The Pool (Issue1)

Voting age at 16, shadow youth ministers and

youth parliaments: in light of pressing demands

for increased active citizenship from the youth of

Europe, how should EU member states react to

the growing calls for wider participation?

With information and communications technologies

representing a quarter of EU growth, what measures

should the EU take in order to further the develop-

ment of the information society? Is a single market for

telecoms in the EU needed?

The future of innovation in Europe: how should the

EU best mobilise knowledge and innovation as a

key to growth and employment in Europe for the

decade ahead?

How best can the EU’s development strategy find a balance between economic growth in Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Repub-lic of Congo and the safeguarding of their natural resources?

A model for peace and reconciliation? What lessons

should the EU take from the troubles in Northern

Ireland to prevent further conflict in an independ-

ent Kosovo?Meeting food shortages with trade barriers? What measures

should the EU take in order to support developing country

governments facing sharp and unsustainable increases in

food prices?

Brûlé par la flamme olympique ou Phénix renaissant de ses cendres ? Comment l’UE devraitelle trouver un équilibre entre sa relation économique avec la Chine tout en soutenant le respect des droits de l’Homme dans le pays?

‘Many faces, different spaces’. In an EU of free-

dom of movement and continuing external im-

migration, is it possible to find a compromise

between multi-culturalism and assimilation to

realise a Europe united in diversity?

The Pool

The official newspaper of The 58Th inTernaTional eYp session in liverpool

17 July 2008 issue 1

sorting europe out

The era of cheap food is over: is the CAP part of the

solution or the problem? What strategy should the

EU adopt to curb food prices and achieve food sus-

tainability?

Nearly ten years after Tampere and little progress: how

should the EU develop a comprehensive migration policy

that responds to Europe’s skills needs and that fights illegal

immigration without turning Europe into a fortress?

Winning hearts and minds? What measures should the EU take to prevent violent extremism and what role can intercultural dialogue play in reducing the threat in Europe and beyond?

What measures should the EU take in the transport

sector to reach the 20/20/20 emission targets and

contribute to the achievement of the EU’s climate

protection goals?

‘Many faces, different spaces’. In an EU of freedom of movement and continuing ex-

ternal immigration, is it possible to find a compromise between multi-culturalism

and assimilation to realise a Europe united in diversity?

2 | The Pool | 17 July 2008

conTenTs & conTriBUTors

4 Getting on with the neighbours. Ben woolgar

5 capitalizing culture. stan Korshunov

6 europe’s brain power. Maite Karssenberg

7 Driving to the limit.conor Mahon

10 The terror of fighting terrorism. Karolina Joensson

11 finding competent human capital. caspar Jansen

12 food crisis: past and future. pablo Mellado

13 holding on to the past. stefan vandenhende

14 la flamme olympique brûlera-t-elle la chine?. ceyda erten

15 Belfast of the Balkans. andris Šuvajevs

16 Bringing back the days of Telephone. leonie wahjudi

17 Ballots to teenagers? Begüm erdoğan

18 choice that is not free. Janet coen

19 cap: the road to starvation? Jonáš Jančařík

20 same or different? Michela candi

eDiTorial

picTUre of The DaY

Dear reader,“Liverpool will represent to the whole of

Europe what Culture can do for a City”, said Tessa Jowell, the former British Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. Inspired by this quotation, you will together in com-mittees of fifteen spend ten days discussing the ways to ensure that celebration of culture also serves a practical purpose, and supports the growth and development of the modern communities.

In this sense, Liverpool serves as a mod-el for cities of Europe. Any local Liverpudlian will tell you how much the city has improved and developed since it has been awarded the title of Capital of Culture. Significant flows of investment have helped revive the formerly highly industrial city, boosting its economy and consequently, improving the quality of life of the local people. As a result, this year the European Youth Parliament is able to host an international session in the UK again, al-lowing the participants experience the vibrant character of Liverpool through traditional as well as newly introduced EYP events, such as

EurVoice‘08. Our session guide (p.8-9) pro-vides you with useful facts about them, along with a list of honourable guest speakers.

The session is receiving a lot of atten-tion from the local media, as well as mul-tiple local companies and highly established institutions. We hope that will serve you as inspiration to perform better, learn more, and use your potential to the full. As a tool to familiarise yourself with the debates and is-sues discussed at the session, we have filled the Welcome Issue with articles investigating the committee topics. We hope they will pro-vide you with new insights and spark great ideas, inspiring you to find out more not only about your committee topic but also other contentious issues of our society that will be addressed during the session.

As we welcome you to LivEYP 2008, we welcome you to think, discover, debate, and learn more. And, most importantly, enjoy it!

Milda&Edward™

28% 23% 22% 12% 7% 6% 3%Sleeping Eating Events Committee

WorkGA Team

BuildingTravel

Time OpTimizaTiOn: Allocation of time.Time aT a session is always limited. We reckon you have approximately 210 hours of LivEYP 2008. So seize the day, use every minute to its full, and try to cut down that 28% of time spent sleeping.

Jimmy the hamster. The soon to be loved session mascot

b e T T e r

h a r d e r

f a s T e r

17 July 2008 | The Pool | 3

b e T T e r

h a r d e r

f a s T e r

One of the amazing things about EYP is

that even though you leave an international session slightly emotionally drained, definitely sleep deprived and sometimes a good few kilo-grams lighter, as soon as you get on the bus to the airport you realise that you want some more. What’s even better is that

with a Summer Session you get a chance to experience it all again.

But if you think that in coming to Liverpool you are going to get exactly the same experience as before, I’m sorry to tell you that you’re wrong. In fact, I very much hope you’re wrong.

In my view Summer Ses-sions are your chance to go one better than your first session. Yes, you get the chance to meet OLD friends, but equally you get the chance to make a whole NEW set of friends. Now that

you know what it's all about, it’s your chance to work your-self HARDER in team build-ing, write a BETTER resolu-tion, and get to know how your committee works FASTER.

It is my sincere hope that each and every one of you takes this chance to challenge your-self, to have fun, and take this opportunity to LivEYP.

Ian Millar

ian Millar

presidentliveYp2008

president Miso Mudric (CRO) Dace Neimane (LAT)

head organiser Seamus Carey & Andrew Byrne Klara Sebakova

newspaper The Pub Crawl The Praha Pages

what did you learn about the host city

The Dublin post office was used as a fortress during the Irish rebellion.

Almost everyone seemeds to have been there before.

The president in one word

Wise Hurricane

The oddest thing you got served for a meal?

Chicken, rice and potatoes. Can’t choose between them.

The notorious Czech dumplings with chocolate topping. They were used in team building games afterwards.

an average day’s weather report

Today, the sun will not take the time to show you her beautiful face. Still, the wind and rain will help keep you awake.

The piece of sky you can see through the trees will be overcast. Precipitation is guaranteed.

what will be the hardest for liverpool to beat?

Discussing issues in the real parliament building, Dail Eireann, was a truly unique experience.

The omnipresent scent of socialism.

what was the best party of the session?

The fireworks followed by a party where the Swedes filled the air with their strange shouting (or singing).

The one I missed in Prague. (Jonáš)

why was this session better?

Because when I woke up and looked out from my window, I could see cows and sheep walking around.

Because what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger. (Orga)

The round Up You are at a summer session, so nearly half of you will have experienced the highs and lows of Dublin 07, and the other half will have lived a similar dream at Prague 2008. They say that to move forward, you must first look backwards. So here's a quick look at how the other half lived, so that you can bluff your way through a conversation reminiscing on all those good times.


Insight

It might be easy to think in a 21st century world of global communi-

cation, understanding and enlighten-ment, that religious hatred is dead; a relic of the past consigned to the dust-bin of history.

In 2003 an honorable com-mittee consisting of thirteen

members named Liverpool the Liv-erpool European capital of culture. The announcement caused jubilation across the city and its outskirts, and removed all hope for the five rival cities (Bristol, Birmingham, Cardiff, Newcastle and Oxford).

The significance of the victory was un-derlined by the leader of Liverpool City Council, Councillor Mike Storey, who stated, “This is like Liverpool winning the Champi-

After all, we, as EYPers, are not just tol-erant and diverse; we have close friends who transcend national, ethnic and of course reli-gious boundaries. To us religious phobias are alien and laughable.

Yet in 2002, Jean-Marie Le Pen, the Islam-ophobic and anti-Semitic leader of the Front

ons League, Everton winning the double and the Beatles reforming all on the same day - and Steven Spielberg coming to the city to make a Hollywood blockbuster about it.”

The importance of being European capi-tal of culture cannot be exaggerated, because the program is aimed not only at attracting tourists and investments, but also at regener-ation of the region through hosting cultural events. These schemes are increasingly desir-able due to the growing number of problems,

Nationale scored 17% of the vote to be Presi-dent of France, meaning almost 6 million peo-ple cast their votes for a man who had denied the Holocaust and called for the deportation of 3 million French Muslims. Nor is Le Pen alone; Jorg Haider in Austria, Geert Wilders in Hol-land, Volen Siderov in Bulgaria, Christoph Blo-

caused in part by the increasing rate of city dwellers moving into suburbia. This trend not only produces unattractive, unloved and abandoned pictures of the city centre, but also gives rise to economic, social, and envi-ronmental decline.

Urban policy makers have established cultural initiatives that encourage city regen-eration, and aim to breathe life back into city centres. However, their strong belief that art will heal communities has faced heavy criti-

Getting on with the neighbours

Capitalizing Culture

Underlying feelings are drawn out in a quiet city suburb

Ben Woolgar takes on the big three, Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, Christianophobia, exploring

the challenges ahead for LIBE I.

REGI’s Stan Korshunov maintains that cultural initiatives should not mask hidden problems, but instead work towards their resolution.

reGi: how should the eU ensure that their ‘cultural beacons’ not only celebrate culture, but aid in the regeneration of our cities?


“One thing is certain, if we let our econo-mies starve, we will not be able to commit to any climate change goals.” p11

cher in Switzerland; politicians who espouse extremist views about particular religions are gaining ground all the way across Europe. The murder of Dutch film-maker Theo Van Gogh in 2004, the controversy surrounding Danish cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed, the riots in the banlieues of Paris, 30 years of fighting between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland; all of these show that fear, intolerance and violence, based on religious hatred are tragically alive and well in Europe. ‘Christiano-phobia’ may seem like an odd concept, given that Christianity is Europe’s largest religion. Yet whilst such hatred may not manifest itself in quite the same way, Christians too feel increas-ingly persecuted for holding their beliefs in a modern society.

Which naturally begs the question; how? I have two particular connections with this topic (and before anyone asks, not as a purveyor of religious hatred or violent neo-Nazi!). Firstly, I am Jewish; I have experienced first-hand the terror and hurt that religious hatred can in-spire, though thankfully, never to any serious

extent. Secondly, and perhaps more usefully, I am from London. That may seem like an odd connection to make, but London is a perfect example both of what Europe’s cities should be like, and what they should not. It is a cultural melting-pot; its cuisine made richer by Hindu influences, its music made more vibrant by Rastafarianism, and some of its most valuable charitable work done by Christian organisa-tions. Yet it is also in the religious ghettos of London that imams radicalised the 7/7 bomb-ers. It is London where 100s of Jewish business-es and graves each year are daubed with anti-Semitic graffiti. As everywhere else in Europe, it is a radical, unrepresentative minority that ruins multiculturalism for everyone else.

This festering hatred is on our doorsteps. Many of us live in cities torn apart by isolation; for those of us who don’t, we may not have to wait much longer. Unless we act. A culture of equality and understanding, tolerance and trust, faith and freedom from fear, is possible. That is what we all want; now we must work out how to achieve it.◆

cism from their critics, who claim that rich cultural heritage will become a mask that hides the city’s problems, instead of being the main means of urban revival. Nevertheless, in spite of heated discussions, most urban

commentators acknowledge that apart from representing culture in its pure beauty and diversity, a European capital of culture has a unique opportunity to boost regeneration of its region.

Liverpool City Council chief execu-tive David Henshaw is quick to recognise the advantages the title European Capital of Culture can bring. “It’s a momentous day for Liverpool”, he states, “because it’s about looking forward”. Moreover he engen-dered hope in our hearts that Liverpool will not only serve the needs of businesses and wealthy tourists, whilst hiding the so-

liBe i: islamophobia, anti-semitism, christianophobia? what steps should the member states take to drive out all forms of religious hatred in europe?

“so let us remember that those who shout loudest or act in the most provocative way are notnecessarily typical of the group on whose behalf they claim to speak.(Jorge sampaio, former portuguese president and Un high representative for the alliance of civilisations)

”

“liverpool will represent to the whole of europe what culture can do for a city.(Tessa Jowell,former British secretary of state for culture, Media and sport)

“

a culture of abandonment: Boarded up terraces in Toxteth, liverpool cial deprivation in the peripheries. It will instead demonstrate to others how hope and eternal spiritual values can harmoniously merge with long-lasting material benefits.◆

Insight


ITRE

Europe’s brain power

The EU is constantly striving to become the

Silicon Valley of the world; it wants nothing more than to be the centre of innovation, research and development. This is obviously an urgent matter, but why?

Innovation concerns all Euro-peans now and in the future, as it relates to issues of unemployment, global competitiveness, and even the preservation of our social sys-tems. By the means of innovation – simply defined as the invention and introduction of new ideas – Europe will be able to tackle these present-day problems. The best conditions for successful innovation require good education, effective commu-nication between researchers, and investments in research. In short, we need to get our economies in shape for globalisation.

In 2000, the EU launched the Lisbon Strategy which challenged Europe to ‘become the most dy-namic and competitive knowledge-based economy in the World’ by 2010. However, it quickly became

clear that the Lisbon Strategy was failing. ‘Lisbon has been blown off course by a combination of eco-nomic conditions, international uncertainty, slow progress in the member states and a gradual loss of political focus’, explained Jose Manuel Barosso, President of the European Commision. The Lisbon Strategy was therefore re-launched in March 2005.

There are still many doubts on the Lisbon strategy’s effectiveness. Many people wonder if the plans are being properly implemented in all member states. Some National Reform Plans are more ambitious than others (see table), resulting in different results per country.

A report of the European Re-search Advisory Board suggests ‘now is the time to make this strat-egy internally more coherent and effective and externally more vis-ible’ (June 2006), while Iain Begg, professor working at the Centre for European Policy Studies, fears that ‘constantly adding new priorities to the Lisbon reform agenda inevita-bly risks diluting the political will to proceed and gives governments a way of avoiding their commit-ments’. Moreover, one of the other

aims of the current Research and Development policy is to attract high-skilled foreign workers by

setting up a ‘Blue Card System’. Keeping in mind that 55 percent of skilled labour goes to the US and only 5 percent to the EU, it is quite clear that something has to be done. However, existing problems with immigration may complicate the process.

Our aims for the future of in-novation in Europe are atleast clear; “We need to know more and be better”. (Janez Potočnik, European Science and Research Commis-sioner) ◆

iTre: The future of innovation in europe: how should the eU best mobilise knowledge and innovation as a key to growth and employment in europe for the decade ahead?

Maite Karssenberg on the future of Europe, and her struggle to “Become the most dynamic and most competitive knowledge based economy in the world.”

“we must not tell young

people that globalisation

will destroy europe. it

won’t. we must tell

them that there are huge opportunities out there and

that they must grab them with

bothhands. we must create a culture

of optimism in europe.

(José Manuel Durão Barroso,

president of the european commission)

”

ambitous(4) italy, poland, estonia, slovenia

satisfactory(8)

Germany, france, netherlands, czech republic, latvia, cyprus, lithuania, slovenia

lacks new initiatives

(13)

Belgium, Greece, spain, ireland, luxemburg, portugal, sweden, austria, finalnd, Denmark, United Kingdom, hungary, Malta

UNICE 2006

national Business federation’s assessment of national reform plans

a vietnamese student prepares for his exam; prague ‘08

Speakers’ Corner


TRAN

While many know about protecting

the climate, for many others it is an old story they don’t want to hear, and at times for good reason.

Often we hear about “changes” and commitments governments make, but rarely see anything come of it. Recently, changes being made to the way we travel impacts directly upon our daily life. Transport is the most controversial aspect of green energy policy because it directly af-fects people. There are many who resent the changes governments are making. As energy prices mount, and the economies of Europe re-cede, people are asking themselves, is it worth it?

This makes it tougher and tough-er for national governments to im-plement legislation tackling climate change. Targets like the 20/20/20 plan cannot be met unless they make room for the economy. This is the most important issue facing the EU and national governments.

One way forward is to look at new ways to travel. Will people be will-ing to leave their cars behind, and if so, what does the EU need to do to make this a reality? Will investment in public transport be enough?

The high price of fuel is an is-sue that cannot be ignored when transport is concerned. Even slight changes can cause a fuel crisis and bring nations to their knees. In re-cent weeks already there have been many transport and fuel related pro-tests, from the UK to Spain.

The EU must also realize that not all nations can afford to commit to new regulations. Many member states in Eastern Europe are play-ing catch up with Western European

economies. Attempts to implement pan-European legislation could lead to political and economic catastro-phes.

The 20/20/20 plan is heralded as the plan to create “the first economy for the low-carbon age” by European Commission President Jose Barroso. But what if we’re entering this “low-carbon age” too quickly, and leaving the rest of the world behind? Will we have crippled our economies and let rivals like China and the US steam ahead? After all this is a global issue.

Should the EU only strive for its low-carbon economy, if its’ rivals agree to come along too?

One thing is certain, if we let our economies starve, we will not be able to commit to any climate change goals. Many big businesses will be watching the next steps Europe takes; any misstep by the EU in the transport sector could lead to unac-ceptable overheads for many firms. Expensive, “green” cars, and home improvements will be out of reach for many people unless Europe can sustain an affluent population.

The question many people will pose to their governments and the commission is; How far is too far?◆Tran: what measures should the eU

take in the transport sector to reach the 20/20/20 emission targets and contribute to the achievement of the eU’s climate protection goals?

Driving to the limitConor Mahon looks at the road ahead for TRAN, and asks the question, just how far, is too far?

“a good start. But

ambitions still do not match the

challenge. (Greenpeace)

”

high in the sky: a car advert looms over Berlin’s skyline


The Road to Liverpool

Eurovillage will be held at “The Liner”, a cruise ship-themed hotel. The luxurious interior brings you back to the time, when steam ships were not just a vehicle, but the luxury, which could be afforded by the chosen few.

EurVoice ‘08 will also be hosted at The Liner on Thursday morning, with local young people tak-ing part in a panel debate. This will be broadcast on the local radio station, City Talk. More infor-mation on EurVoice guests can be found below.

The Liner

St. George’s Hall

opening ceremonyeuro village

General assembly

Town Hall

General Assembly Guests

Lord Mayor of Liverpool

Gary Titley, MP

Andy Burnham

Rt. Hon Peter Mandelson

Professor Mike Hardy

Phil Redmond

Liverpool Town Hall will open its doors wide for the Opening Ceremo-ny. Designed by John Wood in the 18th century, one of the finest historic buildings in Liverpool is considered to be one of the most prominent arti-facts of the British culture.

The General Assembly will take place at St. George’s Hall, which is widely regarded to be a major work of Eu-ropean architecture and the most exquisite neo-classical building in the world. Built in 1855, it still arouses sighs of admiration with its gorgeous Concert Hall, which is considered to be a highlight in interior design and the Great Hall, with its world famous Willis Organ, Minton tiled floor and high vaulted ceiling.

Member of the EP for the North West of England and currently leader of the European Parlia-mentary Labour Party. Member of the Committee on Budgets and of Delegation to the EU-Croatia Joint Parliamentary Committee.

Andy Burnham is the Secre-tary of Culture, Media and Sport and a Labour member of the Parliament for Leigh. He previously served as Chief Secretary to the Treasury.

Professor Mike Hardy is the director of the British Council in Indonesia. He managed a project that included thirteen UK universities which were united to help rebuild the academic strengths of two Indonesian universities devastated by the tsunami.

sunday, 20.07 Monday, 21.07

friday, 25.07


Lord Mayor of Liverpool

Rt. Hon Peter Mandelson

Phil Redmond

committee work

Beatles night

Hope University

Cavern Club

Opening Ceremony Guest Speakers

Eur’Voice ‘08 GuestsArlene McCarthy, MEP George Howarth, MP

Comfortable bed, warm blanket and a soft pil-low – Liverpool Hope University will become our beloved home for the days of Commit-tee Work. The place where you will never feel lonely and the place that will bring together many faces from different spaces.

Wednesday night will be dedicated to lovely Rita, Mr. Kite and Sgt. Pepper as we will dance the night away to 60s tunes in the Cavern Club, the home of the Beatles.

Euroconcert will be held at Cornerstone, a second campus of the Hope University. Constant investments made it a perfect ground for holding cultural events. Here, in the Great Hall, gifted European youth will express their musical talents.

Cornerstone

Councillor Steve Rotheram, one of the young-est Lord Mayors in the history of Liverpool. He is the first citizen and chosen representative of the city, acting as a focal point for the commu-nity, forging national and international links.

euroconcert

European Commissioner for Trade and the honorary Chair of Policy Network, a European and international think-tank which promotes the exchange of centre-left policy ideas and European social democratic thinking.

Member of the European Parlia-ment for the North West of Eng-land for the Labour Party. She is the Chairwoman of the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection of the European Parlia-ment.

Phil Redmond is the Deputy Chair responsible for Creative Direction of Liverpool Culture Company. He is the founder of Mersey Tele-vision and a Fellow of Liverpool John Moores University.

Labour member of the Parliament since 1986 for Knowsley North and Sefton East. He chairs the All Party Group on Liverpool, European Capital of Culture 2008.

Thursday, 24.07

wednesday, 23.07

Tuesday, 22.07

Insight

10 | The Pool | 17 July 2008

SEDE

on patrol: The ira has a show of arms

Which is more important; legal

security or personal integ-rity? The war against ter-rorism is being fought dif-ferently overseas compared to in the UK and Europe. Whilst the US army are allegedly using forbidden methods of interrogation, the British police are tap-ping civilian phones. In a war to protect people, what can we sacrifice?

Terrorists should be treated like criminals, not like soldiers. People’s legal entitlements are being violated in the US, by us-

ing information gained from the torture of suspected terrorists. In Great Britain, on the other hand, people’s civil liberties suffer, with the widespread use of wire-tap-ping and surveillance cameras in the fight against terrorism. An ordinary inhabitant of London is now caught on camera 300 times a day.

On the other side of the Atlantic, the American govern-ment recently approved a more harmful method of information gathering, permitting police to use information gained from torture. This had already been

discussed in 2002, when the In-telligence Committee of the US congress stated that the FBI and CIA could have prevented the at-

tacks in Bali and Kenya, by being more “efficient” in their ques-tioning of suspected terrorists. This was interpreted as torture by several officers in FBI and CIA. This is however not legal in the UK.

There are two big differenc-es between the views on terror-ism in UK and the USA. In the USA, terrorism is seen as an alien element that attacks the country from the outside. This leads to the protection of the American citizens, but leads to the loss of legal entitlements for all others nationalities. In the UK, they believe that terrorism originates from within, like a domestic can-cer that must somehow be fought without destroying the entire so-ciety. Hence, the English often favour the tools of espionage and intelligence gathering.

We are left with two oppos-ing methods in the fight against terrorism. Which one should be respected to reach our goals; pro-tection against violence by the

legal system, or the sacrificing of civil liberties that prevent intru-sion into our everyday lives?

History has shown that pro-tection against violence should win the battle between these two methods of fighting terror-ism. When British police tried to crush the IRA (Irish Republican Army) by arresting civilians, and the haphazard shooting of dem-onstrators, the resistance only grew. Here, history tells us that terror against terrorism is not a viable solution.

Terrorism is a crime, there-fore we should see terrorists as criminals and not as soldiers in hostile attacks. We should en-courage the use of effective po-lice work against criminals such as wire-tapping and surveillance cameras, but not torture. The road to prevent future terror-ism is to pre-empt future terror-ist attacks, rather than fuelling new ones by terrorizing people. Sometimes the means can work against the purpose.◆

seDe: winning hearts and minds? what measures should the eU take to prevent violent extremism and what role can intercultural dialogue play in reducing the threat in europe and beyond?

“we have to challenge the advocates of violent extremism,

those who spread thismisrepresentation of islam, this

idea that there is something heroic about murder. i know

this is difficult. proponents of violence often impose their views

through coercion and intimidation.Terrorism dislikes debate and

discussion. (Jacqui smith, British home secretary)

”

Karolina Joensson questions our treatment of terrorists, and challenvges SEDE to find a balance.

The terror of fighting terrorism

Speakers’ Corner

17 July 2008 | The Pool | 11

LIBE II

Finding competent human capital

Every year thousand of immigrants try to find

work in the European Union. These “gold-diggers” are more then welcome, because recent investigation shows that an av-erage of 36% of all employers in each member state finds it difficult to hire qualified per-sonnel.

But is it true that the European Union can benefit from immigrants noting the fact that a high percentage of these new-comers are illegal and have no education?

So how can the EU benefit from immigrants? When thinking about the aging European population and the need for trained and qualified personnel, we Europeans immedi-ately think of immigrants as problem solvers. But in fact the opposite could be true as well. Most immigrants are untrained and unqualified, while the EU’s labour shortage is amongst en-gineers, technicians and other skilled professions. This means that allowing immigrants does not solve the labour shortage in the EU. Instead, more training for employees and other measures should be implemented to increase the amount of qualified workers on the European labour market.

The European Union states that immigrants have rights and obliga-tions equal to all other European citi-zens. But the reality shows suggests otherwise. Immigrants are frequently exploited and often work in sub-stan-dard conditions. This is often because immigrants are not familiar with Eu-ropean labour laws and minimum standards for working conditions. Immigrants are needed in the EU, but

human rights should not be ignored. Too often immigrants fall victim to economic exploitation by their em-ployers. A comprehensive migration policy should help stop this.

The European Union is fighting illegal immigration and violation of human rights throughout the union and also tries to tackle the problem at the source for example by cooperat-ing with third world countries and sending back illegal immigrants. At the same time, it is widely recogn-ised that the EU needs immigrants in certain sectors and regions to deal with its economic and demographic needs.

So we now face the question of how should the EU strike a balance between “the need for migrant-work-ers and competent human capital” and “the issues that can arise from

allowing new citizens into the Euro-pean Union”. It is now up us to tackle the problem of illegal immigrants, the immigration of “new-workers”, the labour shortage in the EU and the surrounding difficulties that need to be faced when forming a “com-prehensive migration policy” for the European Union. ◆

liBe ii: nearly ten years after Tampere and little progress: how should the eU develop a comprehensive migration policy that responds to europe’s skills needs and that fights illegal immigration without turning europe into a fortress?

Caspar Jansen asks, “How can the EU benefit from immigrants”, attract skilled workers, but yet still win the fight against illegal immigration

“all of the initiatives

on migration have been

based around the

politics of fear, rather

than thepolitics of reason or

the politics of hope...

(Graham watson, Mep and leader of

the alliance ofliberals and

Democrats for europe group

in the european parliament)

”

12 | The Pool | 17 July 2008

INTA

Food Crisis: Past and FutureGetting to grips with the Food Crisis. Pablo Mellado explains why thousands are now finding less food on their table, and how the EU can help.

If tackling global poverty was seen as an

ambitious project before, it has just got a lot harder. The food crisis has the potential to see the mass starvation of millions of the world’s poor. Traditionally famines have been caused by wars and corrupt regimes with poor governance of their agricul-tural production. Now it is a worldwide issue that has come

about due to imbalances in global markets. We take a look at how this shocking reality has crept up on us, and what lies ahead if inac-tion follows.

The current trend in bio-fuels production has distorted food prices. A World Bank re-port states the main cause of the food crisis is the increased use of crops to produce biofuels. This has forced global food prices up by 75%. The

report adds that pro-

duction of biofuels has distort-ed food markets in three main ways. It has diverted grain away from food, with over a third of US corn now being used for ethanol production and half of all EU production of vegetable oils being channelled towards biodiesel production.

The run of bad weather in key farming areas has not helped the food crisis. Austra-lia, normally the world’s sec-ond-largest wheat exporter, has suffered from an epic drought. In the short term, this is largely out of our control.

A third cause is an in-creased appetite for meat in emerging economies. Every ki-logram of meat requires 8 kg of grain. As people in China and other economies are able to af-ford a diet that includes a great-er proportion of meat, the price of grain has also rocketed.

So where will the effects of the food crisis be felt most? The answer is in the develop-ing world. The middle classes in t h e develop-

ing world are cutting back on health care, and taking less meat in their diet, just to afford their three meals a day. Further down the social ladder, those on $2 a day, who were once considered to have escaped poverty, can now not afford education for their children, and are back on a diet of mostly rice. Those on $1 a day now live on little more than a daily bowl of rice, and anyone below this line faces a bleak future.

Never has the EU been better placed to save the world’s poor from starvation, not from shipments of aid, but through well considered policies. Whether it be through science and GM crops allowing greater crop yields, or seeking an inter-national response by using the EU’s political power, one thing is for sure; without action, the food crisis will be the great-est killer this millennium has seen.◆

protestors gather as the G8 leaders assemble in Japan in July. food prices was on the agenda

inTa: Meeting food shortages with trade barriers? what measures should the eU take in order to support developing country governments facing sharp and unsustainable increases in food prices?

“By chasing an illusion of food security, these policies throttle domestic production, choke off supplies to others and risk leading to a spiral of protectionism and dwindling food production..(peter Mandelson,european commissioner for Trade)

”

17 July 2008 | The Pool | 13

DEVE

Holding on to the past

Ian Macleod, the UK Secretary of State for

the Colonies in 1959-1961, has said, “History is too serious to be left to historians.”

I can only agree. If we want to understand what’s happening today in Rwanda, Burundi and Congo we need to constantly bear in mind the troubles these countries have come across in the past.

The Congo became a Bel-gian colony at the end of the 19th century. The region was split in two: a free trade zone and a pri-vate domain of King Leopold II.

The latter was taken away from the king after published evidence of cruel behaviour that took place in the domain.

Rwanda-Burundi was claimed by Germany in the first decade of the 20th century. After World War I, both regions be-came international terrain under

supervision of Belgium.Congo gained indepen-

dence in 1960, almost immedi-ately followed by an uprising and the assassination of the Prime Minister, allegedly arranged by the Belgian government.

In 1997, the country saw a civil war which involved Congo’s neighboring countries as well. Even though officially the war ended in 20v03, the violence is still deeply rooted in the society, acting as a great hindrance to economic restoration. The cur-rent government has little con-trol of the country.

After Burundi gained inde-pendence in 1961, the country has been continuously devas-tated by racial tensions between the dominant Tutsi minority and Hutu majority. Today, the Hutus are slowly gaining power with the help of the UN, which is trying to disarm both sides. Bu-rundi is recovering and trying to

form a new unity. Rwanda has gone through

some of the worst racial conflicts ever known to mankind, with massacres taking place on both sides since 1959. The most no-torious is the 1994 genocide, fol-lowed by great waves of refugees to both Burundi and Congo. Of-ficial peace came in 2002, and today Rwanda is slowly rebuild-ing its economy. However, two thirds of the population is still living under the poverty line.

While recounting the past we can ask ourselves how much the recovery process is being hindered by old conflicts. Recent events, such as the diplomatic conflict between Belgium and the DR Congo, show that old scars are still itching.

How can the EU react on these delicate situations with new players, such as China, slowly moving in? Is the Hutu-Tutsi conflict finally dying out or is it

just asleep, waiting to be awo-ken? One thing is for sure, we must not forget the past, and we cannot make the same mistakes again. Effort has been made, but it seems far from sufficient. How far can and must we go?◆

Looking back at the history of violence in Congo, Burundi and Rwanda, Stefan Vandenhende stresses the importance of learning from past mistakes of ethnic conflict.

The process of economic development is still hindered by governmental failure and conflict.

Deve: how best can the eU’s development strate-gy find a balance between economic growth in rwan-da, Burundi and the Dem-ocratic republic of congo and the safeguarding of their natural resources?

14 | The Pool | 17 July 2008

DROI

dant, après neuf ans, il s’est rendu compte qu’il n’était pas possible de conclure un accord avec les Chi-noises et est allé en Inde, portant plus de 80.000 Tibétains avec lui. Il a gagné le prix Nobel de la paix en 1989 pour sa lutte pour libérer le Tibet de l’invasion chinoise.

Les officiels chinois accusent le chef spirituel tibétain de fa-voriser l’indépendance du Tibet de Chine. Dalai Lama, a plusieurs reprises, a indiqué qu’il cherche

Tibet.L’invasion chinoise du Tibet

a commencé en 1949. La con-séquence de l’occupation était la mort de plus d’un million de Tibétains, la destruction plus de 6.000 monastères et temples, et l’emprisonnement de milliers de Tibétains.

Dalai Lama, le chef spirituel et politique des Tibétains, a es-sayé de résister avec des méthodes paisibles à cette invasion. Cepen-

La flamme olympique voyage autour du

monde depuis des Jeux Ol-ympiques d’été de 1928.

Pendant que nous nous ap-prochons plus près du 80e anni-versaire de ce feu brûlant sans in-terruption, le feu entre la Chine et le Tibet se développe plus grand.

Trois mois après des protes-tations violentes antichinoises à Lhasa, le torche d’olympiques a suivi son itinéraire et a traversé le

seulement une autonomie plus véritable pour la région dans laquelle les droits de l’homme sont bien établis.

La Chine est maintenant donnée l’occasion d’accueillir les Jeux Olympiques du monde a Pékin. Certains indiquent que c’est une grande chance pour que la Chine prouve au monde qu’il se développe et change. Les au-tres croient qu’il est totalement inacceptable d’honorer la Chine

en lui donnant le visage des Jeux Olympiques.

Les tibétains qui souffrent de a torture chinoise depuis plus de cinquante ans avaient protesté le pays d’accueil de 2008 Jeux Olympiques. Pour eux, les sports devraient servir à la paix, et il ne peut pas accepter de laisser la Chine représenter « la paix ».

Avec les Tibétains, l’Union européenne a également critiqué la Chine pour ses actes accablants sur le Tibet. Une union, qui a ras-semblé six idées (dignité, libertés, égalité, solidarité, droits de citoy-ens, et justice) dans la Charte des Droits Fondamentaux, évidem-ment ne peut pas laisser un pays qui détruit franchement des droits de l’homme d’être le représentant de la paix.

D’une part, la Chine est un géant dans l’économique du monde et l’UE ne peut pas se per-mettre couper ses relations avec elle. Il doit y avoir une certaine manière de garder les relations économiques avec la Chine tout en s’assurant que le pays ne viole plus des droits de l’homme. ◆

La flamme olympique brûlera-t-elle la Chine?

Quelle est vôtre opinion sur les Olympiques en Chine à Beijing? Lisez ce que Ceyda Erten dis, et décidez après.

Droi: Brûlé par la flamme olympique ou phénix renaissant de ses cendres? comment l’Ue devraitelle trouver un équilibre entre sa relation économique avec la chine tout en soutenant le respect des droits de l’homme dans le pays?

17 July 2008 | The Pool | 15

AFET

Belfast of the BalkansTowards compromise:

The history of conflicts in Northern Ireland

and in Kosovo have many common features, and Ko-sovo is often referred to as Belfast of the Balkans. But does this mean that the solutions implemented in Northern Ireland will work as effectively in Kosovo?

Northern Ireland’s conflicts, commonly known as “Troubles” have stretched through the 20th century, coming to an end after 30 years. Meanwhile, Kosovo gained more power as an au-tonomous region, culminating in a declaration of an indepen-dent state on the 7th September

1990. However, only Albania recognised this document. Why? What were the main differences between the first and second dec-laration?

Northern Ireland’s „Trou-bles” ended with the Good Fri-day Agreement. Even though the Good Friday Agreement did not solve all of their problems, it was a great step towards tol-erance and equality. Learning from this, the EU should bear in mind that similar agreements between Serbia and Kosovo can-not immediately solve the entire situation, especially as the Good Friday Agreement was the result of a 30 year struggle in Northern

Ireland. Before the EU even consid-

ers its next steps, it should state a common attitude towards Ko-sovo. Only after achieving this, can the EU learn from Northern Ireland’s history and draw con-clusions.

Controversially, the an-nouncement that each EU Member State should feel free to decide whether or not to recog-nise Kosovo’s independence was made only after sending 2000 peacekeepers to aid the process. Not all Member States chose to recognise Kosovo, consequently splitting the EU in to two sides.

Those that did not recognise Kosovo did so for their own rea-sons. For example, had Spain rec-ognised the separation, it would have been followed by the Basqs

also declaring their indepen-dence shortly after, which would have escalated the conflict in the region.

Tony Blair’s quote deserves a gold medal. “No agreements, no laws, no decisions can reconcile citizens. Kosovo, and especially Northern Ireland, has had con-flicts not for years but for centu-ries, and it’s in their blood to fight against each other. Only time and right actions can conciliate them.”

When the EU states its at-titude and combines its actions with patience, conflict of Kosovo can be expected to be resolved. It is already obvious that both sides have to compromise, decide on their priorities, and find a way to bring independence and human rights together. ◆

Building a nation: violent conflicts in Kosovo do not seem to come to an end.

Will the means that helped solve the “Troubles” in Northern Ireland several decades ago apply in today’s Kosovo? Andris Šuvajevs considers the link between the two conflicts.

afeT: a model for peace and reconciliation? what lessons should the eU take from the troubles in northern ireland to prevent further conflict in an independent Kosovo?

“The problem is that agree-ments such as the Good Fri-day Agreement can provide procedures, mechanisms and laws. What they can’t do is enforce a belief in the other’s good faith. That can’t be forced. It can only come through genuine conviction.

(Tony Blair, former British prime Minister)

”

16 | The Pool | 17 July 2008

IMCO

Bringing back the days of telephoneWhile the EU is discussing a single telecom market, Leonie that first we must find a way to apply and follow the current

Is a sixteen-year-old capable of making a political out whether lowering the voting age would bring

Ballots to

Through wireless LAN, mobile phones and

GPS, Information and Communications Tech-nology (ICT) is omni-present in today’s Europe. Should the same apply to the EU regulation mecha-nisms of the ICT market?

Several decades back, it was relatively simple to install a new telephone mainline. With only one national company of-fering this service, the consum-er’s choice of a provider was easy: there was none.

Over the past 20 years, private telecommunication companies have replaced big national suppliers in many Eu-ropean countries, entailing an increase of competition and of-fering different prices to choose from for the consumer.

However, in comparison with other telecommunica-tion services, the competition

among traditional voice tele-phony providers has remained relatively low. This is mainly due to the unchanged owner-ship of the infrastructure.

Most of the physical infra-structure of land line telephony, such as networks of wires and posts, is still owned by the same monopolists as it was twenty years ago. As a result of these owners only agreeing to share the infrastructure selectively and under strict conditions, many newly emerging telecom-munication companies do not have equal access to the cus-tomers.

In order to fix this, the EU Commissioner Viviane Red-ing has promoted the idea of “functional separation”. She has suggested the operators to place the provision of certain wholesale access products in the hands of an independently operated business unit. This

external unit shall then supply all market players under equal terms and conditions, includ-ing the operator’s own retail business.

While this idea is definitely worth further discus-sion, there is another equally significant aspect of the situa-tion. Until now, many Member States have failed to implement and enforce certain elements of their regulatory obligations in the field of telecommunication

service provision. Before introducing any

changes, the issue of ensuring successful application of EU guidelines should be addressed. Is the Commission’s proposal to install a “European Electronic Communications Market Au-thority“ reasonable? Or would it simply become an additional layer of policy and decision-making on top of the existing institutional arrangements?

Some fear the omnipres-

Does lowering the vot-ing age to 16 rein-

force the active citizen-ship of the youth, or does it merely add another tinge of turmoil to what we already have?

As the need for active citi-zens increases, many European countries turn to the youth. However, it is questionable whether the youth are ready to be actively and consciously involved in political matters through voting.

Voices against lowering the voting age to 16 express be-lief that the right to vote would not provide the youth with an educated opinion regarding political issues. Moreover, it is

iMco: with information and communications tech-nologies representing a quarter of eU growth, what measures should the eU take in order to further the development of the information society? is a single market for telecoms in the eU needed?

cast your votes: can 16-year-olds make wise political choices?

teenagers?

17 July 2008 | The Pool | 17

Bringing back the days of telephone

And so the dilemma grows more complicated the deeper you look into it.◆

AFCO

“There are very specific challenges we must meet on engaging young people and improving citizenship edu-cation… it is right, as part of this debate, to examine, and hear from young people themselves.

Gordon Brown, British prime Minister

Wahjudi argues EU guidelines.

choice? Begüm Erdoğan tries to find higher youth involvement in politics.

afco: voting age at 16, shadow youth ministers and youth parliaments: in light of pressing demands for increased active citizenship from the youth of europe, how should eU member states react to the growing calls for wider participation?

teenagers?

ence of the EU “big brother” in form of such a centralised EU regulation mechanism. In or-der to eliminate such threats, it has to be decided where to draw the line between necessary reg-ulations in order to guarantee a fair and equal functioning of the market and too much in-terference of the EU with the existing and well-established national institutions.◆

also maintained that there are other ways for young Europeans to get acquainted with the no-tions of democracy and active citizenship other than voting in the governmental elections; for example, through youth parlia-ments and voluntary political organisations.

Besides this major argu-ment, people opposing the low-ering of the voting age argue that 16-year-olds are still under strong influence of their parents. At such an early age, teenagers

are likely to follow their parents’ voting habits. Therefore, the right to vote will not help create a society of active citizens, if not complicate the process.

The other side of the con-troversy is summarised by an article headline of Anna Kame-netz in the New York Times, which reads, “You’re 16, You’re Beautiful and You’re a Voter”. However, simply lowering the voting age to 16 is not enough; it should be backed up with edu-cational programmes, in order

to help the teenagers attain le-gal maturity and learn that one’s vote should be based on an ar-gumented choice, and not a mo-ment of spontaneous thinking.

Those who call for a lower voting age claim that to demand the right to vote at the age of 16 is not to call for any kind of priv-ilege, but to release the youth from “the double standard”. If the government gives adult re-sponsibilities to young people and expects them to obey the societal regulations and laws, it should also provide them with certain rights. Furthermore, the reason why the young gen-eration does not appear to be interested in politics stems from the fact that they are not given a chance to voice their opinion.

Even the young are di-vided into two camps. While some find themselves apt to vote consciously, others defend that teenagers are not qualified in terms of political issues and can-not weigh their decisions wisely.

currently, the eU does not ensure equal participation

of telecom companies in the market.

”

“I believe that telecoms is clearly a field where we need more Europe. The telecom sector is too much fragment-ed into 27 different regula-tory systems.

viviane reding, europeancommissioner for information

society and Media

”

18 | The Pool | 17 July 2008

EMPL

public welfare provision often fails to reach those most in need of support.

schemes can contribute to this anomaly. In Ireland, for example, it is difficult for single mothers to rejoin the labour force, as this brings both a loss of benefits and an incurrence of childcare ex-penses. They therefore have no financial incentive to work.

Such discouragement of la-bour is also seen in early retire-ment schemes. Since unemploy-ment in the EU is found to be higher among women and older workers, increased participation could result from the revision of such welfare entitlements.

Without an inclusive social model, which would help ensure gender equality and equality of access and opportunity for all, ‘social assistance’ actually perpet-

we face the costly problems of a pensions’ deficit and an increase in the need for medical care.

Meanwhile, the financing base of our social model will be weakened, as our diminishing la-bour supply will struggle to main-tain economic growth. Greater fi-nances will be required for health and welfare, with fewer workers available to generate them.

The most obvious solution to this quandary is to increase la-bour participation. Figures show that the EU workforce is under-utilised, with an employment rate of 65 per cent compared to 72 per cent in the US, coupled with EU workers working considerably less hours.

Poorly designed benefit

The fact that it is possi-ble to speak of a ‘Euro-

pean Social Model’ is illus-trative of a commonality between the diverse health and welfare systems of the EU Member States.

Joaquin Almunia identified this shared basis when he assert-ed that “The basic pillars of our social model are pensions, health and long-term care, social pro-tection for the poor or disabled, and the redistributive function of taxation.” What is evident from these fundamental aspects of welfare provision is that they are largely dependent on the age, health and economic profiles of a nation’s people, which do not re-main static over time.

The impetus to reform has been caused by the changing needs of our changing demogra-phy; current policies must be ad-justed to accommodate an ageing population. As people live longer,

uates dependency and margin-alisation. Social provision should always be designed to help, not to hinder; unfortunately, even valuable services, such as na-tional healthcare, can fall short of achieving this.

In 1952, Aneurin Bevan wrote that “The essence of a sat-isfactory health service is that…poverty is not a disability, and wealth is not advantaged.” In many countries, however, there is still a huge disparity between the standard of care afforded by those with private health insur-ance, and those using the public system.

Currently, while private patients may be seen for health checks and procedures in a mat-ter of days or weeks, public ser-vice patients may have to wait for several months. For those with aggressive illnesses, such delay can mean the difference between life and death.◆

Choice that is not free

“There is a strong case, there-fore, for reform of the Euro-pean social model. But the question is how exactly it can be made more sustainable without dismantling it.”

Joaquín almuniaamann, european commission-

er for economic and Monetary affairs

With the growth of inequality, access to welfare is becoming a luxu-ry to the poor. Janet Coen explains why reform is necessary.

eMpl: sixty years after the launch of the world’s first national health service, how best should the eU and its Member states aim to reform their health and welfare systems to ensure a ‘way to freedom from want’?

17 July 2008 | The Pool | 19

AGRI

CAP: the road to starvation?

The agricultural policy of the EU, the largest global

importer and second largest exporter of food, inevitably affects the rest of the world.

CAP protects European farmers from global economic forces, which allows them to ignore the rules of supply and demand and sell their products on international markets at very low prices - low enough to place the farmers from developing coun-tries in a tricky situation where they are left unable to compete with the Europeans.

A food crisis that hit the world in the first half of 2008 caused sig-nificant food shortages in many re-gions with 854 million people starv-ing around the globe; the majority of them live in the developing world, which felt the effects of the food crisis most strongly.

The food crisis swiftly ousted oil

prices out of the headlines. While we more or less know what is driving up the price of oil, we are not even close to such knowledge when it comes to food. Some of the most frequently mentioned factors include the bio-fuel subsidies, growing demand in India and China, climate change and speculations on the food market.

Several decades ago, the Europe-an agriculture tackled a similar food crisis with the support of CAP. In the 1950s, European agriculture was se-riously weakened by the World War. The newly integrating Europe saw self-sufficiency and income security for European farmers as a priority.

As a solution, Common Agri-culture Policy (CAP) was launched in the 1960s. Nowadays, CAP de-fines national expenditure on agri-culture and forms up to 44 per cent of EU total budget. With the sup-port of CAP, European agriculture has changed from a weak child into a sturdy athlete.

But even the most successful athletes are prone to injuries and their shape needs to be watched carefully. Eventually, European self-sufficiency reached a surplus, which lead to distortion of international food markets. The EU budget began to feel the pinch. CAP began to be criticised as outdated and in need of change.

CAP has been reformed over the years to implement quotas that tackled the surplus. The reforms of 2003 aimed, in short, to create a de-mand-driven and environmentally friendly CAP that was more com-petitive and reflected on the real situation of both the internal and the international market.

Back in 2003, a CAP health-check was scheduled for 2008. The timing could not be better – the current progressing crisis shows the weak spots of the present policy. There is disagreement about meth-ods of securing Europe’s food supply. Should protection of European agri-culture continue? Or, should a new common policy be formed around a liberalised agricultural sector?

It is of utmost importance for Europe and the world that the EU seeks for solutions affecting not only food supplies, but also the economic future of both the EU and the devel-oping countries.◆

The food crisis has hit not only the developing world, but also the eU.

Dating back to the 1960s, EU Common Agricultural Policy seems to have turned from bliss to burden. Jonáš Jančařík discusses whether CAP is still fit to tackle the newly emerged global food crisis.

aGri: The era of cheap food is over: is the cap part of the solution or the problem? what strategy should the eU adopt to curb food prices and achieve food sustainability?

“The CAP is a pol-icy that allows us to produce to feed ourselves. We pool our resources to support produc-tion.

(Michel Barnier, french Minister of

agriculture)

”

Insight

20 | The Pool | 17 July 2008

CULT

Same or different?

The starting core of the Union was born with

an economic goal. Nowa-days, however, the rela-tions between the Mem-ber States of the EU are based upon much more than economics.

Freedom of movement within the Union has made diversity a visible feature of the modern European society. However, it is still a question whether the daily exposure to cultural differences helps broad-en people’s views or, in contrast, deepens the prejudice.

“United in diversity” is the motto of the European Union. It suggests that, via the EU, Eu-ropeans are united in working together for peace and prosper-ity. The variety of cultures, tra-ditions and languages in Europe are seen as a positive asset for the continent. And yet, “United in diversity” is a goal that is far from being achieved.

The debate of European identity clearly shows that the EU society today is still incapa-

ble of deciding whether it wants to celebrate the diversity of cul-tures, or promote a European-above-national attitude.

While some proudly call themselves European, others express fear that such promo-tion of a single European iden-tity will lead to loss of national pride and deeply rooted tradi-tions, which the EU so proudly advertises through its motto. In short, today’s Europe does not seem to be able to find a con-sensus when choosing between celebrating the differences and embracing assimilation. Should it be a combination of both?

Religion is another aspect of diversity throughout the EU. Some Member States (like Den-mark, Greece or Malta) have of-ficial religions; others strongly support the lay status of the State. France, for example, has

recently banned the veil or any other religious sign from public places and institutions.

The law was championed by the French State in the name of the integration of immigrants in the French society. Certainly, immigrants of a certain country have to respect its law, tradi-tions and culture. On the other hand, however, couldn’t this at-titude be considered an obstacle to the multiculturalism, which the European Union is promot-ing so eagerly?

The European Union rea-lises the importance of educa-tion in maintaining this unity in diversity. Through the Bologna process, the aim of creating of a European Higher Education Area by 2010 has been set, in order to make the European Higher Education more com-patible, comparable and com-

petitive. With this same purpose,

the EU supports programmes like Erasmus and Tempus for promoting a European citizen-ship and a better cognition of culture and traditions of other European countries between the young generations. These are important steps forward in raising a new generation of Eu-ropeans who are proud of their diverse, and at the same time united society.◆

Are we really united in diversity? Michela Candi points out the importance of both discovering the similarities and learning from the differences of cultures across Europe.

flying the flag: the eU motto United in Diversity still seems to be pushed aside by national ideas.

cUlT: ‘Many faces, different spaces’. in an eU of freedom of movement and continuing external im-migration, is it possible to find a compromise be-tween multi culturalism and assimilation to realise a europe united in diversity?

“Europeans are proud of our religious, cultural and linguistic diversity, and yet ‘unity in diversity’, the EU’s motto, has still to be achieved.

Benita ferrero-waldner, european commissioner for

external relations and the eu-ropean neighbourhood policy

”

The Pool (Issue1)

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