theegnardian Issue I.
#egnatia14
Editorial Hello, We are the Egnardian, the media team of the session. We will bring all the videos and the newspapers of the session, and not only. There will be a games night lead by us and many more surprises for the delegates. The Egnardian is formed by one editor, one editorial assistant and 8 journalists. Each one of the journalists has been allocated to one committee. This first issue provides some very helpful information about each committee. The journalists have researched on their respective committee topics and they came up with these articles. Unfortunately, the first issue will not be printed but we suggest that
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you download the online version of it and keep it always with you, as it contains very helpful information not only for your committee’s topic, but other committee’s topics too. If any of you wants to share ideas about videos, activities or ask questions related to the press team, you will know where to find us. Don’t hesitate! We really hope that you will get the best out of this session, Yours sincerely, The Media Team #egnatia14
Content Culture and Education II (CULT II), page 4 Employment and Social Affairs (EMPL), page 5 Constitutional Affairs (AFCO), page 6-7 Civil Liberties I (LIBE I), page 8 Civil Liberties II (LIBE II), page 9 Women’s Rights and Gender Equality (FEMM), page 10 Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE), page 11 Culture and Education I (CULT I), page 12-13
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by Anna Didyk
CULT II
128 languages listed as endangered out of 255 spoken across Europe
he ECRML – European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages was adopted in 1992. Its mission is to protect and promote historical languages used by traditional national and ethnic minorities. The Charter obliges its States’ Parties to actively promote the use of regional or minority languages (RML) in different domains: education, courts, administration, media, economic and social life.
Nowadays, this Charter is a prerequisite for EU membership. The European Union is certainly committed to protecting minority languages. But isn’t it time for more crucial actions?
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90 European languages endagered definitely, severely or critically
The European Commission has no legal competency in terms of language and minority rights, which means that any related cases fall under national authority.
So far, the treaty has been ratified by 25 out of 47 members of the Council of Europe. There is still a great number of states that did not do so. Different states face different obstacles, in France, for example, there was an issue over regional languages such as Catalan or Basque; the constitution of France claims that the “language of the Republic is French”. Now the government is about to amend the constitution and to finally ratify the Charter.
“All the European languages, in their spoken and written forms, are equal in value and dignity from the cultural point of view and form an integral part of European cultures and civilisation.” - Decision No 1934/2000/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 July 2000 on the European Year of Languages 2001
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ear of stronger legal position of French in Flanders (Belgium), lack of tradition of promoting minority languages (Bulgaria) or concerns about the presence of a large Russian-speaking community (Estonia) – these are just some of the problems that need to be tackled in order to preserve multilingualism in Europe. Language is an expression of a minority’s identity, and when it’s lost, total assimilation follows. If minority languages are not used in public administration or as a language of instruction at schools, people who speak them face immense barriers in their everyday lives.
by Pablo Lopéz
Employment & Social Affairs The relentless rise in unemployment over So, what are the measures taken by the EU to tackle youth the past years is one of the most severe unemployment so far? consequences of the 2008 economic and The high unemployment rates manifest the impediments faced financial crisis in the EU-28 area. by people of age 15 - 25 when it comes to finding a job. Trying Naturally, the crisis worst hit the groups in to seek measures to mitigate this problem has become a major vulnerable situations or at risk of exclusion, undertaking in Europe. A plan for action is needed. In light of this situation, the European Commission (EC) launched some new measures to combat youth unemployment at EU level. The measures, under the name of Youth Employment Package, included the recommendation to launch a Youth Guarantee in every country, according to which Member States should ensure that all young people up to age 25 receive a good quality offer of employment, continued education, an apprenticeship, or a traineeship within four months of leaving formal education, or becoming unemployed. such as the young. From the first quarter of 2008, the youth unemployment rate promptly went from its minimum value (15,1%) to its maximum in 2013 (23,6%), before starting to recede by the end of the year. Yet, still in July 2014, more than 5 million young people are unemployed in the EU’s 28 Member States (21,7 %), 18 of which are part of the Euro Zone. Compared to last year statistics, youth unemployment has slightly decreased but there is still a long way to go before it reaches the “pre-recession” level or even the jobless target.
Additionally, the European Social Fund (ESF) is currently providing more than 10 billion euros per year to fight youth unemployment and to help the funding of projects that can also benefit young people. ESF projects aim to contribute to a drop in youth unemployment rates by improving education and adapting the knowledge, competences and skills of young people to its new needs. Nevertheless, it remains a challenge to debate how a faithful implementation of such measures can be done within the key figures of this topic. Finally, the European Council has come up with a new investment plan for Europe focused on helping Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs), which is believed to reduce youth page5 unemployment rates as well.
by Kostina Prifti
The Eurosceptical Parliament For the committee on Constitutional Affairs Breaking the “tradition” of the elections being held in the beginning of June, the May 2014 European parliamentary elections certainly brought up a whole lot of media and political attention, not only for the significance that they hold, as the direct tool of representation for the European citizens, but especially for their surprising yet warned and feared results, which revealed the scepticism of the European voters on the latest EU elections. Except for the loss of (relatively) few seats, there has been no big surprise in the election’s outcome regarding the four largest political groups in the EP: the Christian Democrats (EPP), the Socialists (S&D), the Liberals (ALDE) and the Greens (Greens/EFA), who still hold the majority of the seats in the EP. The turnout, however, goes mainly to the rightwing and Eurosceptic parties who seemed to have triumphed in France (National Front), Britain (UKIP), Denmark, and Bulgaria. In Germany, the
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pro-EU, but anti-euro “Alternative for Deutschland” managed to get 7 seats in the Parliament. In Greece, the Neo-Nazi “Golden Dawn” party has joined the Parliament. The two largest Eurosceptic groups in the EP – EFD, co-presided by Nigel Farage, and the 24 MEPs lead by Marine Le Pen who failed to create a political group in the EP – have some differences in terms of requests for the EP and EU, but however share the same goal, that of blocking the process of further unification of the EU in economic and political terms. Nigel Farage, who has openly declared his anti-EU ideology, clearly stating his intentions of demolishing EU from its own institutions, suggests that the EU has committed two huge mistakes, one being the euro zone, which according
to Mr. Farage is clearly not working, and the other the enlargement of the EU, especially in the eastern post-communistic countries. The main concern, and the highlight of UKIP’s campaign in the elections in Great Britain, was the incapability of the European countries to control their own borders from immigrants, which derives from the EU policies of free-movement inside the EU. Marine le Pen on the other hand, distances herself from the right-wing radicals like Golden Dawn, Jobbik and Ataka, while firmly positioning herself and her fellow MEPs in the Eurosceptic group. Despite not being very politically active on the debates in the EP so far, at least in this legislature, Ms Le Pen has expressed her deepest disapproval regarding the free-movement policy, which according to her (and her father) is the core cause of the economic instability in France, and the transatlantic treaty with the USA. It was fairly obvious that after the May elections, the political reality focus in Europe is shifting from left vs. right, to Pro-Europeans vs. anti-Europeans. This might as
well be “good news� for pro-Europeans, who can use this current state of the political and parliamentary atmosphere in Europe to their own good, and unite in ideas, especially because there is a somewhat obvious clash between left and right Euro-sceptics. After his election, as the President of the EP for the second time, Martin Schulz, a well-known pro-European clearly stated that there is a crushing majority of Pro-Europeans in the Parliament, and publicly urged the EPP and S&D, the two biggest pro-EU parties in the EP, to work closely together, thus expressing that, according to him, there is no real danger regarding the legitimacy of the Parliament resulting from the presence of Euro-sceptics in it. Clearly, the EU is in need of strong and powerful measures, if it wishes to reduce the number of Euro-sceptics by the next elections, while the economic instability and low attendance of EU citizen voters are probably two of the most important causes that lead to this result, but until the next elections, there is need for political stability and constructive debate inside the European Parliament.
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by Holger Qinami What does ‘secession’ mean? Secession is the act of withdrawing from an organisation, union, military alliance, or especially a political entity.
LIBE I
Lately within the European Union there have been separatist movements in several regions, most notably in Scotland, Catalonia, Flanders, and Corsica. Many citizens of these regions hope to gain independence and act as a sovereign country. But how is the EU connected to these movements and how is it affected? Each of the above mentioned regions is part of an EU Member State, so if, hypothetically, one of them does become an independent country, what stance should the EU take? Since the EU has no previous experience with similar situations a concrete solution has not been found yet. First of all, should the newly established countries keep their membership, since they would secede from a Member State, therefore supposedly fulfilling the Copenhagen criteria, which are required when applying for membership, or are they obliged to start from scratch and go through the whole process of becoming a Member State as the former country had already done?
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That question has divided Europe into two groups, each supporting one alternative and giving their own reasons. Having to press the ‘restart button’ would obviously start the more difficult procedure. Membership in the EU is not decided upon by the majority, decisions on such matters must be made unanimously, which means, in order for a candidate country to become a Member State, 28 votes in favour are neevded, the same as the number of the actual members of the EU. Since there are separatist
How can a region become autonomous? The region’s population has the right to hold a referendum to have its own say whether or not they wish to become an independent country.
movements in many Member States, they are predisposed to look after their own national serenity. What does that mean? For example, if Scotland became an independent country and requests EU membership, why should Spain support it when it has problems of its own regarding the separatist movements in Catalonia. How are they going to prevent Catalonia’s separation if they support such a move in another country? Therefore, the newly established countries seem to face a dead end regarding their membership in the EU.
by Ioana Pop
LIBE II
Girl: Mum, what does virgin mean? Mum: Hm, eerm darling, well… Girl: Tell me, tell me! Mum: Well, when mum and dad love each other very much, dad gives mum a special gift and places it in mum’s special place and makes mom very happy, but until then, mum is a virgin. Girl: I see… so what’s extra virgin? Right there on the bottle?
such as migrants, sexual minorities, the disabled, and children with insufficient educational background to receive proper sexual education. When talking about sexual education the word “holistic” comes up quite often. This word is used to emphasise the importance of the whole, rather than analysing fragments of it and separating it into parts.
Even today, sex is still a controversial topic. It is surrounded by social ideologies, religious restrictions, and moral taboos. Several scientists claim that sexual behaviour starts from when we are born., which means that we start self-educating ourselves about our sexuality without even realising it.
Recently, the approach of teaching sexual education in a holistic way is increasingly gaining reputation. Originally and traditionally, educators would teach teenagers about pregnancy and STDs, however, this scared the teens, and all it did was to create a negative perception of sex and sexual education.
During adolescence, the ideas acquire social dimensions related to other people. This is the time when, unfortunately, modern media provides a very accessible, yet often distorted, unbalanced, and non-realistic form of information, internet pornography.
The holistic approach looks at it as a whole. It gives children scientifically correct information from all aspects of sexuality, not focusing only on the biological aspect, but also on the emotional and social elements of sex, which are of greater interest to young people.
In order to make the right decisions and to take responsible actions, it is vital for us to learn about sex from an early age. The European Union has been involved in the area of sexual education, mainly by funding or co-funding different projects across Europe. In order to address the sexual education properly there is a need for wider programmes, especially targeting children and youngsters from disadvantaged groups,
It is also very important to start sexual education from an early age. It may sound naïve to talk about sex with an 8-9 yearold, emphasising that, in this case, sexuality concerns far more than just the sexual act. If the education started earlier, it could prevent disinformation at times when it could pose a threat to one’s physical and mental health.
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by Dafne Bajraktari
Women’s Rights & Gender Equality POSITIVE DISCRIMINATION – (also known as affirmative action) is the policy of providing special opportunities for, and favouring members of one group over another, when those being favoured are perceived as a disadvantaged group facing discrimination within a culture.
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ccording to TIME magazine, gender anxiety is enveloping the top levels of the European Union and only gender quotas can stop the E.U. from being a “boys club”. The goal of getting more women into top decision-making posts is simply common sense given that they represent more than half of the E.U.’s 507 million citizens. Right now, this is not reflected by their visibility in politics, business or the media, meaning their interests are often sidelined. Jean-Claude Juncker, the Commission’s new president, has instructed member states to send female candidates, saying he wants more women in the top jobs; so far only five countries have nominated women. Nineteen other nations have nominated a man, with four countries still to announce their candidates. Given the pool of female talent in the E.U., having just a handful of women in the Commission would be a pitiful performance. It is crucial now that efforts to increase female representation go beyond headline-grabbing promises.
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GLASS CEILING – A glass ceiling is a political term used to describe “the unseen, yet unreachable barrier that keeps minorities and women from rising to the upper rungs of the corporate ladder, regardless of their qualifications or achievements.” Initially, and sometimes still today, the metaphor was applied by feminists in reference to barriers in the careers of high achieving women. In the US, the concept is sometimes extended to refer to obstacles hindering the advancement of minority men, as well as women.
ITRE
Energy independence. This topic has been putting the EU in a great deal of thought. How should the EU lower its energy dependency? To start off, we should say that the EU imports 52% of the energy it needs, with Russia being the biggest supplier.
Of all the member states, only Denmark exports energy while others import. With these and other alarming figures put together by the European Commission, the need for a sustainable solution for energy production is obvious and urgent. And this is when another problem arises. How should the EU produce energy without damaging the environment? The first answer that pops into your mind is renewable energy. It produces energy and has no negative impact on the environment. But if Europe does decide to “go completely green” it is estimated that it should take until 2050 for them to cover Europe’s total energy consumption. And whilst this is happening they will become extremely dependent on imported energy. So with energy dependency in one hand and the environment on the other the EU has started to consider less conventional methods of energy production. Such as hydraulic fracturing (or ‘fracking’), which is a method used for the extraction of shale gas, which currently
by Kristi Kadzadej
makes up for 39% of USA’s natural gas production. Only USA, Canada and China produce shale gas in commercial quantities. Since its invention in 1947, it has been a very controversial method, because while it does generate economic benefits, it has a high probability of negative impact on the environment. Due to political, historical and geographical differences between the Member States they have very different energy supply structures, due to which Member States have also adopted very different positions on shale gas. At their most extreme, reactions range from Poland’s enthusiasm for shale gas, where it is seen as an opportunity for independence from Russia, to France’s continued reluctance even to allow exploration, despite potentially significant shale gas reserves. So different views within the EU Member States have made it difficult to actually implement the method, because of its possible negative impact on the environment. With all of the above in mind, it is our job to determine how the negative impacts should be minimized, so that this beneficial method is implemented, as it could lower Europe’s energy dependency.
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by Doris Rapi
PISA 2012 is the programme’s 5th survey. It assessed the competencies
of 15‐year‐olds in reading, mathematics, and science (with a focus on mathematics) in 65 countries and economies. Around 510 000 students between the ages of 15 years 3 months and 16 years 2 months participated in PISA 2012 as a whole representing about 28 million 15‐year‐olds globally. The students took a paper‐based test that lasted 2 hours. The tests were a mixture of open‐ended and multiple‐choice questions that were organized in groups based on a passage setting out a real‐life situation. A total of about 390 minutes of test items were covered. Students took different combinations of different tests. They and their school principals also answered questionnaires to provide information about the students' backgrounds, schools and learning experiences and about the broader school system and learning environment. According to the results of Pisa Report in 2012, it was a notable disparity between educational performances across Europe. (As we can see the figure, each point represents a certain country and the spread of these points shows us the big difference between educational performance across the Europe.) The question is: What measures can the EU take in order to reduce those differences and assist its
Member States providing the highest possible standard?
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Before giving an answer to this question, we need to recognize first some reasons Why does these differences exist and why the highest standard is so difficult to be reached. One of the reasons could be: Teaching In most European countries, the teaching profession has lost much of its attraction for the best candidates because of a decline in prestige, poorer working conditions and relatively low salaries. Other countries have specific, long‐term strategies to make the profession more attractive to the best candidates, or even to evaluate the effectiveness of their current policies. In many countries, the teacher shortage is addressed by longer working hours for teachers, higher pupil‐teacher ratios or an increase in the retirement age. Another reason could be: Different models of compulsory education Single structure education. Education is provided in a continuous way from the beginning to the end of compulsory schooling, with no transition between primary and lower secondary education, and with general education provided in common for all pupils. Common core curriculum provision. After successful completion of primary education, all students progress to the lower secondary level where they follow the same general common core curriculum. Differentiated lower secondary education. After successful completion of primary education, either at the beginning or during lower secondary education, students are required to follow distinct educational pathways or specific types of schooling. A possible reason could be: Economy There are a lot of poor places in Europe, which cannot afford to build new schools or universities in their country, but on the other side, there are also many citizens who cannot afford to pay for the education of their children. There may be a lot of other reasons about this issue, but the idea is to find the solution by avoiding the ones who have a bad influence, and intensifying the ones who help education all all over Europe.
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supported by
Bashkia Pogradec