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issue three
tomorrow. the official magazine of lund 2012
editorial. Dear Delegates, these have been two very busy days for the two of us putting the papers together. Although having only about two hours of sleep on daily average, we barely got a chance to leave our cosy Press Room to meet you personally. It is a massive shame since we have heard all the great things about all the Committees from the Journos. In order to make up for this we decided to tell you a little bit more about who the mysterious Weronika and Ulli are. Weronika, originally from Poland, is in her second year of a joint degree in Economics, Politics and International Relations at Royal Holloway College of the University of London. She started her EYP career in 2007 and since then attended 17 sessions and held a position of the Regional Coordinator of EYP Poland. Apart from EYP her free time is mainly dedicated to rowing. Ulli was born and raised in Hamburg, Germany. His second home is Ebeltoft, a beautiful Danish village. Since last autumn, he is studying law at the University of Passau. His greatest passion is classical music. However, all this vanishes compared to EYP, which he entered in May 2009. For the past year, he has been organising the Regional Conference to be held in Hamburg in March. Lund 2012 is his 16th session. We hope you have enjoyed our magazine. Lots of love,
Weronika & Ulli Editors of Lund 2012
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content. 12 8 5 20 4 europeiska ungdomsparlamentet sverige 5 europe is awaiting you 6 AFET 7 JURI 8 the ateam 10 ECON 11 LIBE II 12 EYP’s witnesses 13 CULT 14 LIBE I 15 ITRE 16 to leave or not to leave? 17 the feeling after tomorrow 18 frequently asked questions 20 blund’s adventures, vol. 3 tomorrow.
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europeiska ungdomsparlamentet sverige
Wondering about EYP Sweden and how to get involved? Ludvig HelldĂŠn explains how EYP works in your country Since 2009, EYP Sweden consists of three Regional Committees: East, West and South. For you, the Delegates living in the Southern region of Sweden, it is of course the EYP South you should join for the easiest access to the EYP experience. The Regional Committees are your link to meetings, debates and of course sessions organised by EYP in Sweden and Europe. Above the Regional Committees stands the Board of EYP Sweden. The Board consists of experienced EYPers and teachers, who are elected every year, mostly taking place
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in the late spring. The current President is Therese Sivertsson. EYP Sweden would be able to do a lot, but not as much as they are now, if they did not have such an excellent financial support. Both the European Commission and the European Parliament fund the organisation. Otherwise, sessions are often sponsored by many institutions and companies which recognise the benefits of supporting youth projects. Have you enjoyed the sleepless night, having loads of fun and meeting new interesting people from all over Sweden and Europe? Then,
before leaving, become a member of EYP Sweden! Often, the Regional Committees gets in touch with you, but if they do not, take the initiative! Since you are attending the Southern Regional Session of EYP Sweden, it is, once again, this region you should join. Also, do not forget to subscribe to the official national newsletter on www.eup.se. With the newsletter arriving every month you will be kept up to date with what is happening at the moment and in the future. EYP Sweden is looking forward to get to know you better!
europe is awaiting you! Opportunities to attend sessions abroad are plenty within the European Youth Parliament. Audrey Wamister tells you how to seize them
In a few weeks, many of you will year the International Sessions will attend the 8th National Session of take place in Istanbul, Tallinn and EYP Sweden in Stockholm. There, Amsterdam. Beside these, there are delegations will be selected to at- International Fora that are closest to tend the International Sessions of an IS in size. However to attend any the EYP. But there are various kinds of these you need first be selected. of sessions. They difAt the National SesEven if you have sion same as at the fer, among others, in the number of par- not been selected, Regional Session ticipants, nationalithere will mainly be you can easily stay ties and length. delegates from the The largest sessions involved. respective country are the Internationas well as both naal Sessions where every member tional and international officials. country from the European Youth Even if you have not been selectParliament is represented at. This ed, you can easily stay involved.
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There are many ways to go on with EYP. First of all sessions take place all over Europe continuously and your Regional and National Sessions will take place every year, so maybe next year is your time to shy. Besides being a Delegate you can always give a helping hand as an Organiser for future sessions in your country or region. You may think you are not experienced enough but this does not matter as long as you are a passionate EYPer and eager to help!
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AFET Having a very hard topic to discuss, AFET did an amazing job. Having a bit of a troubled and shy start, they managed to break the chain, and become one. They were also blessed with two excellent chairs – Axel and Laurens, who were called “role models” after only two hours! After playing games like “Jedi Mind Trick”, “Street fighter” and “I’m special because…” this Committee is now masters in having fun! AFET’s task was to discuss whether or not Turkey should join the EU. As real politicians, the Committee had a hard time agreeing on how to solve this problem. Although they reached a point a few times where they simply could not continue, everything went well at the end thanks to their chairs who guided them in the right direction, or did a funny Teambuilding exercise to take the steam off. Every time I arrived to the Committee Room I was always greeted by a lot of smiles and hugs. They genuinely seemed to care a lot about each other and bonded in just a single day! It seemed like everyone had a time of their lives. There was a beautiful girl in the Committee, who during “two truths and a lie” told us, that she lost a friend for going to this EYP Session. Everyone was extremely offended, but in the end, she gained 9 new, incredible friends. Have fun, my loved ones. I hope to see you in future at another EYP event.
I R U J Yesterday, the Committee on Legal Affairs created their own unique chant and presented it in a mini European Idol show, which was judged by Yiannos, the Chair, and me, their journo Ieva. It turned out that Yiannos is the Paula Abdul of the jury, rating the performance to 141% just because 140% did not seem enough. Moreover the committee got really close to the session hero – Blund. He got very special attention from the girls, but also chilled with the boys and even joined the committee for some Teambuilding games. The committee introduced Blund to their own pet – Rose, the sheep. Blund really enjoyed the time with them and he wants to everyone on Facebook (In fact he wants to have all the Delegates on Facebook, cause he loves everyone in this Session. Add him: Blund Ikea.) During Committee Work, JURI Delegates did splendid. They were so eager on the topic, that all the coffee breaks during Teambuilding had already used to discuss the issue. Committee Work went quite smoothly and productive, as they worked fast and efficient. All of the Delegates were very pleased with the Resolution they made and that is most important.
the a-team by Niks Berzins and Ieva Pastare
During the past two days, have you ever wondered where all the materials come from, why so many foreign people are here, why you get free food, … ? Everything here has happened because of the Organisers. All of this is provided by people who are almost invisible. Orgas are like ninja assassins: You “see what they did there”, but you never actually see them. So, how to spot one? Just look around you! You have food, a place to work at, sufficient materials to create a quality resolution. If you acknowledge that, than BOOM! You spotted an organiser. If everything is going smooth, and you think ”I am quite happy with the way things are” – you noticed an orga. Acknowledging their work is how you enjoy their presence. It is amazing how fix the practical part, so that all you get to think about is ”I’d like to get to know that guy / girl closer” or of course your committee topic. They have been working hard for five months, just to make this happen, and we would say that they have managed quite well. However, the orgas might not be stealthy enough and show themselves at some point. If that happens, make sure to smile at them, hug them and express your appreciation, because they deserve it and you know it. I mean having a movie night, with popcorn and slush ice is not something you will get at every EYP session – be proud that your first is one of the most well-organised! The organisers gave up sleep and their free time just to provide an opportunity for you, dear Delegates, to be part of this magical EYP world. Finding an organiser on Facebook and sending him / her a simple “thank you” is definitely welcome. It does not require much effort, but will give this warm fuzzy feeling of appreciation in their hearts, and who knows – maybe they decide to organise another session!
254 km
the distance ran by all the orgas during the session
the amount of total amount 12 hours sleep 28.5 theof coffee in total for made 42 minutes the orga team gallons by orgas
What failed during the session?
What ridiculous things did you have to do? ”When i was trying to find a light switch in the Aula, I got into the part with the fire escape. The door closed, and it was impossible to open it from the inside, so I was running around the fire escape, knocking on the doors, hoping for someone to open them, but the glass was too thick, so nobody could hear it. Finally, I found a window close enough to the ground and sneaked out. “ “When I was in the canteen and had to go somewhere else, another organiser suggested that I should take a shortcut. So I walked, walked, walked, basically made a circle around the school’s premises and ended up in the canteen again. Shortcut, indeed.” “I was running through the hall, when I suddenly heard some voices behind me. I looked back, but didn’t stop running, and I ran into the glass door.” “We were having an Orga meeting and at some point during it, all of the Orgas fell asleep, while seated. We have suspicion that Chairs have taken pictures of that.”
“We had to meet the popcorn man, our task was to stall him, so he wouldn’t leave before we got the formalities done. We ran out of the building and forgot our coats inside. We were freezing, and screaming like crazy: Stall the popcorn man!” “We had to buy 1000 napkins, 500 plates and so many other things, so while we were shopping for the session, we put our purchases in the shopping cart, forgot to bring it the cart back and used it in other stores. At some point, when we were far away from the first shop, we realised that we had actually stolen the shopping cart and suddenly got really paranoid. We even had those crazy thoughts, that we are now criminals and they will find us by the fingerprints we left. But it was just a shopping cart. The guilt made us bring it back to the shop, but it was closed, so we left it outside the shop and ran away. And because of that we missed the bus.” “One of the most ridiculous things is that we are the other Officials’ slaves. If they ask for a sandwich, we make one. We even had to serve coffee to a stuffed near. No offence, Blund.”
ECON
Entering the Committee Room of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, I was pleasantly surprised by the energy of this amazing group of people. During both Teambuilding and Committee Work, I could notice a vivid and motivated atmosphere. Ingrid, the Chair, made her Delegates create real-life Facebook pages so they could get to know each other better and to be able to “comment” and “like” the actions of their committee mates. When playing “Celebrity Heads”, it was quite difficult for Josefin to figure out that she was Justin Bieber – one of her committee mates said he is “sort of a boy”. She kept on guessing until one of her fellow delegates finally told her that “girls cry for him, guys would like to kill him” – then she got it immediately. Sebastian had some difficulties with his celebrity as well until he got the hint that he was “a god to all men” – quickly, he figured out he was Hugh Hefner. One could have said the same about Rasmus’ celebrity since he had the name of the famous football player Zlatan attached to his forehead. Anton proved his vampire qualities, not only because he was representing Edward, but also while playing “Pass the Orange”. You could have gotten the impression that he actually liked being so close to Cosima’s and Michelle’s necks… When it came to Committee Work, ECON members once more discovered the complexity of the European debt crisis and its origins. Quite a simple example are the interest rates that I got back to at the very end of Committee Work: Even if lowering them may have positive effects in some countries, this is a very controversial measure because it would lower the overall exchange rate of the Euro. Salted popcorn, cookies and huge amounts of coffee kept the debate vivid, despite of the complexity and tiredness. ECON finally agreed on an excellent resolution for the GA, defended by Cosima and summed-up by Josefin and Michelle!
So how did it go after Leo, as mentioned in the previous issue, offered to share cultural backgrounds? It turned into a series of amazing stories, of how people have lived in various countries, and have ancestors even from outside Europe. For example, Majda had lived in so many countries, her tale sounded like the life story of a 50-year-old traveller. Among those rooted in Sweden was Rikard, whose grandfathers surname was changed by Selma Lagerlöf (first ever female Nobel laureate in literature) just because she felt like it. Sheyma had some ancestors from Egypt. Also Nur, Hector, Henrik, Amanda and Klara managed to surprise the others with their stories – and proved how multicultural Sweden is. Therefore, the topic on xenophobia suited them perfectly. Especially because the clue to a quality discussion is to have a full understanding of whatever is being discussed. In order to grasp the beauty of a debate completely you have to have a variety of personalities sharing their real-life examples and representing all major opinions. And I do believe that is exactly why LIBE II managed to have such a fruitful and interesting discussion. Thanks to the great work of their Chair Kate Walsh during Teambuilding, the committee had all the ingredients needed to start the perfect debate. And what happened? A discussion sprung up naturally and they were so carried away that I actually had to interrupt the debate, just so they would have a coffee break and chill out a bit. The committee work went so smoothly that I was amazed by how politely people can disagree. That actually is what EYP is all about – discussing and disagreeing, being respectful towards everyone and every opinion. Everyone spoke, and it seemed like no one was left out. This was truly one of the best committees I have had the chance to work with. Thank you guys, you were great!
I I E B LI
eyp’s witnesses Anna Staab observes the rituals of the European Youth Parliament from an outside point of view.
Adolescents turning their throats inside out screaming “Haiduken”, “Tiger Uppercut”, “Sonic Boom” and “Allele Kita Ponga” while making strange and violent moves. Very close physical contact to people they have barely known for an hour. “Cat and Mouse” games at a so called “European Parliament Simulation Programme”. Teenagers forced to follow rituals an outsider would never understand, praying to a mysterious “EYP Spirit”. Worshipped bibles such as Session Papers and Resolution Booklets, kept close to the mentally slaughtered bodies at all times, taken literally by all participants. Members sacrificing time, blood, energy and money to be able to sleep on thin mattresses on school floors, feeling like dead corpses. Delegates torturing themselves for working too slow by not allowing themselves to sleep. Holy
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Artifacts like energy drinks, coffee and caffeine pills. So called “Chairpersons”, surreal monsters in no need of sleep, constantly smiling like after a brainwash, eager on playing dangerous kindergarten games for 24 hours a day. Alumni reiterating that “once you got forced in, you cannot ever get out”. Harrowing Predictions of “Post EYP Depression” after a Session – tales very close to those of the total apocalypse. And finally, the most implausible: young people sacrificing their free time, mental health and bodies to debate about politics. When arriving at an EYP session, you quickly get the impression you’ve landed in an escapist sect. Is there another place on earth where so called “fighters for democracy” spend half of the time of their political sessions behaving like mentally retarded 5-year-olds? Proba-
bly not. Coherence between shouting, singing, playing silly games, getting half killed, losing your brain and political debates? Doubtable. But, mysterious rituals, weird amusements and scary sacrifices aside: When you meet an EYPer at the last day of the session, you do not see any of that. Properly dressed, either in a suit and a necktie or a dress and high heels, he or she debating about current European problems. They have learned how to see problems from different points of views and discussed possible solutions. They know the difficulties of the topic as well as the rules of General Assembly. Only when it comes to saying goodbye, you finally can see what living through the rituals, games and sacrifices makes to every single participant – they turned them from strangers into friends.
For the Committee on Culture and Education, Teambuilding started promising with the game “Two truths and a lie” – including a nice discussion on how many siblings are normal to have. It was also great to see how people who never met before can intuitionally tell who is a cat person or an animal lover. But intuition doesn’t always lead you the right way: Everyone agreed that Jessica must definitely be a horse person – wrong! The open, relaxed and warm atmosphere of Teambuilding persisted even when things became difficult, such as during the “Human Knot”. When things became tricky, Tara emphasised that giving up is against the spirit and lightened up the atmosphere with some jokes. The whole committee agreed and continued. When discussions became too heated, everyone except two were put under a speaking ban. Linnea with her calm and down-to-earth attitude and Martin with his critical eye tried their best, but not even they could solve it. The tough part came after lunch. The topic of CULT turned out to be very complex and multifaceted. But Jessica, Linnea, Lisa, Martin, Nathalie, Sara, Sofia, Tara and Tom approached their task with remarkable energy and eagerness. Sara brought in refreshing ideas and Sofia managed to calm down heated discussions. When discussion ran less smoothly and the committee got stuck, they still did not resign and kept on dissecting the problem until they had a satisfying solution. To make the discussion more structured, Lisa wrote on the whiteboard and helped to keep the overview. Towards the end when people were getting tired, Nathalie stood up and brought back movement into things. In the end, everything went well. The committee finished their Resolution one and a half hours earlier than scheduled. This also thanks to Tom who was a big help with phrasing and typing it.
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LIBE
I
By far, the Committee on Civil Liberties I was most feminine committee at this session. With only one boy in the group, girls clearly dominated. Luckily for him, they were probably the most caring girls I have ever met. Everyone took good care of each other, everyone listened and did what their outstanding Chair Gundega said, and everyone had the “mother instinct”. They were very fond of “Alele” and also knew how to scream their lungs out to “Street Fighter”. According to themselves, they are very good liars, but I never experienced that. (Or at least I do not think so! Is there a trick? I shall never know!) But understanding and caring was definitely an important feature for the Committee Work later on. Since the Arab Spring is a very tough topic to discuss and cover, the committee did face hard times when they felt they were going absolutely nowhere. But they managed to get it done, right on time. As one of the Delegates said: “It is amazing to finally be done with this. We’ve worked so hard, and now it is done!” These girls and their boy have made a marvelous Resolution, and even though these people are the sweetest on earth, they can be tough! When you get this article, the GA is over, but I already know, writing this, they kicked some asses.
Acceptance, respect, understanding and seriousness. To some people these are just nice words but, to the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy, they describe exactly how the Delegates wanted to work: Acceptance to all opinions, respect for every individual, an understanding that nobody is used to that situation and therefore can make mistakes, and a huge amount of seriousness towards the topic as they aspired to write a great resolution. At first, arriving to my assigned Committee, they all seemed quite intimidated in my opinion. Not by me, but by the situation. I could not have been more misled. Joining the games I was able to see the whole picture it from their point of view. They were not timid, they were eager! Eager to get started, eager to discuss solutions and eager to contribute to the resolution. Most of all, I found them eager to get to know their fellow Committee members. With smiles, laughs, and some serious flirting they established a solid ground for work. Joining the Committee again after lunch, I could observe the previous mentioned seriousness as they started Committee Work. Lively discussions on the topic filled the room. Quite often, the Chairs had to tell the Delegates to stay on track of the subject the so-eager-Delis wanted to show their amount of knowledge and contribute to finding sustainable solutions. Even though the seriousness is really interesting to talk about, what intrigued me the most was what was taking place during the breaks. Instead of enjoying the fresh air they continued to get to know each other! That, to me, symbolises what an EYP committee is all about – realising the Session is so much more than just a process to write a resolution. It is a perfect opportunity to make new friends.
E R IT
to leave or not to leave? Audrey Wamister takes upon the very heated topic of the Euroscepticism. Not everyone is enthusiastic about instance agriculture, which only surthe European Union. Euroscepticism vived in Switzerland thanks to subexists all across the continent and sidies and rather high import taxes not only in the non-Member States. on agricultural products. If joining Eurosceptics formed even their own the EU, Switzerland would have to party in the European Parliament, drop the tariffs and the Swiss agrinamed “Europe of Freedom and cultural industry would suffer badly. Democracy”. What is more, they What needs to be added is that hold enough politiSwiss agriculture cal importance to The actual reason is in a dire need win ballots against of some fresh air, behind not joining the the EU supporters. which could be What are the ar- EU is, however, the provided by dropguments of Europing the import fear of losing their sceptics outside taxes and lowerthe EU? Looking independence. ing the subsidies. at the example of The farmers would Norway and Switzerland, it be- need to produce agricultural goods comes apparent that superficial ar- that are more profitable than the guments are put forward to cover ones they receive subsidies for. the real reasons behind Euroscepti- Subsequently, they could survive cism. on their own and would not have One of these arguments to stay out to live on government support. The of the EU is to protect weak sec- actual reason behind not joining tors of the national economy, for the EU is, however, the fear of los-
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ing their independence. If joining the EU, Norway and Switzerland would not have much weight in the European Parliament. They would be dependent on larger countries such as Germany and France. What are the arguments of Eurosceptics inside the EU? A large Eurosceptic among the Member States is the UK. English Eurosceptics have various complaints against the EU. The rising cost of the membership combined with a negative impact of EU regulatory burdens on the UK business irks them. They claim that this regulatory burden even has a negative impact on business, mainly in the City of London, which is purely focused on domestic exchange and exports to non-EU markets. A recent poll in the UK uncovered that about 47% were in favour of leaving the EU and only 33% were for staying.
the feeling after tomorrow Christina Daubjerg Newman describes the possible negative EYP withdrawal symptoms and a few tried ways of how to overcome them.
Last year was a very mixed year for me. I joined EYP, which turned out to be one of the best decisions I ever made in my life. I met a lot of amazing people. I traveled to many different places and made friends for a lifetime. But there was one thing that made it a horrible year. Why, you may ask? The last Harry Potter film was released. I’ve always loved Harry Potter, and quite frankly, always enjoyed the company of Snape, Dumbledore and Sirius much more than the people I was surrounded by in everyday life. I fell into what the Internet has called “PPD” – post Potter depression. But I figured out that getting sad about something that has ended only means that it is a good kind of sad. I also get that feeling every time
an EYP session ends. The term PED means Post EYP Depression. Most of you will experience it. You get back to school, sit in the class room, and you suddenly start thinking: “These people are stupid. I miss my Committee and my new EYP friends, they were really cool!” You will have a hard time understanding why this wonderful weekend had to end. As always, I am here to cure your problem. PED will eventually pass, but somewhere deep inside you, you will always want to go back. That is definitely an option, since I would like to see all your beautiful faces again, but a quick painkiller is definitely Facebook. Almost everyone has Facebook. Send friend requests out to the peo-
ple you are going to miss, because then you can always write them a message, share pictures – or even send each other Farmville requests. Also, session gossip can be easily exchanged. I speak from experience. When you go to International Sessions or Fora, you will meet people from all over Europe. Again, Facebook is the best way to stay in touch! My best friend Sofia is Finnish, and thanks to Facebook, we speak every day. Feel free to add me and all the other Journos. We will upload pictures, which also cure PED. But really, the best remedy is just going to another session. I will (hopefully!) see you all someday again.
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frequently asked questions During the session, Christina Daubjerg Newman has been asked plenty of questions. She collected a few and will now present you the answers to wipe out any confusions. How come Laurens has such a deep voice?
dering the most expensive champagne and then paying the waiter to pour it into the sink is just not normal.
I love Blund!
I don’t know. He lives in Amsterdam – without going into details, it might explain the issue a bit. It is not really a question, but Blund says thank you!
You, the journos, take pictures all the time! Where can we see them?
I am so tired! What should I do? Loved ones, caffeine is the answer to anything in this world.
After the Session, we will upload them to our personal Facebook accounts. Feel free to add all of us, so you Is John single? He is really hot! can see all the wonderful pictures we have taken. Just He is indeed. Both single, and hot! If you are especially search for our names, and we will be there. interested in this matter I suggest you to talk to Weronika Why is Sweden better than Denmark? (one of our beloved Editors). Now, this is a Dane answering the questions, so I feel I am really going to miss my new EYP tempted to say “you are not”. But guys, let us just bury friends! What should I do? the hatchet. Denmark has awesome alcohol regulations, and Sweden has sexy ladies. Why not combine I would refer to the article about PED. I wrote it, and it the two? Let me just put it like this: I love you guys but or- is quite amazing, I would say.
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credits.
our sponsors:
tomorrow. the official magazine of lund 2012
was brought to you by:
Audrey Wamister (CH) Ieva Pastare (LV)
Spegel Spegel Ludvig HelldĂŠn (SE)
Anna Staab (DE)
special thanks to:
Christina Newman (DK)
Niks BerzinĹĄ (LV)
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blund’s adventures, vol. 3 After spending a whole day mingling with the delegates, Blund felt overwhelmed. Even if he got kidnapped during the night, he got back safe (you can find out more about that on Blund’s facebook page), and still was very happy. He is only a little bit sad because the session is about to end. Nevertheless he’s enjoying the last hours stalked as always by his two favourite ladies Ieva Pastare and Anna Staab.
had a little coffee accident this morning ... got a little bit harassed by Journo Christina ...
fooled around with the Delegates ...
got a little bit harassed ... He did some yoga, to let the good energies flow ... assisted the Orgas to clean up the school ...
helped the delegates make some points at the GA ...
had a lovely time with the VIPs at the GA ...
enjoyed the debates ...