Preparation Kit

Growing Together: Thinking Beyond Borders

8th National Selection Conference

European Youth Parliament, Albania

3-8 April 2015

Academic Preparation Kit

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

COMMITTEE TOPICS 2-‐4

WORDS OF WELCOME FROM THE SESSION PRESIDENT 4

POSITION PAPERS 5

TOPIC OVERVIEWS

AFET – COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS 6-‐10

DROI – COMMITTEE ON HUMAN RIGHTS 11-‐15

ECON – COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC AND MONETARY AFFAIRS 16-‐20

EMPL – COMMITTEE ON EMPLOYMENT AND SOCIAL AFFAIRS 21-‐24

LIBE – COMMITTEE ON CIVIL LIBERTIES, JUSTICE AND HOME AFFAIRS 25-‐28

ITRE I – COMMITTEE ON INDUSTRY, TECHNOLOGY, RESEARCH AND ENERGY I 29-‐34

REGI – COMMITTEE ON REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT 35-‐39

ITRE II – COMMITTEE ON INDUSTRY, TECHNOLOGY, RESEARCH AND ENERGY II 40-‐43

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Committee Topics

• AFET (Committee on Foreign Affairs)

“There will be no further enlargement of the European Union in the next five years.” – Jean-Claude Juncker. How can the European Union take this time to guide candidate and potential candidate states through a process of sharing best experiences in state building, human rights, anti-corruption and democratisation?

Chaired by: Kostina Prifti (AL)

• DROI - (Committee on Human Rights)

As a result of rising numbers of migrants coming from Syria, Libya, Tunisia and the Western Balkans, reports suggest human rights violations of asylum seekers in some EU Member States. How can the EU ensure the implementation of the Common European Asylum System and prevent the violation of asylum seekers’ human rights?

Chaired by: Marta Ocon (ES) and Erblin Hoxha (KS)

• ECON (Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs)

How can the EU promote economic development and prosperity more efficiently in the Eastern Partnership countries and in candidate and potential candidate states?

Chaired by: Marianna Georgiadi (GR) and Holger Qinami (AL)

• EMPL – (Committee on Employment and Social Affairs)

With alarmingly high rates of youth unemployment at 21%, how can European Union Institutions and EU Member States join efforts in combating youth unemployment and increasing labour mobility in Europe?

Chaired by: Despina Dimitrakopoulou (GR)

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• LIBE – Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs

Integration through participation? How can the European Union ensure that non-EU migrants integrate in EU Member States and have the opportunity to fully participate in the economic, political and social life of their host communities? How can Member States, the Committee of the Regions and the European Commission collaborate on this issue?

Chaired by: Konstantinos Andronikidis (GR) and Jon Vrushi (AL)

• ITRE I (Committee on Industry, Technology, Research and Energy I)

Towards an Energy Union? The worsening of EU-Russia relations has underlined the importance of a more integrated energy policy in the European Union. How should the Member States respond to calls from the European Commission to work towards an Energy Union? What role should EU candidate and potential candidate states play in this process?

Chaired by Milana Yandieva (RU/CZ)

• REGI – Committee on Regional Development

How can the Union for the Mediterranean and the Committee of the Regions of the EU promote decentralisation and good governance in the Balkans through the principles set in the Charter for Multi-level Governance?

Chaired by: Paraskevi Fanara (GR)

• ITRE II - (Committee on Industry, Technology, Research and Energy)

The European Commission has awarded EUR 80 billion to the Horizon 2020 research programme. How can the EU use these funds to harmonise the standard of scientific research across the Member States as well as in countries associated to Horizon 2020, whilst becoming a global leader in research and innovation?

Chaired by: Ardi Shatri (KS)

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Words of Welcome from the Session President

Dear delegates,

It is with immense pleasure that I welcome you all to the 8th National Selection Conference of EYP Albania. I want to congratulate you all for being selected to attend what promises to be a fantastic event.

Throughout the session, we will all be guided by our theme, Growing Together: Thinking Beyond Borders. All the topics that we will discuss have been written with that theme in mind. At this session we will attempt to conceptualise challenges and solutions beyond the narrow and outdated borders of the nation state. We will see states and their super-structures, like the European Union, as entities bound with one-another in symbiotic relationships.

This preparation booklet contains basic introductions to all of the topics that we will discuss at Korça. They have been carefully written by your chairpersons and we like to think that they are very accessible. The topic overviews provide a very good starting point but they are by no mean an exhaustive list of things that you need to know before coming to the session.

There is an innate pleasure in discovering things, as the late physicist Richard Feynaman put it. I would therefore urge you to embrace and experience the pleasure of discovering more about your topics.

More than just finding solutions, what matters is the journey towards that discovery. In EYP, that journey is filled with passionate discussions, exchange of ideas and at times even heated arguments. One thing I can promise: that the journey will be much more pleasurable if you come equipped with the relevant knowledge.

On that note, I wish you all happy preparation and the very best of luck.

Jon Vrushi,

President of Korça NSC 2015

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Position Papers

At the National Selection Conference in Korça you are going to discuss topical political problems and suggest your own solutions to tackle them. In order to ensure that the discussions you are going to take part in will be constructive and on a high academic level, it is necessary that you prepare yourself adequately.

After thoroughly researching your topic, we ask you to take a position on the core issues and express your stance in a brief position paper. This should be your initial opinion on this topic, and you should come to the session prepared to take into account new information and other points of view.

• Identify your preliminary position on your topic, listing your arguments for it. If you still don’t have a clear opinion, please explain why, again, listing your arguments. (150-200 words)

Please note that your position papers may be reviewed by your Chairperson, or used in anonymised form in Committee Work.

Please submit your position paper to [email protected] before 20:00 on Monday, 30 March.

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AFET (Committee on Foreign Affairs) “There will be no further enlargement of the European Union in the next five years.” – Jean-Claude Juncker. How can the European Union take this time to guide candidate and potential candidate states through a process of sharing best experiences in state building, human rights, anti-corruption and democratisation?

Key Terms:

• Enlargement of the EU: The acceptance - through integration - of new Member States inside the European Union

• Candidate and potential candidate states: At present there are five candidate states: Albania, Serbia, Montenegro, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Turkey, while potential candidate states are Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo*1.

• State-building and democratisation: The process of improving the institutional framework of a state. Important features of modern states, expected of countries wishing to join the EU include but are not limited to: good functioning of the rule of law, accountability and transparency mechanisms, participation of citizens in the decision-making processes and the inclusion of marginalised groups in society.

• Human rights: According to the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and the European Convention of Human Rights, human rights are rights inherent to all human beings, whatever our nationality, place of residence, sex, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, language, or any other status. We are all equally entitled to our human rights without discrimination.

Relevance and explanation of the problem:

In November 2014, the newly elected President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, declared that there would be no further enlargement of the European Union in the next five years.2 This however does not mean that the process of enlargement is suspended in those five years. There still is a dedicated European Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, a position currently held by Mr. Johannes Hahn.3 This period of five years can, in fact, allow candidate and potential candidate states to focus on making progress towards the fulfillment of the many accession criteria.

The future enlargement of the European Union is theoretically open to any European country which is democratic, operates a free market and is willing and able to

1 This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244/99 and the ICJ 2 http://www.neurope.eu/article/juncker-‐commission-‐no-‐further-‐eu-‐enlargement 3 http://ec.europa.eu/commission/2014-‐2019/hahn_en

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implement all previous European Union law. Past enlargement has brought membership from six to twenty-eight members since the foundation of the European Union (EU) as theEuropean Economic Community by the Inner Six in 1958. The accession criteria are included in the Copenhagen criteria, agreed in 1993, and the Treaty of Maastricht (Article 49). Whether a country is European or not is subject topolitical assessment by the EU institutions.

In the meantime, as long as the European perspective is – and always has been – to integrate all European countries in the EU, the responsible institutions of the EU should guide the candidate and potential candidate countries in their struggle with the political and judiciary issues.

The democratisation process in these countries has been pointed out as one of the key areas in need of further development. The inclusion of the civil society in the decision-making process and transparency are not yet achieved to a satisfactory level in most Western Balkans countries, resulting in low levels of trust in their governments among citizens. The responsibility of the civil society (NGOs, activists etc.) to step up and demand inclusion in the decision-making process is highly relevant and should be encouraged.

Organised crime and corruption are two factors that hinder the process of democratisation. Something that still remains unclear is the division of power, which is part of the democratisation process, and it imposes the legislative protection and independence of the three powers of a state (executive, judiciary, and legislative) from one another. It is not uncommon in the Western Balkan countries for the executive to impose itself on the judiciary or legislative (e.g judges may be appointed by the executive, thus being influenced by it).

To achieve better standards with regards to Human Rights, candidate and potential candidate states need to take highly proactive steps, especially on issues of demarginalization (mainly concerning the rights and engagement of Roma people), gender discrimination, immigration policies and prisoners’ rights.

Another contentious political issue in the Western Balkans pertains to the bitter memories of recent ethnic conflicts. At present it is imperative that Balkans countries leave behind their divisions and find ways of cooperating on common issues, exchanging best experiences and promoting their best values in the region.

Until now both parties, the EU and the candidate and potential candidate countries, have shown willingness to cooperate and develop. What needs to be further elaborated is how hopes and goals can be put into tangible and deliverable projects.

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Key conflict:

European impact vs. National Sovereignty:

As the topic suggests, the role of the EU should be in guiding the countries toward reaching European standards in state-building, democratization, and human rights strengthening. However, there is a thin line between guiding and overstepping a country’s national sovereignty. Since this has been an actual issue inside the Union until now, this calls for delicacy and attentive diplomacy when dealing with the topic.

Key questions:

• What are the main challenges that candidate and potential candidate states in the Western Balkans are facing in their bid to join the EU?

• How can countries in the Western Balkans work together to meet the Copenhagen criteria?

• What role can the EU play in this process?

Measures already in place:

• The stabilization and association process: The Stabilisation and Association process (SAp) is a long-term policy addressing new ways of helping the countries of the Western Balkans tackle the challenges of reforming democratic institutions, promoting trade and economic development, and combating corruption, ethnic violence, poverty and social exclusion.4

• Community Assistance for Reconstruction, Development and Stabilisation (CARDS): The general objectives of CARDS are to support the participation of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Serbia and Montenegro in the Stabilisation and Association Process.5

Key actors:

• The committee of the Regions of the European Union6 The role of the Committee of the Regions (CoR) is to put forward local and regional points of view on EU legislation. It does so by issuing reports (‘opinions’) on Commission proposals.The Commission, the Council and the Parliament must consult the Committee of the Regions before EU decisions are taken on matters concerning local and regional government (for example on employment policy, the

4 http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/pdf/financial_assistance/cards/publications/brochure_en.pdf 5 http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/pdf/financial_assistance/cards/publications/brochure_en.pdf 6 The Committee of the Regions (CoR) of the EU is not the same as the committee on regions (REGI) of the European Parliament .

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environment, education or public health).7 http://cor.europa.eu/Pages/welcome.html

• The European External Action Service (EEAS) The European External Action Service (EEAS) is the European Union's diplomatic corps. It supports the EU foreign affairs chief in conducting EU foreign and security policy. http://www.eeas.europa.eu/

• The high representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy The High Representative is charged with coordinating and carrying out the EU's foreign and security policy – known as the 'Common Foreign and Security Policy' (CFSP) and the 'Common Security and Defence Policy' (CSDP).8 http://eeas.europa.eu/high-representative-about/index_en.htm

Further reading:

• The so-called Copenhagen criteria for accession of new MS: http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/glossary/accession_criteria_copenhague_en.htm A more advanced guide: http://europa.eu/pol/pdf/flipbook/en/enlargement_en.pdf

• A “Transparency International” report on the democracy in the Western Balkans: http://www.transparency.org/news/pressrelease/lack_of_public_trust_in_political_parties_undermining_democracy_in_the_balk

• A report by the Committee of the Regions of the EU: http://cor.europa.eu/en/Archived/Documents/f2f4fd0a-7ff5-4736-ace9-bc3fd84a2bdc.pdf The report is awfully long, so I would suggest you to focus only in the first 22 pages of it. However, if you have the chance to read it all, it would give you a really good insight on the current political situation in the Balkans.

• The freedom of media in the Western Balkans: http://bookshop.europa.eu/en/freedom-of-media-in-western-balkans-pbQA0114856/ The freedom of media is essential for the democratization process.

• A report by the Foreign Affairs (AFET) committee for the Western Balkan countries: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-%2F%2FEP%2F%2FTEXT%2BIM-PRESS%2B20150223IPR24721%2B0%2BDOC%2BXML%2BV0%2F%2FEN&language=EN

7 Information from the European Union’s official website: http://europa.eu/about-‐eu/institutions-‐bodies/cor/index_en.htm 8 http://eeas.europa.eu/high-‐representative-‐about/index_en.htm

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DROI - (Committee on Human Rights)

As a result of rising numbers of migrants coming from Syria, Libya, Tunisia and the Western Balkans, reports suggest human rights violations of asylum seekers in some EU Member States. How can the EU ensure the implementation of the Common European Asylum System and prevent the violation of asylum seekers’ human rights? Key terms

• Asylum seekers': The terms asylum-seeker and refugee are often confused. A refugee is a person who is outside their home country because they have suffered (or feared) persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, or political opinion; because they are a member of a persecuted social category of persons; or because they are fleeing a war. An asylum-seeker is someone who says he or she is a refugee, but whose claim has not yet been definitively evaluated. • Common European Asylum System: A joint approach from all Member States to

guarantee certain standards of protection for refugees, which includes fair procedures based on the same fundamental values and on common standards. The EU has been working on this project since 1999 to ensure asylum seekers are treated equally in every Member State.

• Human Rights: Human rights are rights inherent to all human beings, whatever our nationality, place of residence, sex, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, language, or any other status. We are all equally entitled to our human rights without discrimination. These rights are all interrelated, interdependent and indivisible.

• Temporary Protection: An exceptional measure to provide displaced persons from non-EU countries and unable to return to their country of origin, with immediate and temporary protection. There is a directive with special procedures to deal with mass influxes of displaced persons. 9

• European Refugee Fund: Cooperation between all Member States except from Denmark to co-finance and support countries which receive larger amounts of asylum seekers in guaranteeing access to consistent, fair and effective asylum procedures. The Fund also supports resettlement10 programmes and actions related to the integration of persons. Each EU State implements the Fund through national annual programs.

Video explaining what are the Human Rights:

9 http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-‐affairs/what-‐we-‐do/policies/asylum/temporary-‐protection/index_en.htm 10 http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-‐affairs/financing/fundings/migration-‐asylum-‐borders/other-‐programmes/pilot-‐project-‐resettlement/index_en.htm

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http://www.humanrights.com/what-are-human-rights.html

The Common European Asylum System explained on the official web page of the EU:

http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/what-we-do/policies/asylum/index_en.htm

Relevance and explanation of the problem

Every year 232 million people leave their countries looking for better life opportunities. Since 2009, immigration of non-EU nationals to the EU has been increasing, reaching in 2012 11,706,651 people.11

Events such as the Syrian brutal civil war or the collapse of coronel Gadafi's regime in 2011 have provoked the reach of millions of citizens to the EU borders. They escape from fleeing persecution, facing harmful attacks or even death. But many times, their feeling of unease doesn't disappear once they've gotten to a Member State. While some European countries offer safety procedures and conditions for asylum seekers, others deny them their basic human rights. Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, and Greece, are some of the countries were immigrants and asylum seekers suffer detentions, deportations and transfers between different Member States (under the Dublin II regulation).12 These procedures lengthen their access to the Common European Asylum system (CEAS) and overall, to the protection that should be guaranteed to every human being.

First recognized in the 1951 Geneva Convention on the protection of refugees, asylum is a fundamental right. In order to grant it, several legislative measures such as the CEAS or the policy plan on asylum, have been taken by the EU Commission.13

However, it is clear that these measures do not have an impact as effective as the desired one. Procedures are slow, bureaucracy is intense and sometimes the result differs depending on the country reached. Member States are able to have their own specific provisions in the creation of laws, as they were adopted by a unanimity procedure (the system contains a number of optional regulations). As a consequence the existing systems don't manage to ensure fair treatments all around the EU.

One of the main migrant routes ends up in Greece and in the Greek-Turkish border due to its strategic position. There has been noticed a lack of reception facilities, insufficient administrative capacity and absence of efficient procedures to deal with the vast amount of immigrants that reach these borders. One of the main concerns is that asylum seekers are not evenly distributed around the Member States but gathered in the outlying countries of

11 http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-‐explained/index.php/Migration_and_migrant_population_statistics 12 http://w2eu.info/dublin2.en.html 13 http://europa.eu/rapid/press-‐release_MEMO-‐13-‐862_en.htm

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the Union. For many asylum seekers it is easier to reach these countries overland or by boat, especially those fleeing conflicts in the Middle East or Africa.

According to the Dublin II Regulation, you can only apply for asylum in one Member State, which is normally the one you reach. As a result, if you apply in any other country, they will immediately deport you to the first you reached. This leads, in practice, to massive deportations to Greece and therefore to a collapse of their system.

After the vast amount of complaints that reached the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in 2012 for violations of Human Rights of refugees and asylum seekers in Greece, deportations stopped in most countries. However, countries such as Austria still haven't suspended these deportations.

Arbitrary deprivation of liberty, xenophobic violence and expulsions under unacceptable conditions are other violations of human rights that asylum seekers have to suffer. They are very often marginalized, and nearly never offered a better life. A lot of Member States refrain from signing new policies and supporting common operations under the reason that it encourages other migrants to come to Europe.

As the EU grows lead by the freedom of movement within the EU (Schengen agreement)14, it will have to deal further with migration and asylum, taking steps to ensure that human rights are offered to all its inhabitants, citizens or non-citizens.

Key questions

• How can we ensure a common and equal protection for asylum seekers in all Member States?

• How can we tackle the problem of boarding countries receiving all the immigrants and not having enough resources to deal with them fairly?

• How can we guarantee that Member States are not going to feel overburdened by their protection responsibilities?

• What system can be implemented in temporary crisis situations such as civil wars?

• How well the member states’ welfare systems can support immigrants who are not economically self-sufficient?

• How can we ensure protection to asylum seekers while their application is being considered?

14 Not all EU Member States are in the Schengen agreement. See the following link: https://www.axa-‐schengen.com/en/countries-‐schengen-‐area

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• How can we deal with racist or xenophobic treatments to asylum seekers and refugees in the country reached?

Key actors

The European Asylum Support Office (EASO) is a regulatory agency, an independent European body which will work closely with the national authorities responsible for asylum, the European Commission, and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. It plays a key role in the implementation of the Common European Asylum System.

Easo annual report : http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/pdf/easo_annual_report_final.pdf

The European Commission: One of the main institutions of the European Union. It is the institution in charge of proposing new laws and enforcing them as well as negotiating agreements with other countries.

http://europa.eu/about-eu/institutions-bodies/european-commission/index_en.htm

The Member States reached by asylum seekers as well as any other Member State of the EU in order to reach a common agreement deeper than the CEAS.

There are currently 28 Member countries.

http://europa.eu/about-eu/countries/member-countries/

The European Court of Human Rights: "An institution of the Council of Europe, set up to protect human rights in conjunction with the European Commission for Human Rights. The Court, based in Strasbourg, is called to give judgment in cases where the Commission has failed to secure a settlement.15

Dublin II Regulation: identifies which European State is responsible for deciding on an asylum application. " According to the Dublin regulation, you can only apply for refugee status in one member state. Usually, this is the first member state, which you reach. In practice this normally means that any subsequent country where you apply will return you to the appropriate state."16

There are vast divergences in the way Member States apply the Dublin Regulation.

Measures already in place

Between 2004 and 2013 over 1 billion EUR were spent by the EU in more than 400 projects about migration.

15 http://www.echr.coe.int/Pages/home.aspx?p=court&c= 16 http://w2eu.info/dublin2.en.html

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The Thematic Programme for Migration and Asylum is the main instrument the EU has to address migration and asylum issues in other countries. It funds projects and cooperates with third countries giving them financial and technical assistance.

Since 1999, the EU has been struggling to create a Common European Asylum System (CEAS) harmonising and reducing the differences between Member State's laws. This system went through various phases to end up being finally agreed upon in 2006. It includes one regulation and three directives, minimum standards that all Member States agreed except for Ireland, UK and Denmark.

In addition, the EU has recently agreed on new laws on this CEAS in order to ensure a higher protection to asylum seekers and to establish new standards. It includes a revised asylum procedure and revised conditions.

In order to support Member States which receive a wider amount of refugees, the EU counts with the European refugee fund ( ERF) which co-finances actions for resettlement and relocation, accommodations and social and legal assistance for asylum seekers.

Furthermore, when the conflicts in former Yugoslavia and Kosovo took place, the EU managed to create a Directive in Temporary protection in order to deal with the massive approach of citizens to the bordering countries of the EU.

Further reading

Fail of the Dublin II Regulation:

http://www.ecre.org/component/downloads/downloads/701.html

European Migration Network ( EMN) : The EMN plays a key role in providing up-to-date, objective, reliable and comparable information on migration and asylum topics to policy makers (at EU and Member State level) and the general public. Council Decision 2008/381/EC establishing a legal basis for the EMN was adopted on 14th May 2008.

http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/what-we-do/networks/european_migration_network/index_en.htm

Eurostat statistics:

http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/2995521/5181422/3-24032014-AP-EN.PDF/36a73587-7914-4a51-94a4-8e558a086fba?version=1.0

History of CEAS:

http://www.ecre.org/topics/areas-of-work/introduction/194.html

Europe's asylum seekers:

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-24636868

Syrian refugees:

http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/12/23/eu-provide-protection-syrian-refugees

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ECON (Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs)

How can the EU promote economic development and prosperity more efficiently in the Eastern Partnership countries and in candidate and potential candidate states?

Key Terms

Eastern Partnership (EaP) The Eastern Partnership is a joint policy initiative launched at the Prague Summit in May 2009 and it represents the Eastern dimension of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP). It aims to deepen and strengthen relations between the European Union and its six Eastern neighbours: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.17

Candidate States

A country, which aims to join the European Union, is granted the Candidate State status when the EU Council is satisfied that the said country is making progress towards meeting the EU accession criteria. There are currently five candidate countries for EU accession: Albania, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey. Accession criteria are identical for all countries and remain those defined by the 1993 Copenhagen European Council.18

Potential Candidate Countries All EU partners in the Western Balkans involved in the Stabilisation and Association process, which are not yet recognised as candidates, are considered potential candidates for EU membership. Currently Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo* are potential candidates.

Relevance and Explanation of Problem

For non-member states, the process of integration into the EU is slow and gradual, as the candidate countries have a number of criteria to fulfil but at the same time they get increasing financial and institutional support. The support provided, allows the EU to encourage certain developments in the region, such as sustainable economic development and regional cooperation.

European cooperation with non-member states is also conducted through the framework of European Neighbourhood Policy. The goal of this policy, which started in 2004, is to bring

17 European Commission/European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations/Eastern Partnership: http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/neighbourhood/eastern-‐partnership/index_en.htm 18 European Commission/Acceding and candidate Countries: http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/international/non_eu/candidate/index_en.htm * This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSC 1244 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo Declaration of Independence.

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Europe closer to its neighbours. Since its inception in 2004, the ENP has promoted a variety of important initiatives, particularly on the trade and economic front, which have allowed the EU and its neighbours to develop stronger relationships in virtually all policy fields, from energy to education, from transport to research. Specifically, it offers partner countries tariff-free access to the EU single market in exchange for their adoption of trade-related EU legislation. These are now the subject of exchanges and cooperation between the EU and its neighbours. EU assistance has increased and is better targeted. But there is room for improvement on all sides of the relationship. A new approach is needed to strengthen the partnership between the EU and the countries and societies of the neighborhood: pursuing sustainable economic growth.

The bilateral cooperation on EaP, the Eastern dimension of the ENP, between the EU and each partner country is focused on four main areas. First, in terms of economic integration, the main emphasis is on establishing bilateral deep and comprehensive free trade areas between the EU and partner countries, where the trade and investment liberalisation and regulatory approximation of the partner country to EU laws and standards becomes a reality after signing and implementing the Association Agreements. Second, the EaP emphasises the importance of institution-building in partner countries to improve their administrative capacity, including through training, technical assistance and other innovative measures. Third, mobility of citizens and visa liberalisation in a secure environment is also a central aspect of the EaP. Fourth, the bilateral aspect of the EaP aims to strengthen energy security through cooperation with regard to long-term stable and secure energy supply and transit, including through better regulation, energy efficiency and more use of renewable energy sources. While the goals set by the EaP seem clear and understandable, their implementation has been problematic, causing chaotic situations. Firstly, some partner countries, like Ukraine, are lacking the political will to fully cooperate for the common goals and the European integration has been highly bureaucracy-led, quite sporadic and slow. Secondly, the EaP is seen as strikingly ambiguous, and the words and actions of EaP and the ENP contradict, suggesting that the EU is putting the partner countries off with double standards. Third, the EU’s unwillingness to offer membership perspective, not differentiating between the countries and not giving enough support to including the civil society in the reform process have made the initiative less successful in some countries. Fourth, the EaP faces challenges concerning EU’s and the EaP countries’ relationships with Russia as a result of the EaP initiative. Russian effort to create the Eurasian Union is a clear example of this.

Key Questions

• What interest or gains does the EU have in working with EaP coutries and candidate

and potential candidate states? • Should the EU reconsider its status quo with the EaP and candidate and potential

candidate states?

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• Should the EU extend the level of bilateral and multilateral cooperation with the EaP

countries?

• Which are the main areas that should be addressed in the cooperation of EU • What kind of incentives should the EU offer to the EaP countries so that they can

avoid obstacles within their cooperation? - How can the EU ensure a well functioning cooperation with EaP countries, whilst

making sure at the same time this will not aggravate the diplomatic relations with Russia?

- Can the EU promote the ‘regionalisation’ of the Western Balkans, encouraging

candidate and potential candidate states in the region to cooperate more closely with one-another?

Key Actors

Eastern Partnership countries

An introduction to Eastern Partnership, its objectives, key challenges and the way it cooperates with the EU is made shortly through these two presentations: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6Ok8QTCRTU http://eeas.europa.eu/eastern/docs/eap_vilnius_ppt_201113_en.pdf

European Neighborhood Policy

With its European Neighborhood Policy (ENP), the EU is seeking to reinforce relations with neighboring countries to the east and south in order to promote prosperity, stability, enhanced political cooperation and progressive economic integration between the Union and the partner countries and security at its borders.

At present 16 partners are addressed by the ENP: Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Egypt, Goergia, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Moldova, Morocco, the occupied Palestinian territory, Syria, Tunisia and Ukraine.

Western Balkans

The Western Balkan countries are not the best example to be given regarding diplomatic relations. The tense situation is as a result of a long historical background. However there is one common goal between these countries and that is becoming part

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of the EU in the near or far future. Part of these countries possess the status of potential candidates, which means they have signed the Stabilisation and Association Deal, whilst the other part have taken the discussions to another level by being granted with the status of candidate countries. Countries, which belong to both categories are requested to fulfill some necessary reforms in order to advance with the negotiations. Therefore the EU can use their common goal to become Member States in order make the improvement of their diplomatic relations “a must”.

Russia The recent events have just worsened the relations between Russia and the EU since the Union has sided up with Ukraine. Actually Russia did not welcome the EaP at all and president Putin has named this partnership as “an alternative to NATO’s expansion to the east”, whilst foreign affairs minister Lavrov accused the EU of attempting to carve out a new "sphere of influence" in Russia's backyard. Since 2013 Moscow has tried to keep Ukraine away from the EU by using various methods including bribes ($15 billion loan) and threats (enacting unilateral trade sanctions and interrupting critical energy supplies)19

The European Commission

This institution is responsible for monitoring the progress of candidate and potential candidate countries. It gives continuous reports regarding the situation of each country and depending on the feedback it may propose to advance in the discussions about granting membership.

Measures Already in Place

Stabilisation and Association Agreement This agreement constitutes the framework of relations between the EU and the Western Balkan countries for implementation of the Stabilisation Association Process. The agreements are adapted to the specific situation of each partner country and, while establishing a free trade area between the EU and the country concerned, they also identify common political and economic objectives and encourage regional cooperation.20

19 Jeanne Park (2014), The European Union's Eastern Partnership: http://www.cfr.org/europe/european-‐unions-‐eastern-‐partnership/p32577 20 European Commission/ Stabilisation and Association Agreement: http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/policy/glossary/terms/saa_en.htm

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How does the Eastern Partnership work?

The Eastern Partnership has two tracks: (1) bilateral and (2) multilateral.

(1) The bilateral dimension supports political and socio-economic reforms in partner countries to:

- Foster political association and further economic integration with the EU; - Enhance sector cooperation; - Support mobility of citizens and visa-free travel as a long-term goal.

(2) The multilateral dimension complements bilateral relations with:

- Thematic platforms to exchange best practices on issues of mutual interest: good governance, economic integration and growth, energy security and transport, contacts between people;

- Flagship initiatives, which are regional cooperation programs in the fields of: energy, environment, response to disasters, border management, support to small businesses.

Further Reading

Western Balkans Conference in Berlin: Commitment to the European perspective: http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/EN/Europa/WestlicherBalkan/AktuelleArtikel/140828_Westbalkankonferenz.html

Lauren McLaughlin, The Conflict in Ukraine: a Historical Perspective: http://www.summer.harvard.edu/blog-news-events/conflict-ukraine-historical-perspective

Russian pressure on Eastern Partnership countries, destabilisation of eastern Ukraine: http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_SPEECH-14-331_en.htm

The European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP):

http://www.enpi-info.eu/main.php?id=344&id_type=2

https://www.eutrainingsite.com/eu_funds_details.php?id=143

The German Prime-Minister, Angela Merkel seeks to strengthen EU ties to Western Balkans: http://www.euractiv.com/sections/europes-east/merkel-seeks-strengthen-eu-ties-western-balkans-308093

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EMPL – (Committee on Employment and Social Affairs)

With alarmingly high rates of youth unemployment at 21%, how can European Union Institutions and EU Member States join efforts in combating youth unemployment and increasing labour mobility in Europe?

Key terms

• Youth unemployment: Unemployment concerning young people between the age of 15 and 24.

• Geographical labour mobility: Refers to the ability of workers to move across different countries in seeking employment.

• Occupational labour mobility: Refers to the ability of workers to move across different employment sectors and industries.

• NEET: Young people not in Employment, Education or Training.


Youth unemployment in Europe is a serious socio-economic issue that predates the financial crisis of 2008. The effects of the crisis exacerbated the situation, giving rise to the phrase “lost generation” used to refer to young people in the post-2008 era.

In 2015 the economic instability of the European Union seems to be both a cause and a result of the high unemployment rates of its Member States, a phenomenon particualry acute amongst young people. In fact, 5.2 million young people were unemployed in the EU-28 area as of May 2014, a total unemployment rate of 22.2% (23.3% in the Euro area). More than one in five young Europeans seeking a job are unable to find one, with as many as one in two, in Greece and Spain. It is estimated by the European Commission that 7.5 million young Europeans between 15 and 24 are not employed, not in education and not in training (NEETs).

These high rates pose an immense problem, not only for each state’s national economy but also for the future of the EU as a whole. Due to the economic crisis and stern austerity measures, economic growth for some Member States has been slow or even negative. Especially in the south of Europe, bankruptcy and financial trouble for many employers led to massive dismissals of employees and the closing of companies. With the current lack of

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investment flow, the rigidity of national labour markets and their need for structural change, the market is a hardly fertile environment for the youth.

The European Foundation for Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound) has estimated the economic loss in the EU of having millions of young people out of work or education or training at over €150 billion in 2011, in terms of benefits paid out and lost output. However, it also gravely affects each young unemployed individual - their skills benumbed, prompting them towards compromising for insecure contracts and low wages, their creativity, innovation and eagerness stifled. High unemployment rates also tend to erode the social fabric, fostering crime and resistance to institutions and reforms, while they push an active and educated youth towards external immigration, painting a bleak image for a rapidly ageing Europe and its social safety nets.

Combating youth unemployment is at the top of the EU’s agenda, and among its possible solutions high emphasis is given to the promotion of labour mobility for its young citizens. Strategic moves have been made and funds have been provided for programmes and initiatives, raising young people’s awareness of job opportunities in their own or other EU countries- such as EURES, the pan European job search network, the Programme for Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI) and the recent 1 billion fund proposal by the European Commission. Nevertheless, the problem persists. As the Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs, Skills and Labour Mobility, Marianne Thyssen, has stated, high levels of unemployment co-exist with 2 million unfilled vacancies; an indicator that some people lack the right skills or the mobility to take up available jobs. At present the EU workforce consists of around 216.1 million persons and only 7.5 million (3.1%) of them are working in a Member State different than their country of origin.

Key questions

• How should the EU promote labour market competitiveness and the creation of new job opportunities for the youth?

• How can the EU facilitate the youth’s mobility, especially when it comes to their education, skills, language and life-style transition?

• What measures should the EU take in order to ensure the better implementation of the Youth Guarantee Scheme and finally reaching its goals?

Key actors

EU Institutions hold a very important position in the decision making and fund allocation towards the tackling of youth unemployment, especially the European Commission- the main actor for initiating the legislative process- and finding a balance between the gap in different States’ necessities.

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However, the EU’s work will prove ineffective if Member States and national governments do not play their part in efficiently implementing EU policies and initiatives and cooperate in fighting youth unemployment in a manner that will respond to each State’s special economy and needs.

Finally, key actors of the equation are the employers, that need to find the means to keep their businesses competitive and stable through the ongoing crisis, and the European youth, the employees, in search of secure and flexible job opportunities, NEETs or not, holding special skills or wishing to refine their abilities.


• Youth Guarantee Scheme: An innovative scheme that, in close cooperation with national authorities, businesses and communities, aims at ensuring that all young people under 25 get a good-quality and concrete job, apprenticeship or traineeship offer within 4 months of them leaving formal education or becoming unemployed.

• Youth on the Move: Youth on the Move is a package of policy initiatives on education and employment for young people in Europe. It consists a part of the Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. Its aims include improving young people’s education and employability, in order to reduce youth unemployment in line with the wider EU target of achieving a 75% employment rate for the working-age population (20-64 years) - by matching education and training to the specific needs of the youth, encouraging them to study abroad, and prompting Member States to take measures in order to amplify the transition from education to work.

• EU programme for Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI):The Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI) programme is a financial mechanism aiming to establish employment protection, combating social exclusion and poverty and improving working conditions, paying special attention to youth unemployment. It brings together three distinct EU programmes- PROGRESS, EURES and Progress Microfinance. The total budget for 2014-2020 is 919,469,000 euros.

• EURES-Your First EURES Job: EURES is a European job mobility platform, providing information, guidance and recruitment services to employers, jobseekers and any citizen wishing to take advantage of freedom of movement for workers. Your first EURES job is a scheme, under which national employment services provide young jobseekers and businesses information and support for work opportunities outside their home country.

• The European Alliance for Apprenticeships (EAfA): Managed by the European Commission, its goal is to bring together national public authorities, businesses, social partners, Vocational Education and Training providers, youth representatives, and other key actors in order to promote apprenticeship schemes and initiatives across Europe.

• Erasmus+: The Erasmus+ programme seeks to enhance youth mobility, education, work and sport even surpassing EU borders.

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Further reading

- EU Measures to Tackle Youth Unemployment http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-14-466_en.htm

- Sceptisism in Germany http://www.euroviews.eu/2014/04/30/german-euroscepticism-a-story-of-immigration-and-indifference/

- “Europe’s Lost Generation?” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeAVJnaqJ0U - “Europe’s Young and Unemployed” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7bjoylDuhs - M. Thyssen: How the EC plans to tackle youth unemployment

http://en.protothema.gr/m-thyssen-how-the-ec-plans-to-tackle-youth-unemployment/ - Mobility of young workers http://epthinktank.eu/2014/01/28/youth-employment-

mobility-of-young-workers/

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LIBE – Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs

Integration through participation? How can the European Union ensure that non-EU migrants integrate in EU Member States and have the opportunity to fully participate in the economic, political and social life of their host communities? How can Member States, the Committee of the Regions and the European Commission collaborate on this issue?

Key Terms

Immigration: is the movement of people into a country to which they are not native in order to settle there, especially as permanent residents or future citizens. Immigrants are motivated to leave their native countries for a variety of reasons, including a desire for economic prosperity, political issues, family re-unification, escaping conflict or natural disaster, or simply the wish to change one's surroundings. In 2013 the United Nations estimated that there were 231,522,215 immigrants in the world (apx. 3.25% of the global population).

Far-right parties: Most European far-right parties exhibit populism, i.e. plain speaking, anti-elitist and anti-establishment; and nativism, i.e. the combination of nationalism and xenophobia.

Hostility to immigration has been a leitmotif of far-right discourse for many years. But this is not so much an issue of keeping immigrants out as of the interpretation and meaning of integration in public debates. The populist claim is that certain groups have a cultural identity, which cannot be integrated, being supposedly incompatible with liberal values.

http://cms.horus.be/files/99935/MediaArchive/publications/20060_Publication_Far_right_EN_LR.pdf

Political participation: can consist of many different types of activities related to influencing political results. Such acts include voting, protesting, signing petitions, boycotting, contacting an official or politician, participating in a debate, running for office, and working for a political party or other organization. These actions can take place at the local, regional, and national levels.

http://www.bridgingeurope.net/uploads/8/1/7/1/8171506/working_paper_political_participation_katsiaficas_september.pdf

Integration: is the process by which immigrants become accepted into society, both as individuals and as groups. This definition of integration is deliberately left open, because the particular requirements for acceptance by a receiving society vary greatly from country to country. The openness of this definition also reflects the fact that the responsibility for integration rests not with one particular group, but rather with many actors—immigrants themselves, the host government, institutions, and communities, to name a few.

http://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/integration-role-communities-institutions-and-state

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Discrimination: is understood as unequal or differential treatment that disfavors an individual or a group and that is based on origin, ethnicity, race or nationality.

http://www.academia.edu/3737026/Discrimination_against_immigrants_-_Measurements_incidence_and_policy_instruments

Relevance and explanation of problem

Europe has historically been a destination for immigrants from across the world due to its comparatively higher economic development in the modern era. However large scale immigration is a more recent phenomenon, dated back to the end of WW II. Many European countries lost their colonies and a great number of the people moved to their mother countries. All these immigrants played a great role in fueling the post war economic expansion in Europe.

Since then, most of the European countries have been turned into multi-ethnic states where large numbers of immigrants live and work next to the local ethnic population. It is interesting though that for years there were no big issues between migrants and locals as both enjoyed a developing economy and low rates of unemployment.

This issue is relevant especially after the recent developments of racist violence against ethnic minorities and immigrant groups across Europe. The economic crisis seems to affect not only poor countries but also the leading economies in Europe. With the immigrant inflows increasing and the unemployment rates higher than ever, far-right parties and other nationalistic movements took advantage of the situation and the migrants seems to take the blame.

In addition immigrants have few opportunities to participate in the political life of the host country or community as they are not allowed to vote unless they have the citizenship of the host country. Since they are unable to do much in a political level, they cannot make their voices easily heard. They also face the problem of unemployment as most of them have basic knowledge of the language and in some cases they cannot even speak the language. Thus it is very difficult to find fair paid jobs and live a normal life. Automatically they are excluded from society and face poverty making their integration harder and slower.

These situations often lead to the development of new kinds of communities. Many immigrant groups have created their society within the society of the country they are living as migrants, a kind of ghetto where they preserve their culture and habits, refusing to integrate in the host country’s society. This makes it even harder for the states to promote the participation of these people in all parts of life in their host communities.

The European Union and the Member States have tried to solve the issue by implementing several policies against nationalism and promoting integration of immigrants into the society. The current situation shows the need of further steps as it seems that those already in place are not sufficient enough.

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Key questions

• How should the European Commission and the Council of the EU act to further involve immigrants in all parts of life in their host countries?

• Which steps should the Member States take to avoid the creation of ghettos and the exclusion of immigrants from the local society?

• What role can the Committee of the Regions play in promoting participation of immigrants in the economic, political and social life of the host communities?

• How can the EU’s policies help fostering this issue?

Key actors

Council of the European Union: is the institution representing the member states' governments. Also known informally as the EU Council, it is where national ministers from each EU country meet to adopt laws and coordinate policies.

http://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/council-eu/

Committee of the Regions: The Committee of the Regions is the voice of regions and cities in the European Union.

353 members - regional and locally elected representatives from the 28 EU countries. 6 commissions covering competences in the following policy areas based on the EU Treaties:

• Employment, vocational training, economic and social cohesion, social policy, health. • Education and culture. • Environment, climate change, energy. • Transport and trans-European networks. • Civil protection and services of general interests.

http://cor.europa.eu/en/about/Pages/index.aspx#

European Commission: is one of the main institutions of the European Union. It represents and upholds the interests of the EU as a whole. It drafts proposals for new European laws. It manages the day-to-day business of implementing EU policies and spending EU funds.

http://ec.europa.eu/index_en.htm


The Tampere Programme21: The first step of EU cooperation on the integration of non EU nationals.

21 http://www.europarl.europa.eu/summits/tam_en.htm

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The Common Basic Principles for immigrant integration policy22: They underline the importance of a holistic approach to integration and aim, inter alia, at assisting EU States in formulating integration policies. They also serve as a basis for EU States to explore how EU, national, regional, and local authorities can interact in the development and implementation of integration policies. Finally, they assist in evaluating EU-level mechanisms and policies with a view to supporting future integration policy developments.

Common Agenda for Integration23: The Agenda has helped to implement the Common Basic Principles.

Stockholm Programme24 and the Europe 2020 Strategy25: both have helped in further framing the EU’s policy on integration by raising employment rates.

A European agenda for the integration of non-EU nationals26: focusing on action to increase economic, social, cultural and political participation by migrants and putting the emphasis on local action. This new agenda highlights challenges that need to be solved if the EU is to benefit fully from the potential offered by migration and the value of diversity. It also explores the role of countries of origin in the integration process.

EU instruments to support integration27: A network of national contact points on integration allows exchanges of information and experience between EU States with the purpose of finding successful solutions for integration and keeping national policy coherent with EU initiatives.

Further Reading

• A private initiative, the European Programme for Integration and Migration (EPIM): http://www.epim.info/

• Some statistics on migrant integration by Eurostat: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Migrant_integration_statistics_-_overview

• The International Organisation’s for Migration work on migrant integration: http://iom.int/cms/en/sites/iom/home/what-we-do/migrant-integration.html

• The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights: http://fra.europa.eu/sites/default/files/fra_uploads/1696-pub-migrants-minorities-employment_EN.pdf

22 More information here: http://www.consilium.europa.eu/ueDocs/cms_Data/docs/pressData/en/jha/82745.pdf#zoom=100

23 http://ec.europa.eu/ewsi/UDRW/images/items/docl_988_232042490.pdf#zoom=100 24 Stockholm Programma: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:C:2010:115:0001:0038:EN:PDF 25 Strategy 2020: http://ec.europa.eu/europe2020/index_en.htm 26 http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/doc_centre/immigration/docs/agenda/1_en_act_part1_v10.pdf#zoom=100 27 European Integration Forum: http://ec.europa.eu/ewsi/en/policy/legal.cfm European Web Site on Integration: http://ec.europa.eu/ewsi/en/index.cfm Handbook on Integration: http://ec.europa.eu/ewsi/UDRW/images/items/docl_12892_168517401.pdf#zoom=100 European Integration Fund: http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/financing/fundings/migration-asylum-borders/integration-fund/index_en.htm

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ITRE I (Committee on Industry, Technology, Research and Energy I)

Towards an Energy Union? The worsening of EU-Russia relations has underlined the importance of a more integrated energy policy in the European Union. How should the Member States respond to calls from the European Commission to work towards an Energy Union? What role should EU candidate and potential candidate states play in this process?

Key terms

Energy Union – a strategy proposed by the European Commission, calling for creating an EU-level integrated energy system, based on the common energy policy. The goals of the Energy Union include a competitive common market, climate change goals and promotion of research and innovation.

Energy security – the uninterrupted availability of energy sources at an affordable price.28

Energy diversification – the use of multiple sources of energy, eliminating dependence on any single source. Diversification includes both accessing the renewable and non-renewable sources of energy, as well as different energy suppliers.

Energy efficiency – the process of reducing energy consumption and eliminating energy wastage.

Decarbonisation (of the economy) – the process of reducing the carbon intensity (emissions per unit of electricity generated, measured in grams of CO2/kWh) of the economy. It can be achieved through a better use of technology and renewable energy.

Relevance and explanation of problem

Until recently, the European Union’s energy policy has been mainly concerned with securing the access to relatively inexpensive and sustainable sources of energy. That is why, greenhouse gas emissions cuts, increases in renewable energy consumption and improvements in energy efficiency continue to be the recurring goals of 2020/2030/2050 Energy Strategies29.

The recent data by the European Environment Agency30 and Eurostat shows that the European Union imports 53% of its energy31 at the cost of around EUR 400 billion per year. Despite the huge energy costs and EUR 120 billion spent on energy subsidies per year32 both directly

28 International Energy Agency, http://www.iea.org/topics/energysecurity/subtopics/whatisenergysecurity/ 29 European Commission, http://ec.europa.eu/energy/en/topics/energy-‐strategy 30 European Environment Agency, http://www.eea.europa.eu/data-‐and-‐maps/tags#c5=all&c0=5&b_start=0&c9=energy+consumption&c11=energy+consumption 31 European Commission, http://ec.europa.eu/priorities/energy-‐union/docs/energyunion_en.pdf 32 European Commission, http://ec.europa.eu/priorities/energy-‐union/docs/energyunion_en.pdf

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and indirectly, the EU still faces a lot of challenges in the energy sector. 75%33 of housing stock is energy inefficient; and 94% of transport runs on oil products, 90% of which is imported. Wholesale gas and electricity prices are, respectively, 30%34 and 100% higher than in the US. Six Member States (including Estonia, Finland and Latvia) depend on a single external supplier – Russia.

Having recently imposed sanctions on Russia35 over the conflict in Ukraine, the European Union is at a crucial turning point of re-assessing its energy policy. Energy Union, a concept first introduced by the President of the European Council Donald Tusk, has so far been presented as the most feasible and sustainable solution.

The Energy Union strategy consists of 5 major goals, aimed at achieving greater competitiveness, energy security and sustainability:

(1) Energy security, solidarity and trust;

• Diversification of energy sources, suppliers and routes in order to eliminate dependence • Stronger European representation at the global markets • Greater transparency of gas supply

(2) A fully integrated European energy market;

• Cross-border interconnectedness of regional markets • Implementing the internal energy market’s software • Protecting vulnerable consumers

(3) Energy efficiency contributing to moderation of demand;

• Energy efficiency in the buildings and transport sector (4) Decarbonising the economy;

• EU Climate policy (well-functioning EU Emissions Trading System) • Greater use of renewable energy

(5) Research, innovation and competitiveness.

With the energy goals outlined, it is not only an opportunity for the Member States to participate in the discussion, the EU candidate and potential candidate states can also contribute to the talks on the common framework of energy policy. The Energy Community36, consisting of both candidate and potential candidate states, is a platform through which the EU could potentially extend its internal energy market to South Eastern Europe and the Black Sea region.

33 European Commission, http://ec.europa.eu/priorities/energy-‐union/docs/energyunion_en.pdf 34 Calculations of DG Energy based on Platts market reports and IEA data for first half of 2014

35 European Union Newsroom, http://europa.eu/newsroom/highlights/special-‐coverage/eu_sanctions/index_en.htm 36 Energy Community, https://www.energy-‐community.org/portal/page/portal/ENC_HOME

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In order to achieve an even further energy market extension and ensure a greater extent of energy diversification, the construction of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline AG37 (TAP) is currently taking place with a route through Greece, Albania and Italy. TAP is a pipeline project of the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC), developed in order to bring gas from the Caspian region via Turkey38. The tight co-operation between the EU Member States and candidate states through this project further facilitates the future reduction of energy dependence on Russia.

See also:

Energy Union: http://ec.europa.eu/priorities/energy-union/index_en.htm

Energy Security Strategy: http://ec.europa.eu/energy/en/topics/energy-strategy/energy-security-strategy

Decarbonisation in the EU: http://ec.europa.eu/news/energy/111219_en.htm

Energy Community: http://ec.europa.eu/energy/en/topics/international-cooperation/energy-community

Southern Gas Corridor and TAP: http://www.tap-ag.com/the-pipeline/the-big-picture/southern-gas-corridor

Key conflicts

Integrated vs. non-integrated energy policy is the major choice every Member State has to make – national governments have to weigh up the costs and benefits of acting upon the common European framework versus managing an energy policy directed at state-specific needs.

Relying on the long-term energy suppliers vs. seeking new connections is another issue for Europe – they could either attempt to maintain the EU-Russia energy connections or diversify through increasing liquefied natural gas39 (LNG) imports from Algeria, Qatar or Nigeria and potentially exporting the shale gas from the US.

Additionally, there can be a conflict of political vs. energy goals of the EU. The most relevant example is the current Russian aggression in the Ukraine, which is definitely not endorsed by the European Union. However, dependency on the Russian large share of energy supply does not allow the Member States to align their energy policy according to their stance on the political arena. 37 Trans Adriatic Pipeline, http://www.tap-‐ag.com/the-‐pipeline 38 EurActiv, http://www.euractiv.com/energy/tap-‐pipeline-‐start-‐construction-‐news-‐532291 39 Shell, http://www.shell.com/global/future-‐energy/natural-‐gas/liquefied-‐natural-‐gas/what-‐is-‐lng.html

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Key questions

• Should the Member States be the sole decision-makers when it comes to all energy-related policies?

• How can the European Union ensure the diversity and reliability of the sources of energy?

• To what extent does the European Union need to harmonise its energy goals with other environmental and political aims?

• Should the EU candidate and potential candidate states take an active part in European energy policy? And can they?

Key actors

The European Commission

Having presented the framework strategy of the Energy Union on the 25th of February 2015, it is the official source of the vision of the Common European Energy Policy.

Member States (together with The European Council)

Member States have to react to the proposition of the European Commission and decide whether they would commit to implementing the policies and suggestions of the Energy Union. If they were to decide to fully co-operate, they could harmonise their energy policies through the platform of the European Council, represented by the heads of the European states.

Supplier countries

Russia and Norway are the EU’s largest suppliers of energy. In 2012, Norway supplied 31% of the EU’s natural gas imports and 11% of its crude oil imports.40 In 2013, Russia supplied 39% of the EU’s natural gas imports. Additionally, OPEC countries provide 40% of the EU’s total crude oil imports of which over 8% was contributed by Saudi Arabia, Libya and Nigeria each. It is also projected that from 2019 onwards Azerbaijan would become a major natural gas supplier through the Southern Gas Corridor project.

EU candidate/potential candidate states (together with the Energy Community)

EU candidate states (Albania, Iceland, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Turkey) with EU potential candidate states (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo) are all involved in the Energy Community in the role of ‘contracting parties’. The main aims of this international organisation are similar to those expressed in the framework of the Energy Union. Albania and Turkey might

40 European Commission, http://ec.europa.eu/energy/en/node/11

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potentially play more of a prominent role in the future due to the TAP and TANAP projects respectively.


2020/2030 Energy Strategies

An EU-wide framework for climate and energy. 2020 targets include: greater investment in energy-efficient projects; building a pan-European energy market; good relations with the EU’s external energy suppliers. 2030 targets include: a 40% greenhouse gas emissions cut, 27%+ share of renewable energy consumption and a 30% improvement in energy efficiency.

Read more at:

Europe 2020: http://ec.europa.eu/energy/en/topics/energy-strategy/2020-energy-strategy

Europe 2030: http://ec.europa.eu/energy/node/163

Energy Security Strategy

The strategy is aimed at ensuring the sufficiency and stability of the energy supply throughout the whole Europe.

Read more at:

http://ec.europa.eu/energy/en/topics/energy-strategy/energy-security-strategy

The European Strategic Energy Technology Plan

The strategy is aimed at streamlining the process of development and usage of low-carbon technologies.

Read more at:

http://ec.europa.eu/energy/en/topics/technology-and-innovation/strategic-energy-technology-plan

Southern Gas Corridor (SGC)

The planned infrastructure projects, the main goal of which is to ensure the security and diversity of the EU’s energy supply through accessing natural gas from the Caspian region. The

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components of the plan include the Shah Deniz 241 development; 3 pipeline projects (South Caucasus Pipeline, Trans Anatolian Pipeline, Trans Adriatic Pipeline); future possibilities to connect to gas networks in other parts of Europe. Gas deliveries are expected in 2019.

Read more at:

http://www.tap-ag.com/the-pipeline/the-big-picture/southern-gas-corridor

EU emissions trading scheme

The scheme is aimed at reducing the greenhouse gas emissions by trading the limited number of greenhouse gas emission allowances.

Read more at:

http://ec.europa.eu/clima/policies/ets/index_en.htm

Further reading

• EU’s quest for energy security – What role for the Energy Union?, European Policy Centre: http://www.epc.eu/documents/uploads/pub_5374_eu_s_quest_for_energy_security.pdf

• Europe’s energy security – is the Energy Union the answer?, European Policy Centre: http://www.epc.eu/pub_details.php?cat_id=4&pub_id=5256

• A Framework Strategy for a Resilient Energy Union with a Forward-Looking Climate Change Policy, European Commission: http://ec.europa.eu/priorities/energy-union/docs/energyunion_en.pdf

• Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič and Commissioner Miguel Arias Cañete present the Energy Union (VIDEO), European Commission: http://europa.eu/!Bh64yK

• EU energy in figures – Statistical Pocketbook 2014, European Commission: http://ec.europa.eu/energy/sites/ener/files/documents/2014_pocketbook.pdf (especially important – p20-30)

• Energy 2020, European Commission: http://ec.europa.eu/energy/sites/ener/files/documents/2011_energy2020_en_0.pdf

41 http://www.bp.com/en_az/caspian/operationsprojects/Shahdeniz/SDstage2.html

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REGI – Committee on Regional Development

How can the Union for the Mediterranean and the Committee of the Regions of the EU promote decentralisation and good governance in the Balkans through the principles set in the Charter for Multi-level Governance?

Key Terms

Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) The Union for the Mediterranean is an alliance aiming at increasing the potential for regional integration and cohesion among Euro-Mediterranean countries. It was created by 43 Euro-Mediterranean Heads of State and Government, including all 28 European Member States. The Union’s six priority areas are business development, transport and urban development, energy, environment and water, higher education and research, social and civil affairs. Committee of the Regions (CoR) The Committee of the Regions consists of regional and local elected representatives of all 28 European Member States. The mission of the CoR is to involve regional and local authorities in the European decision-making process and thus to encourage greater participation from European citizens. Six Commissions make up the Committee of the Regions: the Commission for Citizenship, Governance, Institutional and External Affairs (CIVEX), the Commission for Territorial Cohesion Policy and EU Budget (COTER), the Commission for Economic Policy (ECON), the Commission for the Environment, Climate Change and Energy (ENVE), the Commission for Natural Resources (NAT) and the Commission for Social Policy, Education, Employment and Culture (SEDEC). Multi-level governance (MLG) Multi- level governance is a system based on extended cooperation and negotiation among governments on several territorial levels. In the case of the European Union those levels include international, European, national, regional and local. This system functions in a bottom-up way, bringing the citizens closer to the decision-making bodies. Charter for Multi-level Governance The Charter for Multi-level Governance was adopted by the CoR in 2014. Through the Charter the Committee recognizes the important role of Local and Regional Authorities (LRAs) in achieving cohesion and integration within the EU and calls all levels of government to embrace a system of multi-level governance towards a Europe with nonexistent regional disparities. Good governance A good quality governance system refers to a system which is open, inclusive, accountable, effective and coherent; it prioritizes the needs of citizens and long-term gain for the state or region.

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Subsidiarity The principle that policy decision should be taken as close to its recipients (citizens) as possible.

See also:

§ Union for the Mediterranean: http://ufmsecretariat.org/who-we-are/ § Committee of the Regions: http://cor.europa.eu/en/about/Pages/key-facts.aspx § Charter on Multi-level Governance:

http://www.calrenet.eu/images/header/Santiago/Documentos/EUday/CMG_EN.pdf § What is good governance? : http://www.goodgovernance.org.au/about-good-

governance/what-is-good-governance/


The European Union aims to promote integration and regional cohesion, not only among Member States, but also on an international level. The Committee of the Regions and the Union for the Mediterranean are the main institution through which these aims are promoted.

The recent economic crisis has deepened regional and national disparities, hindering the creation of a more egalitarian and connected Europe. In the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis we have also observed the rise of extremist right-wing parties all across Europe, while the depth and extent of corruption in certain Member States was brought to light. Taking into consideration the above circumstances, while keeping in mind that 5 Balkan countries are candidates for a European membership and 5 are already Member States, cohesion and regional integration in the Balkans is as relevant as ever. The remaining question is how is decentralisation and good governance connected with cohesion and regional integration?

On the one hand, the concept of a decentralised government is directly connected with subsidiarity and regionalisation; basically giving more autonomy and responsibility to local and regional authorities. Such a system brings the decision-making process closer to the citizens, thus further involving them, while satisfying the needs of each region directly and specifically.

On the other hand, good governance ensures that the interests of the people are well-prioritised and represented, focusing on the amelioration of regions and countries. Such a system earns the respect and trust of the citizens, stimulating their desire for participation in matters of region or state.

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Both systems, when implemented correctly and simultaneously, bring development on a local level, bridging the gap between regions, and consequently countries, while promoting a multi-level governance system. What’s left to be answered is how good governance and decentralisation can be promoted through the Charter for multi-level governance in the Balkans.

Finally, the Union for the Mediterranean presents candidate states and their regions with a unique opportunity to be involved in European projects in order to improve the quality of governance and to better prepare for future membership in the EU.

Key Questions

• What are the characteristics and competences of the Union for the Mediterranean and the Committee of the Regions that allow them to promote decentralisation and good –governance?

• What principles are set in the Charter for Multi-level governance? How are they connected-related with decentralization and good-governance?

• How does a multi-level governance system reinforce cohesion and regional integration within the EU?

• Why is decentralization important in the Balkans, especially right now? What are the effects of a centralized government on the citizens and on the EU as a whole? and also:

• Why is good-governance important in the Balkans, especially right now? What are the effects of poor-governance on the citizens and on the EU as a whole?

• Can EU candidate states use the Union for the Mediterranean as a platform for a quicker integration into the European Union? See also:

§ 6th Cohesion Report, Chapter 5: http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/sources/docoffic/official/reports/cohesion6/6cr_en.pdf

§ Committee of the Regions, Opinion on Local Authorities: http://coropinions.cor.europa.eu/CORopinionDocument.aspx?identifier=cdr%5crelex-iv%5cdossiers%5crelex-iv-019%5ccdr312-2008_fin_ac.doc&language=EN

§ What is good-governance? : http://www.goodgovernance.org.au/about-good-governance/what-is-good-governance/

Key Actors

• Directorate General for Regional and Urban Development: This Directorate is mainly responsible for the implementation of the EU’s Regional Policy (Cohesion Policy),

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often collaborating with the External Relations family of Directorates General and DG TRADE.

• Committee of the Regions: The Committee is consulted by the European Parliament, the European Commission and the Council of the EU on all matters that concern regional policy, or might affect Member States on a regional or local level. In 2014 it adopted the Charter for Multi-level governance, though which it aims to bridge the gaps among EU regions and member states.

• European Committee on Democracy and Governance (CDDG): As a committee of the Council of Europe, the CDDG is responsible for implementing its intergovernmental work in the field of democratic governance.42

• Local and Regional authorities: Being the backbone of citizens’ representation, they play a vital role in regional development and the implementation of the Cohesion Policy, as it has been recently recognised by the European Commission.43 By partaking in EU institutions and projects of a wider spectrum, like the Committee of the Regions and the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, they influence the outcome of the decision-making process.44

See also:

§ Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy: http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/regional_policy/index_en.htm

§ European Committee on Democracy and Governance: http://www.coe.int/t/dgap/localdemocracy/CDDG/default_en.asp

§ “20 years of the Committee of the Regions” : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPpQCPjTwjM


• Cohesion Policy 2014-2020: It is at the moment the most important policy concerning regional development. The policy will be implemented through the European Structural and Investment funds (ESI), which include mainly three funds –the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the European Social Fund (ESF) and the Cohesion Fund (CF),

42 Council of Europe http://www.coe.int/en/web/about-‐us/who-‐we-‐are 43 LOCAL AUTHORITIES: ACTORS FOR DEVELOPMENT http://eur-‐lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2008:0626:FIN:EN:PDF 44 Congress of Local and Regional Authorities http://www.coe.int/t/congress/presentation/default_en.asp?mytabsmenu=1

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plus the European Agricultural Fund for Regional Development (EAFRD) and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF). Overall the ESI funds make up two thirds of EU budget.

• Strategy for Innovation and Good Governance at Local Level: The strategy was adopted by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe in 2008 and it has already been implemented in a few European countries. Consisting of twelve principles, the strategy aims at improving the governance at the local level and the quality of citizens’ life as a result.

• Atlas of decentralised cooperation: The Atlas of Decentralised Cooperation for development is a joint initiative proposed by the Committee of the Regions and the European Commission to increase and share information on cooperation for development of European Union's Local and Regional Authorities (LRA).5

See also:

§ Cohesion Policy 2014-2020: http://www.programmemed.eu/en/the-programme/programming-2014-2020/cohesion-policy-2014-2020.html

§ Priorities for 2014-2020: http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/index.cfm/en/policy/how/priorities/

§ The Strategy for Innovation and Good Governance at Local Level: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ao0qAoApT1M

§ The multi-annual financial framework: http://ec.europa.eu/clima/policies/adaptation/financing/funds/index_en.htm

§ Atlas of decentralized cooperation: http://lra4dev.cor.europa.eu/portal/en/atlas/Pages/Maps.aspx

Further Reading

§ Decentralisation and local development in Western Balkans, pages 1-6: http://www.cespi.it/SEENET/report-2/report-2-completo.pdf

§ Regionalization and decentralization in a comparative perspective Eastern Europe and Poland, pages 1-2: https://www.mir.gov.pl/fundusze/Fundusze_Europejskie_2014_2020/Negocjacje_2014_2020/Raporty/Documents/regionalization_and_decentralization_eastern_europe_and_poland.pdf

§ Promoting good governance: file:///C:/Users/%CE%A0%CE%B1%CF%81%CE%B1%CF%83%CE%BA%CE%B5%CF%85%CE%AE/Downloads/esf_technicalpaper_good_governance_en.pdf

§ European week of Regions and Cities: http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/opendays/od2015/index.cfm

§ The Regio-Network 2020: http://egtc.kormany.hu/the-regio-network-2020

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ITRE II - (Committee on Industry, Technology, Research and Energy) The European Commission has awarded EUR 80 billion to the Horizon 2020 research programme. How can the EU use these funds to harmonise the standard of scientific research across the Member States as well as in countries associated to Horizon 2020, whilst becoming a global leader in research and innovation? Key Terms

European Union's Framework Programmes for research and innovation – funding programmes created by the European Union/European Commission to support and foster research in the European Research Area (ERA). The specific objectives and actions vary between funding periods. There are 8 frameworks until this point, horizon 2020 being the latest.

Horizon 2020 – Horizon 202045 is the biggest EU Research and Innovation programme ever with nearly €80 billion of funding available over 7 years (2014-2020). This is an initiative aimed at securing Europe’s global competitiveness. Other than the EU member states, by 17 December 2014, Association Agreements have been concluded and/or signed with the following countries: Iceland, Norway, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Turkey, Israel, Moldova, Switzerland, Faroe Islands.

National Contact Points (NPC) - National structures established and financed by governments of the 28 EU member states and the states associated to the framework program. NCPs give personalized support on the spot and in applicants' own languages.

European Research Council – ERC supports frontier research, cross-disciplinary proposals and pioneering ideas in new and emerging fields which introduce unconventional and innovative approaches

Relevance and Explanation of the problem

Horizon 2020 is the eighth phase of the Framework Programmes for Research and Technological Development. It runs from 2014-2020 and provides an estimated 80 billion euro of funding which is represents a 23% increase in comparison with the previous phase. The programme consists of three basic priorities: Excellent Science, Industrial Leadership and Societal Challenges. Horizon 2020's goal is to ensure Europe produces world-class science, removes barriers to innovation and makes it easier for the public and private sectors to work together in delivering innovation.

45 Here is a video of the Horizon 2020 programme -‐ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CimJI88c4fE

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Investing in Western Balkan Countries also plays a major role in the EU’s ambition towards becoming a global leader of research and innovation. Integrating the research and innovation systems of the Western Balkans into the European Research Area is an important step in overcoming poor scientific performance. Since 2008, the EU-funded project, WBC-INCO.NET46, has played its part in nurturing the relationship between the EU and the West Balkans in this area by providing high quality targeted information on research in the Western Balkans.

Given the scale of the Horizon2020 project, the European Commission can allocate funds in such a way as to ensure the development of scientific capacities in associated countries, some of which at the same time aspire to join the EU. This would be mutually beneficial since those countries would receive a fair amount of funds which would be used for scientific research and innovation while at the same time EU would ensure necessary developments for the candidate and potential candidate states to fulfil the accession standards and simultaneously confirm their readiness for the European Integration. The main problem occurring is that, with the same amount of investment, EU could potentially produce greater results in Member States, which have much more advanced research capabilities. The main question, therefore is whether the EU should choose to focus the majority of the funds in the countries where there is more room for improvement and harmonisation with the rest of the EU, or in countries that can return better scientific and research outcomes in the short term.

Key Conflict

There is a conflict within the topic question. Horizon 2020 has the largest budget in comparison with the previous framework programmes. Harmonizing funds means that they will be distributed equally between the countries associated with the horizon 2020, a more decentralized form of funding; while at the same time being a global leader means that EU should have a more active role in the distribution of funds thus deciding and prioritizing the fund distribution based on the countries’ level of scientific research. Now, the problem mostly resides to non-EU countries that are associated to the Horizon 2020. Even though scientific performance has improved in the western Balkan countries there are still problems that reside there. The lack of human resources, research funding and facilities and inadequate regulatory regimes consist great obstacles to research and innovation. This is actually a classical economic problem, should EU distribute more funds to these countries so that they develop their research and innovation capacities or should they focus on the countries that have more capacities like Germany.

Key Questions

• What would be the impact, both negative and positive, of targeting countries with poor scientific research level?

46 http://wbc-‐inco.net/

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• Should funds be equally distributed between member states?

• What are the opportunities and challenges of the Horizon 2020 framework?

• How can EU become a global leader in research and innovation?

Key Actors

The European Commission – is the executive body of the European Union. It is the institution in charge of Framework Programmes for Research and Technological Development. It is also the institution in charge of accession countries.

Governments of member states and countries associated with the Horizon 2020 – Governments of these countries will play an important role on fund allocation.

Horizon 2020 associated countries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Turkey, Iceland, Israel, Moldova, Switzerland, Faroe Islands, Norway.47

WBC - Inco – is the coordination of Research policies with the western Balkan countries. It plays a major role considering that some of the states that the horizon 2020 will tackle are from western Balkans and are accession countries as well.48


Horizon 2020 has only been active for a year since 2014. The latest investments were in the field of energy efficiency, environment as well as in increasing the competitiveness of small and medium enterprises. Almost a quarter of the proposals sought funding for research and innovation projects on new ICT (Information and Communications Technology)-based solutions for energy efficiency. Among all the call topics, the success rate was the highest for proposals on improving the finance ability and attractiveness of sustainable energy investments.

COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) - is a unique mean for European researchers, engineers and scholars to jointly develop their own ideas and new initiatives across all fields of science and technology through trans-European networking of nationally funded research activities. COST is supported by the EU Framework Programme Horizon 2020

Other than successful investments, Horizon 2020 project has also successfully managed to create National Contact points in every Member State, as well as in countries that are associated to the Horizon2020. This will serve as communication and coordination points 47 http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/data/ref/h2020/grants_manual/hi/3cpart/h2020-‐hi-‐list-‐ac_en.pdf 48 http://wbc-‐inco.net

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between the interested parties with the headquarters. Seeing that the previous frameworks were criticised by requiring a lot of paperwork for the funding procedures, the Horizon 2020 managed to reduce it drastically which will further encourage researchers and innovators.

Some successful project of previous frameworks were sought to continue under the Horizon 2020 framework. With the end of the Seventh Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (FP7), the Commission launched a public consultation to collect the views of the public on the fuel cells and hydrogen sector and the possible continuation of the Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU), under the Horizon 2020.

EU has not yet taken concrete steps towards harmonizing the standard for scientific research which means that it is up to the committee to propose effective solutions.

Further Reading

Most of the information regarding the Horizon 2020 can be found here :

http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/horizon2020/en

Other important sources:

http://www.scienceonthenet.eu/content/article/cristina-da-rold/western-balkans-get-ready-horizon-2020/march-2014

https://ec.europa.eu/programmes/horizon2020/sites/horizon2020/files/FactSheet_Open_Access.pdf

http://ec.europa.eu/research/swafs/index.cfm?pg=policy&lib=ethics

https://www.euresearch.ch/de/european-programmes/horizon-2020/

http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/data/ref/h2020/grants_manual/hi/3cpart/h2020-hi-list-ac_en.pdf

http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/data/ref/h2020/wp/2014_2015/annexes/h2020-wp1415-annex-a-countries-rules_en.pdf