71st InternatIonal sessIon of the european Youth parlIament In amsterdam

The AlphaFarewell Issue

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EDITORIAL

Dear participants of the 71st International Session in Amsterdam,

The Amsterdam Media Team‘s output is not perfect. Neither are any of its members and neither are you or the resolutions that you produced. You made mistakes and we made mistakes. However, is that what will matter when we look back?

I don‘t think so. EYP is above all an educa-tional project and it offers a fantastic platform for debate, but what makes it so special is its people. You can find some of the most intel-ligent and hard-working but also insane indi-viduals in this organisation. You find people that will happily discuss about CAP with you over dinner or gender equality at 3 o‘clock at night. You meet people that are willing to sac-rifice their university career and their social life. And you get to work with people that you can learn so much from while they also want to learn from you. This is a unique combina-tion that you will never experience anywhere else and which will make you do things which you deemed impossible before. EYP brings out the best and worst in people and if you are up for this sometimes bumpy ride you should definitely stay involved.

You on your own would never have been able to write a resolution of the same quality as you did thanks to the guidance of your chair and the combined knowledge of all the delegates in your committee. Similarly, I never thought I could edit at an IS, but the trust placed in me, the support I received and the fantastic team I was privileged to work with showed me that I could. So no, EYPers and their work aren‘t perfect but they will help get you a lot closer to perfection than what you would ever be able to reach on your own. And even though some people don‘t believe in the importance of media teams I know that everything that Camille, Célia, Dimitry, Dun-ja, Evanthia, Johan, Jonathan Kieran, Laura, Max, Oscar, Panos, Rónán, Silvia, Sophie, Stefan and Tuna did was in one way or an-other motivated by the hope of making your Amsterdam experience a little more perfect.

None of us will ever reach perfection, so let‘s judge our success on the basis of our splendid failure to do the impossible.

Yours,Kerstin

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CONTENTS

4 The Unicorn of Politics

5 EYP Controversial

6 Your Teachers, People in the Background Who Care

8 Interview with a Prince

10 The Heart of the Session

12 Inclusivity or Exclusivity?

13 Re-Imagined

14 Your Amsterdam Experience in One Work

16 Sticking to Etiquette

18 Speak up!

19 Challenge Accepted

20 Where does Inspiration Come From?

22 How EYP Changed my Life?

23 A Safari Through the EYP Jungle

24 The Crisis’ Future According to You

25 Debating on Three Levels

26 Breaking Up Is Never Easy

27 A Face to the Crisis

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THE UNICORN OF POLITICSRónán O’COnnOR investigates what makes eYP diffeRent fROm its betteR knOwn COunteRPaRt, the euROPean PaRliament.

EYP is not only a model example of youth in-

volvement in politics, it is also an example of a

model parliament. Based on the European Parlia-

ment, we try to reflect the opportunities given to

European politicians to come together and debate

the pressing issues we face as a Union.

Yet any Parliament is about more than that. In

reality, a Parliament is a fractious political bat-

tleground. Each representative comes with a firm

nationalistic perspective. They seek to promote

the values of their nation, as a true reflection of

their people. Furthermore, these politicians rep-

resent particular political parties, each with their

own agenda within the context of their country’s

role in Europe. This means that debate in the Eu-

ropean Parliament occurs upon strict divisions.

Concession of opposing beliefs or arguments is

not as simple as a matter of debate. These politi-

cians are subject to their electorate and a cohort of

lobbyists. The private individual interests and the

public political interests change the complexion of

European co-operation.

In EYP, we strive for a more principled and ideal

form of parliament. Our priority is on the com-

mon goal of European development. All of you

delegates will have faced heated discussions and

had to make difficult compromises. Often, these

compromises are ones that would never be con-

sidered in the European Parliament. This ability to

prioritise European interests above national ones,

allows for originality and innovation within EYP

committees. Moreover, it is a symbolic representa-

tion of what a parliament stands for. EYP treats

the Parliament as a team. We endeavor to work

together, seeking to take advantage of our size

and power as a community. This may be idealistic.

We do not see this commitment to compromise

in the reality of the political world. Nonetheless,

when we put aside our nationalist ideologies, the

results provide an illuminating insight into what

could be possible.

Our debates are won and lost on logic and ration-

ale, not on political bureaucracy. We celebrate the

skills of debate and persuasion, and we are proud

to concede to a well-argued point. We serve to

teach young people not to be stubborn, and not

to ignore logic. As long as we act in this way, our

differences from the European Parliament are only

to our advantage. We are the unicorn of politics:

we may not exist in the real world, but everyone

wishes we did.

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EYP CONTROVERSIALfROm seleCtiOn PRaCtiCes tO eYP jOuRnalism, PanaghiOtis P. kalaïdhOPOu-lOs, evanthia kasiORa and Célia POnCelin COnsideR sOme Of the ClassiC issues with-in the euROPean YOuth PaRliament and PRediCt theiR mORe OR less COn-tROveRsial futuRe.

Getting selected

People do not attend an EYP session just on their

own accord and, thus, those sessions to which se-

lection is a prerequisite call upon National Com-

mit-tees to select responsibly.

The European Youth Parliament is characterised

by many diverging selection mentalities and prac-

tices. School delegations, selected as a whole, are

pre-ferred in Italy, the UK or France, whereas, on

the other side, Greece and Tur-key select their del-

egates individually. Moreover, absolute transpar-

ency is not the case in EYP, since a number of Na-

tional Committees still form delega-tions without

having first established a standardised, open and

accessible selection process.

As of November 2012, there is no unanimous ap-

proach. But let’s ask our-selves; do we have to con-

sider co-ordinating? And, if not this, what then?

Parlez-vous francais?

Even though French is the second official language

of EYP, it is used rarely and almost exclusively

during the General Assembly. As the majority of

the participants cannot understand it, speaking

French often slows down the pro-cesses, thus the

debate about its utility and potential abolishment

is ongoing.

Is it only historical reasons – EYP was founded

in France – that direct the maintenance of French

.Since we can all communicate using English, what

is the point of another official language? Can the

social diversity EYP is so will-ing to promote be

represented by just one language, though?

EYP Journalism

The definition of a press team has changed sig-

nificantly through time, even though it has always

been responsible for reporting and creating an

enjoyable atmosphere. Moreover, the relation that

journalists have with the chairs is sometimes un-

clear – they should not act as a co-chair, neither

are they their subordinates. As a matter of fact,

being a journalist should not be seen as a step

towards becoming a chair. The press teams have

been struggling to find their proper place; the ex-

pectations that other teams have are not always

pre-cise. Innovation has started to play a major

role in all aspects of EYP ses-sions and it is now

high time we undertake a change in EYP journal-

ism so that it can find its unique character.

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YOUR TEACHERS, PEOPLE IN THE BACKGROUND WHO CARE

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Even though they are not really the stars of the

session, the teachers do deserve much more

than any superficial accolade. We asked them for

a little of their time and they were more than will-

ing to let us in.

The same going also with their origin, it is finally

not really important what type of school they come

from, right from the very first moment one real-

ises the extent of their truly moving dedication to

their function. They teach, in the first place, they

shape people in all other layers. And, if carried out

in the right mood, this really is magnificent.

So, what about EYP? It is not another dry semi-ex-

tracurricular activity, for sure. It is a window to the

world, providing their students with some space

to thrive on their European identity. In fact, from

a teacher’s point of view, be-yond the designation

of “another act of European Citizenship”, EYP is

all about inclusiveness, awareness, consciousness

and a great ground of im-provement and personal

development. And they certainly do not behave

the way they would do with another project.

EYP does not always do the most to reach out to

them, but once so, being an EYP teacher is full

of responsibility. It is not organising the travel,

fundraising, parenting their students or catering

for everything to their academic prepara-tion. It

is all of them together! And they love it, mainly

because they love their children.

Ultimately, one is often asked what they get in re-

turn. “What more could we ask for?” is the polite

phrasing of the actual reply “We don’t really gain

any-thing, but we’re grateful for what we see.”.

Indeed, beyond them being also a well-bond-

ed team, they witness their students growing to

independent, critical citizens day by day. And,

honestly, this has been the unedited answer of

ten different people at different times.

Well, there also is the crisis mortgaging our fu-

ture, our dreams and our hopes. There have been

curtails on everything, but still, nothing could

lessen their enthusiastic fidelity to the duty that

they have been presented, or bestowed with.

Our teachers do not share the same hopes for the

future with their future; in fact, their students

are their hope for the future. Such people walk

amongst us, too.

Nothing else than a massive “thank you” is only

fit for the case.

the OnlY waY YOu Change the wORld is thROugh insPiRatiOn, One Of OuR teaCh-eRs tOld us. PanaghiOtis P. kalaïdhOPOulOs and Célia POnCelin investigate what gives them the insPiRatiOn theY need tO keeP gOing.

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INTERVIEW WITH A PRINCE PRINCE CONSTANTIJN VAN ORANJE-NASSAU

sitting in the ReCePtiOn ROOm behind the knight’s hall shORtlY befORe the OPening CeRemOnY, suRROunded bY anCient Oak Panelling and even OldeR Paintings was COnstantijn van ORan-

je-nassau, dePutY head Of Cabinet fOR the viCe-PResident Of the euRO-Pean COmmissiOn, whOm OsCaR sten-bOm had the OPPORtunitY tO sPeak at length tO abOut ‘ending the CRisis’.

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With a wealth of experience within both the

European Union, policy advisement and fi-

nance Contantijn, the third and youngest son of

Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, is extraordinary

well placed to offer insight on the crisis that has

engulfed Europe seemingly permanently.

Whilst the gritty details of banking legislation and

short term stability mechanisms have been the

topic of discussion throughout the session Mr. Van

Oranje offers a different perspective of an oppor-

tunity to tackle the much broader issues that will

come to face Europe in the coming decades. “The

crisis is about looking at where we want to be in

the next ten to twenty years” he says, pointing out

that the demographic and sustainability issues of

and aging population combined with our general

inability to live within our means loom on the ho-

rizon. These more gradual, shifting changes pose

challenges that will require more than just tem-

porary stopgap measures, when the current crisis

offers the opportunity for far reaching change; “It

is an opportunity not to be wasted.”

In the short term Constantijn, whilst fearful of

larger growth packages, does not see growth and

austerity as being incompatible and advocates a

growth strategy to be combined with the required

spending cuts. Yet he sees the key being not the

packages as a whole but rather the implementa-

tion of legislation at national and local levels, ar-

guing that it is up to Member States to live within

their means. The fact that Greece had four times

as many teachers as Finland is an example of the

need for emphasis to be placed less on austerity

and more on reducing regulation in order to create

space for private enterprise. Contantijn adds that it

should always be the responsibility of the public

of any Member State to hold their governments ac-

countable and responsible for sustainable growth

and the general functioning and development of

their nations.

Moving on to the broader and more long-term

changes required not only to solve the crisis but to

prevent similar future situations he argues that a

cultural change, an end to a North/South divide, is

required. Contantijn concedes that such a change

is generational and thus very long term in its scope

but that such a change is long overdue. Fundamen-

tal structural changes are what caused the crisis

and must be rectified in order to solve it. He also

agrees that fundamental structural changes exist

at an EU level, “that is what EU leaders are dealing

with at the moment”. Further elaborating that dif-

ferences in Member States have led to imbalances

and fiscal disparencies he makes the interesting

argument that one should aim to reduce the EU’s

responsibilities.

Concluding his view that the crisis can be used

to tackle broader issues at hand the Deputy Head

of Cabinet talks about the health care industry;

an example of sustainability issues as health care

costs are hugely inflated whilst being an inno-

vative and growing industry. By cutting rising

healthcare costs whilst nurturing a growing in-

dustry Constantijn Van Oranje-Nassau maintains

that it is possible to combine a form of austerity

with growth in the short run whilst tackling de-

mographic and sustainability issues in the long-

term.

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THE HEART OF THE SESSIONas the sessiOn is neaRlY OveR, and we all feel that what we ex-

PeRienCed was unique and simPlY indesCRibable. at this POint, dunja tanOviC and tuna dökmeCi inteRview the ORganiseRs, whO

made it all POssible.

Structure of the team:

At the beginning, the team had the classic or-

ganisational structure of groups but in August that

structure was abandoned, and a new one, called

the Plan of Action, was adopted. In this system,

there are four main groups and their tasks change

every day.

Mark Brakel

Why did you decide to take on this task?

Bringing an IS to the Netherlands was the main

motivation. Everyone thought that it was not fea-

sible, because there was not a lot of Dutch EYPers,

and because EYP the Netherlands had relatively

less experience in organising, and I wanted to

show that it could be done.

Hardest time:

Fundraising was the hardest part, and June was

definitely the most hectic month, as there was 5

months until the session, and it was time to be

realistic and take alternatives into consideration.

Most overwhelming moment:

At the session, I must say that it was Monday.

Most proud moment:

Check-in. That is a part which is normally quite

frantic, so it was amazing to see that it all worked

out, my team was working very hard without

needing my help.

How do you feel right now?

Quite happy, I recommend everyone to head-or-

ganise an International Session, it is a fantastic

feeling. I feel like I learned a lot. I also feel a bit

nostalgic at the moment.

Team Gouda

Zahra Runderkamp

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Why did you apply?

I wanted to show that we could do it, for the first

time in Amsterdam, and to show everyone my

country and the city.

Most overwhelming moment:

Press conference, definitely.

Symbol of the session:

Windmills

Team Tulip

Ulrich Völker

Why did you apply?

Being an International Organiser is one of the

most special roles you can ever experience. You

are an official at an IS, but in a very different way.

Most overwhelming moment:

When we, the organisers, arrived at the StayOkay

before the other participants.

Team Bike

Tim Keegstra

Why did you apply?

I believe that if you are critical of the functioning

of an organisation and you want to help to move it

forward, you should take a proactive role. Also my

search for personal growth played a role.

Overwhelming moment?

The Ridderzaal

Symbol of session?

Shirts and ties – I’ve never worn so many in my

life.

Team Cow

Stefan Trifunovic

Why did you apply?

It was my love EYPNL – I wanted to be part of

something special and help pass on the EYP torch.

Overwhelming moment?

The Rijksmuseum - after living in the Netherlands

for almost all my life, Wednesday night was the

first time I had been. It was honestly magical.

Symbol of session? Mark’s ‘fro

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INCLUSIVITY OR EXCLUSIVITY?the diveRsitY in natiOnalitY Of eYPeRs is Often nOt RefleCted in theiR sOCial baCkgROunds; theRefORe Camille dugaY COmenCini and jOnathan PiePeRs take a lOOk at the diffeRent OutReaCh PROgRammes in PlaCe.

People traveling to the furthest corners of Eu-

rope by plane, walking around in suits all day

with smartphones in their hands; this is the cli-

ché of the average EYPer. Participating in a ses-

sion demands financial and social efforts. There

are also academic requirements, such as decent

English skills; by far not all schools are prepared to

participate in our projects. It is not only social and

financial background that limits the possibility to

participate; the structure of our organisation also

impairs the access for people with disabilities.

So it is evident that through the nature of our or-

ganisation we tend to exclude certain groups of

society. It is not the values we promote and ad-

here to that narrow the gateway to EYP but rather

the structure of the programme and the selection

procedures.

It is therefore high time for us to burst out of our

shell of relative exclusivity and engage in well-

planned outreach activities. At the moment there

are already several schemes in place, but we must

admit that these only exist in a limited number of

National Committees and that these are not ex-

ploited to their full potential. In the following we

will introduce some of the initiatives that have al-

ready been implemented.

A first example would be EurVoice, a project by

EYP UK. The goal of these recurrent panel de-

bates with MPs and MEPs is to reach pupils from

state funded schools and stimulate their interest

in politics and debating in order to get their voice

heard. There are little to no participation fees, this

lowers the threshold even more.

EYP Germany also has outreach programmes

that are being conducted in schools throughout

the whole country. Standard EYP events lasting

two or three days are organised in schools six

to ten times each year. These mini sessions are

open to non-English speakers as they are mostly

organised and directed in German. EYP Italy and

EYP-Europolis Belgium are planning to or are al-

ready organising similar events.

Although not as definite as the aforementioned,

other NCs such as EYP France are taking steps to-

wards carrying out programmes boosting inclu-

sivity. EYP France for instance does not yet have a

specific project but a general policy on inclusivity

stimulating events. In that respect one-day ses-

sions are being set up in schools in non-preferen-

tial education areas.

In conclusion we can state that there are definitely

actions being undertaken to enlarge or diversify

the number and the background of participants.

However, the downside of these types of events

is that they are often conducted in a national lan-

guage. This makes the events more accessible, yet

the integration of participants in the long run is

very difficult or even near impossible. The ques-

tion remains: can we come up with long-term

solutions that guarantee inclusivity without com-

promising the academic standard that our organi-

sation is built on?

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RE-IMAGINED: THE STORY OF EYP’S NEW ‘THEME SONG’

shOuld the lYRiCs Of imagine be Changed? kieRan mCnultY has lOOked intO this POssibilitY fOR us.

The lyrics of John Lennon’s Imagine can be per-

ceived as offensive, are utopian and they car-

ry a meaning that does not fit in with the values

promoted by the European Youth Parliament. We

proclaim ourselves to be a non-partisan associa-

tion that respects and encourages cultural diver-

sity. The song is, according to some, too political

and it portrays an ideal world in which religion,

borders and passions do not exist. Why would we

want a world where there is nothing to kill or die

for? Does this not mean a life not worth living?

Should there not be ideals worth losing your life

for? It is disrespectful towards people who iden-

tify themselves with religious beliefs to idealise a

world from which religions are banned. We, as the

European Youth Parliament, should not support

the disappearance of countries and possessions.

Although we do not necessarily agree with these

arguments, there has been a long going discussion

about whether to change ‘Imagine’ as our unoffi-

cial anthem. We decided to take into account the

arguments that were brought to the table but with

our own twist. After a long debate we decided to

rewrite the song.

So then, to our new version. The intension behind

it is not to make Imagine ‘better’ or to take away

from the masterpiece that is the original, but it is

an attempt to mould the song for our own ends,

so that we can sing it knowing that the song rep-

resents what we as an organisation stand for. The

Imagine moment at the end of a session is un-

doubtedly magical and emotional, so we wanted

to keep it for all. We cannot, after all, have a Clos-

ing Ceremony without weeping.

It is to this end that this version of the song chang-

es very little. The chorus is the exact same for

example. It would be tedious to describe why we

made every single change that we did, but they

were all made deliberately and they address the

concerns that have been made, hopefully in a del-

icate manner. Crucially, the spirit of the song is

still intact. What we are singing still resonates

with what Lennon intended; a world free from

war and greed.

Amsterdam has been a striking session. There

has been a bar set that will be hard to surpass. It

seems perfect, therefore, to roll out this new ver-

sion here. We have a chance to be different, to tell

everyone that this is what we stand for. You may

say that we are crazy to change the song, that it

is a trivial matter, but it is the hope of the Media

Team that when we all stand in that last circle,

when those merited tears finally start to fall, that

we were not the only ones that appreciated the

change.

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Describe your Amsterdam experience in one word!

All

the

girls

Bant

er

Cottag

e

Coun

terv

ersion

Dis

cour

se

Iinte

rest

ing

Little

sle

ep

Opi

nion

s

Part

ying

Pres

tige

Dut

ch thr

own

Tiring

Whining girls

in h

igh

heel

s

Shio

fra

Recu

rren

ce

Unf

orge

tabl

e

Lege

ndar

y

Exha

usting

Busy

Cha

lleng

ing

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Unf

orge

tabl

e Different

Bath

room

Coffee

Dis

co B

us

Dis

co P

ogo

Fun

Gan

gnam

Sty

le

Idea

l

Itre

-sting

Bath

room

Polit

ics

Vital

Venu

es

Unp

redi

ctab

le

Stan

ding

Soci

alis

ing

Rik

jsm

useu

m

Man

ga

Hur

ryin

g

Hes

ter

Div

ersi

ty

Fun

Cold

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STICKING TO ETIQUETTEdmitRY vYskRebentsev and tuna dökmeCi Put the sPOtlight On amsteRdam’s mOst exquisite dinneR.

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On Wednesday night the participants of the

71st International Session of the European

Youth Parliament had the unique opportunity to

be invited to the Rijksmuseum for the gala dinner,

and for a special tour of the museum.

Just as we were all thinking that the International

Session in Amsterdam could not get any better,

Wednesday night proved us wrong. Our venue,

the Rijksmuseum, founded in 1800 in the Hague,

and moved to Amsterdam in 1808, is the Dutch

national museum and one of the most important

places in Amsterdam. A part of its large collection

of the most important pieces of art, including the

well-known Night Watch of Rembrandt, was pre-

sented exclusively to the session participants by

very engaging tour guides.

However, the fabulous dinner at the Rijksmuseum

would not have been possible without the gener-

ous support of AkzoNobel – the world’s largest

global paints and coatings company and a major

producer of specialty chemicals. Before the dinner

the participants were addressed by Tex Gunning, a

board member of AkzoNobel, who addressed in-

novative concepts of effective corporate manage-

ment, for which the cornerstone of success would

be the well-being of employees. He also urged the

delegates to bear this in mind when having been

promoted to senior management positions since

young leaders often fail to stick to such essential

corporate governance approaches. Furthermore,

Mr. Gunning advised the session participants to

always consider the next generation while taking

decisions, and criticised the approach of today’s

decision-making authorities.

Mr. Gunning’s speech was followed by the pres-

entation of Mr. Roel Janssen, an esteemed Dutch

publisher who gave an insight about the basis of

the crisis. He provided an objective review of the

current economic situation using four metaphors

to guide us through his speech: a merry-go-round,

a swing, a pair of scales and a swimming pool.

Such comparisons proved to be rather memorable

and illustrative for the delegates, helping to clarify

a few uncertainties about the current crisis.

The Alpha interviewed the delegates on the Ga-

la-Dinner. Most of them said that they had never

attended such a dazzling event. These are a few

of their comments: “A bit pretentious but quite

nice.” “I loved the paintings; it was brilliant.”

“The speech by AkzoNobel was amazing.”

Nevertheless, the events such as gala dinner are of

utmost importance to EYP since they remind all

of us to live up to the academic standard expect-

ed. Few people are actually aware of the fact that,

the dinner might as well have been offered to oth-

er organisations. Yet it was offered to EYP, which

proves that multinational companies have faith

in projects like ours. However, it should be our

objectives to live up to their expectations, assure

them Europe has a solid future, a future where

all of the previous achievements will be justified

and will serve as basis to even more outstanding

projects and endeavours.

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SPEAK UP

maximilian kiehn and ROnan O’COnOR take a lOOk baCk On the imPaCt Of the sPeakeR’s CORneR at amsteRdam 2012, and what

it was set Out tO aChieve.

Speak up and take a side, do not let others make

decisions for you. That is what we set out to

achieve as we wore the trilby and stood atop the

speakers’ box. Bringing together inspiring individ-

uals, that is what the European Youth Parliament

is all about. While the General Assembly gives

everyone the time to shine, during the other phas-

es of the session it seems to be very difficult to

give everyone the space to present themselves.

The newly implemented Speaker’s Corner aimed

to grant EYPers the chance to stand out and pres-

ent what they believe, away from the committee

topics.

Speaker’s corner celebrates the ability to debate.

Many delegates and officials alike faced difficul-

ties in developing their own opinions and express-

ing them effectively. At Speakers’ Corner, you

cannot turn to your committee, or avoid an ar-

gument presented to you. You speak for yourself,

and this requires a different type of bravery. As

we began teambuilding, we began to enjoy the

lighter issues. As the session progressed, so did

the importance of the topics we debated, from

“Are forks better than spoons?” to the issue of

abortion.

The Speaker’s Corner turned out to question our

own perception. How debate active are we and

how well prepared can we tackle current issues.

Furthermore the Speaker’s Corner gave everyone

the chance to improve their rhetorical abilities. If

you have not taken the chance to held a speech at

the Speaker’s Corner, do so next time.

During the 10 days of the 71st International Ses-

sion of the European Youth Parliament, the Me-

dia Team was aiming to encourage debate, as the

unique combination of creative European minds

needs to be taken advantage of by any and all

means.

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Stepping out of one’s comfort zone is a hard

task; irrespective of whether someone is con-

fident or shy. It is easy to not do something you

feel you are incapable of, but it is even easier to

end up regretting it.

To really understand how EYP affects people’s

comfort zones, one must fully understand what a

comfort zone really is. One definition commonly

used is that of a situation where “one feels safe or

at ease”. This explanation makes it hard to see any

reason good enough to warrant stepping out of it.

It would be crazy to abandon a place where you

feel secure just to experiment with how far you

can push yourself.

Keeping this in mind, another definition of a com-

fort zone is that of “a settled method of working

that requires little effort and yields only barely ac-

ceptable results”. This seems like a more fitting

definition for the term due to the fact that it em-

phasises the problem with a comfort zone –it does

not allow you to grow and improve yourself.

It is easy to argue that EYP does not have comfort

zones; jumping around to the Funky Chicken, dis-

cussing controversial topics with people you bare-

ly know and standing up to give a speech to 300

people, the majority of whom will not agree with

everything you say.

In this respect EYP does not have comfort zones

because it gives everyone the chance to push

themselves to the next level.

While the above is true, it misses out a key factor,

which allows EYP to become a comfort zone in

itself for a large number of people and it is that

it never forces anyone to do anything they do not

want to. Your participation at an EYP session is a

process that puts your self-awareness and confi-

dence to the test. The “silly” activities and the se-

rious debating provide you with ample opportuni-

ties to redefine your personal limits and confront

your fears. Whether you choose to take advantage

of your potential is up to you.

The encouragement you get from your chairper-

son and teammates is evidently necessary in order

for you to feel accepted and be able to take steps

towards your personal development. At the end of

the day, though, only your will can cause you to

abandon your personal comfort zone and meet

your fellow delegates in a common one.

Leaving your comfort zone is a recurrent process

only valid for your interaction with a specific

group of people; each session there will be an-

other with another need to abandon it. That can

indeed be a tiring process, but bear in mind that

its starting point can change, as EYP always gives

you new skills and realisations that in the end be-

come a part of your personality and start defining

you as a person.

CHALLENGE ACCEPTEDdunja tanOviC and evanthia kasiORa lOOk at the ROle Of COmfORt zOnes in eYP.

ISSU

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20

Amongst the organising team, many people had

their first IS experience in Lillehammer 2010,

Norway. Zahra and Julie both agree that, although

it was incredibly cold, it was a very special session

to them. Julie insists that it was the best experience

she had ever had until then, and that it was not until

the session ended that she realised how much it

had touched her. That is the reason why she did not

doubt to be part of the organising team of Amster-

dam.

Mark, the Head Organiser, attended his first IS back

in 2007, in Dublin. The first things that come to his

mind are the fireworks, a chocolate fountain and

Stefan Zoričić and Sílvia SuSach gatheR the OffiCials’ memORies Of theiR veRY fiRst inteRnatiOnal ses-siOn.

21

The Alpha

the cottages. Indeed, it is not a coincidence that

the organising team decided to have the team-

building in the beautiful De Eemhof. Who knows

if the chocolate fountain in the restaurant was also

part of Mark’s vision?

Ulrich, international organiser, had a very different

experience regarding his first IS back in 2011. He

had an awful time due to the session not being

very well organised, but with time he re-discov-

ered EYP and decided to stay involved.

Kerstin Mathias, Editress of Amsterdam 2012,

attended her first IS in Latvia in 2006. She still

defines it as a mind-blowing experience and re-

members the great influence her chair had on her.

After having attended Riga 2006 she decided that

she wanted to bring an international session to her

hometown, and her dream has come true – the

72nd International Session of the EYP will be held

in Munich. For Kerstin Eckart who is a chairper-

son in Amsterdam, Frankfurt 2010 was her first IS.

She took the challenge of being an organiser with

great pleasure, and one of the things she remem-

bers most is how many participants got sick. She

is really impressed by the fact that, as years have

gone by, many delegates who attended Frankfurt

have taken responsibility in EYP and have become

members of the board in their National Commit-

tees, chairpersons, or have taken on other similar

roles.

Rónán O’Connor, an Irish member of the Amster-

dam Media Team, attended Athens IS in 2011. The

first thing that comes to his mind is the cottag-

es, which remind him of the Amsterdam ones. A

very random fact about the session is that, after

the farewell party, the participants were chased by

two wild dogs. Rónán remembers Athens as one

of his greatest experiences and admits that it made

him want to stay involved in EYP for a long time.

Laura Pérez-Galdós, who comes from Spain and

who is also member of the Media Team, says that

Athens 2011 made her realise how big EYP is, how

many young people all over Europe it involves. Be-

fore attending Athens, she had only participated

in a National Selection and was not aware of the

greatness and the diversity that EYP gathers in its

sessions.

The officials that now work to make the session

unforgettable for the delegates were once in your

place. We hope that you will realise that you can

stay involved if you want to, just like we all did.

Good luck and see you son somewhere in Europe!

WHERE DOES INSPIRATION FOR EYP COME FROM?

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HOW EYP CHANGED MY LIFEwhen YOu leave amsteRdam, YOuR lives aRe tO be fOReveR Changed. tO tes-

tifY tO this, thRee jOuRnalists talk abOut hOw eYP has influenCed them.

Kieran

“I can remember quite well when I was introduced

to EYP. It was a perilously wintry day back home

and the benches inside my school were beside

toasty radiators. An older student sitting next to

me asked me if I was doing EYP, an acronym I

sadly was not familiar with at the time. Boy did

I learn. It is a ridiculous cliché to say that EYP

changed my life, but it is true. I lived in the small-

est town in rural Ireland and now I have been to

the bazaars of Istanbul and the canals of our host

city. I am far more articulate and respectful than

I used to be. For me, EYP opened my eyes to the

world. I do not know if there is any other organisa-

tion in the world that people become so dedicated

to, bar cults. You will all learn to get used to skyp-

ing and emailing friends thousands of kilometres

away nearly daily. You will begin using terms that

only EYPers would understand – I find myself us-

ing direct response with my parents quite a bit. It

has left quite a mark on my life and many others’,

one that I am very happy to have and one that I am

sure scores of other teenagers from all across this

great Union would give their left arm for.”

Laura

“EYP is an European, non-partisan and non-prof-

it-making organisation founded in 1987, whose

objective is to draw the youth closer to Europe-

an institutions and politics and to foster respect,

tolerance and co-operation among them. But it is

far more than that. EYP is not only there for those

who wish to become diplomats in the future, but

it also opens doors for future doctors and artists.

It is a platform for debate where one may learn

much more than the mere technique of the art of

discussion. One learns to listen to other people,

from those whose origins and philosophies are

fundamentally different from their own. One may

therefore learn that there is not just one idea of

how things are but plenty of them, and that all of

them are equally respectable. And in my opinion,

even more important than that, one gains friends

with whom you share apparently ridiculous games,

one gains experiences which are irreplaceable and

which I will keep forever due to the fact that they

have changed my life deeply.”

Stefan

“It is amazing how we made a world for ourselves,

uniting us in a unique, multinational, multicultur-

al society that Europe seeks for. We are the role

models. Because we are the perfect Europeans,

doing just the things we are supposed to do. We

are going on a bear hunt – that is quite European.

And ever since I have joined the EYP, I am hav-

ing a problem with putting a list to the Abigail

story, because I have heard so many logical and

valid explanations, that I still cannot decide who

is to blame the most. I have learned to listen and

to be calm, to wait for my turn when speaking.

Although that is not really our common feature

and some still have not learned to respect, but I

believe that time is the main and most important

key for change. I do not know to what extent all

those issues we debate during GAs are actually

going to reach decision-makers and change things

in the short term, but I do know that the most

fundamental and maybe the most subtle change

we are going through is indeed going to make a

difference, and that change is our own perception

of who we are, of the future, and of Europe.”

23

The Alpha

With this International Session slowly draw-

ing to a close, you are about to exit the

microcosmos of this session and hopefully head

out for your journey into the macrocosmos of

EYP. But what exactly is this colossus that involves

more than 20000 young people per year, and how

is it structured and governed?

Let us start off with the big picture, EYP Inter-

national is an NGO strongly affiliated with the

Schwarzkopf Stiftung and has its official residence

in Berlin, commonly referred to as ‘The Interna-

tional Office’. This office co-ordinates and directs

the daily functioning as well as the future devel-

opment of our organisation.

Just as a company has a CEO, there is one person

that is the face of EYP International, namely the

Executive Director, currently Ville Vasaramäki. He

is one of the very few people that can say that he

does EYP for a living. Although being the ‘bill-

board’ of EYP, the Executive Director is not in the

position of deciding upon policy. The aforemen-

tioned power resides with two other bodies.

On the one hand we have the Governing Body

(GB). The role of this institution could be com-

pared to the government on a state level, although

this match is not completely satisfactory as there

is more nuance to the capacities of the GB. This is

because, next to taking the classic executive deci-

sions, the GB also determines the long-term strat-

egy of our organisation as well as supervises the

flagship events that are the International Sessions.

The second important body is the Board of Na-

tional Committees, our EYP parliament so to

speak. This is a representative institution con-

sisting of people from all 36 recognised National

Committees (NC) as well as EYP Initiatives. The

powers of this organ are the determination of pol-

icies that apply to the whole of our organisation in

co-operation with the GB. Next to this, the BNC

is also a platform for knowledge-sharing between

the national branches, this way every NC gets to

learn methods and good practices applied by oth-

er branches.

Every country in which EYP is active is set up in

a similar way to the International level which im-

plies that they also have a national board oversee-

ing all the activities in the respective country. The

board organises their work according to different

portfolios, with the president having the most re-

sponsibility and co-ordinating their tasks.

With this overview we hope to have delivered a

wider perspective on how our organisation func-

tions. Furthermore we wish that it may help you to

assume an active role in the EYP landscape.

A SAFARI THROUGH THE EYP JUNGLEsilvia susaCh and jOnathan PiePeRs take a lOOk beYOnd the hORizOn Of the CuRRent ses-siOn and ObseRve hOw eYP wORks at the institutiOnal level.

ISSU

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24

THE CRISIS’ FUTURE ACCORDING TO YOU

dunja tanOviC takes a lOOk at the suRveY Results in ORdeR tO tRY and see wheRe the CRisis’ futuRe lies.

The theme of the session is something that has

been posted everywhere, on everything, by

everyone; “Ending the Crisis” is something that

should be engrained into the minds of all now that

the legendary session that is Amsterdam 2012 is

coming to an end.

Being given the opportunity to discuss things,

like solutions to the crisis, which are otherwise

thought to be far too complex and uninteresting

for a group of teenagers, is actually something

that is quite vital for the future of the crisis. After

all, it is the future of these ‘youths’ that is in the

balance due to older generations’ mistakes.

The fact that this generation of EYP-ers is influ-

enced by modern day ‘experts’ and the different

media reports is obvious when one assesses the

answers to the survey that the media team recent-

ly asked; there’s no clear majority – put simply,

there’s no clear solution.

One of the most important questions when re-

garding the future of the crisis is the direction it

will take. Unsurprisingly enough the two most

common answers given by the 152 delegates

who answered the question was a growth pack-

age (36%) and austerity (37%); it seems that just

like the experts are divided, so is the generation

whose future is in the balance. The answer to this

question seems to heavily depend on your social

background; whether the country you come from

is prospering or deteriorating, or whether some-

one close to you has suffered due to the measures

taken by the government.

This is a worrying statistic when looking into the

future, does it show that the European Youth are

now too fundamentally different to ever be able to

coerce again as they did in times before the crisis?

Luckily there is some silver lining on this cloud

– when evaluating who was to blame for the cri-

sis, there was unity as a 61% claimed that it was

the fault of the banking industry and regulations

within their own country. A sharp contrast to the

14% who blamed other Member States.

This, while not giving a fantastic look into the

future, does create some hope. One day, Europe

should be able to find a solution to the economic

problems that currently sweep the continent and

one day be able to move forward – together.

25

The Alpha

DEBATING ON THREE LEVELS

COming uP with sOlutiOns tO the CuRRent CRisis is nOt easY. hOweveR, bY getting sOme Of the PaRtiCiPants tO debate abOut a few main POints and state theiR OPiniOns, dmitRY vYskRebentsev and lauRa PeRez-galdOs have managed tO summaRise the CORe aPPROaChes tO the issue at hand.

On the matter of the fiscal union within the EU

Member States, some claim that the whole

governmental system of many countries, includ-

ing all the PIIGS, should be entirely changed.

Instead, Truls (CLIM) says we should replace all

the national authorities across Europe with Ger-

mans to make it all more effective, centralised and

well-structured. However, Rita from Portugal still

stresses the fact that countries like hers are in real

need of help from the EU – not only in the form

of financial aid but also sharing of knowledge and

ideas which would boost growth; and that we all

should remember that we are a Union.

Yet, the debates were on not only among delegates

but also among other participants of the session.

Regarding the monetary union, we talked to Milan

and Tom of the organising team. From the begin-

ning on Milan has supported the idea of the mon-

etary union, citing benefits such as the increase

of economic activity within the EU by means of

seamless transfer of capital, workforce, goods

and services. Whereas, Tom referred to the mone-

tary union as “a great mistake” which united the

various economies at different stages making their

co-existence a burden.

On the contrary, Milan stood his ground, saying

that the breakup of the monetary union would

be simply too expensive. One should be aware

though that the existing system is a faulty one

which would bring us into recurrent crises.

Last but not least, we had other very important

representatives of the session, which are the teach-

ers, debating on the topic of austerity measures.

Ms. Whitebread from Switzerland believes that in

the current situation austerity measures are nec-

essary given the amount of bureaucracy we have

in Europe. We also should ensure purpose-orient-

ed use of funds available. At the same time, Ms.

Archer from Spain sees a threat to the consistency

of education and healthcare which might jeopard-

ise sustainable growth in the long-term. She also

puts forward a proposal to make the best out of

the current crisis by investing more into training

and retraining thus preparing our youth to stand

up to the challenges of the 21st century.

As it appears debating is not a skill that you can

easily acquire, however we should also bear in

mind that it is vital for our society in order to draw

solutions. What is even more valuable is the ex-

istence of such debate at different levels. In the

abovementioned interview we see how different a

person’s perspective might be depending on their

experience and background. That is why the way

out of the crisis can only be found in a compro-

mise between opinions and ideas originating form

every societal level. One should never forget that

all genius ideas are simple.

ISSU

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26

Whenever somebody mentions the sometimes

dreamy prospect of the breakup of the Euro-

zone, or more often one or several Member States

leaving the group, it remains unsaid how exactly

this would occur. Since there are no procedures,

guidelines or legal frameworks regarding any exit

it is certainly no easy matter. Indeed as a mat-

ter of legal principle it is impossible for any state

to leave the Euro as the joining of the common

currency was meant to be irrevocible; an ECB re-

port in 2009 argued that a nation leaving the Euro

would also require them to leave the European

Union itself. That said, the 1992 Maastricht Treaty

banned bail-outs and that certainly did not stop

Mrs. Merkel and company from pressing ahead in

times of need. So if a one can entertain the pos-

siblity of a country leaving the Euro; what would a

country have to do to make it work?

There are two practical obstacles to an exit; first

the obvious panic that would ensue after the an-

nouncement of an exit and second the time con-

suming process of actually establishing a new cur-

rency. The decision to leave the Eurozone would

have to be kept a complete secret, no easy task

considering the logistical and political process in-

volved, and news would be bound to leak even-

tually. In such a case the Member State in ques-

tion could immidiately impose an extended bank

holiday combined with capital controls normally

illegal under European law to prevent the massive

bank runs that would cripple a country and turn a

controlled break-up into an extremely messy and

prolonged one. The problem of quickly issuing a

new currency, a process that usually takes several

months even with prior planning, could also be

solved. With so much of today’s modern econo-

mies relying on electronic payments rather than

cash or cheques it is fully possible to imagine a

country getting by for an extended period of time

by relying on e-payments. In Greece’s case this

would also offer the chance to speed up the im-

plementation of such technologies, something in

which Greece lags behind on anyway, whilst mak-

ing it harder for the black market to function. A

country could also use existing Euro notes and

coins for small transactions in this transisiton pe-

riod to a new currency. With the fact that such an

exit could easily be forced upon a country such as

Greece by cutting its banks off from ECB funding

perhaps an exit is not so hard to imagine.

The real remaining question would be if the ca-

lamity that ensued from such an exit would force

other similarly indebted countries to its knees

meant that it would be better to cut all the se-

verely indebted countries off at once. Such a pro-

posal would be hugely expensive in the short run

but would probably save money in the long run

as one clean break would offer indebted states to

quickly devaluate their currencies. The Economist

estimates that if the five countries with the most

foreign debt relative to their assest held abroad,

Greece, Cyprus, Spain, Ireland and Portugal, were

to undergo such a co-ordinated breakup the cost

would reach €1.15 trillion; probaly worth it in the

long run from an economic perspective but per-

haps not from a political.

BREAKING UP IS NEVER EASYOsCaR stenbOm tRies tO find Out hOw a bReak-uP Of the euROzOne wOuld aCtuallY wORk?

27

The Alpha

The Session’s aim was not simply debating

the current most important matter, the crisis,

but also ending the most crucial issue of our

generation. Facilitating the delegates with the

needed information the Media Team came

up with the concept of analysing different as-

pects of it, by explaining the current situation

in the first issue, focusing on a variety of rea-

sons in the second one and expanding on the

different solution in the final third issue.

Besides the economic background, provided

by three journals, it is crucial to understand

the impact of the omnipresent crisis on a per-

sonal level. The crisis affects a majority of the

delegates directly, affecting young Europeans

in many different ways. During the debate

about bailouts and taxation rates, about sta-

bile mechanisms and deficit rates, the crisis

seemed hardly to be a personal issue. Parents

of delegates have lost their jobs, families of

committee members needed to move to an-

other country. Amsterdam participants need-

ed to drop out tennis lessons and language

courses as their parents’ wages got cut and

others were not able to freely choose their

university as moving would be too expensive

and university fees too high.

While some suffer, other hardly felt the crisis.

Ending the crisis seems to be essential for Eu-

ro-Zone Members, while EYPers from Norway

and Switzerland only feel affected on a min-

imal scale.

Debates about the issues at stake during

Committee Work and General Assembly have

shown that there is a large variety of solution

for the crises, but the personal dimension

and the different national approaches became

even more evident in the video statements,

comments and debates.

3 Journals, 3 videos – the Media Team of the

Amsterdam 2012, wanted to bring light into

the darkness of the crisis. Even though ten

days allow the delegates to debate and dis-

cuss, a common solution for the current cri-

sis, has not been reached. However, ten days

ago, the importance of the crisis, the impact

on your personal lives, was for many not only

uncertain, but far away from their daily lives.

We truly hope we succeeded in changing this.

A FACE TO THE CRISIS

maximilian kiehn sums uP hOw the media team Of the is in amsteRdam 2012 has aimed tO enCOuRage debate and Re-

minds us Of the sessiOn’s theme.

M.A.O.C. Gravin van Bylandt

Stichting

The European Youth Parliament receives support from the European Commission’s Youth in Action Program-me for its continuous activities and specifically for Am-sterdam2012

The activities of the European Youth Par-liament are under the patronage of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe

The European Youth Parliament is a pro-gramme of the Schwarzkopf Foundation

Amsterdam 2012, the 71st International Session of the European Youth Parliament is supported by:

Key Partners

the European Youth Parliament is supported by

Partners

Sponsors

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