Rennes'novation Issue 2

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Editorial C’est la fin de la session. Vous repartez chez vous. Certains d’entre vous, heureux élus, auront la perspective d’une session internationale dans le futur. Nous ne savons pas encore qui vous êtes, mais nous vous félicitons tous.

Les autres aussi, vous méritez d’être félicités.

Vous venez de participer au Parlément Européen des Jeunes, où vous avez débattu, discuté, défendu vos idées sur de problématiques de niveau européen pendant l’Assemblée Plénière. Et ceci devant environ une centaine de personnes.

Nous aussi, nous avons découvert de posséder quelque chose dont nous n’étions pas au courant: de la patiente et de la ténacité. La route pour arriver à imprimer ce journal et le mettre dans vos mains, n’a pas été facile. Depuis le premier jour, nous avons du nous battre avec des ordinateurs qui ne marchaient pas, des documents Word qui ne s’ouvraient pas, des comptes mails qui ne marchaient pas, des journalistes perdus la nuit, au milieu de Rennes. Le processus pour imprimer ces journaux nous a poussées à la limite d’une crise de nerfs. A ce propos, nous aimerions remercier Oliver Slattery and William Goyet, pour leur aide dans la gestion des imprimantes. Sans eux, vous ne seriez pas en train de tenir cet issu dans les mains, et vous n’auriez pas eu non plus profited de la couverture en couleur du premier issu.

Là où l’on veut arriver, c’est que même après le grande nombre de sessions que nous avons derrière nous (largement plus de dix pour chaqu’une) une session PEJ est toujours capable de nous surprendre, de tirer le mieux de nous. C’est ça le grand potentiel du PEJ. C’est pour ça que nous vous encourageons à continuer à participer à des autres sessions. Le fait de ne pas avoir été sélectionnés ne veut absolument pas dire la fin de votre carrière

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Giada Benfatto (IT) and Evelin Jürisson (EE)

Oliver and William, the Press Room heroes of this session

Nous sommes sûres qu’une bonne part d’entre vous aura découvert, lors de cette experience, de posséder en soi quelque chose qu’il ne croiaent pas avoir. Auriez vous cru, en arrivant à cette session, d’être capables d’écrire un résolution ? Ou de tenir un discours ? Ou de former des amitiés en juste 3 jours?

PEJistique. Dans l’article, “Your future: EYP”, voua allez trouver toutes les informations dont vous auriez besoin pour continuer le PEJ. Profitez de ces conseils, et lancez vous dans les. il n’y aura jamais deux sessions pareilless, il n’en aura jamais une que vous allez régretter.

Contents Index

Eurovillage p4 REGI p6 AGRI p7 AFET p8 FEMM p9 Farewell p10 Nuclear Power p12 Jury Interview p17 Andrea Stagni p18 ENVI p19 CULT p20 DEVE p21 LIBE p22 EYP Friends p23 Your Future in EYP p25 Deck the Halls p26 Look at me p27

VILLAGE OF DIVER AN Konstantina Goula reports on and contemplates over the festivities of Eurovillage.

If the first thing popping to your mind when you hear ‘Eurovillage’ is a pleasant lost village somewhere in Europe, then you are not on the right track. Therefore: change your course, challenge your perception and welcome yourself to the colourful world of EYP, where every word has a different, brand new meaning.

By the time you read this, you have already experienced Eurovillage and are confident in explaining what it’s about. Especially since most of you had prepared for this at home in advance.

I can clearly imagine a delegate say that Eurovillage is an evening program of culture, depicting the folklore of the countries in attendance of the session. What is more, Eurovillage is also about culinary traditions, the national flag in the background and lots of souvenirs and information brochures to get acquainted with.

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Going deeper, we should introduce the less-experienced eypers to the values of Eurovillage and urge them to read between the lines. Tasting the traditional cuisine of every region of Europe at once is a great chance to drift into the different cultures and get a glimpse of each nation’s nutritional particularities. Besides, nutrition has played a significant role in the forging of the religious and ethnical identities of the countries throughout history.

Eurovillage signifies the diversity and multiculturalism of the societies in the European Union, where every country represents themselves with a different dish on the European table.

One of the founding principles of the European Union is respect for its diversity. European history shows the importance of protecting national minorities and allowing different religious, cultural,

linguistic and ethnic identities to flourish. Much due to this pluralism, the EU maintained its peace and stability.

Overall, it is clear that the EU needs to operate in an increasingly globalising world. Moving information, people, goods and capital across borders is faster and cheaper than ever before.

Europe is home to a wide variety of people. This diversity brings richness to our cultures, economies and societies EU laws prohibit discrimination on the grounds of origin, disability and religion, providing protection to every European in all areas of life. Embracing rather than resisting diversity can bring enormous benefits to us all, and Eurovillage is a great way to visualise this.

RSITY ND OPPORTUNITIES

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Les ingrédients du succès Erik Müürsepp observe comment suivre une recette ou créer une équipe ne fait pas beaucoup de différence.

Si on jette ensemble des légumes différentes dans une grande marmite, on n’obtiendra pas de la soupe immédiatement.

Il faut que tous les ingrédients s’adoucissent et mélangent les saveurs entre eux. Comme cet exemple gastronomique, former une équipe demande du temps et beaucoup d’attention de la cuisinière. La commission de développement régional a accompli ce but sous le regard de sa chair Sylvia.

Après les danses et les chants étranges dans le grand cercle, onze élèves de REGI se sont groupés dans un endroit au gymnase pour la première partie cruciale de la session, le teambuilding. Commençant par des jeux pour apprendre les noms ainsi que des introductions, REGI a amélioré ses aptitudes à la communication et au travail d’équipe par plusieurs activités. Bizarres ou difficiles, drôles ou inspirateurs, les jeux ont aidé les délégués, à l’origines tous différents, à trouver un terrain d’entente. Alors que le temps passait, l’enthousiasme a redoublé.

Le travaille en commission a été le vrai moment pour les membres de REGI de briller. Le racisme, l’accès à l’éducation, l’immigration et les autres sont tous des sujets controversés, mais REGI les a attaqué avec confiance et détermination. Il n’a pas fallu longtemps ni beaucoup de post-its pour parvenir à un consensus que le prob-

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lème principal qu’ils devaient résoudre était la ségrégation dans les grandes villes. Se séparer en petits groupes et se concentrer sur des questions spécifiques a permis aux délégués de trouver plusieurs solutions au problème, qui ont toutes souligné l’intégration en tant que meilleure méthode.

Les grandes villes célèbres comme New York ont été mentionnées, mais jamais par les destinations touristiques. Si les délégués de REGI devraient y aller, ils y combattraient les injustices cruelles avec leurs solutions. Le rôle, les droits et les responsabilités du média ont aussi démarré une discussion très intéressante. L’équipe de média de Rennes espère que « Rennes’novation » ne ressemble en aucune manière à Fox News, mentionnée par Benoit, ou aux autres formes de médias qui déforment la vérité juste dans la direction qu’ils préfèrent.

C’était une vraiment une jolie surprise de rémarquer que, lors que la discussion est devenue plus active dans le groupe, je n’ai pas eu l’opportunité de remarquer aucune pause. Tous étaient intéressés par le sujet et chaque cellule du cerveau dans la salle a été dédiée à la réduction de la ségrégation sociale et spatiale. En conséquence, quand les clauses ont été formulées j’ai été sûr que les ingrédients de ce commission ont forme un produit très harmonieux.

green thumb do you AGRI with us?

Valentina Moles tells us the stories of the AGRI delegates as the join forces to save our world.

Close your eyes: what comes up to your mind with the word “Eden”? Boundless green areas, perfumed and coloured by every sort of plant and flower. Birds twittering, animals of all kind scampering around, wild and free. Pure water crashes on rocky landscapes, surrounded by thick and blooming forests in a breathtaking way. It is Paradise. Now, open your eyes. What do you see? Chaos.

There is only cement, iron, buildings and confusion.

Our planet’s nature is undergoing an indelible damage because of people’s selfishness and neglecting. Deforestation and urbanisation are activities that started a long time ago, and Earth is now bearing the terrible consequences of these phenomena. It would be impossible to fix mankind’s past mistakes, but some measures can be taken in order to improve present conditions or, at least, to limit the development of the phenomenon.

That is just what our outstanding AGRI committee is trying to fight for. Antoine, Camille, Sarah, Charlène, Nathan, Olimpia, Benoît, Tom, Zaynab, Alice, Camille are eleven exceptional boys and girls, so different from each other, that put together combine their strengths in an invincible team. It could be noticed from the beginning: Charlène and Nathan, despite their initial shyness, quickly created a warm atmosphere with their bright eyes and smiles. The kind collaboration and the respect they worked with

while solving logic teambuilding games and building a weird story for the committee presentations immediately proved to be a winning combination. Their team spirit permitted to Zaynab, who missed the very first teambuilding activities, to perfectly integrate in an group already on its way towards knowing each other.

Their equilibrium in balancing everyone’s opportunity to express themselves permitted the apparently more confident Benoît, whose first adjective he can find to describe himself is “outgoing”, Camille G. and Alice, to not impose their personality, but contribute levelly while also being kindly willing to listen to other opinions.

Dana, their sweet and adorable chairperson, after just a few games of teambuilding, confessed to me with a note on a slip of paper, “I love them”. That is what I can now confess as well, after having played and laughed with them in teambuilding, after having spent plenty of time observing them gently sharing their opinions and laying the foundations for their resolution during committee work, after having chatted with them while enjoying the city tour of Rennes and the crazy tasks of the treasure hunt, which they all accomplished successfully.

All these elements can only lead to a great performance at General Assembly, and for my part, I am sure this will be the case.

Bonne chance guys!

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Dear Mr President, Dear Members of the Board, Dear fellow delegates, I would like to introduce the amazing team of AFET. Yesterday, they dealt with the question of how the EU could help Ukraine pursue its democratic and economic transitions promptly and effectively. Even though the topic for the Committee on Foreign Affairs was not the first choice for many in the group, the majority of them were really content with it, and feeling challenged.

Indeed, everybody agrees that Ukraine needs a democracy but the difficulty here lies in how to implement a democracy with fair ‘tools’.

Anyway, my dear committee was definitely well prepared. They all did their previous research to fuel the debate during committee work. Even though the debate began on a slow slide, an energizer led by the marvelous chair Malika fixed it – the debate filled with the delegates’ knowledge and their perspicacity.

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absoluteoks jlyfabulohtw bfiuseconog zwimicteam Whenever exposing ideas they used examples to illustrate their meanings, and I think it is an absolutely necessary talent. I noticed how devoutly they were listening to each other.

AFET lacked a monopole leader, thus everyone had a fair share of saying. While they had to phrase the clauses, I have never seen people that were so fastidious with the words they used.

After lunch, they were a bit tired and distracted but Marvellous Malika was receptive to their need to be re-energised.

In order to improve the committee’s efficiency, Malika implemented a game – each time one of the delegates sang a song during the debate, they had to switch places, fulfilling the exercises purpose 100%. I had the pleasure to hear “La

Marseillaise”, the French anthem.

As they kept debating, they were so much into the topic that they began inventing barbarisms as Sophie the Smiley qualified them as. There was ‘promoter’ instead of ‘promouvoir’ and ‘comparation’ for ‘comparaison’. I liked how admitted tiredness drove them to make up new words and then continued the debate as if it was normal.

In order to finish this presentation properly I would like to introduce my dear delegates. We have Clémence the Curious, Malik the Mighty, Hajar the Hottest, Margaux the Mysterious, Louise the Lovely, Sofian the Sexy, Inès who is Ironic, Sophie is Smiley, Hugo is always hungry, Melen is magic and last but not least, Adele is Awesome.

An open letter in support of AFET, the committee involved in constructing a democratic Europe. From: Morgane Stephan

call me a FEMMinist Manly man Andres Lestal got to analyse his sensitive side while observing the fierce (fe)males of FEMM. The Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality started off quiet, literally. The delegates were barely audible when they first began with teambuilding. Only after the game of ‘Street Fighter’ did their voices roar with majestic glory and the power of a thousand suns.

FEMM are like the keys on a 1987 mechanical keyboard – they click. They complete each other’s differences and compliment each other’s similarities.

Chairperson Kimberly Postec can only be described as an expert mediator, which is to say she guides a committee with professionalism. Having a strong presence in the committee room she graciously stands aside when the delegates charge into action.

The FEMM topic may seem somewhat eerie especially if it is the delegates’ first time at EYP. Female rights, concern over the

public image of women and the preservation of human dignity can be a little too much to be dumped on the shoulders of the ‘newborn’ delegates. Here, though, it was not the case.

Committee work was simply stunning as the delegates took initiative into their own hands.

Taking time to organise their own work, the delegates streamlined the entire process and managed to accomplish something that European Youth Parliament veterans might not even achieve in the same time span. When giving feedback, the delegates expressed their wish to do more committee work, which is a sign of remarkable dedication.

All in all, the righteous fighters for female rights have shown outstanding potential.

Hopefully this is not the last that EYP has seen of Baptiste the Brave, Caroline the Caring, Coline the Courageous, Elise the Excellent, Jan the Joyful, Julie the Just, Julien the Jubilant, Kensa the Keen, Laurianne the Lawful, Maryam the Marvellous, Nolwenn the Neat, Pauline the Persistent.

FEMM managed to cover a vast range of details while writing the resolution, putting a lot of thought into the definitions, so as to ensure that they are universally understood.

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See you soon…

The end of this 31st National Session is just the beginning of a new big and fabulous adventure. By Morgane Stephan et Pauline Gueguen „I gotta felling that tonight gonna be a good night...“ from The Black Eyed Peas – I gotta feeling How many EYPers thought so tonight? We think that thanks to our amazing organiser team, we were all expecting that this last night was going to be perfect. Admittedly, we did not have the time to ask the delegates for feedback about the party, but their smiles and laughs spoke for themsevles. „We used to swear that we were brother and sister. We used to play All the games where no one’s the winner. We used to laugh“ from Philippe Verdin – Little Sister At the beginning of the session, the delegates used to be scared that they would not to get along with each other. Then, everyone played together during teambuilding and they were all brought closer. It was an important task in order to build the team spirit necessary for discussion during committe work. „Sideways falling, more will be revealed my friend, don’t forget me I can’t hide it, come again get me excited“ from Red Hot Chili Peppers – Don’t forget me Unfortunately, all has a end. Tomorrow, or maybe tonight, the delegates are going to enter in the phase of PED (Post EYP Depression), a general disease inside EYP. They should not have to worry about that though, it is just continuation the of the session’s story. „Tell me your secrets And ask me your questions Oh, lets go back to the start“ from Coldplay – The Scientist We didn’t include a lot of gossip in our newpapers, because we wanted a proper newpaper and not an image of the articles in “The Sun“. Anyway, we decided that the Farewell Party article is the right moment to throw in the main gossip: It appears that, for some, forbidden love has sparked on the dance floor tonight. We leave you to investigate. „You, you may say Im a dreamer, but I’m not the only one I hope some day you’ll join us And the world will be as one“ from John Lennon – Imagine

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The Jury’s Show

Vous pensez peut-être qu’une interview avec les membres du jury peut seulement être ennuyante et sans intérêt. Il se peut aussi que vous croyez que les membres du jury sont tous âgés. Si c’est le cas, vous allez sûrement être surpris en lisant cet article, car les jurys sont loin d’être tout ça.

Le jury de cette 31ème Session Nationale est composé de cinq membres, tous unique dans leur genre. D’abord il y a Estelle Garrau, l’adorable Présidente du jury. Elle est connue comme le « Couguar » du Parlement Européen des Jeunes (PEJ). Ce titre lui a été attribué par ses compères, qui la décrivent comme une personne disponible, juste, expérimentée et marrante. En deuxième nous avons Gildas Connan, le professeur d’histoire-géographie des côtes d’Armor, qui aurait des origines en ex-RDA. En suite, nous vous présentons Manon Marchand, 18 ans et demi et membre active du PEJ, sans aucun doute

Morgane Stephan vous révèle tous les sécrets de ces mystérieuses personnes qui vous observent dépuis trois jours.

La tant attendue délibération du jury.

le vent de fraicheur dans ce jury.

Après : Elodie Fidelis, la partenaire associative AFEV, une association nationale qui aide les jeunes en difficulté scolaire. Pour finir : last but not the least Juan Le Doré, membre international du PEJ.

Mais par-dessus tout, la délégation doit s’amuser. La délibération en soi prendra des tons violents : pour atteindre une décision ils iront s’isoler dans une salle et se taper dessus jusqu’à ce qu’un accord unanime s’impose.

J’ai demandé aux jurys le portrait d’un délégué idéal. Après une mûre réflexion les jurys ont tenté de le qualifier. Ce n’est pas Superman, ni Batman, mais un jeune qui a envie de partager des choses, de rechercher une expérience collective, et non pas dans l’idée d’un esprit égocentrique. Ce qui est fondamental, selon eux, c’est de répercuter l’expérience vécue.

Au lycée, dans la famille, avec ses amis.

Cependant, le jury a une grande confiance envers vous les délégués, et comptent vous revoir très bientôt à d’autres sessions, même si vous n’aurez pas eu la chance de gagner. Pour eux, « If we want, we can. » C’est donc à vous de vous investir dans cette expérience.

Durant ces trois jours intenses, les jurys ont été particulièrement attentifs aux délégations qui ont une cohésion dans leur attitude et leur discours. L’équipe doit être solidaire et équilibré entre ses membres, un leader n’est pas forcément un élément positif.

Pour le dernier mot du jurys, je vais citer la magnifique phrase de Juan « La fin de cette session n’est que le commencement d’une vie PEJistique ». Ils espèrent que vous vous êtes amusés, et vous remercient d’avoir fait la démarche d’être venu ici, à Rennes, ainsi que de vous être engagés sur un projet que vous ne connaissiez pas encore.

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THE NATURE OF THE CHILD CALLED HUMANITY Mario Pacal analyses the future dangers of nuclear power.

It is secure. It does no harm.

It is controllable and can be handled. The promises made at the time nuclear power was invented were high and they did not change. Heads in charge of security and protection of power plants still keep telling the same fairy tale but is it a tale to believe in?

A human being learns from his mistakes quicker depending on the magnitude of the negative impact a mistake has on him. There is a lesson which the majority of little children have to learn: do not touch hot things because it hurts you. Sometimes, it hurts them twice or even more often, nevertheless in the end they learn their painful lesson.

Our blind trust into technology and into powerful companies within the energy sector is comparable to little children. Naive as they are, they believe everything told by bigger ones. Trips planned by their parents must be perfect. No matter how long and detailed you plan a trip, you have

surely not covered everything.

Unfortunately, perfection is never reached and plans remain imperfect.

Though the efficiency of power plants is incomparable to other major ways of energy production in use, they do have a natural weakness. On 26th April 1986, a nuclear accident in Chernobyl contaminated main parts of the former USSR and reached as far as Asia and Central Europe. The city of Chernobyl and wide areas around it cannot be used for living or anything else essential to human kind for hundreds and hundreds of years. The official nuclear leakage was a human failure combined with technical problems.

Due to climate change, the intensity of seismic waves has increased dramatically. Though the constructers thought about temblors when the reactors were built, they did not consider the sudden change of the environment they were building in.

So, how many times should the human kind burn its fingers until the child realises how painful it is? Obviously, you have to replace an unsuitable energy source with a different one. Change is never easy nor inexpensive but let us face the reality - the value of a human child is higher than every amount of money in the world.

Recently, on March 11th 2011, Japan faced a second radiation incident for the country after the Second World War. Two reactors of a plant located in Fukushima were destroyed by earthquakes and tsunamis. This time the natural leak was nature itself.

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DEAR MISTER PRESIDENT Anastasia Lvova inquires on what it takes to become who Andrea Stagni, President of the Session, is today.

Our Latin-speaking president Andrea cuts a few minutes out of his busy day to answer a few of my humble questions.

Q: Why did you decide to come to a French National Session?

A: Basically because I was asked to. A close EYP friend of mine invited me to preside at this session in October. I had just attended a regional session in Italy and the first thing I saw coming back home was the inviting e-mail.

My first reaction was surprise. Me presiding at a French National Session?! I suppose I thought it was a joke. I’d never chaired a national session before; I thought my French might not be ready for a French session yet. But after thinking about for a while, I realized that there must be a good reason for me being chosen, so I told myself

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why not. It would be a very interesting challenge for me to come here.

Q: Are you aiming to go even higher and maybe preside at an international session?

A: I would not fit into that role.

I’ve presided at an international forum before but now I would like to focus on becoming a better trainer. As far as I enjoy being president of a session, I don’t enjoy being in the spotlight that much. I prefer the roles of trainers or jury. I don’t have any other claims in this regard.

Q: What was your EYP experience before presiding at the 31st NS here?

A: My EYP experience began in 2004 and I’ve participated in a total of 34 sessions, in the begin-

ning as a delegate and from there after mostly as a chair. I’ve been a journalist only once but I don’t consider myself to be a good one, I’m not that good at writing. And I really need to sleep, so you see, journalism is really not my kind of job. I think this is the reason I was invited to preside at this session Q: How are you coping with all the French?

A: Let’s say that the first time that I came here I was really scared. At the airport I had a problem with my luggage – when I arrived here my luggage was still in Lyon. Obviously, I had to ask for my luggage back but I quickly understood that the clerk I was talking to, didn’t speak English hence I had to make the effort and start speaking French. So I told myself alright, let us start using the language from the very beginning. People usually

understand what I’m saying even if I make mistakes but it is quite problematic the native Frenchspeakers having a rapid conversation. I will still have to gather up the courage to face all the Frenchspeaking board members in GA tomorrow, but otherwise I can say that so far I’m really enjoying it. It’s another challenge to accomplish.

Q: Would you say that you are for academic achievements being stressed more than the amusement factor in EYP events?

A: I would say that I’m one of the persons that keep in high consideration both of these aspects, since EYP is made of both these aspects and we cannot neglect either. As far as GA is concerned, I look for quality debate and not for trivialities. I think that committee work, teambuilding, coffee breaks

are in a sense private. Those are the occasions to go beyond the limit of formalities; GA on the other hand is not one of them. It’s crucial that we keep in mind that EYP is not a scout camp; we are here because we are clever enough to speak our minds on European politics which is not that common.

We shouldn’t forget that one of the aims of EYP is to form the leading class of tomorrow and it doesn’t necessarily matter if it succeeds in doing this or not. If one considers themselves to be open-minded and an international person it is important to have some content

only serious stuff but also trivial books. Not into movies, though.

Although, I really adore sitcoms like the Big Bang Theory and How I Met Your Mother.

Q: What would you consider to be the perfect food for EYP? A: Something that doesn’t need cooking or leaves any stains after eating, so I’ll go with bread.

Q: To step away from EYP what do you do for fun?

A: I love skiing. I don’t really have the chance to do it that much as my university and EYP takes most of my time. I also love reading. Not

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LET’S TALK ABOUT FOOD

Pauline Gueguen spied on the „envies“ of ENVI who aim to reduce obesity in Europe.

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When I arrive in the committee room at 10.35 am, the delegates are talking about vegetables, quinoa, rice… FOOD Committee? Not quite.

The topic of the Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety is about stopping the increasing number of obese people in Europe, focusing on the children first. Indeed, they have to find future prevention strategies to slow down the obesity epidemic.

First, Cem Unat, the wonderful chair with his blond lock explains to me that his delegates found more than 60 solutions to the problem, written on more than 60 post-its.

Later on, the debate continues. For example, the delegates wonder if the absence of canteens in some of the European countries is a problem. Indeed, without canteens,

the pupils do not have time to return home, so they just go to the nearest fast food restaurant.

Sophia mentioned, “We are not asking for gastronomy, but just for a sane and balanced meal”. Sylvère seemed doubtful with “We have to make our children happy from time to time.”

An interesting example about how children see ‘censed sane food’ was made by Marie: “When we ask children to draw fish which is supposed to be healthy, they actually draw fish sticks”.

While discussing the resolution, Andrea talks about the system of a special tax which already exists in France, but not in the ‘food’ section, called bonus-malus. The aforementioned tax affects, for example, the huge cars that pollute a lot. Suddenly, the funny Sophia

intervenes: “But please, not the Nutella!”.

Also, Helen proposes including sporty activities in our everyday life such as going to school by bicycle. They tackle the culinary problem and Marie is convinced that introducing culinary at school will be a good solution.

Nadhir says, “We are not going to make little bears that children will want to eat”.

About the counting game, yes, it was kind of difficult but useful during later discussions. The committee did not really succeed in this game but this was mainly because of Andrea – who kept naming a favourite number, six. Sort of cheating, is it not?

I was excited to see you debating on your topic and it is definitely going to be a successful resolution.

About the team spirit of the Committee on Culture and Education, expressed by a non-French speaker.

DEBATES, TRUST AND KNOWLEDGE The diversity in CULT can hardly be described in words. Despite the fact that there are 9 girls and only 2 boys, Sami and Roman, in the group, you cannot find this imbalance in their work.

Within the educational system, everyone is treated equally. Though a little shy at the beginning, the ice breaks piece by piece with every challenge they face. And as a result, several flipcharts and a huge whiteboard are filled with ideas. Obviously, members of CULT are very creative and ready to show what they have.

Grab a seat next to them, and after a very short time you will notice the harmony which fills the room they are in.

Even non-French speakers can feel it after a while without being able to understand them. It

goes without saying that a great team is formed by their chair Elise.

This team cares about education and therefore wants to invent a new sport to add to Physical Education (PE) classes in schools. This new game is based on athletic shoes produced by a French company. You might think that does not sound innovative. In fact, the factory only produces left shoes for the usual weaker left foot.

The general team spirit can be found right away just by looking at their debates and finding solutions, including ideas to create a pathway for a more easy integration of disabled children and young people in the school system of each EU country.

It should be said that committee work is a very easy task for them. First

of all, some seem to be born to debate on and find solutions to everyday topics. Respectful treatment of individuals’ opinions is no foreign concept to them. Responding with proper arguments is an everyday-baguette to them.

Since EYP’s official language is not only French you might wonder what their English skill is like. However, not very often used due to language barriers, it is still heard during the debates and it refreshes people’s minds. A great push of self-awareness is the gain in trying unpractised things.

Their performance level at the GA can only be assumed at this point but I will take the risk, lean myself out of the window and assume they will be magnificen

By Mario

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UE ET LES PAYS EN DEVELOPPEMENT Anastasia Lvova raconte comment DEVE exige la transparence aux pays en développement En arrivant à Saint Vincent, les délégués qui allaient défendre la qualité de vie et la prospérité des pays en cours de développement n’avaient pas de prévisions bien définies. Le premier jour du team building l’on pouvait remarquer que les nouveaux recrutés du parlement des jeunes se sentaient totalement dans l’inconnu et donc n’étaient pas tout à fait bien à l’aise. « Je n’avais pas d’image précise de ce que ma commission ou YFU en général allait être » dit Iris, qui au jeu de deux verités et un mensionge a bien assumé le mensonge d’être d’origine suédoise. Ce jeu, ainsi que beaucoup d’autre, trouvés par le chair Florian Marandet, ont beaucoup aidés les membres de DEVE à embrasser la nouveauté de l’expérience et apprendre à apprécier les 10 personnes avec qui ils allaient passer les trois prochains jours.

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Cette commission a su me surprendre dès le début du team building. Dans toute mon expérience de YFU en tant que délégué aucune de commission dont je faisais partie n’a parvenu à terminer un jeu de nœud, vous savez surement de quoi il s’agit, dans moins d’une demi-heure.

Tandis que DEVE l’a fait plusieurs fois rapprochant de plus en plus la vitesse de la lumière, il ne s’agissait plus que des minutes.

Une fois que la glace a été brisée, une collaboration parfaite pouvait commencer en toute son efficacité. Ne se laissant pas déranger des folies des gens passants perpétuellement par les escaliers exactement en face de la fenêtre de leur bureau les DEVE arrivent à se concentrer.

Rien qu’en rentrant dans leur local le haut niveau de préparation se remarque tout de suite: des articles scientifiques couvrent

le sol et chaque deuxième mot dit dans la conversation est un terme extrêmement compliqué, spécifique au sujet et consistant de douze lettres au minimum, et il ne faut pas non plus oublier le fameux livre d’économie posé sur la table qui sert à clarifier quelques points de discussion.

A chaque fois que je rentrais dans la classe où DEVE était installé,je voyais toujours des visages souriants et à chaque fois qu’il fallait vraiment travailler il en étaient prêts et très productif. Maintenant il reste qu’à attendre leur performance à la GA.

CIVIL RIGHTS with the LIBErians Playing during teambuilding and working during committee work – Konstantina Goula spied with her little eye on LIBE. Upon first meeting the delegates of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, I can distinct the fear in their eyes. It is the fear of the unknown.

New faces around them, people they have never met before in their lives, and the curiosity to figure out what EYP is.

All these anxieties are left behind as soon as Quentin, the smiling chair, introduces some EYP games. The doubts turn into a playful and pleasant atmosphere.

The delegates form a circle and start to imitate animals to win a reward for Best Actor. The prize is a Maltesers chocolate. This sweet motivation towards a victory is more than enough to cheer up the group, and the ’earthquake eruption’ lifts everyone off. Laughter is the best ingredient to create trust in the team.

However, more efforts need to be done to build a balanced team.

The procedure of learning how to cooperate takes time and a blindfolding game is a really good start. Some funny ’accidents’ happen while the group tries to guide one another. Being controlled by somebody else and having not to rely on your own powers is hard to handle. Even though it is raining,

teambuilding under the sputters is a great challenge and it is the part delegates enjoy most.

After having fun, the time comes for committee work. The topic of LIBE has a lot of dimensions and is dealing with the protection of citizens’ personal data. The committee’s main concern is the violation of the right to privacy because of the abusive use of the surveillance cameras in city centres.

Addressing the problem and proposing solutions takes hours for the LIBErians. No one can deny that they are adequately prepared. However, information and knowledge are not enough to reach a concensus nor to agree on a concrete resolution. Opinions are supported by nice arguments but sometimes it is difficult not to get carried away.

Quentin, despite chairing for the first time, did a great job. Everyone was devoted to committee work and did their best to propose effective solutions. If they keep their team spirit alive and support their resolution with passion, I am sure that they will rock the GA. Just believe in yourselves, LIBErians, and there is nothing that can stand in your way.

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LAURA of the Board of EYP Friends/France Erik Müürsepp discovers that with the future of EYP France in such capable hands, they must surely be taking over the entire world soon.

The cheerful face of Laura Léotoing is probably known to all the participants of this session, even if they don’t know her name. But perhaps not everyone is aware that she is here representing the Board of EYP France as its executive director.

In her role as executive director of this institution, Laura is responsible for a multitude of tasks. It is up to her to coordinate the activities of the people working daily in the organisation’s main office in Paris and following the projects they are involved with. But a small capital like Paris is not enough for her; she also coordinates the activities of all regional centres of EYP France in the country. This wide-reaching knowledge makes her ideally suited for her role of acting alongside the president as one of the two spokespersons of the organisation.

But every great story has a beginning and Laura’s began

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six years ago when she was attending school. It was then that she had her first contact with this concept that would have such an impact on her life, at the national session in Annecy. Annecy lead to the Paris 2006 international session and was followed by more and more passion and involvement in this phenomenon referred to as EYP. She was elected onto the national board in 2008.

Casting her eye into the future, Laura hopes that in 10 years time there will be an EYP team in every single large city in France. This is certainly an ambitious goal, but one must remember that she has already seen the growth of her beloved institution over the past six years. So if there is such a thing as a human crystal ball, I would place my money on her.

During the interview I proposed her the concept of a delegate who knows next to nothing about EYP and asked how a session may

help them develop. Our executive director considers her mission to be accomplished when the delegate can apply the gained knowledge in an actual project, with the potential to impact many people in a positive way. On an emotional level, some of her best experiences of EYP involved participants coming up to her at the end of a session and expressing the feeling of having truly been integrated into a team and the sense of belonging. It is positive feedback like this that assures her that she is on the right track.

I finally set Laura a challenge in coming up with a new triplet of words that EYP might stand for, while still expressing similar ideas.

Her spontaneous creation of the Excellent Yellow Project definitely has future, as does anything that has her dedication and passion.

Your Future:

EYP As you are reading these lines here, the 31st Session Nationale of PEJ France is almost over or it has already become part of the history of EYP. You are starting to realise that this very unique time of your life found an ending. Slowly, the feeling of sadness takes over your emotions and even tears may run down your cheek. If not, wait for a day or two and it will happen for sure.

The emotional rollercoaster you are going through is called Post-EYP Depression, commonly referred to as PED. And unfortunately, being sad is only the start of it. On the way home your stomach will be full of joy and happiness keeping you hyped up, though you know you are tired to the bone.

Not being able to leave your bed for 3 days due to an emotional chaos combined with the lack of sleep will follow. Additionally, the need of being surrounded by cra-

zy, awkward, special, hyperactive, tired but always sunny people will not be fulfilled anymore.

Who would have thought that from the first day of playing games in a gym with strangers from Europe, these strangers have become friends you miss after only 3 days.

This session was just the first step in entering a New World you always imagined but thought it would remain an image in your head. We encourage you now to take a second step to fully enter this kingdom of wisdom and multicultural diversity, and you will discover new sides of yourself as well.

We promise.

EYP France/PEJ France offers you a variety of second steps.

You have been automatically added to the EYP France newsletter which you are going to receive after every 15 days. Calls for officials (organisers, chairs, journalists, etc.) who are needed for sessions

Mario Pacal will be your guide on the PED-filled journey from being a firsttime delegate in Rennes to becoming an experienced eyper all over Europe.

all over the European Youth Parliament network will be included in it as well. Just apply for an official’s position.

Each and every year, EYP France organises 10-12 sessions/ events you can become a part of. Additionally, you will find all the events of EYP France published on the homepage at www.pejfrance. org.

In addition to what has already been mentioned, attending a training to learn how to become the best chair/journalist/organiser one can be is recommended.

Last but not least, feel free to contact Damien Nunes, in charge of mobility and officials of EYP France, directly and he will provide you with all the information needed to start your EYP career.

Contact e-mail address is international@pejfrance.org E encore une fois, bienvenue au “New World” qu’est le PEJ!

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Deck the Halls Andres Lestal invites you to add some Christmas spirit to your session.

„It’s the most wonderful time of the year,” George Wyle is quick to remind us. Christmas is one of the most celebrated holidays in the world, having transcended from its religious meaning and transformed into more of a worldwide tradition. Christmas trees, decorations, gingerbread, the lot.

It is as if someone sprinkled pixie dust in the snow to make everyone jolly and joyful.

It’s a time that brings the family back together to enjoy a festive dinner. It is a time to take a break from the hectic modern life to simply have an evening at home. In most cases, a Christmas Day off means watching TV, but that tradition has significantly changed during the last decade.

I was lucky enough to grow up in the 90’s. Back then a mobile

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phone was practically a suitcase, Internet made noises and TV was king. Back then, we waited for presents on Christmas Eve, for a chance to go skiing and for the Christmas specials on the telly.

A Christmas special is a special edition of a show that airs during the Christmas holidays.

Usually, Christmas specials feature celebrities, have a story that is unusual to the show, or even have a crossover with some other series. Picture the Jetsons with the Flintstones, or if you do not know what either of those is, imagine Family Guy and South Park together in an epic show of extraordinary awesomeness.

In some cases, the storyline of a show is intentionally built up to a great big explosion in the Christmas special. It was always something to look forward to.

But Christmas spirit was not conscripted strictly to TV shows.

Even commercials had their Christmas specials. This is the origin of the now iconic set of the Coca-Cola Santa Claus commercials.

Sadly, with the end of the 90’s came a new time. The time of political correctness. Suddenly Christmas specials were nonexistent. People started wishing ‘Happy holidays!’ instead of ‘Merry Christmas!’. No more ‘Muppet Show: Christmas Adventures’. No more ‘Friends on the North Pole’.

Dear Santa, Please bring back Christmas specials. Christmas will not feel as special without them.

look at me Pendant ces trois jours tu as surement du croiser et parler à chaque délégué, mais te souviens tu vraiment d’eux? Ou as tu une mémoire de poisson rouge?

Seras tu capable de deviner qui est qui simplement grâce aux yeux?

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1. Sophia, ENVI 2. James, Organiser 3. Dana, Chair 4. Cem, Chair 5. Bergljot, REGI 6. Margaux, AFET 7. Hugo, AFET 8. Benoit, REGI 9. Adèle, AFET

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Nous remercions vivement nos partenaires pour leur soutien à la 31ème Session Nationale du PEJ –France