The European Youth Parliament September, 2011

European Youth Parliament, Sophienstraße 28-29, 10178 Berlin, Germany. Tel.: +49 (0)30 97 00 50 95 Fax::+49 (0)30 280 95 150

Topic Preparation Kit

The 68th International Session

Zagreb, Croatia

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I. DELEGATES’ PREPARATION KIT

a. Committee Topics

For your information you will find a list of all 15 Committee Topics. Always be aware of the

work of the other Committees, since everybody will participate in the final discussions of the

General Assembly.

b. Committee Topic Preparation

Overviews: The overviews are written by the Committee chairpersons to serve as

background material. They aim to identify the key issues at stake while synthesizing the topic

area. The objective is naturally to keep these overviews as balanced as possible, yet they may

not receive unanimous consent. It should be noted that the EYP strongly encourages

independent thinking so feel free to disagree!

Keywords: The non-exhaustive list of keywords intends to facilitate searching for

information, may it be documents, news items or articles, at different types of search engines,

news websites and encyclopedias.

Research Links: As regards the suggestions for research links, the list is by no means

exhaustive. Rather than citing individual links, we have preferred indicating links to websites

where several relevant documents and articles can be found. Please note that the EYP is not

responsible for the contents on various websites; the texts reflect the opinions of their authors

only.

We wish you successful preparation and interesting reading!

Anna O´Leary Ville Vasaramäki

President Executive Director

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II. COMMITTE TOPICS

• AFET 1 - Committee on Foreign Affairs 1

With Russian troops present until 2044 and continued dispute with Azerbaijan over Nagorno-

Karabkh, how should relations between Armenia and Europe move forward in order to ensure a

secure and prosperous future for all?

Chaired by: Oğulcan Torun (TR)

• AFET 2 – Committee on Foreign Affairs 2

Following July’s meeting of the EU Foreign Ministers Council, are the measures to develop

cooperation with Guinea-Bissau and the Republic of Guinea sufficient? How should the EU

work together with these states to ensure a safe and sustainable future for all?

Chaired by: Stefan Vandenhende (BE)

• CRIS - Committee on Financial, Economic and Social Crisis

The European sovereign debt crisis: what now for the European Central Bank (ECB)? In light of

recent interventions and involvement by the ECB what role should the ECB play in securing

financial and economic stability in Europe?

Chaired by: Lorenzo Parrulli (IT)

• CULT 1 - Committee on Culture and Education 1

The European Declaration on Mental Health recognises mental health and well-being as

fundamental to our quality of life. With recent research confirming that 1 in 5 young people are

experiencing a mental health problem at any one time, what steps can European governments

take to support positive mental health for young people, who can often fall between the gaps?

Chaired by: Eoin Rogers (IE)

• CULT 2 - Committee on Culture and Education 2

At a time when state budgets are tight and intellectual property rights are increasingly difficult to

enforce, what measures should the EU take to promote artistic activity and ensure that artists are

compensated equitably for their work?

Chaired by: Lluis Solervicens (ES)

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• DEVE- Committee on Development

“Letting a thousand flowers bloom”: Given the increased criticism of the lack of impact and

progress, how should experimental development programmes, like the Millennium Villages, be

supported balanced against the need to provide immediate and proven solutions like famine relief?

In light of these questions, what should the EU’s next steps be in the area of development?

Chaired by: Sini Hyytiäinen (FI)

• ECON - Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs

All of the pain, none of the gain: In light of increased tax payers contributions used to reduce

deficits of European governments, how should political stakeholders work the Banks to bring

markets to stability? What form should safeguards take in preparing the banking sector for a future

that balances calls for freedom and fairness?

Chaired by: Jon Vrushi (AL)

• ENVI – Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety

In light of the 20/20/20 Renewable Energy Directive in 2008 and the recent plans to set EU

targets for resource efficiency by 2013 underway, on what areas should the targets focus, and how

high should they go? How should the European Commission work with Member States and

industry to achieve these targets as effectively as possible?

Chaired by: Benjamin Gradhand (DE)

• EMPL – Committee on Employment and Social Affairs

Is Keynesianism the only way? Facing the challenge of dramatically high youth unemployment

rates, should Europeans look to higher levels of public spending to provide an answer? How

should states best offer opportunities to those aged 16-24 to ensure that the current generation of

European youth does not become irreversibly excluded from the labour market?

Chaired by: Luca Olumets (EE)

• IMCO - Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection

In light of increasing government recognition and support for ‘B Corporations’ in the United

States, how best can the European Commission support social businesses in the EU as an

alternative model for achieving social, ethical and environmental objectives?

Chaired by: Dmytro Honcharenko (UA)

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• ITRE 1 - Committee on Industry, Research and Energy 2

Who sets the research agenda? How best can European nations balance the need for independent

scientific and medical research, with the needs for funding that are often satisfied with industry

involvement?

Chaired by: Victoria Bendiksby Wilkinson (NO) and Anna O’Leary (IE)

• ITRE 2- Committee on Industry, Research and Energy 2

The role of energy efficiency and technological development in the fight

against climate change: What action should European governments take to

achieve sustainable use of energy?

Chaired by: Rosa Douw (NL)

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

Ethnic nationalism- A blight upon modern European societies? With the rise of the far right in

several European nations, is this the end of an inclusive Europe? How best should Europe proceed

in light of the growing popularity of recent movements such as those of the ‘True Finns’ and the

Danish People’s Party?

Chaired by: Gustaf Danielsson (SE)

• DROI - Committee on Human Rights

‘Living in Limbo’ - The rights of more than 200,000 Ethnic Georgian Returnees to the Gali

District of Abkhazia: Almost 18 years after a cease-fire ended the Georgian-Abkhaz war, the

conflict over the breakaway region of Abkhazia remains as far from a political resolution as ever.

How should Europe now proceed to ensure that the human rights of those in the area, especially

taking into account the returnees, are protected?

Chaired by: Ezgi Đnce (TR)

• SEDE - Committee on Security and Defence

“Cyberspace is changing the way we view and conduct foreign policy as well as transforming our

everyday lives” (William Hague, UK Foreign Secretary, Munich Security Conference Feb.2011.)

The new nuclear: How should the EU protect its citizens against threats from cyberspace?

Chaired by: Monica Bota Moisin (RO)

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III. Committee Topic Preparation

AFET 1 - Committee on Foreign Affairs 1

With Russian troops present until 2044 and continued dispute with Azerbaijan over Nagorno-

Karabkh, how should relations between Armenia and Europe move forward in order to ensure a

secure and prosperous future for all?

• OVERVIEW by Oğulcan Torun (TR)

“The relations between Armenia and the European Union are on the move” stated José

Manuel Durão Barroso, European Commission President, following a meeting with Tigran

Sargsyan, Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, in Brussels on 15 March 2011.

Indeed, taking a close look at the ongoing negotiations between the European Union (EU)

and the Republic of Armenia, we see a new Association Agreement intending to succeed the

existing Partnership and Cooperation Agreement. The aims behind this are to ‘deepen

Armenia’s political association and economic integration with the EU’1, and with increased

levels of funds for Armenia within the “National Indicative Programme” for the period of

2011 – 20132. Bearing this statement in mind, it is fair to stay that Armenia is drawing closer

and closer to the EU.

EU and Armenia currently use the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA), signed in

1996 and entered into force in 1999, as the legal framework governing their bilateral relations.

Additionally, Armenia has officially been a part of the European Neighbourhood Policy

(ENP) since 2004.In other words, links that allow the EU to ‘have a coherent approach that

ensures that the whole of the EU is committed to deeper relations with its neighbours’3 have,

in theory, been established. However, there are issues that Strategy Papers, Development

Aids, and National Indicative Programmes are unable to resolve.

The recent war in Georgia that resulted in the EU, under French chairmanship at the time,

mediating a ceasefire between Georgia and Russia and sending observers to monitor it, is

proof of the EU now paying closer attention to the unresolved conflicts in the South

Caucasus. This renewed interest is essential. Putting all cooperation and partnership ambitions

1 European Union External Action – “Summary on EU – Armenia relations”

2 European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument - “Armenia National Indicative Programme 2011 – 2013” p. 5.

3 Štefan Füle, Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy – Press conference on 6 April 2010

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aside, the sole fact that ‘Nagorno-Karabakh is the single conflict that has lead to threats of a

‘Third World War actually being voiced’4, shows it is indeed an issue of extreme importance

that requires to be handled with utmost care.

The situation in the disputed area of Nagorno-Karabakh is a unique case study. Over the past

century, the area and people of Nagorno-Karabakh have witnessed Ottoman and British

invasions, sovietisation of Transcaucasia, establishment of the Nagorno-Karabakh

Autonomous Oblast, as well as different Armenian and Azerbaijani jurisdictions. After both

Azerbaijan and Armenia attained their independence from the Soviet Union, the historical

dispute re-emerged and the struggle over the area drastically escalated. Both countries claimed

themselves the rightful owners of Nagorno-Karabakh area and proved they would be willing

to fight for it when necessary.5 In September 1991, the Karabakh Soviet, proclaimed the

independent republic of Nagorno-Karabakh over the territory of the former Nagorno-

Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO), which was de jure a part of Azerbaijan. What now

became a full-scale war between Azerbaijan and Armenia from ended with a ceasefire initiated

by Russia and signed in 1994. Svanta E. Cornell explains the post-war situation as the

following: “The territories that fell under Armenian control, in particular the areas of the

former NKAO, slowly but steadily became integrated as a part of Armenia. For every practical

purpose, Nagorno-Karabakh has become a part of Armenia, thus a practical success as far as its

quest for secession from Azerbaijan is concerned.6” Essentially, the Nagorno-Karabakh area is

now under the control of the de facto independent state comprised of ethnic Armenians with

major influence of Armenia. Yet, after almost two decades since the ceasefire, the destiny of

Nagorno-Karabakh still remains largely disputed.

One of the largest dilemmas concerning the conflict over the Nagorno-Karabakh area is

caused by the clash of the principle of ‘peoples’ right to self-determination’ and ‘territorial

integrity’7. Furthermore, the area in question is situated right next to the Caspian Sea, rich in

gas and oil, which is of utmost importance to international actors such as Russia, Turkey and

the EU. Indeed, a strong Azerbaijan state with control over the Nagorno-Karabakh area is not

in Russia’s best interest; Armenian jurisdiction is definitely more desirable. To ensure

Armenia benefits from adequate military protection, Russia signed a ‘Military Cooperation

Pact’ with Armenia earlier this year and extended the stationing of its forces in Armenia until

4 Svante E. Cornell, “The Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict” p. 152.

5 After the de facto integration of Nagorno Karabakh into Armenia, President Aliyev on multiple occasions stated that “if our

lands are not freed, we will have to free them ourselves”. 6 Svante E. Cornell, “The Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict” p. 33. 7 The Nagorno Karabagh Conflict: Moving From Complacency to Concern

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2044. On a similar note, Turkey imposed a full economic embargo on Armenia and closed

the border between the two states after the Nagorno-Karabakh War while also demanding the

withdrawal of Armenian troops from the area before the Armenia-Turkey relations can enter

a true normalisation period.

While different claims on the status of an area may already represent a very difficult conflict to

solve, as suggested by the paragraph above, the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh is much more

complex. Rival territorial claims, different countries’ separate agendas, the question of

refugees, internally displaced persons, and the historical background make the dispute even

more challenging. At the same time, no country wants a conflict area in their backyard.

“Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe” (OSCE)‘s Minsk Group was

established during the Nagorno-Karabakh War to ‘encourage a peaceful, negotiated resolution

to the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia’. The group is co-chaired by France, Russia

and the United States, and involves Belarus, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden,

Finland, Turkey, as well as Azerbaijan and Armenia, as members. While the OSCE Minsk

Group is responsible for mediating the peace talks between the two sides, it is hardly possible

to say that the Group’s efforts to date can be considered successful. With the conflict still

‘frozen’, and Azerbaijan being very vocal about its criticisms of the OSCE Minsk Group for

failing to resolve the conflict in an unbiased manner, reaching a peaceful and negotiated

resolution in the near future remains a big question mark.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is one of the most complex and pressing examples of modern

foreign policy issues. It involves a number of global key actors and is based on a number of

severe fundamental disagreements between the parties involved. Keeping this in mind, how

can, and should, the EU continue strengthening its relations with Armenia in the areas of

economic partnership, education, energy sector and twinning cooperation? With such strong

Russian influence on Armenia and different strategic goals of individual countries, what role

should the EU play in the peaceful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict? Europe’s

response to these questions will be the key for both its own and the Eurasian countries’

prosperity.

• Keywords

Partnership and Cooperation Agreement, European Neighbourhood Policy, Military Co-

operation Pact, Nagorno-Karabakh, Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe,

Minsk Group, Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh, Armenia – Azerbaijan relations

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• Links

Official Sources:

The European Neighbourhood Policy

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

The European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument – National Indicative Programme

for Armenia (2011-2013)

http://ec.europa.eu/world/enp/pdf/country/2011_enpi_nip_armenia_en.pdf

External Action of the EU in Armenia

http://eeas.europa.eu/armenia/index_en.htm

Development and Cooperation – EuropeAid – Armenia

http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/where/neighbourhood/country-

cooperation/armenia/armenia_en.htm

Th EU Policy on the Southern Caucasus

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/meetdocs/committees/afet/20040120/wider%20europe%20

caucasus.pdf

Europe’s Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument – Country Strategy Paper for Armenia

(2007-2013)

http://ec.europa.eu/world/enp/pdf/country/enpi_csp_armenia_en.pdf

Summary on the Azerbaijan – European Union Relations

http://www.eeas.europa.eu/azerbaijan/eu_azerbaijan_summary/index_en.htm

Informative material:

The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe – Minsk Group

http://www.osce.org/mg

The Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict – “Lessons from the mediation efforts”

http://www.initiativeforpeacebuilding.eu/pdf/Nagorno_Karabakh_conflict_mediation_efforts

.pdf

Nagorno-Karabakh: A Plan for Peace

http://www.crisisgroup.org/en/regions/europe/caucasus/azerbaijan/167-nagorno-karabakh-

a-plan-for-peace.aspx

The CIA World Factbook - Armenia

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/am.html

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Academic Sources:

Report on the he Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict

http://www.silkroadstudies.org/new/inside/publications/1999_NK_Book.pdf

Media Coverage:

The Nagorno-Karabakh Dilemma

http://mediajackhammer.wordpress.com/2011/06/25/armenia-azerbaijan-turkey-and-a-

third-world-war/

The Economist - The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict:“Still just about frozen”

http://www.economist.com/node/21016635

The Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict: Moving From Complacency to Concern

http://www.strategicoutlook.org/2011/08/the-nagorno-karabagh-conflict-moving-from-

complacency-to-concern/

Russia to beef up military presence in former Soviet space

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/7952433/Russia-to-beef-up-

military-presence-in-former-Soviet-space.html

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AFET 2 – Committee on Foreign Affairs 2

Following July’s meeting of the EU Foreign Ministers Council, are the measures to develop

cooperation with Guinea-Bissau and the Republic of Guinea sufficient? How should the EU

work together with these states to ensure a safe and sustainable future for all?

• OVERVIEW by Stefan Vandenhende (BE)

Guinea-Bissau and the Republic of Guinea, two neighbouring countries in Northwest Africa

are quite unknown and they are definitely not to be confused with Equatorial-Guinea or

Papua New Guinea. What follows is an attempt to briefly introduce the history of these

countries and while they are in ways quite similar, a first challenge will consist of separating

the two and understanding the different issues these two countries face. This is of course not

even close to a full history so further research is essential in order to fully grasp the scale of

their history, main actors and recent events.

Understanding the difficulties these countries face is only half the work. The committee will

also have to be familiar with the wider development issue at hand. The EU is one of their

main development partners and the Cotonou Agreement largely determines relations between

these two countries and the EU. Since 2000, it is the main partnership framework between

the EU and 79 countries from Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP).8 While thorough

knowledge of this context is necessary, it is not asked of AFET II to reframe EU-ACP

relations completely. Rather, the topic consists of two countries for which AFET II must find

a way forward.

The Republic of Guinea (Guinea Conakry, formerly known as French Guinea)

On the 28th of September 2009, soldiers opened fire on people gathering at a pro-democracy

mass rally in a stadium in Conakry, Guinea’s capital. The BBC reported that at least 150

people were killed and 1,200 wounded.9 After a full investigation by Human Rights Watch,

they confirmed these numbers and added that dozens of women were brutally raped.

Furthermore, the violence was “premeditated” and “…committed largely by the elite

Presidential Guard.”10 The president at that time was Moussa Camara, head of a military

junta that had seized power in 2008, just hours after the death of former dictator Lansana

Conté. Camara was fatally wounded during an assassination attempt in December 2009, dying

8 http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/where/acp/overview/cotonou-agreement/index_en.htm

9 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8280603.stm

10 http://www.hrw.org/news/2009/10/27/guinea-september-28-massacre-was-premeditated

12

later that month. In November 2010 then finally, after 42 years of independence, the first

fairly democratic elections were held and Alpha Conde became the new president.11

Though this is only a small portion of Guinea’s recent history, it portrays the condition of this

country since its independence from France in 1958.12 42 years of dictatorial regimes, violence

and instability have left Guinea to be one of the poorest countries in the world, despite its vast

amount of natural resources reserves.13 14

EU-Guinea relations been troubled since the 2008 military coup, during which Camara

became president. The EU imposed a number of sanctions to pressurise the new junta and

partially suspended development cooperation.15 Progress has been made however and this was

acknowledged during the latest meeting of the EU Foreign Ministers Council, at which the

conditions to resume full cooperation with Guinea were revised.16

Guinea-Bissau

A similar, though differentiated story can be found in Guinea-Bissau. This small country

gained its independence from Portugal in 1974 and in 1980, after some years of turmoil,

authoritarian dictator Joao Vieira seized power by military coup. Fourteen years later Vieira

was elected president in the country’s first free elections. After a civil war starting in 1998,

Vieira was ousted by another military coup in May 1999, only to be re-elected in 2005.17 In

March 2009 then, Vieira was assassinated18, new elections followed but then the military took

over once again. After this, the leaders of that mutiny, including General Antonio Indjai, were

appointed to senior posts in the military. This was a cause for disagreement with the EU,

since Guinea-Bissau was in breach with fundamental articles of the Cotonou Agreement,

political consultations followed in Brussels on 29 March 2009, in order to avoid EU

development aid being suspended.19 Another round of consultations were held in Brussels on

18 July 2011 after which a roadmap was set out to gradually resume EU aid to Guinea-

Bissau.20

Guinea-Bissau remains one of the poorest countries in the world and is highly dependent on

foreign aid and agriculture. In order to grow, huge political and economic challenges remain.

11 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-11762142

12 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13442051

13 http://www.smguinee.com/html/anoverview.html 14 http://www.eeas.europa.eu/guinea/index_en.htm 15

http://www.eeas.europa.eu/guinea/index_en.htm 16

http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/11/894&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en 17 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13579838 18

http://www.euronews.net/2009/03/02/guinea-bissau-president-assassinated/ 19

http://www.acp-eucourier.info/Newsview.79.0.html?&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=1888&cHash=88a81911018df9443397a5043f6cf132 20 http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/11/896&type=HTML

13

While the Guinea-Bissau does have a large minerals potential, drug traffickers, often closely

linked to high-ranked army officials, plague the country.21

What next steps should the EU take? Should the current strategy be continued or is an

adjusted approach for relations with these countries necessary? If they should, how can the

EU help to get these countries development back on track?

• Keywords

(The Republic of) Guinea – Guinea-Bissau - EU Commissioner for Development - European

Development Fund (EDF) - (Article 96 of the) Cotonou Agreement - EU-African, Caribbean

and Pacific (ACP) countries relations

• Links:

Informative Material:

GUINEA

Country overviews CIA World Factbook - Guinea

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/gv.html

BBC – Guinea profile

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13442051

UK Parliament document on Guinea

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201012/cmselect/cmeuleg/428-

xxxiii/42813.htm

http://www.smguinee.com/html/anoverview.html

http://www.epmag.com/Offshore/OffshoreNews/2011/August/item86712.php

http://www.energy-pedia.com/article.aspx?articleid=146836

Guinea-Bissau

Country overview CIA World Factbook – Guinea-Bissau

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/pu.html

BBC – Guinea-Bissau profile

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13443186

21 http://www.africaneconomicoutlook.org/en/countries/west-africa/guinea-bissau/

14

Official Sources:

EU-Guinea relations

http://www.eeas.europa.eu/guinea/index_en.htm

Délégation de l'Union européenne en République de Guinée (in French only)

http://eeas.europa.eu/delegations/guinea/index_fr.htm#

Guinea and the IMF

http://www.imf.org/external/country/gin/index.htm

EU-Guinea-Bissau relations

http://www.eeas.europa.eu/guinea_bissau/index_en.htm

Guinea-Bissau and the IMF

http://www.imf.org/external/country/gnb/index.htm

Media Coverage:

Guinea:

http://allafrica.com/stories/201108050223.html

http://www.emergingmarkets.org/Article/2844920/Search/Results/Guinea-emerges-from-

acute-on-chronic-state-with-new-debt.html?Keywords=kerfalla

http://guineaoye.wordpress.com/2011/05/07/eu-rep-visit-to-guinea-full-resumption-of-

development-cooperation-is-contingent-is-free-and-transparent-legislative-elections/

Guinea- Bissau:

http://www.africaneconomicoutlook.org/en/countries/west-africa/guinea-bissau/

http://www.acp-

eucourier.info/Newsview.79.0.html?&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=1888&cHash=88a81911018df944

3397a5043f6cf132

http://www.acpsec.org/en/2011-

files/press_releases/press_release_eu_guinea_bissau_consultant_march_2011.html

Recommended Text:

Fint, A. (2008). Trade, Poverty and the Environment. The EU, Cotonou and the African-

Caribbean-Pacific. Palgrave-MacMillan- Accesible through pdf.

15

CRIS - Committee on Financial, Economic and Social Crisis

The European sovereign debt crisis: what now for the European Central Bank (ECB)? In

light of recent interventions and involvement by the ECB what role should the ECB play in

securing financial and economic stability in Europe

• OVERVIEW by Lorenzo Parrulli (IT)

“It is the gravest financial and economic crisis since World War II”.22 - Jean Claude Trichet

Mr. Jean Claude Trichet, current President of the European Central Bank, used these

encouraging words to describe the current global situation during a recent interview. The

European sovereign debt crisis2324 was one of the direct consequences of the financial crisis of

the late ‘00s that began in the United States in early 2008.

The European Central Bank first became involved in solving the crisis25 when the Greek

government, sinking under the weight of its own debt26 and shunned by creditors, took the

humbling step of asking for help to its fellow Eurozone members and to the International

Monetary Fund (IMF). Greece had to face the reality of no longer being able to raise money

by selling bonds, which is why the international aid package was the only hope for Athens to

avoid a national bankruptcy27. While Strauss-Kahn, the then IMF Managing Director, was

stating that the IMF will “move expeditiously in response to Greece's appeal”, Eurozone

countries were still arguing on whether to help Greece or not and if yes, how?28 At that time

neither the European Union (EU) nor the Eurogroup had specific crisis management

procedures29. It decided that it was time for Europe to write down these rules. Needless to

say, each country wanted its needs to have a main role in the drafting. On the other hand

letting the mainly US-funded IMF act as sole rescuer of the Greek economy would have been

a political humiliation for the EU; the job was to be done, and done quickly.

22 http://www.euronews.net/2011/08/30/eu-debt-crisis-gravest-since-world-war-ii-warns-trichet/ 23 http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/info-EZdebt0210.html 24

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13856580 25

http://www.ecb.int/press/pr/date/2010/html/pr100510.en.html 26 http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2011/07/sovereign-debt 27 http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/info-EZdebt0210.html 28

http://www.isn.ethz.ch/isn/Current-Affairs/ISN- Insights/Detail?lng=en&id=132515&contextid734=132515&contextid735=132513&tabid=132513&dynrel=4888caa0-b3db- 1461-98b9-e20e7b9c13d4,0c54e3b3-1e9c-be1e-2c24-a6a8c7060233 29 http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/sgp/index_en.htm

16

Eventually the EU Member States, the IMF and Greece together reached an agreement for a

€45 Billion loan at an interest rate of 5%.30 This did not allow Greece to breathe a sigh a

relief, but at least prevented it from a debt rollover of nearly €10 Billion. However, Greece

was just the first step; the Portuguese and Irish debt crises were just round the corner.

In order to better respond to the ongoing crisis, on the 9th of May 2010 all the EU Member

States agreed on a package of European Stabilisation Actions31. The cornerstone of these

actions is the European Financial Stability Mechanism32, with a fund of 60 billion euros

provided by all the Member States. This funding programme, which is meant to start its

ordinary job in 201333, has been put side aside with a special purpose vehicle, the European

Financial Stability Facility34, which can be considered its operating branch: it can raise up to

€440 Billion by selling bonds and has a permanent open loan option with the IMF for up to

250 billion euros. This means that the entire European safety net has an operational capacity

of 750 billion euros.

The second country to benefit from this European safety net was Ireland35. After September

2010 the Irish government did not manage to sell its refinance obligations and sought help

from the EU and the IMF. On the 29th of November 2010 a joint European Commission,

ECB-IMF mission negotiated a financial assistance package with the Irish government for €85

Billion. In May 2011 Portugal followed Ireland in joining the European Stabilisation Actions

network36. Suffering from speculations by bond traders and rating agencies, Portugal almost

reached a point of no return in March 2011 when the government collapsed and all of the

three major rating agencies downgraded Portuguese debt. The assistance program for Portugal

counts on €78 Billion in loans provided by the EFSF and the IMF. In order to receive this

and any subsequent loans, Greece, Portugal and Ireland agreed on radical financial

manoeuvres in pursuit of austerity37. Sit-ins and strikes followed these decisions, some with

fatal consequences: three people were killed during a protest in Greece. A general sense of

social distress spread across Europe.

The European Central Bank has played mainly the role of negotiator in these situations, but

there are other actions during which it is more engaged. Confined to put aside its traditional

30 http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/eu_borrower/greek_loan_facility/index_en.htm

31 http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/eu_borrower/european_stabilisation_actions/index_en.htm

32 http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/eu_borrower/efsm/index_en.htm 33 http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/10/636 34

http://www.efsf.europa.eu/about/operations/index.htm 35

http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/eu_borrower/ireland/index_en.htm 36

http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/eu_borrower/portugal/index_en.htm 37 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10162176

17

public low profile38, the ECB, along with Eurozone central banks, started purchasing

government and private debt securities3940 in order to prevent speculative attacks against the

Euro area41. Currently, the global economy is full of vultures circling above dying economies

and it is claimed that the ECB, like the other central banks, is trying to protect these quarries.

Buying government bonds has been a double-feature tool: on one hand the flow of money is

oxygen for state treasuries, on the other hand it represents a boost of trust for the markets, as

they become aware that the ECB took action. However, the bonds at issue are high-yield

ones. While the ECB is essentially free of budgetary concerns, to a certain extent, Euro-area

Central Banks are not. The solidity of few European banking systems is the only hope for

Europe. If these systems were to collapse while trying to help countries in danger the results

would be disastrous.42 Moreover, by now, the ECB has carried out its open-market operations

only on the secondary market, due to the Eurozone “golden rule”: no direct intrusions in the

treasuries of single states. Even though economists state that the secondary market is where

speculation really takes place and operations on the primary market would not be as effective,

the ECB’s purchasing capacity is clearly limited43.

Beyond further discussion of the potential for the role of the ECB, two burning issues remain:

Eurobonds4445 and the future of the economic and monetary union46. Many politicians have

described Eurobonds47 as the silver bullet. 4849 A common bond emission would indeed

strengthen the monetary union and allow weaker countries to raise money at a lower buying

cost, but France and Germany’s questions are legitimate: why should they continue to

guarantee debts that they are not in control of? The risk of having their fingers burnt is

incredibly high50.

A widespread thesis is that Eurobonds would improve the situation only if a common fiscal

policy is adopted; otherwise they could represent the Coup de Grace for European

38 http://www.ecb.int/ecb/orga/tasks/html/index.en.html

39 http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2011/08/ecb-goes-shopping, 40

http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2011/08/europes-debt-crisis 41

http://www.economist.com/node/21526363 42http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904332804576538460894324834.html?mod=googlenews_wsj#articleTabs% 3Darticle 43

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/de407e82-c98e-11e0-9eb8-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1VfdnLHtK 44

http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/breakout/eurobonds-inevitable-fix-europe-debt-crisis-kleintop-191515724.html 45 http://www.economist.com/economist-asks/should-euro-zone-issue-eurobonds 46 http://audiovideo.economist.com/?fr_story=a9d1d21a1022cee938d31b31811df5dd5197c5e4&rf=bm 47

http://www.thestreet.com/story/11233574/1/eurobonds-explained-in-us-terms.html 48

http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2011/08/30/664611/anyone-for-some-non-government-debt-eurobonds/ 49

http://www.europeanvoice.com/article/imported/eurobonds-can-help-but-not-on-their-own/71907.aspx 50 http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/danielhannan/100102420/eurobonds-are-on-the-way-whatever-mrs-merkel-says/

18

economy51. Would further fiscal integration allow the stronger economies to quicken the

austerity process of the weaker ones in order to arrive at the institution of a European debt

management agency with good grounding? 52What should we learn from the United States

debt-ceiling crisis? Even the creditors of one of the most powerful states, with a unified

monetary and fiscal system, risk being left empty-handed because of a political impasse.

Considering the wide variety of political idiosyncrasies in the EU, would a debt ceiling crisis

be constantly on the agenda?53

While trying to find further solutions545556 to ensure financial and economic stability in

Europe, the special Committee on Financial, Economic and Social Crisis57 will have to bear

in mind that the EU is making a play for its future and that ECB is definitely not a traditional

central bank, therefore its limits and specific powers will need to be carefully considered,

analysed and debated.

• Keywords

European Central Bank, Government debt, financial and economic stability, budget deficit,

high yield bond, loan, interest rate, bail out, austerity measures, debt rollover, state

bankruptcy, rating agency, primary/secondary market, Eurobonds, special purpose vehicle,

debt ceiling, common system of taxation.

• Links:

Informative sources:

Glossary of terms

http://www.investopedia.com/dictionary/#axzz1WptWkSXi

Official Sources:

Eurostat - Government statistics

http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/government_finance_statistics/data/main

_tables

51 http://www.economist.com/economist-asks/should-euro-zone-issue-eurobonds

52 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQTpPRsJ_d4&feature=player_embedded

53 http://www.bruegel.org/publications/publication-detail/publication/591-europe-small-steps-and-giant-leaps/ 54

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/ba30bc32-c4f7-11e0-ba51-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1WQhp5bss 55

http://www.euinside.eu/en/news/politicians-hold-the-key-to-solving-the-crisis 56

http://www2.lse.ac.uk/publicEvents/events/2011/20110613t1400vLSE.aspx 57 http://www.europarl.europa.eu/activities/committees/presCom.do?language=EN&body=CRIS

19

World Bank – GDP growth

http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD.ZG/countries/GR-XC-

EU?display=graph

World Bank – Government debt

http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/GC.DOD.TOTL.GD.ZS/countries/GR-XC-EU-PT-

ES-DE?display=graph

World Bank – Unemployment Indicators

http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.UEM.TOTL.ZS/countries/GR-XC-EU-

IE?display=graph

World Bank – Inflation Indicators

http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.DEFL.KD.ZG/countries/GR-EU-XC-PT-

DE?display=graph

Media Coverage:

The Economist

http://www.economist.com/blogs/charlemagne

Financial Times

http://ftalphaville.ft.com/

Various Sources

http://www.bruegel.org/

http://economicsnewspaper.com/

http://www.europeanvoice.com/page/european-voice-news-analysis/16.aspx

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/debt-crisis - The Guardian, UK

http://online.wsj.com/public/page/europe-debt.html?mod=WSJ_topnav_europe_europe

Blogs

http://blogs.ft.com/brusselsblog/#axzz1WhnVbDrM - Financial Times

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/finance/author/andrewlilico/ - The Telegraph, UK

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/author/danielhannan/

http://www.euinside.eu/en

20

CULT 1 - Committee on Culture and Education 1

The European Declaration on Mental Health recognises mental health and well-being as

fundamental to our quality of life. With recent research confirming that 1 in 5 young people

are experiencing a mental health problem at any one time, what steps can European

governments take to support positive mental health for young people, who can often fall

between the gaps?

• OVERVIEW by Eoin Rogers (IE)

It has been acknowledged that “mental health and mental well-being are fundamental to the

quality of life and productivity of individuals, families, communities and nations, enabling

people to experience life as meaningful and being creative and active citizens”58. Thus, there

can be no denying that the treatment and care of those who suffer from mental health

problems is a hugely important issue.

That being said why is it that in the last decade 90% of people with a mental health problem

did not receive treatment?59 Perhaps the problem is that on average the mental health budgets

of countries within the European Region of the World Health Organisation (WHO) makes

up only 5.8% of their overall health budgets and that the majority of these funds is spent on

treatment as opposed to prevention and promotion.60 It is generally argued that treatment is

crucial to helping those facing mental health problems however without engaging in methods

of prevention and promotion of mental well-being, how effective can these treatments really

be?

One problem that hinders the promotion of mental well being is the stigma attached to

mental illness. The stigmatisation of those with mental health problems has its roots in the

cultural practice of using the idea of “crazy” to differentiate people from “societal normalcy”.

This process has helped create a skewed hierarchy of health where many people view mental

health problems as less significant than physical health problems. It has led to the

categorisation of people with mental health problems as violent, volatile, unpredictable, and in

general helped foster many misconceptions about mental health and those affected. All these

factors combined have led to the discrimination of people who have mental health problems,

the infringement of their human rights and their isolation from society. It has been argued

that this stigma has proven highly problematic in promoting mental health and also in the

proliferation of treatments. How best can this stigma be tackled to allow those with mental

58 Mental Health Declaration for Europe Facing the Challenges, Building Solutions EUR/04/5047810/6 14 January 2005 52667,

Page 1 59

Mental health: facing the challenges, building the solutions, Report from the WHO European Ministerial Conference, Page 3 60 Ibid. Page 4

21

health problems to have equal opportunities and also to allow them to function in society

without being discriminated?

Whatever the provisions proposed they must be sensitive to those groups which are

vulnerable and have proven susceptible to poor mental health. It is widely recognised that

many mental health problems seen in adulthood have their origin in childhood and

adolescence. As such, the importance of maintaining good mental health in youth becomes

essential to ensuring the good mental health of any future generation. The European Region

of the World Health Organisation’s report, Mental Health: Facing the Challenges, Building

Solutions details that young people are a group whose mental health is particularly affected by

their surroundings. Recognising that young people as a particularly vulnerable group, what is

the best way to prevent mental health problems from occurring and also treating those which

already exist?

The specific needs of those who suffer from mental health problems must also be taken into

account. The needs of each individual will be different and the level of care needed will also

vary. This can be seen to be addressed in the move away from larger institutions towards

smaller community based care achieved by stimulating community based support for

nongovernmental initiatives and organisations as seen in the Mental Health Declaration for

Europe. What must be questioned- is this move towards catering for the individual needs and

problems enough? Are the opinions of those who have mental health problems being taken

into account in the implementation of their treatment? Does the same apply to the opinions

of the carers, professionals and the family members? What happens when treatment goes

against the will of a sufferer, as is the case with suicide, and treatment has to be forced upon

them? At what point are those who have mental health problems given a say in the running of

their own treatment?

The WHO’s atlas on mental health resources highlights the deficiencies within the European

Regions mental health treatment policies noting that one third of European countries do not

have any specified mental health policy and one tenth do not have any legislation connected

to mental health.61 With current policy clearly lacking and in some cases not existing how best

should European countries promote mental well-being and deal with the mental health

problems amongst the youth of Europe?

61 Mental health: facing the challenges, building the solutions, Report from the WHO European Ministerial Conference, Page 20

22

• KEYWORDS

Mental Health, Treatment, Prevention, Promotion, World Health Organisation, Stigma,

Social Inclusion, Equality

• Links:

Official Sources:

European Declaration on Mental Health

www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/88595/E85445.pdf

Mental Health: Facing the Challenges, Building Solutions (WHO Publication)

www.euro.who.int/data/assets/pdf_file/0008/96452/E87301.pdf

Academic Material:

Promoting and Protecting Youth Mental Health through Evidence Based Prevention

http://pei.ocde.us/Assets/Promoting+and+Protecting+Youth+Mental+Health+through+Ev

idence-Based+Prevention+and+Treatment.pdf

Australian Case Study

https://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/187_07_011007/mcg10312_fm.pdf

Overview globally

http://www.phru.net/cyphi/Topics/mental%20health/Mental%20health%20of%20young%20

people.pdf

Informative material:

Collection of good practices encouraging Social Inclusion in different European Countries

(www.mentalhealth-socialinclusion.org)

http://www.mentalhealth-socialinclusion.org/good-practices.html

Sticks and Stones: Breaking the stigma of child and youth mental health difficulties through

our schools - Speech from the website "Center of Knowledge of Healthy Child

Development"

http://www.knowledge.offordcentre.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id

=289:sticks-and-stones-breaking-the-stigma-of-child-and-youth-mental-health-difficulties-

through-our-schools-vfc&catid=73

23

Media Coverage: - newspaper articles, videos, press release

Stephen Fry: My Battle with Mental Illness - The Independent Article

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/stephen-fry-my-

battle-with-mental-illness-416386.html

Mental Health of Youth - New York Times Video Article

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ

Teen Suicide almost Doubles in One Decade - Irish Times Article

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/health/2011/0816/1224302518682.html

What's it like to be a young person with mental health issues? - Guardian Article

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/apr/15/young-people-mental-health-

issues?INTCMP=SRCH

24

CULT 2 - Committee on Culture and Education 2

At a time when state budgets are tight and intellectual property rights are increasingly difficult

to enforce, what measures should the EU take to promote artistic activity and ensure that

artists are compensated equitably for their work?

• OVERVIEW by Lluis Solervicens (ES)

Investing in culture is expensive, but the alternative, ultimately costs more”

- Paweł Potoroczyn, director of the Adam-Mickiewicz-Institute, Warsaw

No more Yeats, Austen, Brecht or Ballet. No more folk, jazz, pop, rap, metal or IDM. No

more live music, movie nights, art galleries, boomboxes or MP3s. A world without art would

be a dismal one indeed, but some would have us believe that current trends and technological

advances are inexorably dragging us towards this existence. The MPAA alone reported a loss

of $2.3 billion due to internet piracy in 2005 62, recording studios are facing troubled times 63,

artists are finding in increasingly difficult to make ends meet. 64Copyright laws are struggling

to keep up with rapidly evolving consumer habits 65 and clouds of uncertainty hover over

new distribution methods that are promising but as yet unproven. 66

The digital revolution may be causing panic in some sectors, but those who take full

advantage of it are reaping the rewards. The iTunes music store hit 10 billion sales last year 67

(with around 70% of proceeds going to the labels, which then pass on a cut to artists) and

Amazon now sells more eBooks than physical books 68, in part thanks to tight integration with

their successful eBook reader, the Kindle. Major recording labels seem to be suffering the

consequences of piracy more than independent artists, who are eagerly using the internet to

distribute their music, for free, to a global audience. Since the birth of Napster a decade ago,

consumers have also been reaping the benefits of these new distribution methods, undeterred

by the threats of lawsuits and disconnection. Nowadays the practice has become widespread,

and people with minimal amounts of technical knowledge are downloading albums, films and

even books for free and almost instantly. Some of the more unfortunately-aimed court cases69

62 http://www.archive.org/details/MpaaPiracyReort 63 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=121304883 64

http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2010/jan/24/artists-day-jobs 65 http://www.cio.co.uk/news/3258983/eu-piracy-stance-criticised/ 66

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/is_spotifys_business_model_sustainable.php 67

http://www.tgdaily.com/consumer-electronics-brief/48578-never-ending-itunes-sales-tally-hits-10-billion 68

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/19/amazon-ebook-sales-surpas_n_864387.html 69 http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20030909/0116235.shtml

25

have only served to solidify the general public’s opinion that this business model is in urgent

need of a re-think, as can be made evident by growing support for political parties defending

information sharing and net neutrality. 70

So the trend, at least in the music industry, seems to lean towards cutting out the middleman 71: self-recording, self-production, self-distribution, or at most with the backing of a small

independent label. In principle the democratisation that the internet offers is a fair solution

when coupled with a pay-what-you-like donation scheme that was successful for Radiohead

with their 2007 album, In Rainbows.72 However, in practice, the fact that anyone can create

art and share it instantly and globally has clogged up every channel with low-quality products,

and consumers have come to value services that do the work of sorting the wheat from the

chaff for them. Indeed, the current situation puts into question the role that the professional

musician plays now that amateurism is so widespread (and, often, so successful) 73. If artists can

no longer afford to dedicate themselves full-time to their craft, then perhaps the large record

labels were right in predicting a decrease in the overall quality of music? Will we ever see (or

hear) another album like Loveless by My Bloody Valentine which cost an estimated €500,000

to produce, or Pet Sounds by the Beach Boys which was recorded in the kind of multi-

million dollar facility which is currently feeling the effects of the economic recession? How

can such facilities be supported in the current climate? Should they be supported?

Many users are moving on to streaming services, such as Spotify, Grooveshark or Netflix, and

despite the uncertainty of their business model and some issues regarding licensing, 74 it seems

that they are redistributing revenue to the artists 75. However, this kind of service is only

applicable to the worlds of music and film: what about everyone else? A new phenomenon

called ‘crowdfunding’ has recently taken the world of the arts by storm, and what began with

a single site called Kickstarter has rapidly expanded to other markets 76. The idea is that

individuals or a collective pitch their project on the site, including a target budget and certain

rewards for each donation amount, and if a user finds the project appealing they make a

donation. If the target budget is not reached, the money is returned to donators. Platforms

like these are working because they allow consumers to find new content they like and

contribute to its development in a direct and tangible fashion.

70 http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118020419 71 http://www.silentway.com/tony-brooke-obsolescence-music-industry-middleman 72

http://www.nme.com/news/radiohead/40444 73

http://www.littlewhiteearbuds.com/feature/everything-popular-is-wrong-making-it-in-electronic-music-despite-

democratization/ 74

http://www.musicweek.com/story.asp?sectioncode=1&storycode=1045711&c=1 75

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/7590782/Spotify-rejects-claims-that-it-rips-off-artists.html 76 http://culture360.org/news/crowdsourced-funding-for-the-arts/

26

On the other hand, much remains to be done: the EU is still struggling to develop legislation

that responds to the needs of copyright holders, artists and consumers alike 77. When it comes

to funding, the EU remains on track towards the goals of its 2007-2013 Culture Programme

but national funding for arts is wavering in the midst of an economic crisis that is forcing

budget cuts across the board 78 79. What is the solution to this situation? If a solution is to be

found, it must include innovative moves from artists as well as policymakers.

When it comes to copyright, a recent art project 80displaying a hard drive containing pirated

material with a total value of $3 million raises some interesting questions regarding copyright

and value. This piece of art apparently has three distinct values: $100 for the drive itself, $5

million for the information it contains, and an undetermined amount corresponding to the

revenue it generated as an artistic installation. Which value is the valid one? Is something

infinitely replicable as valuable as something unique? Do ideas have an inherent value? Does

their value change if you can copy the idea digitally? What about if you declare it art? How

best should European nations proceed in this area?

With pressing budgetary concerns, should the EU step in to promote artistic activity?

• KEYWORDS

Culture programme, copyright, copyleft, piracy, licensing, flat rate music, blanket fees, piracy

industry impact, arts funding, pirate party, crowdsourcing, democratisation of art

• Links:

Official Sources:

EU culture funding institutions

http://ec.europa.eu/culture/portal/funding/eac_en.htm

77 http://www.europeanvoice.com/article/2008/04/713april/compensating-artists-for-lost-revenues/60231.aspx 78

http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2009/mar/14/recession-arts-funding-cuts 79

http://www.cultureactioneurope.org/lang-en/component/content/article/556-recession-watch-turning-a-threat-into-opportunity- 80 http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110818/04175615574/modern-art-5-million-worth-unauthorized-downloads-hard-

drive-display.shtml

27

EU Culture Programme 2007-2013י

http://ec.europa.eu/culture/our-programmes-and-actions/doc411_en.htm

Latest EU news on copyright legislation

http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/copyright/news/news_en.htm

Media Sources:

A few compensation methods

http://w2.eff.org/share/compensation.html

Gerd Leonhard on Flat Rate Music

http://www.mediafuturist.com/music_like_water/

Piracy in film, some numbers and strategies

http://torrentfreak.com/europes-odd-anti-piracy-stance-send-money-to-the-us-110904/

Piracy effect in publishing industry

http://www.teleread.com/copy-right/could-piracy-be-helpful-publishing-industry-

perspectives/

Last.fm’s Artist Royalty Program 2011

http://www.wired.com/listening_post/2008/07/lastfm-compensa/

Robert Levine interview on copyright and licensing 2011

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/08/18/robert_levine_freeride_interview/

The Economist with some thoughts on pricing and consumer habits 2009

http://www.economist.com/node/14699573?story_id=14699573

The risks of outsourcing arts funding to the private sector

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/news/this-is-what-

happens-when-arts-funding-is-outsourced-2042499.html

MPAA piracy losses exaggerated

http://www.afterdawn.com/news/article.cfm/2008/01/23/mpaa_admits_incorrectly_estimati

ng_college_piracy_losses

Academic sources:

Models of funding for the arts:

http://www.artsceneiowa.com/ISSUES/NewMediaArtsFundingModels.pdf

28

Informative material:

A very clear summary of piracy in the music industry, its actors and its consequences (2007)

http://www.roughlydrafted.com/RD/RDM.Tech.Q1.07/708F20CD-E67D-45C7-AF95-

3E1A6AC07C37.html

29

DEVE – Committee on Development

“Letting a thousand flowers bloom”: Given the increased criticism of the lack of impact

and progress, how should experimental development programmes, like the Millennium

Villages, be supported balanced against the need to provide immediate and proven

solutions like famine relief? In light of these questions, what should the EU’s next steps be

in the area of development?

• OVERVIEW by Sini Hyytiäinen (FI)

Introduction

In the past number of years, the hunger situation in African countries has taken a turn for the

worst. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations statistics (FAO) estimate that

the number of people suffering from hunger has risen significantly since 1995-199781. There

are three main reasons for the increase: a neglect of agricultural development, the current

worldwide economic crisis and the significant increase in food prices. The main reasons that

cause hunger are poverty, conflict in the region and climate change. Different non-

governmental organisations (NGOs) as well as the European Union (EU) and the United

Nations (UN) are proposing strategies for lowering poverty levels so as to improve the hunger

situation but despite all efforts their aims have not yet been reached.

European Development Programme

There are several development programmes that have been launched in the effort of

decreasing development related problems in third world countries. The EU General

Directorate responsible for designing EU development policies and delivering aid through

programmes and projects across the world currently includes a ‘Development and

Cooperation called EuropeAid. EuropeAid works in partnership with many civil society

organisations, NGOs and non-state actors, international organisations, national parliaments of

the European Union and EU institutions82 and is supported by the European Development

Fund (EDF)83 and the European non-governmental development organisations

(CONCORD)84, key European players in the field of development.

81 http://www.worldhunger.org/articles/Learn/world%20hunger%20facts%202002.htm

82 http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/who/partners/international-organisations/index_en.htm

83 http://europedia.moussis.eu/books/Book_2/7/24/01/?all=1

84 http://www.mvro.sk/en/development-aid/development-aid-eu?start=2

30

United Nations Based Development Programmes

The United Nations most recent aid project ‘Millennium’ sets eight main goals: to eradicate

extreme poverty and famine, achieve universal primary education, promote gender equality

and empower women, reduce child mortality , improve maternal health , combat HIV/aids,

malaria and other diseases, ensure environmental sustainability and create a global partnership

for development.85 The Millennium Project was commissioned in 2002 and its original

deadline was 2015, merely 4 years in the future. It is very clear, that the Millennium Goals

are indeed very ambitious and it is very unlikely that they will be reached within the original

timeframe.

Based on the Millennium Project, the Millennium Villages86 project was founded around the

idea of transforming poor villages by the use of powerful and practical technologies and

facilities. In sight of the Millennium project the United Nations drafted the “Investing in

Development”87 guideline that proposes solutions for meeting the Millennium Development

Goals by their deadline.

Critique- The Opposing View

The main argument of the opposing side is that the one trillion dollars used so far for

development aid in Africa have not improved the poverty situation there but have in fact

made it worse by giving way to corruption and negatively influencing economic growth.

The African economist Dambisa Moyo88 points out in her book “Dead Aid” the various

shapes this negative influence has taken in African economies. A very simple example she

uses is the one of bed nets for preventing malaria: charities give them out for free while at the

same time putting out of business the local bed net maker and his team who all represent the

only financial support of, on average, 15 relatives each. Moyo also offers several alternatives

for development aid such as accessing international bond markets for subsidies and building on

infrastructure.89 Are this valid and viable solutions? Around the world various politicians such

as the American presidential candidate Ron Paul90 or the former World Bank economist

William Easterly91 share Moyo’s criticising opinion on financial aid.

85 http://www.undp.org/mdg/basics.shtml

86 http://millenniumvillages.org/about/

87 http://www.unmillenniumproject.org/documents/MainReportComplete-lowres.pdf 88 http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/dead-aid-by-dambisa-moyo-1519875.html 89

http://www.cgap.org/p/site/c/template.rc/1.26.1308/ 90

http://www.ronpaul.com/2011-08-12/ron-paul-cut-foreign-aid-unshackle-israel-leave-iran-alone/ 91

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/william-easterly/its-over-the-tragedy-of-t_b_226120.html

31

The Main Questions

Development and poverty are both generated by complex and various factors. It is true that

statistics can show that aid has in fact been harmful to economies, but what are the other

options? Should the EU continue in its current path of development aid and governance or

should it move on to more extreme solutions? Perhaps one out of one hundred possible

solutions holds great potential, is it worth risking taking from low-performing proven

solutions to gamble with the less tried and tested ones? Should the EU take into account the

new viewpoints emerging from different economists from around the world? With all this in

mind, what should the EU’s next step in the field of development be?

• KEYWORDS

Development and cooperation, development aid, millennium project, millennium villages,

EuropeAid, European development fund, CONCORD, World Bank.

• Links:

Official sources:

Official site for Development and Cooperation - EuropeAid:

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

Official site for the United Nations Millennium Development Goals:

http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/

Investing in Development – UN Guidelines (pdf):

http://www.unmillenniumproject.org/documents/MainReportComplete-lowres.pdf

Official site for the United Nations Millennium Project:

http://www.unmillenniumproject.org/who/index.htm

Informative material:

Objectives and instruments of EU's development aid policy:

http://europedia.moussis.eu/books/Book_2/7/24/01/?all=1

The structure of EU's aid system: http://www.mvro.sk/en/development-aid/development-

aid-eu?start=1

Official site for the Millennium Villages project:

32

http://millenniumvillages.org/

Frequently asked questions about the Millennium Project:

http://www.unmillenniumproject.org/mv/mv_faq.htm

Statistics and information about the world poverty situation:

http://www.worldhunger.org/articles/Learn/world%20hunger%20facts%202002.htm

Media Coverage:

Video on the progress of the Millennium Villages Project:

http://vimeo.com/5944609

Critique on the Millennium Development Goals by William Easterly:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/william-easterly/its-over-the-tragedy-of-t_b_226120.html

Recommended Texts:

“Dead Aid, why aid is not working and how there is another way for Africa” by Dambisa

Moyo

33

ECON - Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs

All of the pain, none of the gain: In light of increased taxpayer’s contributions used to reduce

deficits of European Governments, how should political stakeholders work the Banks to bring

markets to stability? What form should safeguards take in preparing the banking sector for a

future that balances calls for freedom and fairness?

• OVERVIEW by Jon Vrushi (AL)

“If it’s not hurting, it’s not working” – this phrase is frequently used by the leader of the

British Labour Party, especially during the Prime Minister Question time in the House of

Commons of the British Parliament. In the current situation it seems it is hurting but

unfortunately, it’s not working. European Governments still have massive deficits regardless a

very high level of taxation across the Union.

In most of EU countries the deficits are caused by irresponsible spending by the governments

however they were much aggravated by the failure of banks during the financial crisis of

2007. This failure led to a catastrophic credit crunch where money was not available. Though

the Keynesian-style bail-out of banks saved the global economies, it left the treasuries in

significant debt. In other countries, rather than a fiscal crisis, it was a banking crisis solely,

countries such as Ireland. Up to 2007, Ireland was considered the Celtic Tiger due to its fast

growth, banks were the sole reason for national economic disaster.

So far the solution can be summed up in the words of the 19th century Italian writer Panzini

“Pantalone paga” Pantalone is a clown, symbolising the people and paga being the Italian

word for pay.) Should the clown always pay? There is also a limit to what you can squeeze

out of the tax payers. Below you will find the Laffer Curve92 which shows the revenue gained

from taxation for any given level of taxation. Through this easily understood curve, one can

see that after the point of equilibrium by increasing taxation not only do we not receive more

revenue but on the contrary we lose it. People are not only directly paying for the deficit

through taxation but as well, they are indirectly paying through suffering the consequences of

pay cuts, redundancies, rising unemployment and general loss of welfare.

One of the often-debated solutions is and has always been found in the principle the polluter

pays- in this case the banks. Their profit margins and banker’s bonuses are considered by

many as unethical in times of international economic hardship. A report by the ‘New

92 http://www.investopedia.com/terms/l/laffercurve.asp#axzz1Wo0BYnBI

34

Economics Foundation’93 states that banks have earned £60 billion out of the financial crisis

they helped create. Is increased taxation on transactions and profits the only way to get them

foot their share of the bill, or can they stimulate the economy to help bring back growth

otherwise, in turn, reducing the deficit? The debate that many EU countries are facing is

about the extent to which governments should intervene in the banking sector. Indeed, our

topic raises the question on how to balance the freedom of banks to do business in a

favourable environment with the fairness that the ‘polluter pays’ principle implies.

The main reasons for a government to impose a certain tax are in most of the cases two: firstly

a government puts a tax to raise revenue for its treasury and secondly it imposes a tax to

correct a form of market failure. When taxing the banks it is of utmost importance to

distinguish which of the two it is. Politicians and demagogues may be tempted to say that it’s

both simultaneously, but how true is that? What we need to keep in mind is that, even

though banks have made unscrupulous profits in the last few years, they are still

undercapitalised which ultimately puts global recovery at risk.

An example of market failure in the banking sector may be the issue of deposit insurance.

Customers do not take into account the risk that comes with depositing money in a bank. In

turn, the banks exploit this and the lack of monitoring, to take excessive risk. Does the

imposition of a tax on such behaviour fix market failure and raise revenue at the same time?

The Independent Commission on Banking (ICB) has proposed94 a ring-fence of the retail and

investment branch of banks, to be able to tax them separately in order to minimise the impact

on their capital. Taking into account an example from the UK, one of their biggest banks,

RBS, sees the effect of ring-fencing as making banks riskier in the eyes of creditors and rating

agencies. At the same time, they “fear significant economic costs affecting customers,

shareholders, the Government and the economy as a whole.”95

Professor Luigi Zingales is one of many economists who argue for a “Tobin Tax” on

transactions and bonds.96 He maintains that a 1% tax on the outstanding short-term debt

would raise €14.6bn annually just among the top nine institutions. Could this stabilise our

financial system and prevent a new crisis?

It must not be forgotten that different EU economies have different specifics. Any one-size-

fits-all policy, even in the banking sector, has to be carefully analysed in a multi-national

93 http://www.neweconomics.org/sites/neweconomics.org/files/Good_Banking.pdf 94

http://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/htcdn/ICB-Interim-Report-Executive-Summary.pdf 95

http://www.rbs.com/downloads/pdf/media/2011/RBS_response_ICB_Interim_Report_Exec_Summary.pdf 96 http://faculty.chicagobooth.edu/luigi.zingales/research/papers/a_tax_on_short-term_debt_would_stabilize_the_system.pdf

35

perspective. The Basel Accord III requires banks, among other regulations, to hold 4.5%97 of

common equity, while the Financial Stability Board is imposing even more regulations. How

should one proceed in this area? Most are aware that not the lack of regulations but the

extreme weakness of supervision – especially in countries that adopted the “light touch”

approach – was a large factor in the crisis. Regulation was far from perfect how should this be

reformed? If controls had been more effective, could the worst have been avoided. The

European institution in charge of supervision is the European Banking Authority (EBA) their

involvement in the past and present of this crisis must be carefully examined, what role have

they played in the past and how should they proceed in the future?

In an attempt to prevent future crisis, the Financial Stability Board of the G-20 has proposed

amongst other resolutions a bail-in mechanism as opposed to the very controversial bailout.98

This would mean that financial institutions would have the money to pay their own debts

without needing to touch public funds. By reducing the cost of big bank failure and

improving certainty, it reduces the risk and impact of contagion. Bail-in protects depositors,

transaction payments and key customer activities, which should materially lower the risk of

runs and reduce a source of systemic risk. Is this a viable solution? How best can we balance

the needs of the banks to remain competitive with the calls for freedom from debt from the

people?

In the end should strive for a fix & prevent approach? We live in extraordinary times and the

mess needs to be cleaned up, but somehow we must also pave the way for future economic

stability. In the words of the great economist J.M.Keynes : “The day is not far off when the

economic problem will take the back seat where it belongs, and the arena of the heart and the

head will be occupied or reoccupied, by our real problems - the problems of life and of

human relations, of creation and behaviour.”

Laffer Curve

97 http://www.bis.org/bcbs/basel3/b3summarytable.pdf

98 http://www.financialstabilityboard.org/publications/r_110719.pdf

36

• KEYWORDS

Budget deficit, market failure, Laffer curve, Tobin tax, Bail-in, Financial Stability Board,

European Banking Authority, Basel Accord III.

• Links:

Informative Material

European Banking Authority – http://www.eba.europa.eu/

Financial Stability Board – http://www.financialstabilityboard.org/

Basel Committee on Banking Supervision – http://www.bis.org/bcbs/index.htm

Official Sources:

Deutche Bank research on financial supervision in the EU-

http://www.dbresearch.com/PROD/DBR_INTERNET_EN-

PROD/PROD0000000000276501.pdf

Academic Sources:

The European Banking Landscape after the crisis -

http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1824307

Economic Crisis and Taxation in Europe - http://mpra.ub.uni-

muenchen.de/31007/1/MPRA_paper_31007.pdf

Creating an EU-Level Supervisor for Cross-Border Banking Groups: Issues Raised by the

U.S. Experience with Dual Banking -

http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1800250&rec=1&srcabs=1824307

Media Coverage:

Calls mount to punish greedy banks –

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2011/09/01/calls-mount-to-punish-greedy-

banks-who-sparked-credit-crunch-115875-23386805/

37

Should bank tax be used to reduce financial risks –

http://www.economist.com/economics/by-invitation/guest-

contributions/its_not_about_revenues

Interactive map of European Economies including budget deficits and national debts –

http://www.economist.com/blogs/dailychart/2010/12/europes_economies

38

ENVI - Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety

In light of the 20/20/20 Renewable Energy Directive in 2009 and the recent plans to set EU

targets for resource efficiency by 2013 underway, on what areas should the targets focus, and

how high should they go? How should the European Commission work with Member States

and industry to achieve these targets as effectively as possible?

• OVERVIEW by Benjamin Gradhand (DE)

Land, labour and capital: These are the three indispensable factors of production when

creating any kind of good or service. In this context land not only refers to the necessary site

of production but also to any natural resource such as raw materials, water and biomass

needed to make a product. While labour and capital will in most cases be eventually rendered

available, natural resources run a severe risk of depletion. Reaching 60 billion tonnes in 2007,

worldwide extraction of material resources is eight times higher than in the beginning of the

last century and has increased 65% in comparison to 1980.99 Some “scenarios anticipate a total

resource extraction of around 80 billion tonnes in 2020 […] to sustain the worldwide

economic growth.”100 As resource scarcity is rising, Europe is increasingly dependent on

resource imports from other – in some cases highly unstable – world regions. Beyond these

basic economic implications, natural resources underpin our quality of life. In order to ensure

that we can meet our basic needs today whilst protecting the livelihood of future generations

we need to reconsider our current material flows.

Thus, decoupling economic growth from resource usage at while enhancing its efficiency is a

key challenge. This challenge is, however, interlinked with a seemingly endless list of policy

areas. Since natural resources can be anything from fuels, minerals and metals to soil, air, water

and even ecosystems, areas such as transport, energy, climate change, environmental,

agricultural and industrial policy all have an impact on their use. As a consequence, protecting

natural resources and the environment can be seen as not only a goal in itself but also a way of

progressing in a variety of policy fields while ensuring economic productivity and stability.

The very basic 3 Rs philosophy (“reduce, reuse, recycle”) has been adopted to varying

degrees in different EU Member States.101 It illustrates how seemingly trivial measures such as

proper waste management are required to advance resource efficiency.102 This is undoubtedly

a wide-ranging issue, particularly in light of the various policy areas affecting it. It will be

difficult to decide which targets to focus on and it may be impossible to reach these without

99 OECD 2011: 9 (→ please see “Academic Sources” at the end of the overview to access these references).

100 Wuppertal Institute 2009: iii.

101 OECD 2011: 4.

102 European Environment Agency 2011: 3, 6.

39

the full support of all relevant actors. Some initial steps to move forward have been taken by

the The European Commission (EC) earlier this year.

Europe 2020 – A resource-efficient Europe

In response to the economic and financial crisis, the EC presented the Europe 2020 strategy

for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. Beyond a swift exit from the crisis in the short-

term, it is aiming at a new economic outlook in the medium- and long-term by pursuing

concrete objectives in a variety of policy fields. Following the three goals smart, sustainable

and inclusive, seven flagship initiatives have been launched since 2010 to facilitate the

conditions for economic progress in accordance with the strategy’s philosophy until 2020.

Amongst these flagship initiatives a “Resource-efficient Europe” was the last to be adopted in

January 2011.103 In order to assess the viability of this initiative, it is important to reflect

whether it goes in the right direction, whether it goes far enough and whether its targets are

specific enough to realise its overall objective.

Communicating the initiative the EC has stressed the need for immediate and coordinated

action in a wide range of policy areas.104 However, concrete targets for action within the next

years are nowhere to be found. Instead a series of roadmaps, plans, white papers and policy

revisions is envisaged for 2011 that in some cases have a timeframe up until 2050.105

Announcements have only alluded to 2013 as a possible starting point for targets.106 As

explained above the overall goal of increasing resource efficiency is connected to many

different industries and EU policy areas and requires the creation of long-term strategies. It

can be argued that launching initial action now with a focus on some key areas is crucial, as

difficult as that might be. A study prepared for the Committee on Industry, Research and

Energy (ITRE) in the European Parliament identified a number of essential industries and

sectors that account for more than 50% of resource use and compounded these into the three

key areas of housing, mobility and food.107 While these clusters do not automatically provide

answers as to which areas concrete targets should focus on, they might provide some

direction. It is, however, noteworthy that all three clusters are based on highly energy-

intensive industries.

With regard to resource efficiency, energy deserves some special attention. As fossil fuels are

highly scarce resources causing tremendous environmental impact and the use of nuclear

103 http://www.euractiv.com/en/sustainability/commission-eyes-resource-efficiency-targets-eu-27-news-501626 104

http://ec.europa.eu/resource-efficient-europe/pdf/resource_efficient_europe_en.pdf: 3. 105

ibid: 11. 106

http://www.liaise-noe.eu/content/eu-commission-considers-resource-efficiency-targets 107 Wuppertal Institute 2009: iiif.

40

energy has been causing ideological divides throughout Europe for decades (coupled with the

fact that uranium supplies are also unlikely to last forever), the European Parliament and the

Council have already required a 20% increase in the share of renewable energies until 2020 in

their 20/20/20 Renewable Energy Directive in 2009.108 Since Member States are responsible

for the directive’s implementation on a national basis, the current level of progress has been

subject to some criticism.109 In order to devise resource efficiency targets that can be

implemented effictively, it might be helpful to assess the problems that have surfaced during

the implementation of the 20/20/20 directive up until now.

Mainstreaming resource efficiency – How to get everyone on board

But what are the instruments the EC can use to ensure a more resource-efficient future in line

with the 2020 strategy? One of the EC’s most powerful tools is its proposal for the EU’s

budget, which is allocated on the basis of a Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF). As the

current MFF is coming to an end, the next MFF will cover the years 2014-2020 and be a

strong determinant for the 2020 strategy’s success.110 Now what does this have to do with

fostering resource efficiency in Europe? Any normative policy goal requiring public

expenditure will usually cause a principal clash of opinions between defenders of such a goal

and free market-advocates. The same goes for investment in green technologies and

renewable energies.111 No matter the extent and focus with which targets are set, money will

have to be invested. It is, however, important to note that a lot of money spent by EU funds

and institutions has a strong impact on resource use anyhow. One way of working this

dynamic would be to mainstream policy goals into the EU budget (and different policy fields),

which the EC is currently considering.112 The basic rationale behind this is that instead of

simply devoting larger sums to environmental causes environmental policy goals will be

integrated into all policy and funding areas. Accordingly, “harmful” expenditure that could

potentially have adverse affects on resource efficiency targets will be removed from the budget

or redirected.113

While this could be a way forward for Europe it might not do much good if the EC fails to

get the Member States on board in mainstreaming resource efficiency targets into national

legislation and budgets. As could be seen with regard to renewable energies, not all Member

States are properly following up on the National Action Plans that were drafted in accordance

108 http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2009:140:0016:0062:EN:PDF

109 http://www.repap2020.eu/fileadmin/user_upload/Roadmaps/Assessment_of_NREAPs__REPAP_report_- interim_status_.pdf 110

Medarova-Bergstrom et al. 2011: 1. 111

http://www.debatingeurope.eu/2011/08/22/should-the-eu-invest-in-resource-efficiency/ 112

Medarova-Bergstrom et al. 2011: 2. 113 ibid.

41

with the 20/20/20 directive. The public sector at all levels throughout Europe is, however,

only one part of the equation and some might claim that the private sector may hold much

more potential for advancing resource efficiency. Another important question is, therefore,

whether market-based instruments (such as the Emission Trading Scheme) can successfully

foster eco-innovation and what the EU can do to facilitate more resource-efficient markets.

More specifically: are these innovations brought about by a push in technology or by a

“market-pull” from the demand side?114 Furthermore – and although industry plays an

important role – the private sector is not only comprised of producers. While some remain

sceptical of the consumer’s “power” to alter production practices, others argue that they can

be viable change agents for ecological and social causes. Therefore, another possible angle to

effectively implement resource efficiency targets might be to empower consumers to “move

to resource-efficient consumption”.115

All these questions and details are important to consider when discussing this complex topic.

At its most basic level it comes down to whether economic growth can be decoupled from

resource use and what are practical strategies to advance resource efficiency. This core

problem implies two difficult tasks. Firstly, in light of the scope of the overall importance of

resources and their usage, where do we set our priorities? Which policy areas are most

promising to effectively decrease resource use and increase its efficiency? Secondly, which

actors need to be involved and how best to win their cooperation in order to facilitate

sustainable growth for Europe’s economies?

• KEYWORDS

Europe 2020, ressource efficiency, ressource efficiency targets, resource extraction, material

life-cycle, waste management, EU renewable energy directive, renewable energy national

action plans, energy efficiency, consumer power

• Links:

Official Sources:

Main EU web portal on the topic http://ec.europa.eu/resource-efficient-europe/

114 Rennings/Rammer 2009: 5f.

115 http://ec.europa.eu/resource-efficient-europe/pdf/resource_efficient_europe_en.pdf: 3.

42

A resource-efficient Europe: Flagship initiative under the Europe 2020 Strategy –

Communication from the EC to the EP and the Council http://ec.europa.eu/resource-

efficient-europe/pdf/resource_efficient_europe_en.pdf

EC Roadmap to a resource efficient Europe

http://ec.europa.eu/governance/impact/planned_ia/docs/2011_env_003_resource_efficient_

europe_en.pdf

Summary of the resource efficiency public consultation and other stakeholders' inputs

http://ec.europa.eu/environment/resource_efficiency/pdf/Summary.pdf

European Environment Agency (2011) Waste opportunities: Past and future climate benefits

from better municipal waste management in Europe, accessible at:

http://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/waste-opportunities-84-past-and/at_download/file

Academic Sources:

Medarova-Bergstrom, K.; Baldock, D.; Gantioler, S.; Hart, K., Kettunen, M.; Volkery, A.

(2011) “Mainstreaming the Environment and Climate Change in the Post-2013 EU Budget”,

in Directions in European Environmental Policy, No 4, August 2011, published by the

Institute for European Environmental Policy, accessible at:

http://www.ieep.eu/assets/839/DEEP_Paper_4_-_Mainstreaming_in_EU_budget.pdf

Rennings, K.; Rammer, C. (2009) “Increasing Energy and Resource Efficiency Through

Innovation: An Explorative Analysis Using Innovation Survey Data”, ZEW Discussion Paper

No. 09-056, accessible at: ftp://ftp.zew.de/pub/zew-docs/dp/dp09056.pdf

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (2011) “Resource Productivity

in the G8 and the OECD: A Report in the Framework of the Kobe 3R Action Plan”,

OECD, Environmental Policy Committee, accessible at:

http://www.oecd.org/officialdocuments/publicdisplaydocumentpdf/?cote=ENV/EPOC/W

PRPW/WPEI(2011)1/FINAL&docLanguage=En

Ostertag, K.; Sartorius, C.; Tercero Espinoza, L. (2011) “Innovation Dynamics in Resource

Efficiency”, Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation, accessible at:

http://final.dime-eu.org/files/Ostertag_etal_B5.pdf

Sustainable Europe Research Institute (2011), “Resource Use and Resource Efficiency in

Emerging Economies: Trends Over the Past 20 Years”, SERI Working Paper 12, accessible

at: http://seri.at/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/seri_workingpaper12.pdf

Wuppertal Institute (2009), Eco-innovation: Putting the EU on the path to a resource and

energy efficient economy, accessible at:

http://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/19939/1/MPRA_paper_19939.pdf

43

Informative Sources:

The Confederation of European Business: “Contribution for EU policy assessment of the

sustainable use of natural resources, including resource efficiency” – Comprehensive position

paper by a European business association:

http://www.businesseurope.eu/Content/Default.asp?PageID=568&DocID=26187

Friends of the Earth: “Measuring our resource use: a vital tool in creating a resource-efficient

EU” – Report of a conference on the issue:

http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/briefings/measuring_resource_use.pdf

CEE Bankwatch Network: “Time is running out for EU decisive action on resource

efficiency, warns Bankwatch” – Position of a Central and Eastern European NGO focusing

on public finance:

http://bankwatch.org/news-media/for-journalists/press-releases/time-running-out-eu-

decisive-action-resource-efficiency-wa

Media Coverage:

Euractiv: “Raw materials: Heading for a global resource crunch?” – Overview of the issue:

http://www.euractiv.com/sustainability/raw-materials-heading-global-resource-crunch-

linksdossier-188526

Euractiv: “Commission eyes resource efficiency targets for EU-27”, Jan 27, 2011 – Report on

the flagship initiative including comments from MEPs and stakeholders:

http://www.euractiv.com/en/sustainability/commission-eyes-resource-efficiency-targets-eu-

27-news-501626

Liaise: “EU Commission considers resource efficiency targets” – Information on EC action

http://www.liaise-noe.eu/content/eu-commission-considers-resource-efficiency-targets

Debating Europe: Pro and Con – “Should the EU invest in resource efficiency?”

http://www.debatingeurope.eu/2011/08/22/should-the-eu-invest-in-resource-efficiency/

44

EMPL - Committee on Employment and Social Affairs

Is Keynesianism the only way? Facing the challenge of dramatically high youth

unemployment rates, should Europeans look to higher levels of public spending to provide an

answer? How should states best offer opportunities to those aged 16-24 to ensure that the

current generation of European youth does not become irreversibly excluded from the labour

market?

• OVERVIEW by Luca Olumets (EE)

High levels of youth unemployment and under-employment are persistent problems in all

Commonwealth of Internet States countries, throughout East-Central Europe, and much of

the pre-2004 EU also. Unemployment is defined as a situation where someone of working

age is unable to gain employment but would like to be in full time employment.

Every problem has a solution. In the case of unemployment the economy offers a wide

variety of options to choose from. Unemployment is divided into separate parts involving

diverse fields of economics. Cyclical or Keynesian unemployment, also known as deficient-

demand unemployment, occurs when there is not enough aggregate demand in the economy

to provide jobs for everyone who wants to work. Meaning that the demand for most goods

and services falls, less production is needed and consequently fewer workers are needed, wages

are sticky and do not fall to meet the equilibrium level, and mass unemployment results. The

solution for a poor economy, according to the Keynesian theory of economics, is 'pump

priming', wherein the government would step in to increase the spending, either by

increasing the money supply or buy things from the market. Keynesian economics believes

that the government's intervention is absolutely necessary for ensuring proper growth and

stable economy.116

Keynesian theory is against the basics of classical economics. It states that when real wages are

fixed above the market-clearing level, this results in the number of job-seeking individuals to

be more than the actual number of vacant jobs. What is more, taking into consideration the

concept of minimum wage passed by the government to protect the integrity of workers,

unemployment rates tend to increase because employers hire those with more skills, displacing

those with less skills.117 When discussing classical economy it is almost inevitable to add that

classical economists believe in the power of the ‘invisible hand’ which is defined as a self-

116 Keynesian economics: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/keynesian-economics.html

117 Understanding classical unemployment: http://ezinearticles.com/?Understanding-Classical-Unemployment&id=5503200

45

regulating nature of the marketplace with no government interventions. As when choosing

classical unemployment there is nothing that can be done from the outside because the market

will solve itself. However, one of the questions of this topic asks how should states best offer

opportunities to the young and unemployed, which does not leave a lot of space for the all

the classical unemployment theories. The question of whether a fine line between those two

theories should be implemented arises. There have been debates on how creating a softer

version of the Keynesian theory could be a solution to youth unemployment.

There are also two other types of unemployment. Firstly, frictional unemployment is a

temporary state. This unemployment occurs when a person is out of his current job and

looking for another job. The time period of shifting between two jobs is called frictional

unemployment. Secondly, structural unemployment means a mismatch between demand and

supply of labour. Working skills of job seekers do not meet the requirements of job vacancies

as a result of economic and technological development. The government of each state is there

to try to get the unemployment rate lower.

When talking about such a huge issue as unemployment, it is only reasonable that the youth

should not be tackling this problem on their own. Every state’s government is handling the

problem as they see best. A common line that can be spotted in several countries is that young

workers everywhere are vulnerable to downturns because they have fewer skills and are more

likely to be on temporary contracts than prime-age workers. Also, European Commission

department on Employment, Social Affair and Inclusion has come up with a EU’s growth

strategy to be reached by 2020 called ‘Europe 2020’. It has three flagship initiatives and aim to

improve young people’s chances of finding a job. In addition, an organisation called

International Labour Organisation (ILO) is an international organisation responsible for

drawing up and overseeing international labour standards. It is the only United Nations

agency that brings together representatives of governments, employers and workers to jointly

shape policies and programmes promoting decent work for all.

Today’s youth might be bright and eager but the word unwanted is what concludes the

whole story together. While unemployment is ravaging just about every part of the global

workforce, the most enduring harm is being done to young people who cannot a hold onto

the first run of the career ladder. It is important to find the best opportunities for the

unemployed youth in order to ensure that today’s youth would not be excluded from the

labour market. How best can this be achieved?

46

• KEYWORDS

Keynesian economics, classical economics, frictional unemployment, structural

unemployment, full unemployment, invisible hand, Europe 2020, ILO, social exclusion

• Links:

Informative material:

Types of unemployment:

http://bls.gov/news.release/youth.nr0.htm

http://www.swan.ac.uk/economics/cware/ec001/topic4_small.pdf

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/classical-economics-vs-keynesian-economics.html

New government website on youth unemployment:

http://www.thirdsector.co.uk/news/article/1069833/

Official Sources:

European Commission, Social Affairs and Inclusion:

http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?langId=en&catId=956

International Labour Organization:

http://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/who-we-are/lang--en/index.htm

http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---

ed_emp/documents/publication/wcms_140955.pdf

Media Coverage:

Youth employment in Europe:

http://ftp.iza.org/dp4718.pdf

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2011/aug2011/euro-a13.shtml

http://www.economist.com/economics/by-invitation/questions/whats-causing-high-youth-

unemployment

47

IMCO - Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection

In light of increasing government recognition and support for ‘B Corporations’ in the United

States, how best can the European Commission support social businesses in the EU as an

alternative model for achieving social, ethical and environmental objectives?

• OVERVIEW Dmytro Honcharenko (UA)

Since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, free markets have swept through globe. Free-

market economics has taken root in China, Southeast Asia, much of South America, Eastern

Europe, and even the former Soviet Union. The emergence of modern capitalism three

hundred years ago laid the path towards material progress the likes of which had never been

seen before. Indeed, in the states of Western Europe and North America the social progress,

technological innovation and, scientific discovery enabled by free markets are remarkable.

Today, however, almost a generation after the fall of the Soviet Union, a sense of

disillusionment is setting in118.

For better or for worse, capitalism is thriving. Businesses continue to grow, global trade is

continuing, multinational corporations (MNCs) are spreading into markets of the developing

world, and technological advancements continue to multiply. This progress, however, does

not bring about social benefits equitably to all citizens. Global income distribution is a

revealing indicator for the above: 94% of world income is enjoyed by 40% of the population,

while the other 60% are forced to live on only 6% of the world’s income. Half of the world

lives on two dollars a day or less, while almost a billion people live on less than one dollar a

day.

What has gone wrong? How cans such a well-developed economic system, as the free-market

of today is claimed to be, fail to deliver positive social results? It can be argued that the reason

is simple: business in its current form is not meant to solve social problems and, as a side

effect, may actually exacerbate poverty, disease and pollution. One of the proposed solutions

to this situation is a new kind of business that is now being referred to as a “social business” or

“social enterprise”. Social business, as the term is commonly used, was first defined by Nobel

Peace Prize laureate Prof. Muhammad Yunus and is described in his book “Creating a world

without poverty - Social Business and the future of capitalism”. According to Yunus'

definition, a social business is a non-loss, non-dividend company designed to address a social

objective within the highly regulated marketplace of today.

118 http://www.globalurban.org/GUDMag08Vol4Iss2/Yunus.pdf

48

Benefit Corporations (B Corporations) can serve as a one of the best examples of social

businesses. They comprise a new class of corporation in the United States, required by law to

create general benefit for society as well as for shareholders. Certified B Corporations are a

new type of corporation which use the power of business to solve social and environmental

problems. B Corporations are unlike traditional businesses in that they meet comprehensive

and transparent social and environmental performance standards, meet higher legal

accountability standards and build business constituency for good business.119 Unlike

traditional corporations, B Corporations must create a positive impact on society and the

environment; consider how decisions affect workers, community, and the environment, and

publicly report their social and environmental performance according to third party standards.

In 2010, Maryland and Vermont became the first states to enact Benefit Corporation

legislation, followed recently by New Jersey, Virginia and Hawaii. The B Corporations

community is working in seven additional states to pass Benefit Corporation legislation in

2011.120

Meanwhile, in the European Union (EU) on 13 of April, 2011 The Single Market Act

outlined what can be termed as “social businesses”. Stakeholder responses to the Single

Market Act confirmed priority work to better identify such businesses and their needs, so as to

more effectively support them throughout the EU. For this reason a “social business

initiative” was announced. The consultation seeks feedback on possible options for aiding

social businesses by means of investments from private individuals channelled through

investment funds. 121

This initiative does not seek to explore the creation of a new European body or organisation

providing public money for social businesses. The focus instead is on whether there is a need

to facilitate private investors in supporting social businesses and, if necessary, on possible steps

for improving the effectiveness of private investment vehicles that collect money for this

purpose.

This consultation tackles issues that are linked to those the European Commission is carrying

out on socially responsible investments. The other strand of activity potentially targets all

companies, whatever their business model. While social business often incorporate a high

degree of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), not all CSR compliant businesses will be

social businesses.

119 http://www.bcorporation.net/about

120 http://www.bcorporation.net/resources/bcorp/documents/An%20Act%20of%20Leadership_Become%20a%20B%20Corpora

tion3.pdf 121 http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/consultations/2011/social_investment_funds_en.htm

49

A number of the key issues arise within the scope of the topic: should the European

Commission seek to emulate B Corporation initiatives in the USA in order to achieve social

benefits, rather than establishing its own system? Are social businesses crucial in developing

the economy of the EU? How important are social businesses in developing an alternative

model for achieving social, ethical and environmental objectives?

• KEYWORDS

Benefit Corporations, social businesses, corporate social responsibility, social issues,

environmental objectives.

• Links:

Informative material:

http://www.defeatpoverty.com/2008/02/social-business-model.html

http://www.businesslawpost.com/2011/02/b-corporations-building-community-of.html

http://www.cleancurrents.com/index.php/who-we-are/b-corporation

http://www.mightybytes.com/blog/entry/five_reasons_mightybytes_became_a_b_corporatio

n_and_why_you_should_too/

Official sources:

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2011:0206:FIN:EN:PDF

http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/consultations/2011/social_investment_funds_en.htm

http://www.businesseurope.eu/Content/Default.asp?PageID=594

http://www.bcorporation.net

Academic Source:

http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/consultations/docs/2011/social_investment_funds/cons

ultation_paper_en.pdf

Media Coverage:

http://www.frogloop.com/care2blog/2011/1/18/whats-a-b-corp-and-should-nonprofits-

care.html

http://www.triplepundit.com/2011/08/corp-passes-california-assembly-sent-governor/

50

ITRE 1 - Committee on Industry, Research, Trade and Energy 1

Who sets the research agenda? How best can European nations balance the need for

independent scientific and medical research, with the needs for funding that are often satisfied

with industry involvement?

• OVERVIEW by Victoria Bendiksby Wilkinson (NO) and Anna O’Leary (IE)

Why is research important? Amongst many reasons, it is important for the advancement

scientific and medical technologies and discovery in this area. To ensure that a cure is closer

for the diseases which plague the people of the world. To constantly expand our knowledge

base. Is unbiased research ever possible? Perhaps not; however, as universities increase their

partnerships with pharmaceutical companies and technology companies are increasingly

funding state-run research initiatives. We must question, who is setting the research agenda?

How can we know that the most pressing concerns are being dealt with? Is it only important

to fund those areas that make a profit? To research the drugs that deal with the area of interest

to a pharmaceutical company? How can we ensure that research is allowed to be freed of such

constraints, whilst still ensuring that the large level of funding that such research needs is

present? Who should coordinate this funding?

National and regional funding remains to a large extend uncoordinated. Even with the ERA

and the ERC we still see that this leads to dispersion of resources, excessive duplications and

in general a poor use of the resources that is collectively devoted to research and innovation

in Europe today,122 - research and innovation which we so desperately need.

In 2002, the Barcelona European Council set a target for EU Research & Development

(R&D) investment intensity to approach 3% GDP. 123In relation to this the Commission

proposed an action plan to increase and improve R&D expenditure in Europe. 9 years after

this goal was first mentioned we are still far away from reaching it.

To achieve all the different goals in relation to research and the funding of it the European

Commission has set in action multiple bodies and agencies. One of them the European

Research Area (ERA) was proposed in 2000 in relation to the Commissions communication

toward a European research area. The ERA was later the same year launched at the Lisbon

European Council. The body is of all research and development activities, programmes and

122 http://erc.europa.eu/ ERC Website

123 http://www.cer.org.uk/pdf/policybrief_barcelona.pdf

51

policies in Europe, which involve a transnational perspective. The aim is to give them access

to a Europe-wide open space for knowledge and technologies in which transnational

synergies and complimentarities are fully exploited. The EU Research Framework

Programmes were designed explicitly to support the creation of the ERA. The revision of the

7th framework programme that is in progress today is a clear signed that all is not complete in

the sector of research yet. 124

Most of today’s funding to research comes from two major sources, corporations and the

governments. There is also some funding raised by charitable foundations, this is especially in

relation to developing cures for diseases such as cancer, malaria and AIDS. Around two thirds

of all the funding in the fields of scientific and technical research is carried out by industry.

Funding by the government is significantly higher in some industries than others, and it

dominates research in social science and humanities. It is also a fact that the governments

provide most of the funding for basic scientific research. While all but the most research-

oriented corporations focus more heavily on near-term commercialisation possibilities rather

than projects which have a more uncertain outcome, for example nuclear fusion. It has been

said that the industry will involve if the project in some way can get back to them in the end.

There are many different bodies and agencies in Europe today who strive to organise and

clarify the labyrinth that the funding of research can be perceived as. Are they achieving this?

The system of today has by sector stakeholders been complained about on countless occasions.

The main complaint is that it contains to maintain too much overlap and confusion. "A first

step in rationalising, the Commission should carry out a thorough mapping of all EU

instruments for research and innovation ... to identify overlap, with a view to merging,

reducing or adapting them accordingly." Was being said in a consultation document from

Research Councils UK.

How can one best organise the funding of research in the future, to make sure it is easy for

the researcher to apply and the money are spent the most effective? Should the research

agenda be driven by a targeted agenda or independent ideas of investigators? With the 8th

Framework Program being planned this very minute, what should change?125 How should it

differ from what we already have? Europe has still not reached its goal of a 3% GDP going to

research and development, how best can we ensure funding in the future? 126Who should this

funding be provided by? It is often claimed that industry involvement is necessary to get

enough funding for research as the action for development, but if this is the case how to

124 http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/energy/european_energy_policy/i23022_en.htm

125 http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/energy/european_energy_policy/i23022_en.htm

126 http://ec.europa.eu/research/era/docs/en/understanding-era-european-commission-eur22840-161-2007-en.pdf

52

ensure a sustainable innovation and research progress? Finally, a challenge also lies in finding

how to ensure that we get enough funding for the more uncertain projects with no clear

“income” in sight for the companies funding the project?

• KEYWORDS:

Research funding, government-funded research, privately funded research, “The fifth

freedom”, European Commission green paper, The joint Technology Initiatives, The

Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Program (CIP), European Research Area

(ERA), Ljubljana process, ”knowledge triangle”, European Institute of Innovation and

Technology, the Framework Programme for research, Research and Development (R&D),

European Research Council (ERC), biased research, funding influence on research,

politicisation of science

• Links:

Informative material:

The seventh Framework Programme, the link to how to understand FP7 will be especially

useful: http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/home_en.html

The 7th ERA Green Paper from 2007:

http://ec.europa.eu/research/era/docs/en/understanding-era-european-commission-

eur22840-161-2007-en.pdf

Report on how to increase giving for research through foundations in Europe:

http://ec.europa.eu/invest-in-

research/pdf/download_en/rec_5_7800_giving_4_051018_bat.pdf

Official Sources:

European Research Council, a body established by the European Comission and funded

through the EU 7th Research Framework Programme:

http://erc.europa.eu/index.cfm?fuseaction=page.display&topicID=12

European Research Area, a body established by the European Commission, composed of all

development and research activities, programmes and policies in Europe which involve a

transnational perspective:

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

53

The Research Executive Agency is a funding body created by the european comission to

foster excellence in research and innovation (REA):

http://ec.europa.eu/research/rea/index.cfm?pg=about

Executive Agencies on the area:

http://europa.eu/agencies/executive_agencies/index_en.htm

The European Commission’s Research website:

http://ec.europa.eu/research/index.cfm?lg=en

Media Coverage:

An article from 2008 about the suggestion to make knowledge a fifth freedom of the union:

http://euobserver.com/19/25838

An article from 2009 about the European Research Council:

http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2009/07/erc-review-pane.html

An article from June 2011; should the funding be organised in the EU in the future. A

discussion originated in a quote from Barnier: http://euobserver.com/894/32476

An article from May 2011; ”failure to ensure that research and innovation money is spent on

useful projects is hampering the EU’s economic recovery.”:

http://euobserver.com/894/32242

Academic Source:

Who does really pay for our research and does that have an impact on the results:

http://undsci.berkeley.edu/article/who_pays

Video Sources:

Whistleblower on Pharmaceutical Industry

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQ--PQBgam8

TEDx Talk: Dr Charles Andrianjara on the the endless frontier of Madagascar Plants

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtY80DlWA1k

Case study: US Pharmaceutical Industry

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-7I-t6JQKA

54

ITRE 2 - Committee on Industry, Research, Trade and Energy 2

The role of energy efficiency and technological development in the fight against climate

change - what action should European governments take to achieve sustainable use of energy?

• OVERVIEW by Rosa Douw (NL)

Temperature on earth is rising with possibly catastrophic consequences127. Saudi Arabia, the

biggest oil exporter in the world, might have overestimated its oil reserves by 40%128. Reasons

to achieve sustainable use of energy are not only environmental. That fossil fuels are running

out, makes the security of energy supply for the future an imperative goal for the European

Union (EU). The urgency to tackle this issue is clear and the potential that lies in improving

energy efficiency is major. It is one of the most cost effective ways to save energy; it simply

means using less energy inputs while maintaining the same level of economic activity or

service. As simple as it sounds, it has proven to be less simple then it seems.

Over the last number of years the EU has put into place various plans and programs to work

in the direction of a more energy efficient society. The energy efficiency action plan in 2006,

followed by the Energy Efficiency Plan 2011 (EEP2011)129, are concrete examples of EU

initiatives aimed at optimising energy efficiency. The EEP2011 was proposed after an

evaluation130 showing that the targets set by the ‘Europe 2020’ initiative were intangible.

Moreover, it even showed that the EU industrial emissions had risen by 3% in 2010131. The

EEP2011 is part of the ‘Europe 2020’ targets. One of the targets set by the EU was the

reduction of energy consumption by 20% by 2020. According to the EEP2011, the greatest

energy efficiency potential lies in buildings, “nearly 40% of final energy consumption is in

houses, public and private offices, shops and other buildings”132. Transport and industry are

two other major pillars in energy efficiency potential. How best should they be used?

To support the EEP2011 the European Commission projected the Energy Efficiency

Directive (EED) in June 2011. This directive proposes a set of practical measures ensuring the

2020 targets are met. The regulations in this directive were not sufficient for the more

sceptical viewers as they do not set any binding national targets for the Member States.

Provided Member States are not yet ‘on track’ to meet the 2020 targets by 2013/2014 will

the European Commission consider proposing a set of binding national targets. Also there is a

127 http://www.skepticalscience.com/ 128 http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/feb/08/saudi-oil-reserves-overstated-wikileaks 129

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:52011DC0109:EN:HTML:NOT 130

http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/secretariat_general/evaluation/evaluations_reports_2010_en.htm (energy tab) 131

http://www.eceee.org/news/news_2011/2011-05-18a/ 132http://ec.europa.eu/energy/efficiency/action_plan/action_plan_en.htm

55

huge concern within the European Commission that the EED might weaken the Carbon

Trading System. This is a mechanism put into place to reduce carbon emissions.133 This then

causes a policy conflict as both action plans have the same goal and they would normally have

a positive influence on each other, not the other way around as they apparently do.

There are a number of major points of debate in the work towards a more energy efficient

economy. It is not agreed upon whether energy efficiency targets should be set on a national

or EU level134. On one hand one could say that the only way to make a difference in climate

change is if all work as one, but on the other hand, even within the EU Member States have

reached different levels when it comes to the development of their economy and industry.

Therefore, one can say that it is not fair that identical measures be equally imposed to all

Member States.

Another major area of discussion is implementation. What is the use of ambitious plans when

they are not being sufficiently implemented? How best can this be tackled? It was one of the

major concerns of the European Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ECEEE)

regarding the EEP2011135.

There is no doubt that there are many things that can be improved when it comes to energy

efficiency. Inspired by all the achievements so far and the plans in place right now while also

keeping in mind that reality often gets ahead of ambitions and the different aspects of the

energy efficiency: economic, environmental, technological, social: What action should

European governments take to achieve sustainable use of energy?

• KEYWORDS

Energy efficiency, sustainable energy, Energy Efficiency Plan 2011 (EEP2011), Energy

Efficiency Directive, European Council for an Energy Efficient Economy, Energy efficiency

action plan 2006

133 http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/jun/17/european-energy-emissions-trading-row

134 http://www.eceee.org/Policy/

135 http://www.eceee.org/press/Energy_Efficiency_Plan_2011/

56

• Links:

Official Sources:

The Energy Efficiency plan 2011 (available in every language):

http://eur-

lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:52011DC0109:EN:HTML:NOT

Energy efficiency: what do we want to achieve? By the Energy department of the European

Commission:

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

Research highlight by the European Commission:

http://ec.europa.eu/research/energy/eu/index_en.cfm

Possibilities and achievements with renewable energy by the European Commission, energy

department:

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

Energy 2020 strategy:

ec.europa.eu/energy/publications/doc/2011_energy2020_en.pdf

EU initiatives & councils:

Critique on Energy Efficiency Plan by the European Council for Energy an Efficient

Economy:

http://www.eceee.org/press/Energy_Efficiency_Plan_2011/

Energy Cities’ position paper on the Energy Efficiency Plan 2011:

energy-cities.eu/IMG/pdf/EnergyEfficiencyPlan_2011_en.pdf

The European Renewable Energy Federation:

http://www.eref-europe.org/htm/about_us.php

Informative materials:

Energy in the perspective of the sustainable development: the 2000 W society challenge:

http://infoscience.epfl.ch/record/53527/files/%5BLENI-ARTICLE-2004-026%5D.pdf

57

Media Coverage:

“UK ‘may miss 2020 targets for CO2’” BBC news:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6959589.stm

“EU Climate Chiefs in row over future emission trading”, The Guardian:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/jun/17/european-energy-emissions-

trading-row

“Q & A energy Efficiency” the Guardian:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/jul/16/energy-efficiency

58

LIBE - Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs

Ethnic nationalism- A blight upon modern European societies? With the rise of the far right

in several European nations, is this the end of an inclusive Europe? How best should Europe

proceed in light of the growing popularity of recent movements such as those of the ‘True

Finns’ and the Danish People’s Party?

• OVERVIEW by Gustaf Danielsson (SE)

Definition

Nationalism is generally divided into two categories: Civic and Ethnic. Civic nationalism is

defined as belonging to and feeling loyalty to a political entity, e.g. a state, and is often put

into the same category as patriotism. Ethnic Nationalism is not necessarily linked to a state,

but rather an ethnic or cultural community, bound together by for example a common

language, a common religion, common traditions and a common origin, making it

exclusive136.

Introduction

When the True Finns became the third biggest party in Finland following the parliamentary

elections earlier this year137 it was just the latest advancement of Nationalism in Europe. Since

the economic crisis hit in 2007, radical right wing populists have been gaining support all over

the continent. According to a recent poll, Europeans are the most xenophobic people in the

world138 and self-defining nationalist parties currently hold seats in many parliaments around

Europe. What has made this an even hotter topic for the EU is that the latest successes for

right wing parties have all had a common factor – they have all gained a lot of support by

criticising the bailouts of Greece, Ireland and Portugal. Never before has the EU faced greater

problems and never before has the cost for individual Member States been greater. At the

same time many Member States already have huge deficits. Nationalists are anti-EU by

definition and the EU has become an easy target.

Ethnic Nationalism

The reference to Ethnic Nationalism adds another dimension to this topic making it not only

about the rise of the far right, but also about ethnic groups who live in already existing states

but have aspirations of sovereignty, such as the Basque139 and the Catalan140 in Spain, and the

136 http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/nationalism/

137 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13107620

138 http://www.ipsos-na.com/news-polls/pressrelease.aspx?id=5298

139 http://www.elkarri.org/en/textos/quienes1.php

59

Flemish141 in Belgium. The difference between these nationalist groups and parties like the

True Finns and –the Danish People’s Party is that they do not want to exclude parts of the

population from the nation but rather exclude themselves from the nation. It has been

claimed that they wish to create a new nation for themselves.

The EU was, it could be argued, in many ways originally set up to battle nationalism and to

form an inclusive Europe. In light of the recent radicalisation of the political climate it appears

to be failing. What should be done to restore faith in the European idea and revive our

inclusive Europe? Is an inclusive ultimately our goal or should the EU continue to pursue this

ideal?

To answer this question and to reach the core of our topic, we first need to challenge

ourselves by asking the questions: Why does nationalism exist- what does it address?

What bodies within the EU deal with nationalism and populist parties, how should these

bodies proceed? Is a common policy on this issue in any way achievable or desirable? If not,

what alternatives do European states have to deal with this issue? How best should these states

proceed, is ethnic nationalism a threat or an opportunity? Can there be a European identity

without erasing national identities? Most importantly perhaps, should there be?

With the vast variety of different cultures, traditions, languages and religions on our

continent, is an inclusive Europe a utopic idea? Who is responsible for creating a tolerant

society? Upon discovering who is responsible, it must then be decided how these bodies

should proceed in light of the ever increasing pressure that Europe finds itself feeling in

relation to ethnic nationalism.

• KEYWORDS

Ethnic nationalism, civic nationalism, right-wing, xenophobia, ethnic identity, traditions,

populism, nation, state, separatism, autonomy, sovereignty

140 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8409767.stm

141 http://www.vlaamsbelang.be/56/

60

• Links:

Nationalism, definition, interesting discussion on the morality of nationalism

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/nationalism/

A slightly dated but interesting essay on the European Identity and whether nationalism can

actually be a useful tool for integration

http://www.aei.org/outlook/22572

Official Sources:

An article about the possible implications the True Finns might have on future bail-outs (the

specific situation has passed, but the concerns are still valid)

http://www.euractiv.com/en/elections/true-finns-election-gains-cast-fresh-doubts-eu-news-

504127

1995 Framework Convention on National Minorities

http://www.gov.am/u_files/file/kron/PDF_H(1995)010_FCNM_ExplanReport_en.pdf

The European Commission – Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion

http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=750&langId=en

Media Coverage:

An article about how populist parties pose a threat to the EU

http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,758883,00.html

Van Rompuy links euroscepticism to nationalism

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/eu/8124189/Herman-Van-Rompuy-

Euroscepticism-leads-to-war.html

Nationalism – the enemy of Europe’s nations. An article arguing member states would

actually have less control over their own affairs without the EU

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2005/oct/04/eu.world

61

DROI - Committee on Human Rights

''Living in Limbo'' – The rights of more than 200.000 Ethnic Georgian returnees to the Gali

district of Abkhazia: Almost 18 years after a ceasefire ended the Georgian-Abkhaz war, the

conflict over the breakaway region of Abkhazia remains as far from a political resolution as ever.

How should Europe now proceed to ensure that the human rights of those in the area, especially

taking into account the returnees, are protected?

• OVERVIEW by Ezgi İnce (TR)

The conflict over Abkhazia, which is an internationally considered a territory of Georgia but

also a de facto independent partially recognised republic, remains unresolved even 18 years

after the Georgian-Abkhaz war. With about 47,000 displaced people returning back to their

homes in Gali district, where they constituted 96% of the population before the war,

questions regarding the rights of the returnees have arisen

The war in Abkhazia (1992-1993) occurred between Georgian forces and Abkhazian

separatists who were also unofficially supported by Russian Federation forces. Its history goes

back to the disintegration of the Soviet Union at the end of 1980s. Anti-Soviet Georgia's

move towards independence caused an opposition by Abkhazians, fearing that an independent

Georgia would lead to the elimination of their autonomy. Hence Abkhazians demanded the

establishment of Abkhazia as a seperate Soviet Republic. The dispute turned violent and

eventually led to the Abkhazian War, a year after Georgia gained its independence.

As a result of the war, about 8,000 people, Georgian and Abkhaz, died, 18,000 were

wounded, and Abkhaz troops gained control of most of Abkhazia. More than 200,000 people,

the majority of them ethnic Georgians, were displaced from their homes in Abkhazia. Some

spontaneously returned to the Gali district. Most remain displaced to this day. All parties to

the conflict committed violations of international human rights and humanitarian law,

including indiscriminate attacks and targeted terrorising of the civilian population.142 A

ceasefire was declared in 1994, but another clash occurred in 2008 during the war between

Russia and Georgia over South Ossetia when Abkhaz military forces gained the full control of

the upper Kodori-gorge and this time forced over 2,000 ethnic Georgians to leave their

homes.

92 Human Rights Watch Report on Gali, 2011. The report is based on interviews with more than 100 Gali residents conducted on both sides of the administrative boundary line, as well as Abkhaz officials and representatives of international governmental and nongovernmental organizations working in Abkhazia.

62

Negotiations toward a peace settlement have made little progress. Several organisations were

involved in the monitoring process after the ceasefire such as the United Nations Observer

Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG). This came to an end in June 2009 due to a lack of

consensus among Security Council members on mandate extension. Further, the Organisation

for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) was involved. Russia vetoed both.

Meanwhile, some 60,000 Georgian refugees spontaneously returned to Abkhazia's Gali district

as mentioned above, although there is no reliable system of registering returnees. The human

rights situation remains precarious in the Georgian-populated areas of the Gali district, and

with the recent returnees, it causes even more problems in terms of the rights of the returnees.

There is a language barrier in schools since the de facto government of Abkhazia approved a

curriculum in Russian, whilst phasing out education in Georgian in Gali district. They do not

have an Abkhaz 'citizenship'143, which creates discrimination on ethnic grounds144. This

results in ethnic Georgians in Gali district being unable to get a passport which is a

''prerequisite to enjoying civil and political, as well as social, cultural and economic rights'',

according to the Human Rights Watch report on Gali. How can this be solved? Is there a just

and equitable solution achievable?

The same report suggests that there should be an international presence in Abkhazia, with a

specific focus on Gali, with a clear, substantive and meaningful mandate to provide security,

humanitarian, and human rights protection to the local population. United Nations (UN) has

been active since 1993 in the district with UNOMIG but a successful result was not achieved.

Whilst the European Union (EU) Delegation's main task is to prevent another armed conflict

in the area, it also supports some local and international organisations' programs. What steps

should be taken to achieve affirmative results? Could a mutual agreement with Russia be

possible in order to incite a more constructive approach? How should Europe proceed to do

more than just monitoring and take action instead in the way of ensuring the human rights of

those in the area are protected?

143 Abkhaz ‘citizenship’ is not recognized under international law, the requirement to renounce Georgian citizenship could render those who have to apply for an Abkhaz passport, in legal limbo without an internationally recognized nationality. (Human Rights Watch Report on Gali, 2011) 144 Discrimination on ethnic grounds is banned by key international treaties, including by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the European Convention on Human Rights. Article 26 f the ICCPR reads: “All persons are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to the equal protection of the law. In this respect, the law shall prohibit any discrimination and guarantee to all persons equal and effective protection against discrimination on any ground such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. (Human Rights Watch Report on Gali, 2011)

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KEYWORDS

Georgian-Abkhazian war/conflict, Gali district, ethnic cleansing of Georgians, human rights

in Abkhazia, UNOMIG, OSCE, European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), Human

Rights Watch Report on Gali, EU external action

Links:

Informative Material:

UNOMIG official website – Background:

http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/missions/past/unomig/background.html

Official Sources:

UNOMIG official website – Reports of the Secretary General from 1994 to 2009:

http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/missions/past/unomig/unomigDrp.htm

EU External Action – relations with Georgia:

http://eeas.europa.eu/georgia/index_en.htm

EU Georgia Action Plan – esp. Article 4.2

http://ec.europa.eu/world/enp/pdf/action_plans/georgia_enp_ap_final_en.pdf

EU – Georgia Partnership and Cooperation Agreement – esp. Article 71

http://eur-

lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:1999:205:0003:0038:EN:PDF

Academic Sources:

Human Rights Watch Report on Gali (July 2011) – a must read:

http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/georgia0711LR.pdf

Human Rights Watch Report on Georgia (1995):

http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/georgia953.pdf

Media Coverage:

Teachers in Abkhazia's Gali District Under Pressure to Give Up Georgian Language:

http://www.rferl.org/content/Teachers_In_Abkhazias_Gali_District_Under_Pressure_To_Gi

ve_Up_Georgian_Language/1514767.html

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Georgia, Abkhazia, Russia: the war option:

http://www.opendemocracy.net/article/georgia-abkhazia-russia-the-war-option

Living in Limbo: Rights of Ethnic Georgians Returnees to the Gali District of Abkhazia:

http://reliefweb.int/node/426002

http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=23755

Human Cost of Georgian Conflict:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7558000.stm

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SEDE - Committee on Security and Defence

“Cyberspace is changing the way we view and conduct foreign policy as well as transforming

our everyday lives” William Hague, UK Foreign Secretary, Munich Security Conference

Feb.2011. The new nuclear: How should the EU protect its citizens against threats from

cyberspace?

• OVERVIEW by Monica Bota Moisin (RO)

‘The history of failure in war can be summed up in two words: Too Late. Too late in

comprehending the deadly purpose of a potential enemy; too late in realizing the mortal

danger; too late in preparedness; too late in uniting all possible forces for resistance; too

late in standing with one’s friends.145’ General Douglas MacArthur

As defined by security expert Richard A.Clarke, in his book ‘Cyber War: The next threat to

national security and what to do about it ’146, cyberwarefare represents all ‘actions of a nation-

state to penetrate another nation's computers or networks for the purposes of causing damage

or disruption’.

Introduction

November 1st 2004, a Chinese hacker group, in the search of U.S government secrets,

attacked U.S. official networks147. In 2007, Estonia148 faces a full-scale cyberattack aimed at

disabling websites for its government, private companies, national press, political parties and

financial institutions. June 2009, an anonymous source reported that a nuclear accident at

Natanz, Iran, apparently caused by the most complex code virus ever created: Stuxnet149, the

so-called ‘Hiroshima of cyber-war’. In January 2011: in their quest for stopping the civil strife

in Egypt, national authorities decide to shut down the entire Internet and render every

Egyptian site inaccessible, causing an unprecedented action in Internet history150.

145 ‘The Real War’ – Richard Nixon 146 http://www.richardaclarke.net/ 147

‘Inside the Chinese Hack Attack’ - http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1098371,00.html 148

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2011/06/16/EU-seeks-unified-cybersecurity-regime/UPI-87891308219420/ 149

http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2011/04/stuxnet-201104#gotopage1 150 http://www.renesys.com/blog/2011/01/egypt-leaves-the-internet.shtml

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‘Cyberattacks in the world are on the rise and the cost of cybercrime is skyrocketing151’. All

nations worldwide are tackling the issue in a struggle to elaborate the most suitable and

effective security systems. In July 2009, the U.S Secretary of Defence created a new military

command dedicated to cyber security. Two years later, a piece of legislation which, if passed,

would allow the President of the U.S to shut down critical Internet facilities in the event of a

serious cyberattack on the country, is seen by the U.S Senate as the means to fight

cyberattacks. But is it indeed necessary? Or does it rather constitute the legal framework for

an 'Egyptian' follow-up to an Egyptian problem?

United in diversity?

"If we are serious about the possible damage that bombs and bullets can cause, then we should

also give serious consideration to the dangers that can be sent through global networks,

because they can be used to strike at a country's energy security, and damage its economy and

intellectual property"152.

Taking the example of the U.S, the European Union (EU), a key actor on the international

relations’ stage, must take a stance in the fight against cybercrime and cyberattacks. Earlier this

year EU Member States’ representatives met in Brussels, as a response to an Estonian

initiative, to encourage the implementation of a unified European approach to cyber security.

The ultimate goal on the present European Agenda is the creation of a Common European

Cyber Policy, a project closely monitored by the European Commission Vice President

Neelie Kroes153 and EU Foreign Affairs and Security chief Catherine Ashton. The question

still remains: what measures are best, to respond to the challenges we are facing?

The EU Commissioner for Information Society and Media, Viviane Reding, brought forward

the idea of a ‘Mister Cyber Security’154, a position similar to the one of ‘EU Foreign Affairs

and Security chief’ in order to better coordinate Europe's cyber forces and develop practical

defence plans. The EU bodies with responsibilities in this field, the European Defence

Agency155 and the European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA)156, have up

to this point proved to be unable to efficiently reform cyber security at a European level.

151Cecilia Malmstrom, member of the European Commission responsible for Home Affairs 152Estonian Defence Minister Mart Laar 153

http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=6885&utm_campaign=isp&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=newsroom&utm_content=tpa-139 154 “Europe needs a 'Mister Cyber Security' as we have a 'Mister Foreign Affairs,' a security tsar with authority to act immediately if a cyber attack is underway, a Cyber Cop in charge of the coordination of our forces and of developing tactical plans to improve our level of resilience. I will keep fighting for this function to be established as soon as possible.” – Viviane Reding, EU Commissioner for Information Society and Media 155

http://www.eda.europa.eu/ 156 http://www.enisa.europa.eu/

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ENISA is currently used by Member States to exchange information about cyber security

problems thus representing a solid platform for inter-state cooperation within the EU, but is

this enough? The remedy for fighting cyber security threats lies within a joint effort of all

Member States and the harmonisation of the national security policies.

Is this harmonisation feasible? From a legal point of view the EU, as an entity with judicial

personality after the Treaty of Lisbon, does not have the competency to intervene and

regulate in the area of a Member State’s security and defence policy. Strongly related to state

sovereignty, security and defence lays, according to the founding European Treaties157 and

recognised by the Treaty of Lisbon, within the exclusive competence of the Member States.

As such, EU initiatives on this issue are not binding for all Member States unless expressly

adopted by the national governments.

Is part of the answer to a successful and implementable cyber security policy the collective

action of all Member States? For better management and ease in communication the EU

Member State government representatives must be coordinated by a European body with

competencies in the field of security and defence. How can EU competencies be extended

without sacrificing state sovereignty? And, is the EU ready for a reconfiguring of its

institutional system and domains of expertise?

Answers to all these questions are not easy to find but we have reached a point where Europe

must have ‘a plan’. Driven by the motto, ‘United in diversity’ all Member States must join

efforts in the fight against cyberattacks from the outside. A common policy on this matter

must take into account both inter-state relations within the EU as well as relations between

Member States and other political key actors, mainly the U.S, China, Iran. The EU must find

all possible allies and start acting globally. A possible cooperation with NATO158 ought to be

considered based on its interest shown in playing a role in the formulation of a single

European cyber security policy.

For reaching the imperative goal of a comprehensive common cyber security policy, what are

the measures to be taken while maintaining stability within the EU and further, what is the

right balance between Member State sovereignty and the integrity of EU borders?

157 Consolidated versions of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and the Treaty on the European Union

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/JOHtml.do?uri=OJ:C:2010:083:SOM:EN:HTML 158 http://www.euractiv.com/en/infosociety/eu-us-nato-summits-address-cyber-security-news-499829

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• KEYWORDS

Cyberwarefare, common cyber security policy, Stuxnet, EU competencies, state sovereignty,

Cyberattacks

• Links:

Official sources:

The European Defence Agency:

http://www.eda.europa.eu/

The European Network and Information Security Agency:

http://www.enisa.europa.eu/

EU Commissioner for Information Society and Media, Viviane Reding – ‘The European Union

Needs a Cyber Security Czar’:

http://news.softpedia.com/news/The-European-Union-Needs-a-Cyber-Security-Czar-

110305.shtml

Informative Material:

The competencies of the European Union

http://europedia.moussis.eu/books/Book_2/2/3/2/index.tkl?all=1&pos=28

Division of competencies within the European Union

http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/institutional_affairs/treaties/lisbon_treaty/ai0020_en.

htm

Cyber security: EU and US strengthen transatlantic cooperation in face of mounting global

cyber-security and cyber-crime threats

http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=6885&utm_c

ampaign=isp&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=newsroom&utm_content=tpa-139

EU-NATO Summits addressing cyber security

http://www.euractiv.com/en/infosociety/eu-us-nato-summits-address-cyber-security-news-

499829

Media Coverage:

EU seeks unified cybersecurity regime, Estonian initiative

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2011/06/16/EU-seeks-unified-cybersecurity-

regime/UPI-87891308219420/

69

U.S solution against cyberattacks: The Internet 'Kill Switch'

http://www.switched.com/2011/02/01/internet-kill-switch-bill-what-it-is-wont-die/

Iran nuclear program attacked: Stuxnet new cyber weapon of the 21st century

http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2011/04/stuxnet-201104#gotopage1

Video Material:

Stuxnet – Anatomy of a Computer Virus

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSMOs7CF1Eo

Recommended Text:

‘Cyber War: The Next Threat to National Security and What to Do About It’ – Richard A.

Clarke and Robert K. Knake (2010)