EYPE Newsletter - 1st edition

EYPE NEWSLETTER1ST EDITION

2013Youth unemployment

REGIONAL BREAKaWAY DEMANDS

Integration of Muslims in Europe

European elections

Barcelona 2014

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EDITORIALGEORGINA ALVAREZ and ADRIANA DÍAZ

Editors of the 1st Edition of the EYPE Newsletter

The first edition of the Eu-ropean Youth Parliament España (EYPE) Newsletter

is an example that you can always take a step further. EYPE was born in late 2006 – early 2007 without experience at all, with barely no guidance and with plenty of chal-lenges ahead of the organisation. It all started from the scratch and since then EYPE has been grow-ing year after year, step by step: welcoming new members, organis-ing National Selection Conferenc-es, hosting EYPE Weekends and workshops, creating new bodies, organising Iberian Forums. Such growing path has now the biggest challenge to deal with: organising an International Session in Barce-lona in summer 2014.

However, the development of the National Committee wouldn’t have been possible without bright minds, creative thoughts and the willingness to devote yourself to a project. Hence, the idea of the EYPE Newsletter was born in or-der to explode the abilities of the members of our organisation at

its fullest. This newly created pro-ject does not aim to be a reference for any kind of Journalism nor to present a part of the reality that is around us; its objectives are to pro-vide the members of EYPE with experience in Journalism, Editing, Organising as well as in academic preparation as Chairperson while boosting team work and curiosity for current topics.

We, as Editors of this first edition and as old members of EYPE, ac-cepted this new challenge as a way to realise that there is nothing bet-ter than having the ability to still surprise yourself. We firmly believe in the potential of the people -the minds and the hearts- which con-form this National Committee and we hope that the Newsletter will become a core project in the future of EYP España. The first steps have already being taken, now it’s your turn to continue walking step by step or even run when required without forgetting that what mat-ters the most is to enjoy the path you are sailing in.

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ALBERT REVERENDO and GONZALO SOLAGeneral Coordinators of the EYPE Newsletter project

Almost a year later, we can affirm it is real. After months of work we are

pleased to present you the first is-sue of the EYPE Newsletter.

During the last Iberian Forum 2012 we had a very fruitful conver-sation with other members of EYP Spain about different aspects and issues related to our organisation. During that chat we all had the op-portunity to express our views and reflect on how fast EYP Spain was growing. Those who participated in that discussion showed their en-thusiasm on witnessing a tremen-dous growth and development of EYPE during the last years. Be that as it may, we thought this growth should be accompanied with an outstanding advance in terms of academics. For this reason, after several days some points raised in

the conversation which took place during the Iberian Forum came into our heads. So we wondered: how can we help EYP Spain to keep growing, not only in terms of size but also from an academic per-spective? After some phone calls and many messages via email, the EYPE Newsletter was the answer to our question.

Today this answer has become a reality. Nevertheless, it is not our reality but yours. This Newslet-ter belongs to everyone who feels himself as a part of EYP Spain and we must thank each of you for sup-porting us since the very first mo-ment on this project. We also want to thank all the journalists who have participated in this first issue of the EYPE Newsletter for all the work they have put into their ar-ticles. Their work, willingness and

collaboration have been essential in making this project real.

Finally, we cannot end these lines without showing our most special gratitude to our Editresses: Geor-gina Alvarez and Adriana Díaz. This exceptional paper is another evidence of their knowledge and experience, as well as their bound-less desire to see la Familia as an extraordinary organisation.

And last but most certainly not least, we hope you all enjoy every single word and piece of this is-sue. Everything you can find in it is done with the best of our inten-tions; with the purpose of making this project as yours as possible. That is why we encourage you all to get involved in it and to partici-pate in the next issue of the EYPE Newsletter.

A NOTE FROM THE NEWSLETTER COORDINATORS

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2013 EUROPEAN NEWS hIGHLIGHTS

February 2nd. Pope Benedict XVI resigns and Pope Francis,

from Argentina, becomes the first American Pope on the 19th of

March.

May 17th. Right wing government approves education reform. It is the

seventh educational reform since the restoration of democracy in the late

1970s.

January. French troops intervene in the Northern Mali conflict after President Traore asked for help. In May, troops

will be withdrawn.

April 27th. Centre-right opposition parties in Ice-land are set for a return to power, a dramatic come-

back for the parties widely blamed for Iceland's eco-nomic meltdown in 2008.

April 8th. Politician Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister of the UK from

1979 to 1990, dies.

30th April. Prince Willem-Alexander

becomes the first King of the Netherlands since

1890.

July 1st. Croatia becomes the 28th country of the

European Union

September 11th. According to the Gender Equality Index, Sweden is the most advanced

country in the EU when it comes to equality between

men and women.

July 1st – December 31st. Lithuania is the first of

the three Baltic States to hold the Presidency of the Council of the European Union since joining the

EU in spring 2004.

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February 15th. A meteor explodes over Russia, in the

region of Chelyabinsk, killing at least 950 people.

July 1st. Croatia becomes the 28th country of the

European Union

May 31st. Turkish protesters, angry at government plans to build a mall in a park in cen-tral Istanbul, are met by force

and clash with the police.

April 19th. The agreement between Kosovo and Serbia on

the principles governing the normalisation of relations pro-vides the possibility to close yet another chapter in the violent recent history of the Balkans.

July 1st – December 31st. Lithuania is the first of

the three Baltic States to hold the Presidency of the Council of the European Union since joining the

EU in spring 2004.

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YOUTHQUAKEIN TURKEYA review of the first two weeks of protests in Istanbul’s Gezi Park.

AMY CAMPO

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YOUTHQUAKEIN TURKEY

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IN TWO WEEKS...

5 people dead.

Injuries in 13 cities.

7478 people applied for injuries.

4 people are in life critical condi-tion.

10 people have lost sight.

91 people have had head trauma.

1 person’s spleen removed.*1

8 dogs, 63 cats and 1028 birds killed by intense tear gas used in Taksim. *2

Unrest spread to up to 90 cities.

Tens of thousands retweeted messages supporting the protes-tors.

Fine imposed by RTÜK*3 on Turkish TV channels for alleg-edly attempting to promote vio-lence through the images of the events.

Protests supporting the Turks have taken place in European, American and Asian cities.

*1: Turkish Medical Association Report, health sta-tus of demonstrators (June 12th).*2: Veterinarian Tolga Yazici, member of the Initia-tive for Animal Right.*3: RTÜK: Turkish state agency which monitors and sanctions television and radio broadcasts.

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Turkey’s Prime Minister, Re-cep Tayyip Erdogan (Justice and Development Party,

AKP), has governed since 2002, winning elections democratically three consecutive times. He re-covered Turkey’s economy and has worked towards Turkey’s inclusion in the European Union. However, his party has also limited some ba-sic human rights, such as freedoms of speech and press, restricting internet use and the right to free assembly. Since 2011, the govern-ment has become increasingly authoritarian, seen through the introduction of new limiting poli-cies, for example regarding alcohol consumption, measures similar to the ones implemented in Islamic states.

Laws on alcohol, the decision to name the Third Bosphorus Brige Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge, the plan to turn former churches (e.g: Hagia Sophia) into mosques, decisions to continue building in big cities, the decision to build a nuclear power plant, AKP’s stance on the war in Syria, have all led to increasing dis-content and protests, not only in Istanbul but all over the country.

Protests started in April in Istanbul with the government’s decision to remove Gezi Park (near Taksim), which is one of the few green spaces left in Istanbul. These protests were renewed on 27th May. Initially this space was going to be converted to a shopping mall but protests led to the possibility of building a muse-um being raised.

BACKGROUND

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28th May

31st May

1st June

2nd June

3rd June

Protesters in Gezi Park against the

plans to redevelop the park.

Police crackdown against peaceful demonstrators, teargas fired at

peaceful protestors.

Prime Minister dis-misses the protesters

as “a few çapulcu,” vandal. The term

becomes a symbol of resistance.

Unrest spreads to other cities across

Turkey.

Prime Minister leaves the country

on a diplomatic tour in North Af-rica. First death,

Mehmet Ayvalitas.

TIMELINE OF EVENTS


4th June

6th June

7th June

11th June

16th JuneMain campaign or-ganization, Taksim

Solidarity, issues their 5 demands. Not accepted by the government, although debated

upon.

Prime Minister re-turns and is greeted

by thousands of supporters. He

calls for an end to the protests.

Attacks on protest-ers in Taksim and

Gezi Square. Water cannons used to

disperse protesters. Mr. Erdogan: “If Taksim Square is

not evacuated, this country’s security forces will know

how to evacuate it.”

Prime Minister says Gezi Park plans

would go on.

Riot police moves into the square.

Prime Minister says unrest is part of a conspiracy against his government.


THE VOICES OF TURKISH PROTESTERS

Edhem Eldem, historian at Bogazici University in Istanbul.

In a sense, they are drunk with power, they lost their democratic reflexes and are returning to what is the essence of Turkish politics: authoritarianism

I am an apolitical person, always have been, politics have never interested me, but here I am helping in any way I can. I'm taking a stand because I believe de-mocracy is at risk and freedom of speech is at risk; throwing tear gas and plastic bullets and pressurized water should not be the response the government gives, in a democratic environment, to the peaceful protesters

Akif Sarper, Turkish citizen studying in the UK.

I am a teacher. I am patient. I don’t even swear at police out loud. I hate weapons. But I stand upright. I shout out what I believe is the truth. So why am I gassed in Tak-sim with thousands of other peo-ple having the same mentality and calm attitude? The protests are not only the result of the shopping mall idea in the park but oppressive pol-itics PM Erdogan has followed in his 10 years of governing.

Onur Gündogdu, Turkish teacher.Erdogan has way too much power for a democratic country and I am per-sonally very displeased with the way he deals with the more secular people in the country.

Eren Arkan, Turkish citizen studying in the US.


My perspective on Gezi Park is through the eyes of my students. It is their posts I read on Facebook and Twitter, and their discussions in class that inform me. It is their frustration, passion and defiance that I have listened to for 6 years in Istanbul. “Occupy Gezi” is about people who insist that their voices be heard. It is not a religious imperative; Jews, Mus-lims, Christians and atheists are arm-in-arm in the park – asking to be heard. It is not a political force; communists, capitalists, and socialists are all wav-ing the Turkish flag together.

Terri Thomason Stevens, American citizen teaching in Turkey.

‘It’s upsetting to see what is happen-ing in Turkey at the moment, espe-cially in such a beautiful country. However, I just wish for all the best for the future and hope a solution can be found to end these problems.

Nuray Gozalbeyli, Azeri student in Turkey.

If a country loses its sleep due to its issues, it means revolution has already begun.

Deniz Gecmis, Activist.

When the police attacked Gezi Parki on Friday morning, I was stuck in the Park with many other people. There was no escape and the po-lice surrounded us from every side. Before that night, I had tasted tear gas several times, so I was thinking that I would not get affected harshly. However, that night, as many other people in the park, I screamed “I’m dying.” I was begging my sister to take me out, we could hardly walk or run to the sideways near the park.

Gizem Okumus, Turkish member of European Youth Parliament.


COMMITTEE ON

EMPLOYMENTand social affairs


Youth unemployment on the spotlight

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The lost generation?Figures which terrify us, reasons we do not understand, institutions working towards changing the statis-

tics and a generation which everyone calls lost.

PEPE BONO and AMY CAMPO

Alongside unemployment come a series of social problems for the jobless

youth. It decreases their employa-bility, challenges their competitive-ness, leads to lack of motivation and sometimes utter despair leads to these youngsters giving up on finding a job altogether.

Youth in the European Union (EU) are currently victims of this conse-quence of the social and economic crisis which is hitting our conti-nent; unemployment is a reality for 5.5 million Europeans aged under 25. 23% of Europe’s youth do not know what tomorrow will bring them, yet these levels vary as much as the cultures in the EU; Spain or Greece accounting for more than 50% of their youth failing to find a job.

Youth unemployment has led to a situation known as ‘brain drain’. It is defined as a significant emigra-tion of educated or talented indi-viduals, which has been reflected on the decrease of the workforce available in less appealing coun-

tries job-wise such as Spain. Another side effect has been the diminishing of young entrepreneurs, who lack a strong support from the European governments. There is another rea-son for youth unemployment: un-paid internships, which means that the intern gains experience working in a business without a pay, an issue which has led to a lot of employers being able to take advantage of the young workers.

Facing this situation, the Europe-an Union has tried to take action. Measures have been implemented to fight the exclusion of the young people from the market. Initiatives such as Youth Employment Initia-tive or Youth on the Move seek to reduce this problem which damages our trading bloc’s competitiveness. These initiatives aim to cooperate with Member States, who, by in-troducing national reforms, should modernize their labour markets. As youth unemployment rates continue growing, should the EU continue implementing these measures or should we start taking into consid-eration new approaches?

Unemployment in 2011, in most countries it is still on the increase, while the EU continues to fight to reach its aim of 75% employment.


The problem has affected each Member State to a different extent.


MR. BRIGHTSIDELots of measures have been implemented by the European Commission in order to tackle the rise of youth unemployment. Even so, not all Member States have put them fully into practice yet, complicating the entrance of youngsters into the labour market. How could these measures be successfully improved and

enforced?

ISABEL CANTALAPIEDRA

well-being and pension reserves. Eu-rope cannot afford to waste its talent and its future; and, therefore, appro-priate supportive measures are re-quired. In the context of the Europe 2020 Strategy and its ‘Youth on the Move’ flagship initiative, the Council and the Commission called upon Mem-ber States to ensure that all young people are offered a job, traineeship, apprenticeship or education within four months of leaving formal edu-cation or being unemployed, provid-ing this as a Youth Guarantee. Even though this so-called ‘guarantee’ was proposed in 2008, the years 2011 and 2012 have seen several calls from European institutions without much success on the ground. Amendments of the proposal have been made and, although the Commission consid-ers that investments in education and effective coordination across policy fields (employment, youth, education, etc.) should be prioritized, Member States have not yet secured transitions from school to work, which would definitely boost youth employment and put into practice the Youth Guarantee. Alongside this proposal, the Europe-an Commission supports a wide range of actions in education, training and work placements for young people. One of them is ‘My first EURES job’, an online platform which provides information, advice and recruitment

With youth unemployment rising to a record high of 23,5% in the EU, an out-

standing number of youngsters have decided to return home and live with theirs parents, as economic instability would not allow them to pay their rent, loan, taxes and household expenses. Rise of youth unemployment in some countries has also caused ‘Brain Drain’, a large-scale migration of qualified youngsters seeking employment in other countries.But not everything is as bad as it seems: if the unemployment rate is 23.5% plus 12.8% that are not even looking for a job, it’s been found out –through a really complicated calculus only understood by high-qualified ex-pert mathematicians– that the average employment rate is 63.7%. This gives even higher numbers in countries like Austria or Germany, where youth employment rates hit almost 80%. It seems, therefore, that we are not that far away from the 75% of youth em-ployment proposed in the Europe 2020 Strategy.Bearing in mind that helping young-sters to find a job and further educa-tion programs will surely benefit EU countries both socially and economi-cally, the European Commission has proposed some measures to reduce these high rates of youth unemploy-ment, which dramatically harm socie-ty with long-lasting impacts on futureincome levels, risks of health status,


service for workers looking for their first job all across Europe. It is a key action included in the Youth on the Move initiative which aims to bring together young mobile job seekers and businesses interested in hir-ing employees from outside the country they’re settled in. The target is to fill 5 000 job va-cancies by 2014, which is not a great figure taking into account that 5.5 million young people are currently unemployed, but this figure will eventually in-crease as the activities of the European Commission become more well-known.The Youth in Action pro-gramme also contributes to stimulating entrepreneurship through Youth Initiatives which help young people to try out their own ideas autonomously, giving them the opportunity to develop their experience, start their own businesses and propitiating their involvement in the labour market. Though youth entrepreneurship is not the panacea for solving youth unemployment, it is likely to be a part of the response, as it’s known that 40% of youngsters indicate an interest in self-em-ployment.Acknowledging all the aid that the EU provides, we should un-doubtedly be grateful for all the support that is being given to us. Nevertheless, it’s our right, and probably our obligation, to ask for stricter implementation of these policies by our national governments, facilitating the integration of youngsters into the labour market.

TAKE A STANDThe lack of incentives and chances given to young people turns their confidence and hopes into fear. The young brilliant and fresh minds can give our countries what they need. So, why are we still stuck?

Why aren’t we taking action?

How many times are we, the youth, told that we must be the ones build-

ing up the country, managing the economy, improving our society, making a better world, or even finding a solution to the climate change? How many times have we felt that the responsibility falls on us? And if it really does, where are the resources and incentives for us to take action?Europe: many countries full of ca-pable people, full of youngsters with ideas, a beautiful union of cultures, which are aiming to build together a better system. However, where is the place in our society and in the labour market for these strong and smart youngsters with ideas, who have dreams and who are capable and willing to take a stand?There should be free way for them to enter the labour market, to build, to create. It may sound un-realistic or even utopian: imagine a great part of the unemployed youth engaged in their own pro-jects, which used to be a bunch of ideas and have become innovative and solvent companies. If governments can’t create em-ployment, why are we doing noth-ing but complaining? The EU tries to redirect policies in order to pro-tect and employ the youth. Laws are constantly being changed with the aim to improve the labour mar-ket. So, why are we still stuck?

What does a young person need to start up, manage and expand a business in Europe? For start-ers it is basically funding. The EU should encourage banks and strong companies to rely on the viable projects in the hands of young people. They should invest on brilliant, maybe still childish spirited but fresh and new minds that can bring our society what it needs. Is it fear that stops us or is it lack of self-confidence? What is it that tights up stones around our ankles and keeps us looking for jobs in others’ companies? After all these questions, one thing is clear: there are resourc-es. However, when we look around, there are few incen-tives. A young mind is bigger than fear; it is full of vitality and dreams. That is what renders it stronger than the low amount of incentives or the rates of youth unemployment. There is a need for interaction between people with resources and peo-ple with ideas. Therefore, the EU can and should figure out how to give these smart and ed-ucated minds a chance to suc-ceed, to be employed and em-ploy others, to contribute in the construction of their countries, and, ultimately, to make from those ideas on post-its great real projects.

MARIA OLIVA

OPINION


THE FLOW OF TALENTHighly educated people departing from their home country seeking better salaries or living conditions

threatens the future of Europe. How should the European Union (EU) cope with this issue?

RAFAEL DE AZÚA

Do you really want to be 20 again? Nowadays the youth in the EU is associ-

ated with unemployment, due to the current economic climate that we are undergoing. Unemploy-ment rates get worse day by day and it does not look as if this is a fact that is going to change; as days go by the situation gets more and more obscure.

The data we receive is worrying for both experts and the youth. The main cause of such unemployment results is that the existing skills in European potential workers mis-match the requirements of the Eu-ropean labour market. Despite the large number of highly qualified professionals, the labour market has ended up with overqualified applicants compared to the few jobs offered.

As a result of this, the pressing and frequently-debated issue known as ‘brain drain’ emerges. The term is understood as a country’s loss of highly-skilled human capital to-gether with a simultaneous lack of ‘brain circulation’, that is, the flow of talent from and to a country and the important benefits that it would entail for the origin coun-try. It is also important to stress that the context that surrounds

The lack of brain circulation within the EU has become a matter of utmost concern.


this issue is a globalised world that increasingly competes on the ba-sis of knowledge and innovation. Therefore, the future actions to be implemented should take this into account too. Up until now, the policies that have been adopted by EU Member States as well as by the private sector which aimed reversing outward flows or attract-ing highly-skilled individuals have proved to be inadequate. That is why implementing decisive policy measures to manage flows and an interdisciplinary approach to the conflict is required.

At the same time, the reason why the EU cannot implement the measures they propose is that brain drain is suffered differently in each country. For instance, in 2006, over 250.000 Eastern Eu-ropeans emigrated to the United States, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. However, the destination of skilled workers coming from Central European countries was

and still is to countries within the EU, such as Ireland and the United Kingdom. Therefore, given the sit-uation and the differences between each country, every Member State should deal with this problem on its own, by proposing decisively ambitious policies and initiatives independently. But it is also ap-parent that the EU should regulate and establish some standards in or-der to tackle, with understanding, brain drain and its adverse conse-quences.

There are various measures that could be taken to curb the brain drain and, instead, favour brain circulation. For instance, measures that could immediately facilitate the attraction of foreign brain-power and encourage the return of ‘drained’ talent. A proposal that should be applied in all Member States is a boost in research invest-ment, since the EU spends only a 2.06 percent of its GDP on R&D and that is not in line with the Eu-

rope 2020 strategy targets of mak-ing this expenditure worth 3 per-cent of its GDP. Also, government institutions should encourage part-nerships with the private sector and with universities and conse-quently strengthen their relations with the local labour market. Such collaborative relationships would also instill a more international and global culture in a society that would become more competitive and transparent. The creation of centres of excellence and capa-bility, attracting the best interna-tional students and researchers and a shake-up of research funding should also be included in the pro-posed actions.

This change of direction must in-volve public authorities, universi-ties and businesses. But above all it must include the youth, since they are the ones that will live with the consequences of this crucial change.


UNPAID INTERNSHIPS: ARE THEY ETHICAL?Taking into account the high rates of youth unemployment across the EU, some youngsters have decided to accept to work for free, in order to increase their small chances of getting a job by trying to gain experi-

ence. But is this extended practice turning into exploitation of the young labour force?

PEPE BONO and ISABEL CANTALAPIEDRA

As the labour market contin-ues to grow with new uni-versity graduates seeking

employment related to their fields while unemployment rates increase due to the current economic crisis, unpaid internships are on the rise. Conceived as a rite of passage, in-ternships can be used as a pathway to future full-time employment for job seekers that would like to enter a new field or change a career or profession. This on-the-job train-ing requires a skilled labourer to train an inexperienced person un-der the condition that the appren-tice would work for the trainer for a certain length of time; in other words, the trainee will gain experi-ence in exchange for services to the employer.In recent years, unpaid internships have experienced an exponential growth for obvious reasons such as the economic recession and the poor state of the economy. But we should ask ourselves: Are unpaid internships ethical? Even in higher education, internships are usu-ally compensated with university credits or faculty recommenda-tion letters. Internships outside an educational environment which do not entitle interns to wages for the time spent working for an em-ployer violate the basic principle that people respond to monetary

incentives when performing a spe-cific task in an enterprise. Employ-ers now claim that the internship experience is for the benefit of the intern, that they do not take advan-tage of the activities of the intern, and therefore the intern should not perceive any compensation. Nev-ertheless, it isn’t difficult to go be-yond these statements. It’s hardly possible for an employer not to derive any benefit from an unpaid labour: an intern must actually perform some tasks to be able to show he or she is learning and be hired in the future. Moreover, fear of being replaced by interns would lead to the current workforce working towards exploiting their own potential to a greater extent, which would mean that employers are making profit from the work of the intern, both directly from his performance and the fresh and innovative ideas brought up, and indirectly from the increase in ef-ficiency from the current staff. Outrageously, a huge number of organisations in all type of sec-tors are constantly offering unpaid internships. Recently, several Pre-mier League football clubs have been accused of exploiting unpaid interns, e.g.: Reading and Wigan advertised for several unpaid in-terns for the whole season, in order to enable ambitious youngsters the

opportunity to gain experience. Other ways of being exploited by employers are traditional summer jobs or the media sector, where it’s been discovered that 8 out of 10 new journalists started their career in this manner.Unpaid interns are used as free workforce when employers have no intention of hiring them on a full-time basis, which has detri-mental effects on both the intern and the economy, exacerbating so-cioeconomic inequalities as they eliminate opportunities for mi-nority applicants (young people, those coming from disadvantaged backgrounds, etc). Therefore, in-ternships should always be com-pensated economically with a min-imum wage alongside a control of maximum working hours imposed by the national government in or-der to fairly treat the interns and give opportunities to those less advantaged. Moreover, intern-ships should be provided, where possible, in an educational envi-ronment, allowing students to put into practice what they’ve learnt and being rewarded with academic credits. This will also establish a connection between businesses and universities, thus resulting in a smooth transition from education to work.

OPINION


ARE YOU TO BLAME?External forces of society have been blamed for the barriers that our youth has to break through to enter the labour market, but would a stronger youth have less problems breaking though? Do we have the right

to claim for more initiatives at a European level?

AMY CAMPO

We are a generation of change, of innovation, the generation of pos-

sibilities and opportunities. We are also the lost generation.Banks and corruption, politicians and employers have been held guilty. The economic recession was triggered by their action and the last in the row of dominoes fell on us. We, who have not taken loans out to our name yet; we, who have not contributed to the world eco-nomic crisis; we, who owe noth-ing to banks. We are victims of an older generation’s actions and the consequence of their mistakes.But when pointing at people and accusing them for their wrong do-ings, the finger never falls on us nor on our faults. We are blind enough to be unable to see that maybe it is our flaws what prevent us from being employed, we reject the idea that we might not be com-petitive enough to enter the fierce labour market, overeducated as we may be.

Last century made its way into the history books because of the two bloodiest and most destructive wars of Modern History and it was the people in the generation prior to ours who rebuilt the economy, the countries and made Europe and the European Union (EU) what they are today.Making a living was never easy for our predecessors, the word ‘com-modity’ was barely acknowledged and things did not ‘just happen’. The unemployed blamed them-selves, no one else was held re-sponsible. Now we live in a society in which everything seems to ‘just happen’. We are brought up at ease, especial-ly within our trading bloc, which works towards making its citizens’ lives easier. This easy going behav-ior has had direct repercussions on our working style. Have we started believing effortless attitudes can still find us a job?What do employers look for? What are we offering them? We aim to

work short hours, up to five days a week. We want to earn high sala-ries and we don’t expect to work beyond what is stated in our con-tract. What are we prepared to sac-rifice in order to find a job?The EU may implement as many programs as they wish, but are we to place the responsibility solely in their hands? Stories of young en-trepreneurs who have successfully started a new business are often heard on the news: they had an idea, they took their own initiative, they made it happen. And that is what most of the unemployed are failing to do, they do not take their own initiative.The recession has complicated the situation, but there are gaps in the market to be filled. We need to wake up, the solution will not come directly to us, but opportu-nities are out there, only one step further away from us than before.

OPINION


Youth unemployment

in the eyes of an expertJosé Manuel Vela Bargues, professor of Financial Economics and Accounting at the University of Valencia,

answered questions related to youth unemployment.

PEPE BONO and AMY CAMPO

other economic activities: development and in-

novation. In times of crisis, the econom-

ic downturn be-comes a process which destroys e m p l o y m e n t which is much more intense in the sectors

based on the growth of labour

force.B) Spain has not yet

developed a stable edu-cation system which reduces

the high number of dropout rates. Each government implements their own reforms, modifying the system the previous government worked towards, forgetting that the aim of any educational system is to promote employment amongst the youth, rendering them the more qualified the better. Our univer-sity system, our primary and sec-ondary education and our training are always being reformed without taking into account the aim of edu-cation. We train staff and manag-ers, but not entrepreneurs with a vocation to innovate. It is them who can create jobs, not govern-ments. Without an effective and above all stable education system, the percentage of youth people

who end up being unemployed can only increase.C) The black market in Spain is a huge one. This means not only a decline in resources which could be allocated to create employment, but also demotivation for a lot of youngsters, which leads to them accepting precarious jobs there-by renouncing to training which could, in the future, help them get a better job.

Since 2008, nearly 400,000 young Spanish people, most of them graduated students, have been forced to migrate to other coun-tries in the search of employment. The opinion on the so called ‘brain drain’ and its impact on Spanish society are deeply divid-ed. For instance, the president of the Partido Popular (PP) (Span-ish for People’s Party) in Ma-drid, Esperanza Aguirre, said last month that “the growing number of Spanish students who have good jobs overseas will have a very positive effect on the Spanish economy and on the way Spanish

In the European Union (EU), 5.5 million of people aged under 25 are jobless. The average of youth unemployment is 23% approxi-mately and in countries such as Spain or Greece this rate reaches the 50%. What do you consider are the reasons behind this situ-ation?Concretely in the case of Spain, it could be due to three fundamental reasons which have an structural origin:A) Spain has traditionally based its economic growth on the eco-nomic empowerment of the labour intensive sector such as construc-tion or tourism, while forgetting

“ ” Our educational system does not produce the training and preparation the economy and the global market requires.

EMPL

INTERVIEW


people will face the challenges in the future”. Do you think that in the future the “brain drain” will have a positive impact on Spanish society or, on the contrary, it is “a suicide” for the country’s future, as José Eugenio Azpiroz, the PP spokesman in the Committee on Employment, said?What I believe is happening is that our educational system does not produce the training and prepa-ration that the economy and the global market require. Perhaps we best prepare students in career de-grees that are not highly demanded and we lack training in areas which clearly have a future.

The EU has developed mobil-ity programs, such as Youth on the Move, which economically facilitate study and work in for-eign countries. However, there is a major dilemma about whether or not these measures are posi-tive. Are they positive because they help young people find jobs in another country or do they en-courage “brain drain” and leave countries with high unemploy-ment rates without academically trained youth?Nowadays, the mobility of students seems absolutely essential and I think that it is totally positive both for the country that receives the young workers and the country of origin.

The number of young entrepre-neurs has been reduced in our country. What could we do to give confidence to these people, in order for them to decide to

start achieving their goals after reaching university training? Furthermore, the current prob-lem has led to the Spanish people reflecting on the educational sys-tem. Do you think that the youth training that is provided in Spain is good enough or should it be changed to improve their inclu-sion in the labour market?Undoubtedly, we should orient training towards what society and businesses demand. University and society must go hand-in-hand and in Spain this is not what is happen-ing. For instance, it does not seem very logical that a high school stu-dent knows about Egypt’s history, but does not know how to face a job interview. The solution to this problem would be to find a balance between secondary education, uni-versity and job training.

The European Social Fund sup-ports initiatives such as the Youth Unemployment Initiative, for which high economic investment is needed. Given that some of the costs are covered by national governments, many of which are in a difficult economic situation, who is responsible for solving the problems of youth unemploy-ment: the European institutions or governments in each country?All of those working together, de-pending on their respective com-petencies. However, if we really hope that Europe truly becomes a union, we will have to coordinate policies in a better way. It cannot be that a German citizen pays the 2% for their mortgage, and a Span-ish citizen, 6%. And it is not logical

that, in order for Germany to have controlled inflation, the cutbacks in other countries jeopardize the basic social services. Perhaps in re-cent years Europe has abandoned the principles that guided its cohe-sion policy and that greatly ben-efited Spain. An added reason for this is, undoubtedly, the economic crisis which has fueled mistrust between different member states of the European Union. Neverthe-less, it is clear that we should work together and complete the reforms that are necessary and we cannot postpone, because their imple-mentation may have already been delayed too much.

Looking at the future of educa-tion in Spain, precisely a few days ago the Council of Ministers ap-proved the seventh educational law in recent years, the LOMCE. Do you believe that it will affect young people? Will this law re-duce the high rates of youth un-employment in our country?I think if this reform achieves the necessary consensus and it is a lasting reform, it will definitely benefit the youth. But I fear that, once again, when the government changes, they will reform the re-form. In my opinion, the state should jointly deal with such im-portant issues.

“ ” If we really hope that Europe truly becomes a union, we will have to coordinate policies in a better way.


An essential guide to

EU EMPLOYMENTThe ultimate article-guide for youngsters seeking employment.

ISABEL CANTALAPIEDRA

If you are looking for a job in another European country and you would like to live and work abroad in order to improve your job prospects, this guide will definitely help you achieve your goals. It introduces all the important factors you should consider when looking for a job: platforms at a European level, existing scholar-ships and internships, etc., while providing all the essential ingre-dients to master how to write your CV and do an interview. This guide is especially designed to help the enthusiastic and fearless readers to find the job of their dreams (or, at least -given the current unemployment rates- a decent one).

The European Union (EU) supports a wide range of activities aiming to improve education, training and work placements for youngsters. This article will provide you with the essential pro-grammes and projects any jobseeker would find useful. It may not name all the existing programmes, funds or scholarships, but it does say where to find further information and lists the important organisations and national agencies that could be a gateway to tak-ing part in the activities.


YOUR CV IN 5 STEPS 10 TIPS FOR A JOB INTERVIEWDrawing up a Curriculum Vitae (CV) is an important step when looking for any job or training. It is often the first contact with a fu-ture employer, so it needs to seize the reader’s attention immediately and demonstrate why you should be given an interview.

1. KISS: Keep It Short and Simple. Be brief and concise in the information. It is even bet-ter if you write it in just one page and include the information and experience most rel-evant to the employer. Employers generally spend no more than one or two minutes on each CV when making an initial selection, so do not waste your opportunity by failing to make the right impact.

2. The content should be updated and orien-tated to the work offer; highlight everything that is somehow related to the job you are looking for, so that your specific attributes are easily seen. Focus on the essential infor-mation that brings value to your application, experience and training which is old or not relevant at all can be omitted.

3. It should be structured in a logic way and give proper attention to all relevant detail, both of content and presentation wise; there’s no excuse for spelling mistakes. You might want to have someone else read it so that you ensure everything is clear and easy to under-stand.

4. It is not obligatory (unless required by the employer), but if you decide to attach a picture, insert a recent personal photograph and smile.

5. Basic information you should include:-Personal information and contact details.-Academic formation.-Experience.-Languages. -Additional information.

1. Self-evaluation: prior to the interview, pre-pare your strong points and areas you could improve and the arguments to defend them.

2. Information about the company: enter their website, find out the projects they’re working on, the clients they have, etc.

3. Punctuality: it’s utterly important not to be late. You do not have to camp at the door two days before, but try to leave home early in case something unforeseen happens.

4. Documentation: carry a copy of your CV.

5. Handwriting: in the case of having to fill in any form or questionnaire, be sure that your handwriting is legible and does not contain erasures or overwritten words.

6. Honesty: be sincere in your answers, in-terviewers look for trustworthy people. If they ask about a negative experience, tell them what you have learned about it.

7. Direct responses: forget about Yes/No an-swers and explain your points of view with-out talking too much, stick to the topic. Do not mumble and speak clearly.

8. Enthusiasm: you have to show how much you want the job; show your interest for eve-ry aspect. Keep eye contact, smile, and do not forget the interviewer’s name!

9. Good looking: this does not mean that you should get plastic surgery or cosmetic dentistry procedure, just take care of your image and dress accordingly to the job you are applying for.

10. Advice: do not tweet or send WhatsApp messages to anyone during the interview. We know that it is addictive, but it is considered rude. Do not forget to switch your mobile phone off before entering!



The European Skills Passport (hereafter: EuroPass) is an electronic portfolio that gives a clear and comprehensive picture of your skills and qualifications in order to

find a job or training and validate your skills.

EuroPass CV: You can use it to display your skills and qualifications in an effec-tive and clear way. To fill it in, you can either use the online interface available on the EuroPass website and save your CV to the directory of your choice or download the template and save it on your computer, completing the headings and inserting your personal data. You can also attach any existing CV you might have already written.

If you are applying for your first job, or your work experience is still limited, describe your education and training and focus on the work placements during training to

prove evidence of your contact with the labour market.

EuroPass Language Passport: It is a self-assessment tool for language skills and qualifications. It gathers every language an employee can use to a greater or lesser extent, both in general and partially and includes the certificates or relevant diplomas you have obtained. Finally, list any relevant linguistic or cultural experiences (e.g.: school exchanges, traineeships in a German/English/French/etc – speaking country).

EuroPass Mobility: A document to record skills and competences acquired dur-ing a period of time spent in another European country (e.g.: a work or voluntary placement, an academic term as part of an exchange programme, a training, etc.). Two organisations (such as universities or NGOs) are involved in the mobility pro-ject; the first one in the country of origin and the other in the host country. You should ask the organization sending you abroad to contact their National EuroPass Centre to complete the application process and coordinate the process of moving to

another EU country to learn or acquire work experience.

EUROPEAN SKILLS PASSPORT


EURES JOB

The purpose of the European Employment Ser-vice network is to provide information, advice and recruitment service for workers and em-ployers across Europe.

“My first EURES job” is an action initiated by the European Commission to help young Euro-peans (aged 18 to 30) to find a job in other EU countries by bringing together jobseekers that are willing to work abroad and businesses in-terested in hiring employees from outside their country. This job mobility scheme will make it easier for jobseekers and job changers –regard-less of their experience or qualifications– to ac-cess existing vacancies and will give them infor-mation and help to search and apply for a job, as well as financial support for an interview trip or for moving abroad to take the position they have been offered . It also benefits the employer by opening their businesses up to a work force they might not be able to find in the country they are settled in, giving them advice on re-cruitment of workers from abroad, helping them with job placements and even with finan-cial aid to cover the training of those new work-ers, in order to make the transition as smooth as possible.

It is currently one of the key actions to address youth unemployment and boost youth labour mobility of the Europe 2020 flagship initia-tive Youth on the move and the Youth Oppor-tunities Initiative. “Your first EURES job” is a preparatory action implemented on the basis of calls for proposals, which will lay down the resources available for the implementation of projects, later selected by the European Com-mission.

EURES maintains a database of jobs which Member States consider suitable for citizens who are prepared to move country to take ad-vantage of the free movement of workers within the Union.


LIFELONG LEARNING PROGRAMME EUROPEAN VOLUNTARY SERVICE

This programme, launched by the European Commission in 2007, aims to fund a wide range of actions to enable people of all ages to take part in learning experiences, helping to develop the training and education all over Europe. The projects supported are intended not only for students, but also for teachers, trainers and eve-ryone involved in the education sector. Some of the sub-programmes funded are Comenius (for schools), Erasmus (for higher education), Grundtvig (for adult education) and Leonardo da Vinci (for vocational education and train-ing).

We will be focusing on the Leonardo da Vinci programme, which enables organisations to ex-change best practices across Europe, increasing their staff expertise. It also makes vocational education more attractive to young people and boosts competitiveness of the European la-bour market by helping people gain new skills, knowledge and qualifications by taking part in innovation projects and work-related training.Another action included in this programme is the cooperation between organizations from different countries, either in partnerships or working together in multilateral projects. Partnerships should involve the business side, with organizations working in small-scale as-sociations; whereas multilateral projects are larger-scale actions with organizations working together to develop working practices in the vocational education and training sectors.

It is an action included in the Youth in action programme, which offers young Europeans the chance to take action in unpaid and full-time voluntary activities in a foreign country, devel-oping solidarity, respect and tolerance among young people (aged 18-30), and therefore con-tributing to social cohesion in the EU.

Even though this action is not directly related to employment, it is indeed connected in terms of gaining experience, and youngsters will benefit from training and learning outcomes through-out the activity. The participation is free for vol-unteers (except for a possible contribution of a 10% of travel costs) and insurance cover and an allowance is provided during the project.

Volunteers are recruited and prepared by the sending and hosting organizations involved in the project, which also provide accommodation and follow-up for the participant. The coordi-nating organizations are the ones that identify possible volunteering opportunities that cover various areas, such as culture, youth, arts, envi-ronment, development, etc. They then develop projects that benefit the local community, and involve a European and intercultural learning dimension.


COMMITTEE ON

CIVIL LIBERTIES, JUSTICE AND HOME AFFAIRSRegional breakaway demands on the spotlight


EYPE NEWSLETTER | 34LIBE

Recognising NationalismsA quick reflection on cultural identity and its consequent nationalist movements.

MIGUEL VERA

At some points of our lives, we have all felt part of a group: we’ve been proud

of belonging to our family or to the class at our school or college, maybe even to a committee in the European Youth Parliament and, definitely, to our nation. What’s more, we have felt identified in an association of people and that’s part of our nature.

Throughout history we, the human race, have gathered in small groups of people, which have developed their own culture, language and society. All over the world, and more specifically in Europe, na-tions and countries that were once created ceded to an inevitable mul-

ticulturalism, which led to a split of society. These subsequently cultur-al groups, which were created from a separation from the main one, underwent a similar split in their societies; as well did successively every other following society, lead-ing to our current conception of human cultures. Cultural diver-sity and pride for one’s own culture hasn’t obviously stopped in today’s world and, along with other facts, this feeling has given shape to one of the main topics of discussion that we are dealing with: national-isms.

At the Committee on Civil Lib-erties, Justice, and Home Affairs (LIBE), we have written about na-

tionalisms and their importance in our countries, as well as the impact they have in the conception of the European Union. If you keep read-ing our section, you will find some really interesting articles on the history of Catalonia, the relation-ship between entrepreneurs and processes of independence and also an interview to a historian talking about the importance of nationalisms all throughout his-tory. However, our aim is not to focus only on the stereotypes that are in circulation about Flanders, Scotland or Catalonia. Thus, we have also written a refreshing arti-cle on some “minor” nationalisms from the Spanish regions of Valen-cia and Aragón.


Eadem sed aliter: Same things just in another way

DAVID TERUEL

Being one of the three most important nationalisms taking place nowadays in Europe, Catalonia is facing every day the pressure coming from the Spanish government a bit more. Does stating the will for inde-pendence pose a threat to the stability of the region? Does it aggravate the tension between Catalonia and

the rest of Spain?

It was with “Eadem sed aliter” that the philosopher and essay-ist Ortega y Gasset described

that, regardless which situation oc-curred in one country either his-torical or social, it would be easy to find an equivalent among other countries, despite having differ-ent effects in every particular case. From a closer perspective, while staying in the same country, once a territory claims their nationalist ideology, how is the relation be-tween the region and the country? Does it all stay the same? Appar-ently it does or at least it should, as everyone has the right to express their opinion. However, it has all turned out to be more complex with the opposi-tion of some governments like the Spanish by not only banning the Catalan region to secede, but also threatening the wellbeing of Cata-lans in all areas. It is easy to iden-tify an example of the situation: on the 17th May 2013, Spain woke up with the news that the Minister of Education Jose Ignacio Wert was about to approve a law in which 17

Spanish families living in Catalonia who did not want their children to be educated in Catalan, would be allocated in private schools funded by the Catalan Government. What is it that has stimulated the Spanish government to take such measures against the Catalan language? All secessionist movements suf-fer the pressure coming from their countries trying to reduce to its minimum the effectiveness of their political aspirations. Some laws might represent a threat to the na-tionalisms, leading to a situation in which they do not have any sup-port or they have to stay afloat by themselves with not always enough power to do so. In order to resist and increase the effectiveness, the European Free Alliance was cre-ated, a coalition with the aim of gathering nationalist parties with many objectives like widening the autonomy of certain places or even achieving an absolute secession. Nevertheless, the rejection of the separatist movements has an effect across borders. While the Euro-pean Free Alliance tries to concen-

trate more than 40 nationalist par-ties, the President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, declares that no one would obtain anything from separatism in the globalised world that we live in. He also claimed for unity as the key to overcome the numerous problems affecting Europe. All in all and after touching many aspects of nationalism, there is one thing that is made clear: as far as certain territories declare their wish to become independent, the rest of the country to which they belong will probably turn against them. That is because the country’s aim is to remain united and it is legitimate to try to keep the cohe-sion of the country. However, as it has been exposed in this article, sometimes the ways that these gov-ernments use in order to convince a region with a strong nationalist movement are not appropriate, as what they might achieve in the end is a rise of the number of people willing to fight for the creation of their own country.

OPINION


BACK TO OUR ROOTS, bACK TO DEMOCRACY

Joan Olóriz, currently a History professor at the IES Santi-ago de Sobrequés High School, is a graduate in Philosophy and Law and holds a PhD in History. Throughout his whole career he has always been interested in History in its social context, but also the legal framework changes that have led

the streets’ voice to be transformed into law.

JUAN ESTHEIMAN AMAYA

Good morning Mr. Olóriz, let’s start off simple. What is a nation?A nation is the result of different factors that, in whole, make an in-dividual feel part of a community. These factors are language, history, culture and, most importantly, the will of being part of it. I think that nations are built and dismantled, depending on the shared feeling of not being better or worse than our neighbours, but simply different.

The raw concept of nation is something that leads us back to the beginnings of mankind living in society. But to begin talking about a proper concept of nation, how did we make a shift from feu-dalism to the modern European States?Throughout history when men and

women want to create communi-ties, we feel the need to have a legal and political framework that guar-antees our coexistence. We can af-firm that the first community start-ed out with the concept of “city”. Cities are the first nucleus which translates into a community, shares common interests and ensures key aspects such as security and free-dom. For this reason, the first cit-ies that appear are city-states. As history goes on, ideologies and religion are the two main respon-sible factors that expand these cities’ frontiers; leading us to the first appearance of empires. Later on, these empires end up creat-ing common elements that are expressed through the law. And it is from the law that we obtain the concept of citizenship. In the Mid-

dle Ages, we find a huge clash of different civilizations. In this huge variety is where we actually begin to see the first nations.

Of all the key agents regarding nationalism, probably one of the most important is the economic aspect. What role does money play in either wanting to be part of a country or seceding? I think that, historically, money hasn’t been the most influential aspect. There have been nations that have fought to exist and along the way they have lost more than what they’ve gained. We have the examples of Ireland or Poland, two countries that went through a lot of hardships in order to obtain their independence. In these two cases their will for independence didn’t

INTERVIEW


come from economic reasons, as it would have been much more bene-ficial for them to stay with England or Germany. The reasons behind their will came from ideological and cultural differences. Despite examples as the previous ones, it’s undeniable that in the establish-ment of nations it’s completely necessary to have some kind of economic independence. It would be ridiculous to create a country that depends on others. Besides, we have the concept of “captive na-tions”, in which a specific region is retained from its right to choose because of the economic profit that the rest of the country obtains from it.

As we move further on history, we get to the industrial revolution. Nationalisms: bourgeois or pro-letarian movements? Nationalism always goes both ways. One and another always coexist, they’re complementary. Despite that, it’s true that when it comes to governing, the situation does change. The upper classes under-stand the importance of frontiers and market unity for their own in-terests. Therefore, we find that in most cases it’s them who take the initiative when it comes to starting a movement, but its success or not actually depends on what the ma-jority wants. It depends on whether everyone does feel part of the same trend, the same feeling.

After the Industrial Revolution, we begin to see Europe’s nations actually becoming unified mod-ern states. This eventually takes us to the 20th century…What we can learn from the events occurred in the 20th century, es-pecially World War I, is that states can’t be prisons to nations. After

WWI, we saw that people react when their will and identity isn’t respected. For this reason, for the first time, after the Great War the concept of self-determination is applied to nations. Having this con-cept as a starting point, the former USA president, Woodrow Wilson, proposed to rebuild Europe’s cul-tural mosaic based on what people demanded. This process led to the birth of new European States such as Poland or Czechoslovakia.After World War II, the appear-ance of totalitarianism in Euro-pean states took place, which not only deprived individuals from their own personal freedom, but also exacerbated their own nations to the point in which we ended up having dominating and dominated nations. Further on, this also rein-forced the United Nations to con-sider self-determination as an es-sential part for maintaining peace. There are no safe borders if these borders are not the result of a free self-determination from the citi-zens.

This all leads us to May 2013. How do nationalism, globalisa-tion and the crisis coexist togeth-er in today’s world?Democracy brings along some-thing very important called respect. For this reason it’s totally necessary to regard democratic participa-tion as something essential. As it isn’t only the system’s framework, but it also calls for people to have enough criteria in order to think and decide for themselves. This is where education plays a key role.If we move onto globalisation, there’s something that I’m very much concerned about and it’s that democracy hasn’t still been globalised. Money has been glo-balised. Capitalism has been glo-

balised. But democracy hasn’t. Money tends to go in the search for more money and even though this isn’t wrong, ethics can some-times be a mere obstruction to this goal. It’s very important to have initiative when it comes to earn-ing money, but the means to do it should always be limited by com-mon welfare. 20 or 30 years ago, the states were the ones responsi-ble for setting these boundaries in-side democracy. Today, no one has control over these limits (this is an-other big cause of our current cri-sis). Even though this might sound paradoxical, if we want to solve our current problems and disputes, we need more Europe, more nations and less “states” as we currently understand them. Let’s not forget that when building today’s Europe, it was agreed that if we want to achieve the expression of popular will through states, subsidiarity is a must.

Final one. If we apply the concept of Big Bang to nationalism, where are we? Expansion? Contraction?Today, nationalism is seen by many as the path, the objective of pre-serving democracy. It’s not about nationalism being just a trend, it is a need. In this complex crisis that we are going through, people feel the need to feel represented. And the thing is that we won’t feel rep-resented until we are able to reflect who we are and what we feel upon our system.

“ ” Today, nationalism is seen by many as the path, the objective of preserving democracy.


Do Independence and Trade get along well?

What consequences will appear for economy if any European nationalist region finally achieves independ-ence? Will everything remain as economically sustainable as it has been?

MIGUEL VERA

As most of you might know, most of the times one of the main causes for a na-

tionalist movement to arise is relat-ed to the fiscal and economic areas. Those who live in a “willing-to-be-a-country” region (or have ever been to any) and found themselves involved in a conversation about politics with anyone, have probably been in a situation in which some-one says “It’s not fair, we pay more taxes” or “We are the ones holding this country while the others just don’t really care”. These statements are true in most cases, but they usually overshadow other eco-nomic subjects and facts that are really important to consider when talking about nationalisms, one of which entitles this article: do inde-pendence and trade get along well?

This is a question that most of us, from ordinary people to the most qualified and renowned politicians should be able to answer before we decide if we are in favour or against

the independence of a concrete re-gion. At the end of the day, trade is one of the most important areas that a young country should con-sider if it wants to be strong and self-sufficient.

I’m certain that we would all like to take part in a discussion on in-dependence and be able to give valuable points, so let’s try to do a simple analysis of the situation and look for an answer: First of all, it is obvious that, if you want to take a step forward on the path to independence, some doors will open while other will be inevitably closed.

One of the latter is the option that allows entrepreneurs to trade with companies that belong to same country. This is because the fiscal terms and monetary conditions that provide some trade facilities among enterprises from one same country obviously change when a part of the country becomes in-

dependent from the rest, making it really difficult for the entrepre-neurs from the recently independ-ent region to keep the same rela-tions with their clients. But also, some entrepreneurs may be will-ing to stop the trade between the recently independent country and the state in which it was included. Unfortunately, this is a major prob-lem to take into consideration, since most statistics from the Eu-ropean Commission’s “Eurostat” show the majority of regions with a relevant nationalist movement to have between a thirty and fifty per cent of trade deals in a close rela-tion with the country which the region wants to be independent. At the end of the day, they are still in the same state.

Another big difficulty is related to the entrepreneur’s access to inter-national trade. As it is widely ac-knowledged, the business world is based upon competitiveness. Therefore, any weakness in a com-


pany will be taken advantage of by competitors. One of these weak-nesses can unfortunately be the fact that your business is located in a country which recently achieved independence, since both compe-tence and clientele might consider that your business belongs to a re-gion with an uncertain future and stability, so it is difficult to trust in its viability. Fortunately, not eve-rything seems to result in a terri-ble horizon for economy and the aforementioned difficulties just appear at the very beginning of the existence of an independent coun-try. Therefore, it is common that they disappear once the political situation has stabilized.

Moreover, we all know that in to-day’s world, it is absolutely capital to make the most economic benefit

possible. This means that if you’ve got the possibility, you must make a profit. Therefore, entrepreneurs who are really good at what they do and show to have built a sta-ble company shouldn’t have prob-lems with independence processes. Luckily, there is a group of entre-preneurs all over Europe who are aware of it and the most agile and clever of them are actually capable to make profit out of nationalisms. How do they do it?

Since nationalisms are not only about economic and fiscal claims, but also include a wide area of cultural concepts in their origins, the most efficient entrepreneurs could earn an important amount of money if they use they make a correct use of the sentimental issue of independence in their products.

A good example would be the fact that it’s not rare to see people in Catalonia wearing a shoe with the Catalan estelada on it, a product from the Vamcat business which uses an identifying icon such a flag as a way of making profit.

Searching for an answer to the question in the tile, after we have gone through some basic analysis, we could now reach a conclusion. Generally speaking, nationalisms do have an impact which can be negative for some enterprises, but can also give entrepreneurs a whole new range of options to de-velop their businesses. However, in the end, most of the reasons for the survival of businesses remain on how active and clever the entrepre-neur is.


The FORGOTTEN NATIONALISMSCatalonia, Scotland and Flanders are only a few examples of regions where nationalisms have undergone an exponential growth over the last decade. However, these are only the tip of the iceberg. An Aragonese

and a Valencian give a first-hand approach to the nationalist movements in their communities.

LEYRE FERRANDO and NACHO SÁNCHEZ

most of them deceived by the lack of dynamism of the main parties (PPCV – PSPV).

Nevertheless, Valencia is the land of contrasts. If nationalism grows, so does the patriotic feeling, in a never-ending spiral which has led to multiple brushes, the last one being about the official name of the region. In an attempt to defend the Valencian Community from “the catalanist interference”, as a reso-lution approved by the autonomic government stated, the term País Valencià, commonly used by not only the nationalists but the left-wing parties, has been banned

from official resolutions. Paradoxi-cally, TV3, a Catalan television channel, will restart its emissions in our region soon, after a contro-versial two years stoppage imposed during the Camps’ second term. In the end, it’s six of one and half a dozen of the other.

It seems that the Valencian nation-alist movements are still to be de-veloped. After all, how can a region whose anthem starts with “Per a ofrenar noves glòries a Espanya” (“To offer new glories to Spain” in Valencian) claim for more self-governance?

When one describes Va-lencia, it is highly prob-able that they mention

Fallas, paella, good weather and, unfortunately true these days, cor-ruption. One would say that na-tionalisms do not play an active role in the political life of the Va-lencian Community -or directly, that they do not even exist here. Nothing could be further from the truth. With a regionalist deputy in the Spanish Parliament for the first time and a 7% of the votes in the last autonomic elections, Coalició Compromís has turned out as a strong political party, supported by a growing sector of the Valencians,

Coalició Compromís has turned out as a strong political party, supported by a growing sector of the Valencians.


Regarding Aragon, its current situation is very similar to the one already described.

Aragon is a region which does not receive as much economic support as other Spanish areas, and whose pro-independence movements are almost forgotten. Despite being only about 5% of the local popu-lation, Aragonese separatists de-mand their own country in order to defend their cultural and historical tradition from disappearing, espe-cially in areas where they would speak fabla (their local dialect). In addition, they also claim that there would be economic benefits in case the independence of Aragon suc-ceeded, which derivates from the expensive taxes they have to face

nowadays for being part of Spain.Talking in general terms, its popu-lation feels quite ignored by the high politicians. An example is the unfortunate fact that one of its provinces has recently been forced to use the slogan “Teruel existe”’ (“Teruel exists”) to avoid being for-gotten by both politicians and the rest of Spain. What they wanted to denounce with this act, among many other things, was that Ter-uel was the only province in Spain without a single motorway kilome-tre until 1999.

Moreover, Aragonese people do not want to be remembered for shameful news, but for their cul-ture, ancient traditions and, obvi-

ously, for their language. This is why the regional government has been focusing on the recent law of language, which will maintain the teaching of Aragonese. Neverthe-less, all it’s been achieved so far is being ridiculed by other commu-nities, mainly due to the fact that there is not a voice in the Spanish Parliament to defend Aragon’s in-terests. José Antonio Labordeta, a politician from the regionalist par-ty Chunta Aragonesista and a rec-ognisable icon for all the Aragon-ese, was the last one who achieved this task. After his death, Aragon-ese people hope that soon some-body will make their claims be taken seriously again in the Span-ish Government.

José Antonio Labordeta, a politician from the regionalist party Chunta Aragonesista, standing in front of El Pilar in Zaragoza.


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CULTURE AND EDUCATION


Integration of Muslims into European society on the spotlight

EYPE NEWSLETTER | 44CULT

Europe and the IslamWhenever talking about Muslim integration in the 21st Century, a fruitful discussion arises on the table. The main reason may be that our continent has changed because of the immigrants and not everyone sees

this in a very positive light.

TERESA PUIG

Millions of Muslims, most of them from North Af-rica and the Balkans,

have immigrated to Europe during the last decades, seeking for a job and a better life. Many European countries welcomed these work-ers with open arms since low-cost labour was needed. They often be-gan as guest workers, becoming then permanent residents. Nowa-days, it is an undeniable fact that Europe’s second largest religion is the Islam and that Muslims are the fastest growing population. As a response, a lot of Member States have at least three or four large or-ganisations that represent the Is-lamic faith, dealing with religious issues in politics such as education,

holidays or headscarf bans. Where does the Islamophobia come from? Is it because of the ter-

rorist attacks committed by those who proclaim violence and terror in the name of Islam? Is it due to the high criminality that is associ-ated to Muslims? Or is it the fear we could one day be ‘conquered’ by them if they continue having such a high birth-rate? Probably it is a mix of different factors, but it is alarming that many Member States recognise that integration of Muslims has failed and that even though the majority of the Euro-pean citizens consider most reli-gions as a synonym of enrichment, the Islam is seen as a threat. There have been many scandals recently, such as the Mohammed cartoons in Denmark, the con-tinuous controversies in France around the issue of the headscarf or the more than one million sold books of the German author Thilo Sarrazin, stating that Muslim im-migrants are socially, culturally

and intellectually inferior. At the same time, right wing anti-Islam parties have been rapidly rising in many European countries. Concretely in Spain, the Islam is a hot topic too. In October 2012, the City Council of Lleida approved an order to ban the burka in public buildings and on the 16th of May 2013, the Spanish National Intel-ligence Center (CNI) ordered the expulsion of Moroccan and Mus-lim leader Noureddin Ziani, who presided the Union of Islamic Cul-tural Centers in Catalonia (UC-CIC), considering him a threat on national security, promoting Salafism . Perhaps, in this context, a good question to ask ourselves would be: are we heading towards an open-minded Europe, which goal is to be united in diversity, or towards a place where Islam and cultural tol-erance simply doesn’t fit in?


DIVERSITY MAKES US RICHMarta Laguna is a teacher at the school Montserrat of Barcelona. She has been

a volunteer in the Amazon rainfor-est (Peru) teaching other teachers in a mission of the Catalan NGO Punt de

Referència. Through this organisation, she was helping out an Ecuadorian girl

in her daily life in Barcelona and she also hosted a Syrian teenager for a year.

MARTA DE BENITO

How would you describe the terms ‘phobia’ and ‘racism’?Phobia is fear, rejection and igno-rance; racism is when you don’t agree with the other cultures and ideologies just because they are different from yours.

Do you think that we, as a society, establish the same definitions for these terms?I don’t think so. Some people say: ‘I am not racist’, but when the times comes for their children to marry a person from another colour, re-ligion or culture, they don’t accept it so easily.

How have these feelings against other cultures and religions evolved?Racism and xenophobia have evolved depending on the country and economic situation. For exam-ple, when it was time of prosperity, people accepted that others, even if they were Muslims, would come to their houses to do the heavy work, whereas in times of crisis the soci-ety sees them as ‘immigrants’.

What is the best way to educate in integration?

The best way is dialogue and co-existence with people from other places, ideologies and cultures.

Do you agree to let European Un-ion (EU) Member States apply laws, such as France, forbidding headscarves?I think it is unfair to force a girl to take off a headscarf if her religion, which is something in what she believes in and agrees with, says it, but that is something so different from our customs that it is difficult to accept it.

In one word, how would you describe the European citizens when integrating other people cultures?We need to improve.

What story, feeling or person has surprised you the most in your teaching experience with immi-

grants?Djibi. He is a Syrian boy who lived with us and we were helping him during a year to become a more independent individual. During that year, he got to know a girl from here who became his girl-friend and they had a lot of issues understanding each other’s differ-ent cultures. She was often afraid that, for example, he would tem-porary return to his country and get to know or get married to other women because of the polygamy.

What message would you give to someone reading this interview?The place we were born in is not an award, it is luck. It is not easy to leave your place or even family to find a job, food and money. Im-migrants have to be proud of their origins and the welcoming coun-try citizens, in general, need to be empathetic and flexible.

INTERVIEW

EYPE NEWSLETTER | 46CULT

Brick by brick in the road to coexistenceWhilst racism in the European Union (EU) has a big impact on society, many Muslims are looking forward

to a better integration. Difference and diversity are specially reflected in education.

LAURA GUTIÉRREZ and MARTA ROSIQUE

Teachers: one of the most important pieces in the puzzle.


Education is a key sphere in which integration is essen-tial. Good atmospheres are

needed in order to work efficiently and, to ensure this, respect needs to be considered as the most cru-cial value. However, a great part of the Muslim community is feeling left out because of the treatment they receive. How and why should they be integrated? This is exactly what is being debated today.

In order to approach the origins of this racism against Muslims, a look back in the history is needed. After the Second World War, racial dis-crimination legislation was seen as unnecessary due to a strong pop-ular racism. By the 1970s, the in-crease in the arrival of immigrants caused an enormous change in the policy rhetoric. It was in this con-text that people started to realise that it was necessary to collaborate in the coexistence with minorities and their integration into society. These changes in popular aware-ness eventually led authorities to set new proposals in order to pro-mote multicultural and antiracist education. Despite these new ini-tiatives, their implementation was irregular in the schools. Being the situation already a complex one, the raise of terrorist attacks car-ried out by extremist Islamists be-tween the 1990s and 2000 created a divergence of opinions towards Muslims: integration or marginali-sation?

The so-called “islamophobia” is present in many spheres. The recent terrorist attacks and the increasing

delinquency carried out by Mus-lims have not only created fear, but have also established stereotypes regarding this community. Rac-ism is passed down from genera-tion to generation and, because of this, children have prejudices since early ages. This obstacle is one of the most important problems that Muslims have to face when trying to integrate into educational en-vironments. Furthermore, many centres deny having problems with racism although there are studies which show that the education sys-tem still regards the Muslims in a negative way.

It is made clear that many chang-es must be undergone. A starting point in the search for a solution could come from the teachers, who play an important role in students’ development. Many people deter-mine that these educators need to be trained on the importance of cultural diversity. The aim of such training is to increase their sensi-tivity towards Islam and its culture. In addition, it is also encouraged that teachers discuss any integra-tion problem with their pupils in a mutually enriching way.

Moreover, we need to take into ac-count the lack of Muslim schools around Europe. If we look care-fully, we’ll see a huge difference between the number of Catholic and Muslim educational centres. However, some people consider that segregating pupils threatens the coexistence of different cul-tures inside society and might lead to disrespectful attitudes. What’s

more, some of the people who de-fend this idea show clear prefer-ences to Christian faith schools. Despite the increasing prejudices towards Muslim culture, there are some countries like Spain which promote the integration of the Is-lamic religion by teaching it as a subject.

Although the Muslim students’ in-tegration has increased during the last decades with the creation of some services focused on the im-provement of their adaptation in the academic field, the economic crisis has caused this process to take a step back, as the cuts that are being done in education have had counterproductive consequences. As mentioned before, education is the key for real changes in the fu-ture and integration is a hard but possible goal.

Quoting Will Smith, “you don’t set out to build a wall. You don’t say ‘I’m going to build the biggest, bad-dest, greatest wall that’s ever been built.’ You don’t start there. You say, ‘I’m going to lay this brick as perfectly as a brick can be laid’. You do that every single day. And soon you have a wall.”

“ ” I’m going to lay this brick as perfectly as a brick can be laid. You do that every single day. And soon you have a wall.


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CONSTITUTIONALAFFAIRS


COMMITTEE ON

CONSTITUTIONALAFFAIRS

European elections on the spotlight

EYPE NEWSLETTER | 50AFCO

SPENDING DEFICIT?PATRICK KOEPSEL

An introduction to the concept of democratic deficit in the European Union’s (EU) decision-making.

On April 30th 1952, Euro-pean Union’s founding fa-ther Jean Monnet said that

“Europe’s nations should be guided towards the superstate without their people understanding what is happening. This can be accom-plished by successive steps, each disguised as having an economic purpose but which will irreversibly lead to federation”. Some decades later, much controversy has arisen regarding the legitimacy of the election of Herman Van Rompuy as the President of the European Council in an informal meeting in Brussels on November 19th 2009, as well as José Manuel Barroso’s legitimacy as the president of the European Commission. The Euro-

pean Commission is today the only body holding direct power to initi-ate formal legislative procedures in the EU and, therefore, a key part of the whole democratic system of the EU. Furthermore, scepticism concerning democratic represen-tation within the different bodies integrating the EU has arisen since the European Parliament voted in favour of the Lisbon Treaty, re-gardless of the refusal of the Irish vote in a first referendum in 2008. Currently, there is no homogene-ous voting system for the election of Members of the European Par-liament; each Member State has its own system which according to the European Parliament’s website, it is subject to three restrictions: the

system must be a form of propor-tional representation, under either the party list or the single transfer-able vote system; the electoral area may be subdivided if this will not generally affect the proportional nature of the voting system; and any election threshold at the na-tional level must not exceed five percent.As these guidelines spark a demo-cratic deficit in the European deci-sion-making and in light of steadily decreasing turnout at the European Parliament elections, how can the EU reform its electoral system to meet citizens’ demands for a more European, accessible and modern way of electing the Members of the European Parliament?

Illustration from the print edition of The Economist May 26th 2012, picture by Paul Blow.


THE SHAPING OF A NEW ELECTORAL SYSTEMThe widespread distrust of politicians is becoming a distrust of politics as a whole. With the discourag-ing figure of electoral turnout for parliament elections being 43% across Europe, Dr. Josep María Jordan Galduf, Full Professor of Applied Economics at the University of Valencia, PhD in Economics and Master

in European Studies, unveils the possible solutions to the low political participation.

Across Europe, the citizenship demands for a more modern and democratic way of electing their Parliament representatives. Who should be addressed for solu-tions? The European Parliament itself should be the first to respond to these demands. I believe it is on the right track, led by its President, Martin Schulz, a pro-European and charismatic person, a true demo-crat. We, citizens, are also partially responsible for this obsolete elect-ing system, since we are not vin-dicating the urge to change it loud enough. The European Parliament is our elected voice in Europe so we have to try to canalize our frustra-tion by praising or chastising poli-ticians through voting.

What role should the media play in order to spread Europeanism

CRISTINA CRESPO

amongst citizens and, in turn, encourage the aforementioned vindications?There should be more involve-ment of the media to encourage political discussions at suprana-tional level and to highlight how much Europe has given us in the last decades. It is astonishing how forgetful we have become! An example is the little coverage that the last Europe Day, on 9th of May, got in Spanish media.

Having outlined the key players of the issue, what are the electing system’s intrinsic flaws?There is a democratic deficit in the system. Fortunately, a proposal for a more egalitarian scrutiny has en-tered the political arena: political parties have been asked to present their candidates for the post of commission president before the 2014 elections. This way, voters will know who is running for the post and who their leader will be.

Would this be a step towards open lists, an initiative that the public opinion claims for?Of course. This initiative could de-velop towards an open list system, which would be ideal. Moreover, if the circumscription moved from being national to international, an interest on other political parties abroad would be promoted.

What role should technology withhold in the electoral system?To begin with, regional politicians that run for parliament representa-tives should become more visible, taking advantage of the technology available. We should also consider the implementation of smart-vot-ing systems, electronic voting in essence.

The countdown for the 2014 Euro-pean elections has started. What short-term measures should be taken to encourage participation?We need pedagogy. A political campaign to sensitize the general public of the importance of the upcoming elections should start. We need focused political parties, pro-European media and reformist citizens.

If the electoral system is not re-formed and we do not encour-age sufficient participation, what would be the worst-case scenario for the upcoming elections?There could be a general shift to-wards nationalistic parties, whose members of parliament will not even support the idea of a united Europe. We all know we are facing the big threat of absenteeism. Yet, there is something even worse: an-ti-Europeanism.

INTERVIEW


ELECTIONS FOR THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

CLARA BAGÜÉS and CARLES RAICH

With the current lack of par-ticipation and increasing loss of interest in the European Parliament elections, expected and confirmed lower turn-outs are severely striking Eu-ropean political parties (also called Europarties) and augur-ing poor participation results for the upcoming elections in

2014.Undivided attention is being focused on the issue in order to tackle it. Hence an electoral system reformation is con-sidered to be essential when aiming for an improvement in what commonly stands as the main problematic factor: the EU citizens’ behaviour towards the elections. It seems legiti-mate to believe that, especially given the last voting participa-tion figures. Therefore, getting to know the elections would probably be an outstanding first step to improve the situa-tion. According to this need to raise awareness among EU citi-zens, here there is some basic

information to begin with.

REPORT

The electoral system of each Member State is defined by each national government. Different electoral systems in the European Union are not homogeneous. All countries follow a proportional system-including the UK and France, which have national-majority system, but there are signifi-cant local differences. In Spain, the proportional voting system works according to the d’Hondt system and a single constitu-ency for the entire country. However, the Nice Treaty of 2003 (art. 190.4) indicates the purpose of standardizing the voting system for European elections across the EU. The first elections for the European Parliament took place in 1979, and noticing that they are cel-ebrated every five years, we are now in the last year of the 7th legislature. In the elections cel-ebrated until now, the low rate of participation that decreases more and more every year is

remarkable:

1979 63%1984 61%

1989 58.5%1994 56.8%1999 49.8%

2004 45.94%2009 46%

On the other hand, the com-position of the Parliament and the number of representatives for each Europarty has been more or less constant. Its com-position after the elections of 2009 can be seen in the follow-

ing graphic:

INTRODUCTION HISTORY and DEVELOPMENT


VOTING PROCEDURE

Every five years, EU citizens have the chance to vote for their representatives in the Eu-ropean Parliament, being 2014 the year in which the next elec-tions take place. It is up to each Member State to choose a cer-tain number of Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) and decide which system to use when electing them. The dis-tribution of seats, however, is stipulated in the Treaties of the EU, according to the principle of degressive proportionality by which the size of the popu-

lation is taken into account.However, the freely chosen system to vote is subject to some restrictions. Above all, it must be a form of proportional representation. Thus, it must allow both major and minor political parties to obtain their corresponding representation.It is the national parties that participate in the four-day long elections. However, once the MEPs are elected, most of them opt to become part of a transnational political party since the majority of national parties are related to a certain political group. This is, thus far, the current configuration of the elections that, without the unanimous consent of all governments, cannot change.

European political parties (Eu-roparties) are political parties that work at a European level. They have to be founded by the EU and are usually formed by national parties, not individu-als. They are funded as asso-ciations and, as a consequence, they must follow certain re-quirements, some of which are quite specific as they serve a public use. Some of these re-quirements are the following: having legal personality, ob-serving the founding principles of the EU, intern democracy, publicity of their revenues and expenditures, among others. It is also necessary to make refer-ence to the legal regulation re-lated to the donations they can receive. Right now there are 12 recognised Europarties, 7 of them were created in 2004 and the most recent were funded in

2012.

DID YOU KNOW THAT...?

If you are a citizen of Cy-prus, Greece, Luxemburg or Belgium, there is no way you can exercise your right to ap-athy by no voting in the euro-election. These are the four EU member states where vot-

ing is compulsory.

A 60 per cent of the Eu-ropean Parliament staff are women. Although when it comes to MEPs, only a 31 per

cent are women.

Given MEPs’ increasing legislative power, about 4000 lobbyists in round figures, representing almost 1700 organisations, are registered with access to the European Parliament due to the out-weighing chance this increase of power implies.

EUROPARTIES

•

•

•

European Union: http://europa.eu/

European Parliament: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/

Degressive proportionality: http://eurographic.wordpress.com/2010/10/18/what-de-gressive-proportionality-looks-like/

FURTHER DETAILS


Escaping a straitjacket

NACHO ARRÓNIZ

An insight into the deficit of democratic legitimacy in European Institutions and its effect in the lack of trust and involvement of European citizens.

If we do no more than create common administrations (…) then the risk is that European

institutions will seem bereft of warmth or higher ideals, when set aside the vitalities of nation states. They might even come to be per-ceived as an oppressive and need-less straitjacket, like their precur-sors in the Holy Roman Empire during its decline.” Such words

expressed by Alcide de Gasperi, a prominent founding father of the European Union (EU), expressed the 12th of January 1951 the truth of an issue still urgent today. If the European Institutions are relegated to become just empty administra-tions, if they do not face the chal-lenge of expressing the preferences of European citizens and gaining their trust, they risk becoming “an

oppressive and needless straitjack-et”. The decreasing turnout in the elections for the European Parlia-ment are only but a symptom that many Europeans already see the EU as a non-legitimate body, too far away from its ideal of being the stronghold of democracy and lib-erty in the world. Facing this deficit of trust and involvement is a mat-ter that should be placed on top

OPINION


of the political agenda. If it is not urgently solved, the institutions will lack the sufficient legitimacy to govern and legislate, increasing their ineptitude to offer a plausi-ble solution to the European Crisis and to be considered a project with a future.In order to tackle this issue, the Committee on Legal Affairs of the International Session of the Euro-pean Youth Parliament that took place in Munich 2013 proposed a very ambitious solution. It was ar-gued that the low turnout and in-volvement of European citizens in the EU’s democratic system was due to its low democratic profile. In other words, citizens were not feel-ing involved because it was gener-

ally thought that the Institutions were not democratically legiti-mate. Citizens think and feel that their vote is useless in an EU that is seen to govern for others’ prefer-ences rather than for their citizens’. Therefore, in order to face this fact and work for the creation of a Eu-rope of its citizens, the democratic system must be renewed, updated and awarded with “warmth and higher ideals”. The ideal held by many of those who are willing to fight for a “more democratic democracy” is usu-ally the utopia of direct democracy. But, however ideal direct democ-racy might seem, society is not ready yet to assimilate such system. Therefore, it was agreed that the

best solution should move around participative democracy, by cre-ating effective tools for citizens’ involvement. These include em-powered European Citizens’ Ini-tiative (ECIs) with the right to pro-pose constitutional amendments and Citizens’ Assemblies with the power to initiate ECIs, held in each neighborhood to bring people to-gether in order to debate and create political awareness. Furthermore, the European Parliament, today the only democratically chosen Insti-tution in the EU, should be granted full power to initiate the legislative power, which is now only held by the Commission. Its voice should be heard on top of any other in Eu-rope and the choice of its members should follow strict democratic procedures that are common in all Member States. They should have the autonomy to legislate and the responsibility of listening to the people by debating and voting in the plenary every single ECI with sufficient support. In conclusion, if we want the EU to be seen again as the stronghold of democracy, if we want it to be governed not only by the people but also to govern for the people, changes must be done. The demo-cratic system of the EU is insuffi-ciently legitimate, inefficient, inef-fective, slow and unrealistic. We, the citizens, must work to change this situation and give the institu-tions the “warmth and higher ide-als” they should hold. We must work together towards a more di-rect or participative democracy. And unless this is done, the Insti-tutions will remain seen as they are: “an oppressive and needless straitjacket” risking to be turned into pieces.


ALBERT ANTOLÍN, SANDRA CASTAÑER and ORIOL COMAS

You might have heard of it or been invited to engage in any of its social networks;

perhaps you are already following its progress closely or even wishing for next summer to come faster. In any event, it is now time for formal introductions, and it is for us an honour to present the apple of our eye to you. Please meet Barcelona 2014, the 76th International Ses-sion of the European Youth Parlia-ment.

Barcelona 2014, the 76th Inter-national Session of the European Youth Parliament (EYP), will take place from July 25th to August 3rd in the summer of 2014. During the

first three days of the Session, the participants of Barcelona 2014 will be staying at a rural accommoda-tion in Cardona, a beautiful me-dieval town located at the heart of Catalonia. Once the Teambuilding is completed, we will move to Bar-celona where the participants will have the opportunity to live and see the spirit and tradition of this Mediterranean city up close.

Barcelona 2014 was born last sum-mer, out of lots of hard work and tons of enthusiasm, in the form of a bid to host an International Session of the EYP. After the good news were delivered in early autumn, we immediately got down to business

and the Core Team of Barcelona 2014 – which is now composed of 10 highly motivated eypers – start-ed taking shape.

We now feel that it is time to in-volve more passionate members to the Organising Team of Barcelona 2014, so grab a pen and paper and take note: during this upcoming month of July, we will be launching the call for national organisers for Barcelona 2014. Do not miss it!

For more information and updates about Barcelona 2014, we encour-age you to check this section regu-larly, and to follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.


Aerial image of L’Eixample, urban plan designed by Ildefons Cerdà in the 19th century which served as inspiration for the session’s logo.


CRISTINA CRESPO

Documents

EYPE Newsletter - 1st edition