having ratified the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (ECRML), how can the European Union (EU) further contribute to the cultural protection of linguistic diversity whilst ensuring cultural integration within Member States? By Julia Pustovoitova and Panaghiotis Kalaidhopoulos

Key terms Linguistic diversity - the amount of languages spoken.

Regional languages - traditionally used within a given territory of a State by nationals of that State who form a group numerically smaller than the rest of the State's population; and different from the official language(s) of that State.

Minority language - a language spoken by a minority of the population of a territory.

Such people are termed linguistic minorities or language minorities.

Language Policy is what a government does either officially through legislation, court decisions or policy to determine how languages are used, cultivate language skills needed to meet national priorities or to establish the rights of individuals or groups to use and maintain languages.

Multilingualism is the act of using polyglotism, or using multiple languages, either by an individual speaker or by a community of speakers.

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Relevance and explanation of the issue “Linguistic diversity is one of the most precious elements of the European cultural heritage. The cultural identity of Europe cannot be constructed on the basis of linguistic standardisation. On the contrary, the protection and strengthening of its traditional regional and minority languages represents a contribution to the building of Europe, which, according to the ideals of the members of the Council of Europe, can be founded only on pluralist principles.�

ECRML Preamble, Paragraph 26

Every language reflects a unique world-view with its own value systems, philosophy and particular cultural features. The extinction of a language results in the irrecoverable loss of unique cultural knowledge embodied in it for centuries, including historical, spiritual and ecological knowledge that may be essential for the survival of not only its speakers, but also countless others. For speaker communities, languages are the creations and the vectors of tradition. They support cultural identity and are an essential part of a community’s heritage.

The variety of languages tells us a lot about the variety of ways in which we can approach and view issues. Each language is also essential to its native speakers as a source of identity. Languages deserve protection. Some 255 languages are spoken in Europe, half of which have a threatened status. Of these, 90 have been identified as seriously endangered or in a critical situation.

The added value of regional and minority languages in multilingual and cross-border regions is undisputed. The preservation of linguistic and cultural diversity is a declared objective of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU and part of the Lisbon Treaty. Nevertheless the support for regional and minority languages on the European level is insufficient. The potential of the languages is not used. The number of speakers is decreasing and assimilation is wearing on. Increasing requirements of societal, economic and political character and the further development of a united

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Europe ask for a clear position on the future of the regional and minority languages and their communities and consequently for strengthening the regions in Europe.

Among the fundamental aims of the Council of Europe today are the protection and promotion of the wealth and diversity of Europe’s cultural heritage. Regional or minority languages are an important part of this heritage. Since 1992, Council of Europe’s Member States have been able to confirm their commitment to the protection of this heritage by ratifying the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.

The Charter, drawn up on the basis of a text put forward by the Standing Conference of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe, was adopted as a convention on 25 June 1992 by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, and was opened for signature in Strasbourg on 5 November 1992. It entered into force on 1 March 1998 The Charter has been ratified by twenty-five states (Armenia, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine and the United Kingdom). Another eight states have signed it, some of which are expected to ratify soon.

However the Council of Europe does not have the real legislative power in the EU, it may only advise, advocate and monitor. As of November 2013, the EU has got 24 official and working, as well as 3 semi-official languages; in the same time, and often even against the provisions of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, certain languages meant to be protected are effectively excluded.

Therefore, the question of, inter alia, the Romani and migrant languages (not official whatsoever in the EU and neglected in mass media and education) remains.

A minority language will only survive if it is used everywhere and not just at home.

Therefore, the Charter obliges States Parties to actively promote the use of these languages in virtually all domains of public life: education, courts, administration, media, culture, economic and social life, and trans-frontier cooperation. The Council 25

of Europe monitors that the Charter is applied in practice. The main question arises: is it enough?

Currently the EU spends lots of funds on the meeting where politicians don’t understand each other. The Members of the European Parliament argue that if parliament meetings could be held in three languages, costs would drop to ₏8,900 per day, while a full regime with all the languages provided costs ₏118,000 per day.

Past experience has shown that multilingualism is not only culturally important, but is also of social and economic importance. Europe's rich linguistic tapestry reaches far beyond the 24 official languages of the European Union and this diversity is something to celebrate.

Key Questions What should/could be done with migrant and multiple official and regional languages at both national and European level?

Would protecting minority languages be counter-productive in terms of social intergration?

Should the EU consolidate and fundamentally review its language policy?

In order to achieve unity should the Europena Union either decide upon one official language or embrace its linguistic diversity?

Key actors The European Union (EU) is an political and economic European supranational governance institution consisting of 28 European countries.

The European Commission (EC) is the executive body of the European Union responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and day-to-day running of the EU. A member state of the EU (national states) is a state that is party to treaties of the EU and thereby subject to the privileges and obligations of EU membership.

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Council of Europe - the continent’s leading human rights organisation. It includes 47 member states, 28 of which are members of the European Union. All Council of Europe member states have signed up to the European Convention on Human Rights, a treaty designed to protect human rights, democracy and the rule of law.

The European Bureau for Lesser-Used Languages (EBLUL) is a democratically governed Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) promoting languages and linguistic diversity.

Measures already in place “Euromosaic” - a comprehensive study initiated by the European Commission about minority language groups in the European Union. The study identified the social and institutional variables that provide the context for the continuing use of a language, and which create the conditions for expanding its use. The main variables influencing this process were found to be family, education and community, along with the institutional and legal frameworks in which languages are used. The motivating forces involved language “prestige” or the value of a language for social mobility and cultural reproduction. The second main task of this study was to examine the condition of different languages within this framework. The team behind the study compiled more than 50 reports on regional and minority languages, assessing the situation and condition of each language.

European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (ECRML) is a European treaty adopted in 1992 under the auspices of the Council of Europe to protect and promote historical regional and minority languages in Europe.

The ADUM project (2004-05) was supported by the European Commission. ADUM informs people and organisations working to support regional or minority languages about European funding opportunities.

The Network to Promote Linguistic Diversity (NPLD) is a pan-European Network which covers regional, minority, indigenous, cross-border and smaller national languages to promote linguistic diversity in Europe. The main focus is providing information about and easy access to a large network of organisations that can share ideas, information and best practice regarding the promotion of less widely used languages.

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CRAMLAP (Celtic, Regional and Minority Languages Abroad Project) has undertaken an audit and evaluation of Higher Education provision of Celtic and other regional and minority languages in Europe.

The Network of European Language Planning Boards established to promote cooperation between minority language planning boards in Europe.

Links for further research Language policies http://europa.eu/geninfo/query/resultaction.jsp?SMODE=2&ResultCount=10&Colle ction=EuropaFull&Collection=EuropaSL&Collection=EuropaPR&ResultMaxDocs=200 &qtype=simple&DefaultLG=en&ResultTemplate=%2Fresult_en.jsp&page=1&QueryT ext=languages#queryText=language+minorities&tab=europa&filterNum=10.3 Language diversity http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2013/09/language-diversity 28

Council of Europe - ECRML http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/education/minlang/default_en.asp Minority Language Laws in the EU: Process and Problem of Policy Implementation http://www.ciemen.cat/mercator/pdf/simp-alok.pdf Linguistic diversity and new minorities in Europe http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/linguistic/Source/GogolinEN.pdf European center for minority issues http://www.ecmi.de/home/ Language policy in the European Union http://www.esperanto-jongeren.nl/pdf/EuropeanUnion.pdf] “A Region Divided/United: Language Policy Developments in the European Union” http://aei.pitt.edu/7679/1/ahn-e-05h.pdf

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Committee on Human Rights (DROI)

Topic Overview "Our Democracy is self-destructing because it abused the right of freedom and equality, because it taught its citizens to consider rudeness as a right, breaking the law as a freedom, audacity as equality, and anarchy as blissfulness" Isocrates 436 BC - 338 BC While far right parties are enhancing their presence in European parliaments, democratic principles are being questioned and human rights are violated. Should the EU support the democratic principles on which the union was built? By Giorgina Giani and Joshua Giovanni Honeycutt

Key terms       

Democracy: a form of government in which all eligible citizens participate equally in the proposal, development, and creation of laws; Democratic principles: the basic ideas, rules and concepts which constitute the basis of democracy; Right to freedom of opinion and expression: the possibility for every citizen to express their own views; Far right party: a political entity which often encompasses nationalistic, socially conservative, anti-immigration views; Immigration: the act of a person from one country to enter the borders of another with the will to reside in the latter in a stabile fashion.

Xenophobia: intolerance towards foreign immigrants; Human Rights: unalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being.

Relevance and explanation of the issue “Should we tolerate the intolerant?” This is the question Michael Walzer poses in an ideal philosophical dialogue with Karl Popper, who in his 1945 book “The open society and its enemies”, vol. 1 answers with his ever famous Paradox of tolerance. The question Walzer poses is as relevant as ever in the current political climate of more than one Member State of the European Union, where intolerant 30

extremist parties have – now for some time – been openly and often with voters favour proposing intolerant political views.

One of the biggest advantages and disadvantages of democracy – an open society by definition - is that by allowing pluralism it allows its own enemies to grow.

Openly intolerant far right parties have been gaining ground in Europe since the 1990s, but their greatest increase in popularity has taken place since 2010 fueled especially by economic difficulties and austerity measures a fair number of European countries are facing. We have seen this in the past: totalitarian right wing parties in Germany and Italy, not to mention in Spain and Portugal, ascended to power in the last century also as a political reaction to economic woes and social malcontent. The political scene nowadays is undoubtedly different, but never the less it is clear that intolerant views are still offered by these new right wing parties present on the political scenario. They promise more radical sounding economic proposals and attract citizens who see no results delivered by their already existing government.

Crisis of identity lets ultra-nationalism - an anti-European ideology - grow.

Additionally, the rapidly growing immigration flow towards European countries and xenophobia can be considered as crucial factors for the growth of such parties which generally target immigration accompanied by open or not racial theories as one of their countries main problems.

The influence of far right parties is expanding on a European level, and it is possible that in several countries such parties will be successful at the European elections. Many citizens, however, express fears about the impact that the power of extremist parties can have on a political, economic and mainly social basis.

Democratic principles in the countries where far right parties have gained a lot of power are hindered, since these political groups are propaganding and defending ideologies that are often incompatible with democracy and human rights and therefore threaten the fundamental values that the Council of Europe sets out to defend. In most cases they support hostility against several social groups and they target immigrants and religious minorities. Even if they do not directly advocate violence, they do have the tendency to create a climate that allows its development.

Their ideologies conflict with fundamental rights and their statements and actions not seldom breach the European Convention on Human Rights, Article 14 which states “the enjoyment of the rights and freedoms set forth in this Convention shall be secured without discrimination on any ground such as sex, race, colour, language, 31

religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, association with a national minority, property, birth or other status”.

On the other hand, extreme parties are legally elected and as such represent the vision and the will of a part of the electorate. One of the main features of a democratic society is to guarantee the right of freedom of expression. Far right parties, after having gained power by the vote of their country’s citizens, have the democratic freedom to state the beliefs that form their policies. In order to sustain democracy these rights and freedoms ideally should be respected. To go back to Popper though, in essence, in an open society, such as modern democracies we live in, it is not only possible, but necessary to be intolerant towards those who foster intolerance in order to maintain the open society open. The opinion of a philosopher this is, and as every opinion it has to be judged accordingly.

Key Questions Are far right parties a threat to society or just an expression of the citizen’s vision?

To what extent can far right wing parties attack democratic values but also use them to grow?

Can legally elected parties offer openly anti-democratic political programmes?

Should the EU try to limit the political action of such parties in member states?

How can the equality of Human Rights between different political views and both on EU and national levels be guaranteed?

Key actors   

EU Member States: the countries which are part of the European Union; European Union: an economic and political union of 28 member states that are located primarily in Europe; Extremist parties: is any political party whose ideology is considered to be far outside the mainstream attitudes of political practice;

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

European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI): the Council of Europe’s independent human rights monitoring body specialized in combating racism, discrimination, xenophobia, anti-Semitism and intolerance.

Measures already in place 

  

Anti-fascist laws in Austria (Verbotsgesetz 1947): an Austrian constitutional law which banned the Nazi Party and provided the legal grounds for the process of denazification in Austria, as well as aiming to suppress any potential revival of Nazism; Germany (Strafgesetzbuch section 86a): a law which outlaws "use of symbols of unconstitutional organisations". This concerns Nazi symbolism in particular; Italy (legge Mancino and legge Scelba): laws which outlaw symbolism and reconstruction of the Fascist party; Reports of the ECRI on Member States: regular reports given out by the ECRI upon the respect of human rights in EU Member states

Links for further research

  

  

The Rise of Right-Wing Extremism in Europe: http://europa.eu/rapid/pressrelease_SPEECH-13-464_en.htm After Norway: EU Declares Fight Against Right-Wing Extremism: http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/after-norway-eu-declares-fightagainst-right-wing-extremism-a-776985.html Should Extremist Parties Be Banned in the EU?: http://www.debatingeurope.eu/2012/11/14/should-extremist-parties-bebanned/#.Un94WPncnr8 Website of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI): http://www.coe.int/t/dghl/monitoring/ecri/default_en.asp Is Today’s Far Right in Western Europe a Threat to Democracy?: http://www.e-ir.info/2013/08/09/is-todays-far-right-in-western-europe-athreat-to-democracy/ Far-Right's Surge Could Paralyse Europe, Warns Hollande as NF (i.e. Front National) Passes Socialists: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/10/hollande-warns-risenationalists-europe-elections 33



Minor Victory by Far-Right Party Has France Asking if Bigger Changes Are Ahead: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/15/world/europe/far-right-wins-a-localelection-in-france.html?_r=0 Nationalism, Ethnicity and Democracy: Contemporary Manifestations: http://www.gmu.edu/programs/icar/ijps/vol2_2/pamir.htm

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Committee on Development (DEVE)

Topic Overview Freedom of trade versus the protection of development objectives: At a time of rapidly increasing globalisation and trade liberalisation, the EU’s external trade policy plays a key role in maintaining European competitiveness. How can the EU promote a fair integration of less developed countries into the world trading system, which benefits both Europe and its trade partners? By Dionysios Theodoropoulos and Patrik Bruschek

Key terms EU’s external trade policy: sets the direction for trade and investment outside the EU Fair trade: controlled trade process where workers receive a fair wage Consumer protection: assuring the rights of consumers, fair trade competition and free flow of information Monopoly behaviour: A situation where there is only one supplier at a market and huge barriers exist to enter the market. Consumers cannot decide where to purchase.

Protectionism: is the economic policy of restraining trade between states through methods such as tariffs, quotas, and other government regulations designed to allow fair competition between imports and goods and service produced domestically Trade barriers: Tariffs, import/export licenses, subsidies, embargos, import quotas, etc.

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Relevance and explanation of the issue In an era of fiscal turbulences external policy is mainly linked to trade agreements and strategic partnerships. Due to the economic turmoil many economists suggest that GDP growth and development will be achieved only by supranational cooperation, yet they are not without their critics.

The great financial investments from great economic powers into developing countries have been skyrocketing over the past half century, yet only a few of these developing countries have witnessed the positive outcomes. In most cases developing countries are held back not only by lack of productive capacity, economic diversification and infrastructure but also because of both poor governance and exploitation. The EU as the world’s largest trading power and as the top-trading partner for over 80 countries has a huge responsibility to facilitate the fair integration of its trading partners to the international trading system.

Strategic partnerships between the EU and developing countries could be beneficial for all the parties involved, yet they could also create further exploitation as we can witness in Vietnam, Bangladesh and Cambodia. They could lead in a surge of growth and increment in both living conditions and employment rates accompanied by the dissemination of the values and interests of the EU on a world wide scale, yet they could also limit whole generations’ aspirations to a mere sweatshop working career earning no more than a dollar a day.

Some state that its alarming that many developed countries have imposed trade barriers on imports from developing countries in order to protect domestic industries. Others disagree; they believe that the removal of trade barriers leads to the outsourcing of many jobs, thus creating great unemployment issues with the country in question. The former believe that such behaviour has negative impacts on both prosperous and emerging countries, especially for the countries with weak economies, and generally could be counted as against the consumers’ interests because protectionism leads to monopoly behaviour. This negatively affects the quality of products, and, more significantly, the developed countries’ image in developing countries, leading thus in polarisation and raising the possibility of the occurring of conflicts. However there are many arguments stating that this international trade can create huge unemployment issues in developing nations and

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limit the aspirations of the developing countries, thus creating a loose loose situation.

The EU has historically aimed to protect its internal trade through policies such as the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) where 40% of the EU’s budget makes sure that European farmers are not put out of business by international competition. This form of protectionism has allowed EU citizens to benefit from local and high quality farming rather than relying upon foreign shipments.

Key questions Why are less developed countries not integrated in the trading system?

Would a step closer to protectionism or integration be in the EU’s interest?

What would be the effects of the EU labour market is developing countries were better integrated?

Which are the current trade barriers for less developed countries?

How can developed countries benefit/become exploited through such integration?

Key actors World Trade Organization European Commission on Trade European Commission on Development High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument

Measures already in place

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Free Trade Agreements – agreements that EU negotiates with developing and less developed countries in order to establish favourable trade conditions and eliminate trade barriers.

Market Access Strategy assures that international trade rules are respected and followed by everyone.

Neighbourhood Investment Facility contributes to kick-starting key infrastructure projects that require considerable ďŹ nancial resources and supports private sector development in the neighbourhood regions Links for further research European Commission on Trade http://ec.europa.eu/trade/ http://ec.europa.eu/trade/policy/countries-and-regions/development/ http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2012/january/tradoc_148992.EN.pdf http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6fYUq7rOSc http://ec.europa.eu/trade/policy/countries-and-regions/development/aid-for-trade/ European Commission on Development http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/what/economic-support/index_en.htm World Trade Organization http://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/minist_e/min01_e/mindecl_e.htm#tradeenv ironment http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J60mvcp_Q_E

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Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (EMPL)

Topic Overview “Out with the old in with the new.” What measures can the European Union (EU) take to facilitate the inclusion of the youth in the labour market without merely passing on the problem to other age groups? By Ilir Kola and Martin Ellingsen

Key terms Labourmarket - The place where employees and employers interact with each other, first to compete to find the best satisfying job for, and second to compete to hire the best at the most affordable price.

Unemployment –a person who is able to work, actively seeking work, but is unable to find any. The most cited measure of unemployment is the unemployment rate, which is the number of unemployed persons divided by the number of people in the labour force.

Scarred/Lost generations– a generation running the risk of being low demanded, “skipped” or uncompetitive on the labour market.

Workforce – the total number of country’s employed population, plus those unemployed people who are actively seeking a paid job.

Vocational training – training that emphasises the acquisition of specific skills and knowledge required for a particular job function.

The Flexicurity Model (flexicurity) – a combination of easy hiring and firing, providing flexibility and mobility for employers, and high benefits for the unemployed. This is combined with training to increase job mobility.

Relevance and explanation of the issue Europe has been facing an increase in unemployment in general and especially in youth unemployment since the financial crisis in 2007. Many would argue that youth 40

unemployment is one of the biggest challenges that Europe is currently encountering; today’s statistics state that 23.3%6 of the European youth are today unemployed. Countries such as Spain and Greece suffer the most, the latter with youth unemployment rate being at a staggering 65%7.

The labour market has changed drastically over the last years. With the EU’s focus on smart growth, the labour market now requires a different et of skills such as entrepreneurship, multilingualism, and digitalisation.

European countries are facing what have been called “lost” or “scared” generations.

When almost an entire generation is left outside the labour market, they run the risk of not being able to take part of in the future, as younger generations are more preferred by employers than people who have been without work for a longer time.

The statistics shows that the longer one is left out of the labour market, the less are the chances for them to find a job, making long term unemployment a downward spiral it’s dangerous to get trapped in, and possibly extremely difficult to get out of.

Facing this challenge, one also has to acknowledge the paradox - there are over 2 million unfilled vacancies in the EU8, because of a skills mismatch between those youngsters coming out of education, and their potential jobs. There is a shortage of biologists, pharmacologists, medical doctors and related professionals, nurses, IT computing professionals and engineers.9 On a structural level, a skills mismatch has been observed between the recent graduates and their potential jobs. It is clear that what we learn at schools and universities, and the fields of studies the majority of youth choose might not always directly relevant to many job-sectors.

The main question is who is responsible? The Member States are also facing the threat of youth unemployment, but due to the free float of work force between European countries it is hard to tackle on a national level. Sweden, who also suffers from high youth unemployment, has started paying its youths for going across the border to find work, a short term solution that flips the problem to youngsters from other European countries. 10 6

http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=1036 http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/greek-youth-unemployment-hits-record-65-1.1337224 8 http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=1036 9 http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-12-1329_en.htm 10 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/sweden/9645959/Sweden-pays-jobless-youth-tomove-to-Norway.html 7

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The greatest challenge the EU currently faces when trying to tackle the issue of youth unemployment is the potential to increase mature unemployment through their policies. If the EU invests more money into rescuing this “lost generation” there’s a chance that elder generations moving from one job to another will no longer be able to find work since the job they would have taken has been offered to the youth due to taxation incentives or other governmental schemes aimed in increasing youth employment.

Key Questions     

Should the EU regulate the labour market at the European level or should it be left to national legislation?

How can the EU continue to use the advantages of its free trade zone in order to combat youth unemployment?

Can we create any legislation aimed at helping the youth get a job without influencing other age groups?

How can education contribute to the creation of new skills among the youth in order for them to adapt to the new needs of economy?

What can we do to tackle unemployment on a structural level?

Key actors The European Commission (EC) is the executive body of the European Union responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and day-to-day running of the EU. A member state of the EU (national states) is a state that is party to treaties of the EU and thereby subject to the privileges and obligations of EU membership.

Public employment services (PESs) are authorities that connect job seekers and employers at local, regional, national and European level. Although structured differently in each country, all PESs help match supply and demand on the labour market through information, placement and active support services.

Measures already in place

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Europe 2020- the growth strategy of the EU in different sectors. In the employment sector achieving a 75% employment rate for the working-age population (2064 years) with the help of: 

The Agenda for New Skills and Jobs through:  stepping up reforms to improve flexibility and security in the labour market ('flexicurity');  equipping people with the right skills for the jobs of today and tomorrow;  improving the quality of jobs and ensuring better working conditions;  improving the conditions for job creation.  The Youth on the Move aims to improve young people’s education and employability, to reduce high youth unemployment and to increase the youth-employment rate by:  making education and training more relevant to young people's needs  encouraging more of them to take advantage of EU grants to study or train in another country  encouraging EU countries to take measures simplifying the transition from education to work.  The Youth Employment Package includes a proposed Recommendation to Member States on introducing the Youth Guarantee to ensure that all young people up to age 25 receive a quality offer of a job, continued education, an apprenticeship or a traineeship within four months of leaving formal education or becoming unemployed and launches a consultation of European social partners on a Quality Framework for Traineeships so as to enable young people to acquire high-quality work experience under safe conditions.  European Alliance for Apprenticeships to improve the quality and supply of apprenticeships available by spreading successful apprenticeship schemes across the Member States and outlines ways to reduce obstacles to mobility for young people.

The EU Skills Panorama- a website presenting quantitative and qualitative information on short- and medium-term skills needs, skills supply and skills mismatches in the European labour marked.11 It is a tool to counter the mismatch of skills among youth and vacant positions in Europe by providing information to youth, national states and educational institutions and hopefully decrease the skills mismatch in short and long term.

11

http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-12-1329_en.htm

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The European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (CEDEFOP) was founded in 1975 and based in Greece since 1995. It supports development of European vocational education and training (VET) policies and contributes to their implementation. Some Member States are already developing this practice further with now two-thirds of enterprises in the EU providing vocational training.

The European Social Fund (ESF) is Europe’s main instrument for supporting jobs, helping people get better jobs and ensuring fairer job opportunities for all EU citizens. It works by investing in Europe’s human capital – its workers, its young people and all those seeking a job. ESF financing of EUR 10 billion a year is improving job prospects for millions of Europeans, in particular those who find it difficult to get work.

Links for further research

EC bullet points on youth unemployment http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=1036 IMF on scarred generations http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2012/03/morsy.htm How does the labour market works: http://www.cfee.org/en/pdf/labourstudent2.pdf Solving the skills mismatch, a comprehensive video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRdBZwF9G44 Euroactiv reports on the Youth Guarantee Scheme: http://www.euractiv.com/socialeurope/eu-ministers-give-green-light-yo-news518157 The EU Skills Panorama: http://euskillspanorama.ec.europa.eu/ How to tackle youth unemployment in times of crisis:

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http://library.fes.de/pdf-files/id/ipa/09516.pdf Analysis on skills mismatch: http://www.cedefop.europa.eu/EN/Files/3056_en.pdf Vocational training statistics: http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/statistics_explained/index.php/Continuing_vocati onal_training_statistics# Unemployment statistics: http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/statistics_explained/index.php/Unemployment_statistics# Youth_unemployment_trends Eurostat report on youth unemployment: http://issuu.com/economicsustainability/docs/essqr_june_2013_10_key_facts_and_fi European Parliament on the Youth Guarantee: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/headlines/content/20130108STO05234/html/You thguarantee-getting-young-Europeans-back-to-work Rethinking Skills for Europe Initiative: http://ec.europa.eu/governance/impact/planned_ia/docs/2012_eac_014_rethinking_skills_ en.pdf

Europe’s steps to tackle youth unemployment (The Guardian, July 2013) http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2013/jul/01/europe-steps-tackle-youth-unemployment

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Committee on Gender Equality (FEMM)

Topic Overview Sexism: a farfetched issue or a serious problem? What actions should EU take in order to eradicate sexism in society and ensure equal rights for men and women? By Despina Dimitrakopoulou and Meropi Karakioulaki

Key terms Sexism: prejudice or discrimination based on a person's gender Gender Equality: implies that men and women should receive equal treatment Discrimination: the prejudicial treatment of an individual based on their actual or perceived membership in a certain group, in a way that is worse than the way people are usually treated EU’s Charter of Fundamental Rights: a document that enshrines certain political, social, and economic rights for European Union (EU) citizens and residents into EU law

Relevance and explanation of the issue Sex discrimination (or sexism) refers to unequal treatment based on gender difference. Sexist attitudes may stem from traditional stereotypes of gender roles, and may include the conscious or subconscious belief that a person of one sex is intrinsically superior to a person of the other.

Equality between men and women is a fundamental principle that is enshrined in the EU’s Charter of Fundamental Rights. However, gender inequalities persist in today's society, and are often compounded by other forms of discrimination, mainly in the form of preventing women from enjoying their full rights.

More specifically, a study conducted by the University of Leicester’s, in cooperation with the university of Utrecht and Canterbury, pointed out that women still face a world of discrimination and stereotypes in the workplace, and fall through the gaps

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of EU-wide legislation, missing out on wages, promotions, and sometimes jobs on the basis of being pregnant, mothers or of child-bearing age.

The Nordic countries of the EU (Iceland, Norway, Finland and Sweden), however, continue to demonstrate the greatest equality between men and women, according to the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2010.

Nevertheless, the question of equal rights between the two genders remains, taking into consideration society's differentiation when it comes to maternity leaves, retirement age or parental rights. In these areas it seems that the scale is in favor of women, fact that underlines the imbalance between the two sexes. For example, in the UK, Ukraine and Poland there is a five-year difference between the retirement age of men and women, with women able to retire in an earlier age, while in most European countries parents do not have equal parental leaves, both in terms of time and payment.

In a union, like the EU, which fully respects human rights and in which democracy, equality, prosperity and acceptance are the core values of both political and social life, sexism is- if not offensive- unacceptable, and its extermination should be a top priority of every Member State.

Key Questions Is gender discrimination a farfetched issue or a serious problem?

Should the EU aim for total equality between genders?

Are there any EU countries in which gender discrimination is being demonstrated with higher frequency than the other countries?

What actions should the EU take in order to ensure women’s equal access to education, health and employment?

Does the media have an effect on our perceptions of gender imbalances?

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In which sectors do women experience difficulties or unequal treatment?

Are there any matters where women are now enjoying more rights or privileged status over men (e.g. maternity leave, parental rights, retiring age)?

Key actors FRA (European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights) - one of the EU’s decentralised agencies. These agencies are set up to provide expert advice to the institutions of the EU and the Member States on a range of issues. FRA helps to ensure that the fundamental rights of people living in the EU are protected.

EIGE (European Institute for Gender Equality) European Commission - the executive body of the European Union responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and day-to-day running of the EU. UN Commission on the Status of Women – a UN commission which has three main roles: -

To support inter-governmental bodies, such as the Commission on the Status of Women, in their formulation of policies, global standards and norms To help Member States to implement these standards, standing ready to provide suitable technical and financial support to those countries that request it and to forge effective partnerships with civil society.

To hold the UN system accountable for its own commitments on gender equality, including regular monitoring of system-wide progress.

Measures already in place 

European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR): is an international treaty to protect human rights and fundamental freedoms in Europe, drafted in 1950 by the then newly formed Council of Europe. All Council of Europe member states are party to the Convention and new members are expected to ratify the convention at the earliest opportunity.

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Charter of Fundamental Rights: The Charter of Fundamental Rights consolidates in a single document the fundamental rights applicable at the European Union (EU) level. It establishes ethical principles and rights for EU citizens and residents that relate to dignity, liberty, equality, solidarity, citizenship and justice.

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Roadmap for equality between women and men (2006-2010): This roadmap was implemented in 2006 and supported the objectives of the gender equality agenda. It had been followed by an implementation report in 2008 and an evaluation with a follow-up proposal in 2010.

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Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995 in Beijing: Over the past decade, the Commission has systematically reviewed progress in the implementation of the twelve critical areas of concern identified in the Beijing Platform for Action at its annual sessions, and has adopted actionoriented recommendations, in the form of agreed conclusions, to facilitate increased implementation at all levels.

2004 Goods and Services Directive: addresses the complex relationship between the principle of gender equality and insurance.

UN Security Council resolution 1325: reaffirms the important role played by women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts, peace negotiations, peace-building, peacekeeping, humanitarian responses and post-conflict reconstruction. It also stresses the importance of their equal participation and full involvement in all efforts for the maintenance and promotion of peace and security.

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Links for further research

http://fra.europa.eu/en/theme/gender http://eeas.europa.eu/human_rights/women/index_en.htm http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/en/lsa/137546. pdf http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/employment_and_social_policy/equality_b etween_men_and_women/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdOcjKsUqOI http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/06/25/the-e-u-s-breathtakingly-awful-sciencevideo/ 49

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j85fGU3PeeY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQvVO69Ipmw http://uk.askmen.com/daily/austin_100/136_fashion_style.html http://www.dosomething.org/tipsandtools/background-discrimination-againstwomen

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Committee on Security and Defense(SEDE)

Topic Overview Towards a European standing army? In light of continuous cuts in European defense budgets and an ever-increasing dependence on US military resources, how can the EU improve its military capabilities whilst respecting its Member States’ full competence in this area? By Tetiana Korniichuk and Aspa Georgakopoulou

Key terms European defense budgets: the budgets of the EU Member States collectively.

Europe’s military dependence: the dependence of Europe’s defense budget on the US (75 percent of its defense budget was provided by the United States), as well as the dependence in terms of development of new military technologies and strategic reconnaissance.

Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP): the, unanimously agreed foreign policy of the European Union for mainly security and defense diplomacy and actions.

European Security Strategy: it provides the conceptual framework for the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), including what would later become the Common Security and Defense Policy (CSDP).

EU military force: it comprises the several national armed forces of the Union's 28 member states.

Relevance and explanation of the issue EU’s role as a security player has expanded over the last decade, with 23 civilian missions and military operations taking place over the world. Still those operations have not been accomplished by a European standing army, but by ad hoc forces contributed by the Member States for various purposes, such as: joint disarmament operations, humanitarian and rescue tasks, military advice and assistance, conflict prevention and peacekeeping duties, as well as tasks of common combat forces in crisis management.

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The key role that EU holds in the international political and military map, as well as the above mentioned operations rejuvenated the idea of a common European army.

However, the economic aspect seems to be a running sour for the EU’s military activity. The crisis has lead the EU defense budget drop by 15% over the last decade, whilst according to research, the EU Member States seem to spend collectively €200 billion on defense annually, while the United States of America spend €548billion.

That does not only mean that the European military operations have shrunk more than US have, but also that there is a vast gap between those two forces in terms of equipment. This has been highlighted during the recent NATO’s military operations in Libya. EU’s participation proved to be everything but successful, as according to the NATO’s major-general report to the Committee on Security and Defense, the operation depended mainly on US expertise on intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities. At the same time, significant shortfalls in a variety of European capabilities – from ISR and targeting to air-to-air refueling - have been pointed out. Given the fact that the US currently accounts for two-thirds of total NATO’s allied defense expenditures, while the European defense budgets decrease, a growing transatlantic “capabilities gap” is thought to be undermining alliance unity by increasing NATO’s already significant reliance on U.S. military potential.

Apart from the budgetary constraints, another crucial aspect is the existence of a framework that ensures the strengthening of a common foreign policy. Besides, it should not be ignored that a common foreign policy and full unanimity between all the Member States are indispensable prerequisites for a common European military force. The existing framework which is closely related to the military issues of the Union is the Common Security and Defense Policy (CSDP). According to the EU commission president Jose Manuel Barroso, thought, the existing policies have to be further enhanced as he claimed that: "We will not have the weight we need in the world without a common defense policy.

To support it, we need to strengthen our defense and security sector. We need to be able to back up our positions of principle with security and civilian missions that can help stabilize the situation in crisis areas around the world."

Key questions 

Does the EU need an autonomous standing army and how can they benefit from it?

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With 21 MS of the Union being members of the NATO as well, in case of the formation of a European standing army, how are the MS going to spend their resources on two causes, when both are already under funded?

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Would greater EU military power mean less state military power?

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Could an EU standing army serve the interests of all Member States, even though those interests might be conflicting?

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Is the idea of a common European army still premature, or is the Union on threshold of one of its greatest steps in its history?

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What affect would the development of such an army have on EU expansion?

Key actors NATO: NATO and the European Union (EU) are cooperating on issues of common interest and are working side by side in crisis-management, capability development and political consultations. NATO and the European Union now have 21 member countries in common US: Due to the US expertise on military equipment and the high annual budget spent on military issues, the gap between the Union and the US is vast and thus EU’s dependence on US’ forces and know-how is increasing. If Europe’s military dependence on the US is to be ceased, the Member States should raise their annual defense spending by 10%. § European Union Military Committee (EUMC): This committee has been set up in order to advice decision-makers and co-ordinate progress on defense goals.

Instrument for Stability (IfS): After setting up this instrument, the European Commission has considerably intensified its work in the area of conflict prevention, crisis management and peace building. The IfS has been used to date to finance a large number of crisis response projects worldwide.

European Union Military Staff (EUMS): The EUMS has been set up in order to provide strategic advice to the High Representative. Its duty is to perform "early warning, situation assessment and strategic planning for Petersberg tasks" and to implement CSDP missions.

Committee for Civilian Aspects of Crisis Management (CIVCOM): The activities of the committee is part of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) of EU, and the civilian side of the Common Security and Defense Policy (CSDP). CIVCOM is composed of representatives of the EU member states.

Measures already in place 53

Common Security and Defense Policy, formerly known as the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP), is a major element of the Common Foreign and Security Policy of the European Union (EU) and is the domain of EU policy covering defense and military aspects, as well as civilian crisis management.

Berlin Plus Agreement - the partnership between EU and NATO, which allows the EU to use NATO structures, mechanisms and assets to carry out military operations if NATO declines to act.

Helsinki Headline Goal - a military capability target set for 2003. It is known as the first concrete measure in order to enhance EU’s military capabilities, since it sets the goal of sustain forces capable of the full range of Petersberg tasks as set out in the Amsterdam Treaty.

Headline Goal 2010 set of new targets made by the European Council for further develop of the EU’s military rapid reaction capability while insisting on addressing the shortfalls from the previous headline goal.

Eurocorps - intergovernmental standing army designed in 1992, in order to serve as a model for closer military cooperation in general between EU Member States and it now consists of 60.000 troops and 1000 soldiers. In spite of the €13 million spent for this army, its contribution has been limited, as they have only been used 3 times in cooperation with NATO; twice in Afghanistan and once in Kosovo.

Petersberg Tasks - an integral part of the European security and defense policy (ESDP), have been adopted and designed by the Western European Union. Those tasks cover: humanitarian and rescue tasks; conflict prevention and peace-keeping tasks; tasks of combat forces in crisis management, including peacemaking; joint disarmament operations; military advice and assistance tasks; post-conflict stabilisation tasks. The implementation was not based on a standing army, but on the cooperation amid the WEU members.

Links for further research Introductory Material 54

A secure Europe in a better world – European Security Strategy

http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cmsUpload/78367.pdf Foreign and Security Policy

http://europa.eu/pol/cfsp/ Common Security and Defense Policy http://www.euintheus.org/what-we-do/policy-areas/foreign-affairs-anddefense/common-security-and-defense-policy/ EU countries to reduce dependence on US military http://euobserver.com/defence/115686 Nato commander: EU could not do Libya without US http://euobserver.com/defence/115650 Military spending: EU dwarf shrinks as US gets bigger http://euobserver.com/defence/115906 EU-NATO: THE FRAMEWORK FOR PERMANENT RELATIONS AND BERLIN PLUS http://consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cmsUpload/03-1111%20Berlin%20Plus%20press%20note%20BL.pdf

Measures already in place Eurocorps – A force for NATO and the European Union http://www.eurocorps.org/ GENERAL SECRETARIAT OF THE COUNCIL OF THE EU -TREATY OF LISBON http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/en/ec/1 11652.pdf Rapid Reaction Force http://en.euabc.com/word/788

Opinions EU urged to set up its own army by top defence official http://www.independent.ie/world-news/europe/eu-urged-to-set-up-its-ownarmy-by-top-defence-official-29659726.html

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Better defence spending needed to back up EU 'principles'

http://euobserver.com/defence/120962 Eurocorps: future European army or missed attempt? http://www.thenewfederalist.eu/Eurocorps-future-European-army-ormissed-attempt No might, no right: Europeans must re-discover military power http://www.realinstitutoelcano.org/wps/portal/rielcano_eng/Content?WCM _GLOBAL_CONTEXT=/elcano/Elcano_in/Zonas_in/EGSMadrid-Simon-militarypower-CSDP-poder-militar-PCSD Does the European Union Need an Army? http://www.e-ir.info/2011/02/16/does-the-european-union-need-an-army/ EU Treaty's impact on defence policy remains unclear http://www.euractiv.com/future-eu/eu-treatys-impact-defence-policy-news219376

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