The Buzzz - Autumn 2013 by Generation Europe Foundation

THE

BUZZZ Autumn 2013

CONTENT EDITO GEF NEWS New GEF President: Andrew Thorburn Page 4 My Choices Planner Page 5 Good-bye, Annika; welcome, Johanna! Page 6 Employment Forum Page 6 Europa Diary ends. Was this a wise decision? Page 7

Time to "focus on" the European Union and more... ! Page 7 PORTRAIT

Thomas de Leeuw, start-up entrepreneur, Sunuru Page 8 GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE A new light on the Snowden case Page 10 a DAY in the LIFE of... Milan Thies, an Integration Adviser Page 11 EU IN FOCUS The EU Youth Guarantee Page 12 Welcome Croatia! Page 13 Hea idee, halb teostus Page 14

KEY FIGURE & QUOTE COMPETITIONS’ CORNER

Copyright © 2013 Generation Europe Foundation. All rights reserved. Publisher: THE BUZZZ is published by Generation Europe Foundation. We welcome your questions and suggestions on info@generation-europe.eu Become a fan on facebook.com/generationeurope Follow us on twitter.com/GenerationEurop Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of Generation Europe Foundation.

Cover credit: ispy5588 (via stock.xchng)

EDITO The “Choices” issue What makes you unique? It is your choices! Along with Walter Anderson, the famous painter and writer, we at Generation Europe Foundation believe that the most distinctive action a person can take is making choices, informed choices. Making a choice is not something that concerns only young people. It is a fundamental feature of the human condition. However, we believe that young people have so many options at their disposal, that nowadays, more so than in the past, they need the right information to be able to choose what is best for them. To provide unbiased and relevant information to young people has been, and will continue to be, our mission at Generation Europe Foundation. With our flagship educational publication, the Europa Diary, we contributed to informing almost 20 million secondary school students about the European Union during the last 10 years (on page 7 you’ll read news about the publication). We like to think that those students, who used the diary in schools for years, are now young adults who have become active citizens and believe that they can turn this world into a better place... For this edition of the Buzzz, we met several young people and discussed their choices with them. Thomas de Leeuw and Jan van Kranendonk are two young Dutch entrepreneurs who chose to create a start-up! We like this kind of initiative and hope that they can inspire our readers (more about them on page 8-9). We interviewed our young Ambassador, Milan Thies, who has chosen to be socially engaged and improve the quality of his own life and that of others (see page 11). We are also aware of the current difficulties that young people face across Europe. Read more, in this edition, about the recent initiatives which have been launched at the European level to tackle the issue of youth unemployment, such as the Youth Guarantee scheme and the next Employment Forum, which will be held in Brussels in November. The "choices" issue, as you can see, does matter to us. And it is certainly not a mere coincidence that we decided to call our new initiative "My Choices", which aims at providing science-based and independent information to young people on how to improve their lifestyle! Whether they choose to become healthier or not is ultimately their own choice, of course. But we are glad to provide our contribution so that they can make their own informed choice if they wish! More about this new project on page 5. Have a good read and see you next year!

Cristina, Managing Director at Generation Europe Foundation

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GEF NEWS New GEF President: Andrew Thorburn. A strategic thinker with a broad horizon.

Meet Andrew Thorburn, Generation Europe Foundation’s new President! At the General Assembly held on 28 June, he was unanimously elected to head the organisation in close cooperation with the Managing Director, Dr. Cristina Fancello. Andrew has been involved in Generation Europe Foundation through frequent discussions with his sister, Catie Thorburn, who founded GEF almost 20 years ago. He is a far-travelled man, having worked for the past 25 years as an international business development consultant in over 35 countries including most of the EU’s new Member States. Currently based in Africa, Andrew is working towards attracting new investment to post-conflict countries with the aim to reduce

poverty and support economic development. In the course of his career he has learned that Public Private Partnerships can be highly effective in addressing challenges and exploiting opportunities. He firmly believes in the involvement of students and teachers in shaping the future of our planet and says this should be supported by international and national leaders in both the public and private sectors. With this rich experience Andrew will not only follow in the footsteps of his sister, but he will also leave his own mark on the history of Generation Europe Foundation, bringing in new ideas for sustainable projects and partnerships ensuring the organisation’s future.

My Choices Planner Generation Europe Foundation is proud to present the first edition of the My Choices Planner, a new initiative aimed at students aged 12-14 and their teachers whose aims are to: improve the health profiles of young people; teach crucial life skills such as critical thought, goals-setting, self-analysis; introduce effective healthy lifestyles education as part of national curricula. The cornerstone of this initiative is a printed Student planner and accompanying Teachers’ guide, which help teachers help their students: Learn about the different lifestyle choices available in relation to nutrition, physical activity, stress management and more; Reflect on the choices they wish to make; Set goals, track progress and evaluate outcomes; Realise that the choice is theirs, and that what they choose will affect their lifestyle. The My Choices Planner is a year-long companion for students and contains a full-year homework/activities planner; basic information in relation to healthy lifestyles; pages that guide students through goal-setting, logging of progress, selfassessment and personal reflection throughout the school year; and web addresses (national and European websites) for more in-depth information. The My Choices Students planner and Teachers’ guide are coupled to powerful on-line tools which allow teachers to report on progress, measure the impact of this initiative in their school and in relation to other participating schools. In addition to being of direct benefit to schools, this will also enable Generation Europe Foundation to carry out an extensive project’s evaluation and demonstrate the impacts of this initiative to public authorities and other stake-holders so as to help ensure long-term funding of this initiative.

All editorial content is produced by Generation Europe Foundation, which is then reviewed collectively by an independent Editorial Advisory Board composed of independent experts. As for other educational publications by Generation Europe Foundation, the content is translated and adapted by our national partners in the target countries. During this ‘pilot’ year, the planner is only available to students in Germany, Greece and the United Kingdom. Printing and distribution of these new education tools has been made possible by the Coca-Cola Foundation. For more information about the project, please visit www.mychoices.eu or send us an email at mychoices@generation-europe.eu

Good-bye, Annika; welcome, Johanna! After 4 ½ years of good collaboration, it’s time to say good-bye to one of our project managers. Annika Stienen joined GEF in 2009 and has since worked on many pan-European projects, such as the Europa Diary, Mind Your Rights, several surveys, events and translations. Annika has also contributed extensively to the external communication of our NGO and liaised with national partners, teachers, other youth organisations and European stakeholders.

We welcome Johanna van Vrede, who joined GEF in August, as our new project manager, after accomplishing traineeships at the European Parliament and the Permanent Representation of the Netherlands to the EU. Johanna grew up in the UK and the Netherlands and has acquired experience in youth work and project management as a volunteer in youth organisations. We very much look forward to working with her and growing even bigger!

www.generation-europe. eu/about-us/our-team/

Employment Forum, 12-13 November 2013, Brussels In line with previous years, Generation Europe Foundation will attend and participate in the annual ‘Employment Forum’ (it used to be called the ‘Employment Week’), which takes place on 12-13 November 2013, in Brussels. GEF will bring two young people to the event who will participate as panellists during a panel discussion entitled ‘Tough questions − Europe’s youth take the floor’. The selected candidates are Thijs Buirma, 25, from the Netherlands (photo on the right), and Daniel Kaiser, 19, from Austria (photo on the left). As today’s decisions greatly affect young people across Europe, Thijs and Daniel will have the opportunity to ask high level decision-makers critical questions about what skills are needed in the job market and how these can be obtained, as well as about career change and failure, how we can deal with this and how failures are perceived in society. The selection and contribution of young people to the event has been done together with ThinkYoung, the first thinktank made by young people, for young people. Their founder and CEO, Andrea Gerosa, will moderate the debate. The other speakers alongside our young representatives will be Eamonn Davern, Head of International Relations, Department of Work and Pensions UK, and Pavel Trantina, Rapporteur for EESC opinions on the Youth Employment Package. We wish Thijs and Daniel all the best for the debate, and trust that they will ask some very critical questions!

GEF and ThinkYoung will also provide young participants to take minutes of the sessions which are used to brief the (final) speaker(s). In exchange you can attend the event. Interested in being part of the minute taking team and attending the Employment Forum? Send an email to johanna@generation-europe.eu with your CV and a 200 word motivation by 25th October, 11:00 am.

Let’s ‘Focus on’ the European Union and more… ! With 2013 being the European Year of

information sheets for students and ready-

Citizens, GEF is proud to announce the

made lesson plans for teachers.

recent publication of the ‘Focus on’ about the European Citizens’ Initiative. ‘Focus on’ is our free teaching kit for secondary school

teachers.

This

particular

worksheet informs students about what European Citizens’ Initiatives (ECIs) are.

All editions are published at least in English, French and German and some are also available in other languages such as Greek, Spanish, Polish, Romanian, Italian and more. For the full list of available

In addition, it educates students how

languages visit our online library.

to create their own mock ECIs, so that

How to download this free material:

they will become aware of the different degrees of competence that the EU has in different policy fields, and how this

Teachers can download it from our website

affects the legislative procedures, which

www.generation-europe.eu > Resources

− in the end − impact the citizen’s lives!

> Teaching Resources > Online library.

Additionally, we will shortly release

Students can find an English version of

two new editions of ‘Focus on’: they will focus on the ‘EU Institutions’ and on the upcoming ‘European Parliament Elections’.

GEF Youth Centre

Do you have a good idea for a topic that you would like to see covered in future editions? Let us know: info@generation-europe.eu

www.generation-

europe.eu/resources/youth-centre/ You can also sign up to our mailing

subjects that are typically not covered by the

list to be kept up-to-date when new

school curriculum, but which are essential

‘Focus on’ material has been released:

changing world around us. It is composed of

In the setting of Europe’s current economic crisis and youth (un)employment situation, we are working on the topics of Entrepreneurship and the Financial Crisis.

the text (without the lesson plans) in our

‘Focus on‘ is ideal for teaching about

for preparing students for the ever-

What’s next?

http://www.generation-europe.eu/ media-centre/newsletter/

Europa Diary ends. Was this a wise decision? In the last edition of the Buzzz, we explained how the European Commission interrupted the Europa Diary in 2011. We regret to inform you that last April, despite formal requests made by the European Parliament, which approved in December 2012 a budget for its relaunch; emails from hundreds of teachers across Europe addressed to President Barroso supporting the Diary, and against all the evidence demonstrating the success of this project, Commissioner Borg, appointed in 2013, maintained the European Commission’s position to refuse to re-launch the Europa Diary. We’d like to thank all teachers who took the time to voice their opinion in front

of the EU decision-makers for their active engagement and loyalty to our project! We would also like to thank the European Parliament for its support over the past two years, and in particular Mrs Doris Pack, MEP and Chairman of the CULT Committee, Mrs Podimata and Mr Karas, MEPs and Vice Presidents of the European Parliament, and all other MEPs who, along with us, shared the concern of thousands of teachers who now won’t receive a new edition of the Europa Diary. We would like finally to thank all national partners, the Bertelsmann group, the national ministries and public authorities, who have contributed over the years to make this project a valued education tool in Europe… on Europe.

We believe that the Europa Diary could have still done a great job. Not only would it have explained the European Union in simple but accurate words to students, their teachers and families, but it would have contributed to raising awareness about relevant deadlines over the next year: the election of the European Parliament, the appointment of a new Commission and the next European year of Food Waste. For full details of the developments that led to the end of the Europa Diary, please visit our website: www.generationeurope.eu > What we do > Our projects > Europa Diary

portrait Thomas de Leeuw start-up entrepreneur, Sunuru Thomas de Leeuw (26), together with Jan van Kranendonk (29), (both former Mechanical Engineering students at the Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands) came up with the idea behind SUNURU, a start-up that offers a solar energy system that fits in any urban situation while boosting revenues up to 50%. Now, after 2 years, they have decided to stop the project, as they found that their approach was not cost-competitive enough and that the design-niche they found was a bad fit with the skills and ambitions of the team. Nevertheless, it has been an extremely exciting journey for the team, and here Thomas shares some of the highs and lows of setting up a start-up. Thomas, you are part of the brains behind SUNURU. How did it all start? There is a course at Delft University which is meant to help engineers start their own business. The course has two requirements to get in: you need to have an idea, as well as a team. I had neither, but really wanted to join the course. Luckily, Jan had been working on the SUNURU idea already for some time and was looking for a team, so that’s where it all started for me. How did the idea turn into reality?

The realisation that our idea was becoming something serious was a very gradual thing. But one of the biggest moments was when we got our first funding. Together with two very supportive professors we were granted a Valorisation Grant from STW, a Dutch research institute. That gave us some funding to get seriously started.

What was the best part of it? For me the best, and also hardest times, were definitely during our time in the USA. Our product is designed to be installed above parking lots. Doing a start-up is all about getting to know your customer’s needs, so the closer you are to the customers, the better. In our case the customers were in California, where they have the biggest solar carport market in the world. But we didn’t know anybody there. So we had to start from scratch and that’s hard work! It involved hours of cold-calling, we were shouted at multiple times, held countless elevator pitches and heard a lot of ‘interesting-let’s-be-in-touch’, which in the USA means a cold stone no! But after a while, with great help from the Dutch Consulate and Climate KIC (Europe’s largest public-private innovation partnership focused on climate change) we got to know more and more potential customers. A great and fun way through which we met a lot of people is Airbnb (peer-topeer accommodation). I spent a lot of time advanced-Google-searching and selecting our places to stay. The goal was to stay at start-up houses, kind of like in the film about Facebook: where start-up founders live and work and have a spare bed for Airbnb guests like me. It was really cool to see and learn from these guys: how they lived, worked, partied and dealt with things like investors and such. And a great way to make friends as well!

What challenges did you encounter along the way? As a naïve engineer coming straight out of university practically everything is a big challenge; from setting up an administration to investor negotiations. But now, reflecting on it all, it had to do with an underlying challenge: judging the value of advice and trusting your own instincts. When we started we received advice from everywhere: lawyers, accountants, and consultants. In fact, we received a lot of contradictory messages, which often left us confused. But don’t get me wrong, there are some people you should ALWAYS listen to and take serious whatever they say: your potential customers! They hold all the truth about if and how your company will succeed. You should listen to them as much as possible! You’ve now decided to stop the project, what went wrong? Well, actually the beginning of when things went wrong was when two things started to go really well. Firstly, we were talking to more and more customers and began to really understand them. What we didn’t realise form the beginning was that somebody buying a solar installation spends a lot of money and has to wait a long time before he earns it back. If something breaks or doesn’t work properly he loses a lot. So reducing this risk is all-important to them. The requirements in terms of product trackrecord, certification and company balancesheet (cash you need to have to cover future claims on warranties) were much higher than we expected. Secondly, due to a partnership with a big construction company we finally

started to understand our product costs, which turned out to be much higher than expected. The cost benefit we claimed became unrealistic. And in a cost driven market like solar, this means it’s going to be very hard to find the large customer base we had planned for.

education programme, facilities and a

So in the end it turned out that the smaller opportunity didn’t justify the longer road to the market anymore. So we made the tough decision to stop.

Climate KIC, one of three ‘Knowledge and

valuable network. For me the course I took was the small manageable step I needed to make such a decision. YES!Delft does that by organising master classes, coaching and by creating a start-up community. In Europe you have an initiative called Innovation Communities’ created by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology. Climate KIC were a huge help for us by doing all the same things on a

If you could do it all over again, what would you do differently? We made a classical engineering mistake: spending a lot of resources building prototypes before talking to real customers. We built a fully-functional prototype at Schiphol airport with tonnes of features, only to find on our first trip to the USA that customers didn’t care about all those features. We had to start all over again; all our work was practically worthless two weeks after installation. Now don’t get me wrong, for a lot of companies building prototypes is very important. But next time I will ask myself ‘what is my biggest uncertainty?’ and dive into that. If it’s technology, build prototypes, and if it’s customer demand, talk to customers.

European and international level. They organise entrepreneurship tours and master-classes and enable you to learn from the very best of the world. It’s open to anyone in Europe doing something with climate change, so get involved! Any views on start-ups and (their role in) tackling youth unemployment? I see huge potential in the young workforce: full of ambition, energy, talent and new ideas. I also see some major opportunities coming up; the transition from fossil to renewable energy is just one example. New initiatives are going to rise and a lot of money will be made. I believe young entrepreneurs will play a huge role in this. Eventually also in Europe, the young will drive the most ground-breaking innovations, like in Silicon Valley today.

Are there enough opportunities for young people to develop innovative ideas? At Delft University the support is very good, but I don’t believe money is the biggest bottleneck. People have to choose entrepreneurship as a career. I believe helping people making this choice is the most critical support. All this is perfectly organised in Delft by YES!Delft, which supports starting technical entrepreneurs with an extensive development and

What’s next for you and the team? We all got infected by the entrepreneurship virus, and are still working together on some smaller projects and freelance work. But that’s all just temporary; in our spare time we are talking, thinking and brainstorming about our next scalable and world changing start-up company!

Good luck and thank you very much for sharing your story with us!

GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE

A new light on the Snowden case It seemed that almost three months after headlining European news, the case of Edward Snowden had been widely forgotten. That was until recently, when there was news about Snowden‘s nomination for the EU Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. Snowden, who is a former NSA employee who leaked information about top-secret mass surveillance programmes in the United States as well as Great Britain to the press, had the questionable honour of being the most discussed topic in Europe during the summer. Now it might seem like we have forgotten the news about the leaked information and his subsequent hiding from US authorities. But the Snowden case leaves a very unpleasant taste for many young people in Europe. Although

the US authorities currently dominate the news with the government shutdown, we, young people, do not forget what happened. In Germany, the case led to a massive scandal, because German authorities had to declare that they are aware of what is assumed to be an American NSA base in Germany. It is widely known as the ‘‘Dagger Complex‘‘ and is located close to Darmstadt. This kind of mass surveillance happening in Europe gives many people the chills. Especially the young people, as digital natives, have a problem with it. We have the most interactions on the internet - at work, at University and in our spare time. This makes us the most exposed and at the same time vulnerable, because most of us do not pay enough attention to what kind of information we are sharing online. This was unreservedly shown in a social experiment conducted by Spiegel TV, the online version of the popular German newspaper ‘‘Der Spiegel‘‘. In this experi-

ment, reporters started to monitor online profiles of young people. Later on, they decided to confront them about the information they found, when they met them on the street. Most young people were very surprised that others who are not in their direct network might use their data. Whether we check in on Foursquare with our friends or upload statuses about our feelings on Facebook, most of these actions are done nearly intuitively. Well intended, but not well thought through. This kind of attitude is not going to change from one day to another. The idea of data abuse by institutions that are supposed to work for the public thus leaves us with a very insecure feeling. Any kind of information we share online with our friends could be interpreted and abused by authorities, which is not a good feeling to have in the 21st century. So what is the solution? First of all, it would be very important for young people to become more educated about how to protect our own data. Only by being aware of the current situation can we begin to understand its seriousness. This would give us, young people, the chance to play a more active role in the policy making about how much access institutions should have to our information. We should see this as our chance to shape

the future of information sharing. By André Philippe Lauer (GEF Ambassador, Austria) and Daniela Dandes

a DAY in the LIFE of... an Integration Adviser

Milan Thies, GEF Ambassador, Germany. Unfortunately we didn’t get to meet Milan, our GEF Ambassador in Germany, this time, but he was very willing to give us an insight into his work as ‘integration adviser’ via email. Milan, apart from your studies you also work as an ‘integration adviser’… Tell us what that entails: As an integration adviser I accompany a young man with Down syndrome in his free time. I try to help him integrate into society, because I think that no one should be left behind or feel excluded. As a matter of fact we do what everyone else does. We play sports, cook, eat, watch movies, laugh and make trips together. Of course I do need to keep in mind what he is and isn’t able to do (yet), but most people underestimate him. They can’t imagine what people with disabilities such as Down syndrome or autism are able to do. For me it is a lot of fun spending time with that young man. But like every other job it doesn’t only consist of fun things. As an integration adviser you have to take care of your client’s personal development. That means, for example, that if your client has difficulties with speaking clearly you remind him that he needs to strive to improve his pronunciation.

How did you get into this kind of work? Since my childhood I have played with many different kids. I played with German children, I played with Turkish children, I played with Polish children and I played with children with a disability. I did not notice a difference in those days and I don’t notice a disadvantage for me nowadays. On the contrary, it is an advantage for me to interact with all kinds of people. Apart from my strong belief in a pluralistic society, my mother showed me that it is worth the work. For many years she worked as the head of an inclusive school in Germany. Inclusive schools integrate children with disabilities into the classes with so called normal” children, meaning children without disabilities.

doing something important for society. It’s not something many people do, what kind of reactions do you get about your work? Usually people do not know what an integration adviser” does but when I explain it to them many people tell me what a wonderful job they think it is. Some others tell me that they would not be able to be an integration adviser. That statement is mainly connected to the lack of knowledge people have about disabilities. That is why I think we need to start informing society (more) about people with disabilities in order to disprove stereotypes. Should more of us do this?

What do you enjoy about it? There are many things I enjoy about my work. Many of the activities we do are just fun and doing them with my client is as much fun as doing them with friends. Apart from that I can be proud of my work whenever there is progress in his personal development. Another important element is that you feel great

Yes, because the modern society does not only need more social engagement but you can also benefit from various experiences you gain during your time as an integration adviser. You will realise that there is no huge difference between people with disabilities and those without. Apart from that as I have already told you, it is fun!

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eu in focus The EU Youth Guarantee In April this year, the EU’s Council of Ministers adopted the Youth Guarantee recommendation. This scheme aims to tackle the growing numbers of young NEETs (Not in Employment, Education or Training) by ensuring that everyone under the age of 25,

who has been

out of work, education or training for over 4 months, is offered good quality employment,

further

education

training opportunities, which should eventually lead to fulltime employment. A fund of €6 billion has been made available over the period of 2014-2020 to support these measures, set out in the Youth Employment Package of 2012. The scheme is largely based on experience of similar programmes that have been successful over the years in Austria and Finland. After the initial decision

the

European

Parliament

added an amendment, extending the scheme to include young people up to 30 years old. Although this political commitment to tackling the worsening conditions of youth unemployment in the EU is very important, concern remains over the implementation of the schemes. According to the International Labour Organization, the cost of implementing such

schemes

employment,

providing

further

quality

education

training opportunities for all those in need successfully comes to €21 billion. Regions with youth unemployment rates of 20% are eligible to receive financial help from the Youth Guarantee fund, but this still leaves a huge gap of €15 billion to be covered by the Member States, as they implement the schemes individually. This makes it hard to understand how these promises can really be ‘guaranteed’ to today’s young unemployed.

/ 12

GEF very much welcomes the initiative but also agrees with some of the concerns raised by others, mainly, whether it will be enough. Some of the concerns raised recently relate to the debate between spending the money on the institutions that should disseminate these schemes, or more directly to the young unemployed. And before spending all the money, in many cases infrastructural problems of these institutions need to be addressed before the funding can efficiently reach those it intends to support. For instance, Daniel Gros, the Director of the Center for European Policies (CEPS) warns against the risk of these extra packages and measures for the young, as they could create an unnatural balance of funds and focus towards the young, ‘overloading welfare systems with even more exemptions and special rules’. Also in the European Parliament not everybody is convinced about the scheme, as it stands now. Paul Murphy, MEP (EUL-NGF) argued that the Youth Guarantee itself is not enough. The crisis is ‘not because young people aren’t educated enough or don’t have enough experience. Not because they’re not flexible enough. It’s because of the austerity policies. Without massive public investment the Youth Guarantee will prove to be yet another empty promise.’ European Commissioner Andor, of Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, also admitted that the Youth Guarantee alone is not sufficient to fight youth unemployment. ‘The Youth Guarantee is not exactly a job guarantee, it is not going to eliminate youth unemployment, but it has the capacity to reduce youth unemployment very significantly.’ Yet will it just create a short term solution to reduce the unemployment figures on

paper? The initiative could also risk creating an institutionalised culture of short term, badly paid ‘jobs’, which the young have to weave their way through in the hope of eventually finding some kind of job security which will enable them to ultimately gain some form of stability for their future. The proposed Quality Framework for Traineeships and the already existing European Alliance for Apprenticeships, which both form an integral part of the Youth Employment Package, at least bode some positive feelings for ensuring minimum standards. And even if the Youth Guarantee schemes only provide temporary training and employment, they will enable many disillusioned and depressed young people across Europe to gain more experience and get a slightly more positive feeling than before, and hopefully lift many youngsters out of the vicious circle they currently find themselves in.

Youth Guarantee http://ec.europa.eu/social/main. jsp?catId=1079&langId=en European Alliance for Apprenticeships http://ec.europa.eu/education/ apprenticeship/index_en.htm ILO report ‘Eurozone Job crisis: Trends and policy responses’ http://www.ilo.org/global/research/ publications/WCMS_184965/lang-en/index.htm László Andor http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=RvfoO6EnSjQ Daniel Gross http://www.project-syndicate.org/ commentary/the-mirage-of-highyouth-unemployment-in-europeby-daniel-gros Paul Murphy http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=EqgEL0Slld0

Welcome Croatia! On 1 July 2013 Croatia joined the EU, becoming its 28th Member State. Following ten years of accession negotiations, many celebrations and festivities took place across the country, for instance on Zagreb’s main square, with European Commission President José Manuel Barroso participating in the ceremony. Apparently the EU still serves as a ‘guarantor of peace’: According to Croatia’s President Josipovic, after years of war in the 1990’s, joining the EU enables Croatia to "open a new chapter in the thick book of our history1 ".

Yet what do we all know about Croatia? Croatia has come a long way from being known as an area of conflict to an extremely popular holiday destination, with its beautiful coastline, islands, old towns and nature. Miriam Bilac gave us an insight into some of the lesser known aspects of Croatian life, showing that Croatia is an extremely interesting country that really has a lot to offer! Although Croatia is becoming increasingly popular for music festivals and adventure sports, Croatians also uphold their old traditions. Every summer games such as donkey races, fishing competitions, the knight game ‘Sinjska alka’ (which is even recognised by UNESCO) and many more are organised.

An interesting competition is held annually, between the islands of Brac and Solta – a game of tug of war. And the prize? Ownership of the small island of Mrduja that lies between the two! Croatia has many museums that are worth visiting but one is particularly special: the ‘Museum of Broken Relationships’, in Zagreb. It started as a traveling exhibition revolving around the concept of failed relationships and everyone can contribute to the Museum’s collection! Participants in the adventure project “Welcome" went on a journey along the Croatian coast and mountains, following a route that would form the word “Welcome" on the map. The tour included kayaking, swimming, hiking, climbing, paddling and bicycle riding. This year, a group of five enthusiasts went on an 800 kilometre bike tour from Savudrija to Cavtat, finishing their adventure on the day that Croatia became an EU member! Croatia is well-known for the great number of successful athletes for a relatively small country, but it also has some very loyal fans. When Hajduk, one of Croatia’s most famous football teams, landed in financial difficulties, fans started buying tickets for football matches even though they couldn’t

attend. A beer was also produced, ‘Hajducko’ with one kuna (the Croatian currency) going to the club for every litre that was sold. Religion plays an important role in Croatia and most of the people are Catholics. Pilgrimages are organised on the feast of the Assumption of Mary, during which Catholics walk 35 kilometres, all through the night, from Solin to Sinj.

Croatian representatives in all EU institutions Croatia is now a fully-fledged member of the EU, including 11 Croatian MEPs (to be increased to 15 after the next European Parliament elections), a new Commissioner for consumer protection and a seat in the Council. However, Croatia has not yet joined the Euro or the Schengen Agreement. Preparations for the latter are ongoing, with Croatia aiming to become part of the free travel agreement in 2015.

Did you know?• EU accession support was not always straight forward in Croatia. In the early 2000s support for EU membership was very high (70-80%). Yet by mid-2005 the scenario was rather different, with those against EU membership overtaking those that were in favour. In the years leading up to the membership referendum support increased again, with 66% of Croatians voting in favour of EU membership. However, a low turnout of 44% reflected the worries of many Croatians about the on-going economic crisis in Croatia and the EU. 1

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-23118035

Hea idee, halb teostus Eesti hariduspoliitikas on hetkel väga põnevad ajad. Aastaid spekuleeritud kõrgharidusreform on viimaks rakendumas ning see toob peamiselt uutele üliõpilastele kaasa mitmeid valikuid, mis nõuavad otsustamist. Hetkel on veel teadmata, kui hästi see tegelikult praktikas rakendub ning kui tugevalt avalduvad selle peamised murekohad.

Kõrgharidusreformi peamine idee on võimaldada võimalikult paljudele tudengitele tasuta kõrgharidus. Tasuta kõrgharidusega kaasnevad ka märksa karmimad nõuded ning vähesemad stipendiumid. Näiteks on selle aasta sügisest õppimaasuvatel tudengitel kohustus läbida vähemalt 30 EAP mahus aineid semestris ning juhul, kui teatud arv ainepunkte jääb sooritamata, tekib tudengil kohustus ülikoolile läbimata ainete eest maksta. Ehk siis - kõrgharidus on tasuta vaid siis, kui suudad õppekava läbida õigeaegselt 100% mahus. Selline nõue on olukorras, kus väga suur osakaal tudengitest töötab (üle 50%), ebaõiglane. Lisaks eelmainitule on tehtud töötavate õppurite olukord veelgi halvemaks vajaduspõhiste stipendiumite kehtestamine ehk lihtsamini öeldes see, et stipendiume hakkavad saama vaid väga raskes majanduslikus olukorras olevad tudengid (kusjuures toetus määratakse pere majanduslikku seisu arvestades). Eesti Üliõpilasliidu arvutuste kohaselt hakkaksid toetust saama vähem kui 10% kõikdest tudengitest. Seega on tehtud töötavate tudengite elu raskemaks rahalist toetust enam ülikoolilt ega riigilt pole, aga kui tööl käimise tõttu jäävad mõned aineid tegemata, peab üliõpilane hoopis õppimise eest peale maksma. Ka nende tudengite elu, kes hakkavad eelmainitud vajaduspõhist õppetoetust suuruses 135€ saama, pole kerge. Antud summa on vähem kui pool miinimumpalka ning sellele mingeid toetusi riiklikult tasandilt juurde ei tule. Tööle minnes (ka osalise töökoormusega) kaotab tudeng selle toetuse, sest siis ei kvalifitseeru ta enam toetuse saajaks. Jällegi on tegemist ebaõiglase olukorraga - 135€ eest kuus tudeng (eriti, kui ta on pärit perest, kus vanemad teda ilmselgelt majanduslikult toetada ei saa) endale eluaset, korralikku tasakaalustatud toitu, õppevahendeid, riideid ning muuks eluks vajalikku lubada ei saa. Täiesti kindlalt. Seega kokkuvõttes tuleks küsida seda - kas kõrgharidusreform praegusel kujul ikkagi toetab ideed, et ligipääs kõrgharidusele peaks olema kõigil seda soovivatel tudengitel olenemata õppuri majanduslikust taustast? Paradoksaalsel kombel ilmneb reformi lähemalt uurides see, et tegelikult on olukord hoopiski vastupidine. Kõrgharidusreform rakendub juba sellest sügisest - eks ole näha, kas heast ideest tuleb ka midagi head või ootab Eesti kõrgharidust lähitulevikus ees veel üks (või mitu) reform(i). Anne-May Kaldoja GEF Ambassador, Estonia To read the article in English go to http://www.generation-europe.eu/media-centre/ magazines/

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key figure

€119 billion Annual economic gain that an ambitious and comprehensive EU-US Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership could bring to the EU, according to an independent study by the London-based Centre for Economic Policy Research. EU households will benefit too: this figure comes down to an annual extra €545 of disposable income for a family of four. After the official launch of the historical negotiations, announced by US President Barack Obama, President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy and UK Prime Minister David Cameron at the G8 Summit held on 17 June 2013, the first week of talks between EU and US negotiators was completed in July, whereby the twenty different areas that the TTIP is set to cover were decided upon. The next round of negotiation talks were set to take place in October, but have been delayed due to the US Congress shut-down.

"The results of the elections in Germany are a remarkable success for Angela Merkel. As President of the European Parliament, I congratulate the Chancellor for this result. The whole of Europe is looking with great interest to the upcoming formation of a government. As with other elections before such as in France, Italy or Greece, we see increasingly that we have developed a European internal policy and increasingly a European public space.

quote The main challenges which lie ahead of us and which the new German government and the European Parliament will have to tackle together include: fighting youth unemployment which threatens our democratic and social system, setting up a smart investment programme which helps to generate growth and which supplements the consolidation of our budgets. Furthermore, we must finalise the banking union and swiftly implement the Financial Transaction Tax." The President of the European Parliament Martin Schulz made this statement on the results of the federal elections in Germany.

(From Europarl President Press)

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competitions corner Young voices against poverty: What would you change? Have your say! What? A short video contest

Prizes:

In the run-up to European Development Days (EDD) 2013, young people worldwide, from 13 to 24 years old, are invited to make their voices heard in the dialogue on addressing global poverty. They will have to make a short video (no more than 120 seconds) answering the question “If you could have your say, how would you fight poverty?" and get friends to vote for it.

There will be four contest winners, an EU citizen prize and a non-EU citizen prize for each of the two age groups (13-17 and 18-24). All four winners will receive an all-expenses trip to Brussels to attend the European Development Days (26th-27th November 2013) and have their video

screened and made available on the website. Organised by: European Development Days (organised by the European Commission) More info: http://eudevdays.eu/stakeholders/ video-contest

The winners will be determined by those videos attracting the highest number of votes on Facebook based on the final count at 23:59 CET on 1 November 2013. For whom? Anyone between the age of 13-24. Until when? 1 November 2013.

VOCATIO Scholarship for young people with a ‘life project’. What ? A scholarship competition.

Until when? 28 October 2013.

For 50 years the VOCATIO foundation has handed out scholarships to young people with a ‘life project’. Projects can cover all disciplines, from traditional to very innovative and modern ideas. Every year 15 scholarships are awarded which enable young people to realise their dream.

Prizes:15 x €10000.

For whom? Citizens or residents of Belgium, aged 18-29.

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Organised by: VOCATIO More info: www.vocatio.be (This information is only available in French/Dutch as the competition is for Belgian residents/citizens).