Kauniainen 2015 – Preparation Kit for Delegates

Preparation Kit for Delegates Kauniainen, Finland 23th - 25th October 2015

European Youth Parliament Finland – EYP-Finland ry Uudenmaankatu 15 A 5, 00120 Helsinki http://www.eypfinland.org – info@eypfinland.org

Letter from the Chairs’ Team Dear delegates, With this we would like to warmly welcome you on board of Kauniainen Regional Session, start academic phase of your preparation, share our excitement about meeting you all and give you an idea of what will be expected of you. You are all young and well educated people with a lot of potential - and your work and resolutions should reflect that!

The Chairs’ Team hereby presents you the Academic Preparation Kit of the session. Within this Academic Preparation Kit you will find information regarding the topics, the Topic Overview. The Topic Overviews are written by the Committee Chairpersons and serve as background material. They aim to identify the key issues at stake, while synthesising the topic area. They are written with the intention of providing stimulating, yet neutral, introductions. It must be noted that the content of the Overviews does not reflect the position of the European Youth Parliament, who strongly encourage independent thinking.

Use this Academic Preparation Kit to inform yourselves but take your initiative and research in more depth.

Best wishes, The Chairs Team of Kauniainen Regional Session 2015

European Youth Parliament Finland – EYP-Finland ry Uudenmaankatu 15 A 5, 00120 Helsinki http://www.eypfinland.org – info@eypfinland.org

European Youth Parliament (EYP) The European Youth Parliament represents a non-partisan and independent educational project, which is tailored specifically to the needs of the young European citizens. European Youth Parliament Finland, established in 2001, is the National Committee of the EYP in Finland.

The EYP encourages independent thinking and initiative in young people and facilitates the learning of crucial social and professional skills. Since its inauguration, many tens of thousands of young people have taken part in Regional, National and International Sessions, formed friendships and made international contacts across and beyond borders. The EYP has thus mad a vital contribution towards uniting Europe.

Today the EYP is one of the largest European platforms for political debate, intercultural encounters, political educational work and the exchange of ideas among young people in Europe. The EYP consists of a network of 41 European associations in which thousands of young people are active in a voluntary capacity.

The EYP is a programme of the Schwarzkopf Foundation.

European Union (EU) The European Union is an economic and political union of 28 Member States. The EU was established by the Treaty of Maastricht in 1992 upon the foundations of the European Communities.

The EU has developed a single market through a standardised system of laws, which apply in all Member States, and ensures the free movement of people, goods, services, and capital, including the abolition of passport controls within the Schengen area. It enacts legislation in justice and home affairs, and maintains common policies on trade, agriculture, fisheries and regional development. Eighteen Member States have adopted a common currency, the euro.

With a view to its relations with the wider world, the EU has developed a limited role in foreign and defence policy through the Common Foreign and Security Policy. Permanent diplomatic missions have been established around the world and the EU is represented at the United Nations, the World Trade Organization (WTO), the G8 and the G-20.

The EU operates through a hybrid system of supranationalism and intergovernmentalism. In certain areas decisions are taken by independent institutions, while in others, they are made through negotiation between Member States.

The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community formed by six countries in the 1950s. Since the, it has grown in size through enlargement, and in power through the addition of policy areas to its remit. The last amendment to the constitutional basis of the EU came into force in 2009 and was the Lisbon Treaty.

European Youth Parliament Finland – EYP-Finland ry Uudenmaankatu 15 A 5, 00120 Helsinki http://www.eypfinland.org – info@eypfinland.org

The Institutions of the European Union The European Council is responsible for defining the general political direction and priorities of the EU. It comprises the heads of state of government of EU Member States, along with its President (currently Donald Tusk from Poland) and the President of the Commission.

The Council of the European Union (commonly referred to as the Council of Ministers) is the institution in the legislature of the EU representing the governments of Member States, the other legislative body being the European Parliament. The exact membership depends on the topic: for instance, when discussing agricultural policy the Council is formed by the 28 national ministers whose portfolio includes this policy area.

The European Parliament is directly elected parliamentary institution of the EU. Together with the Council, it forms the bicameral legislative branch of the EU. The Parliament is composed of 751 MEPs. The current president is Martin Schultz from Germany.

The European Commission is the executive body of the EU. It is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union’s treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union. The Commission operates as a cabinet government, with 28 commissioners. The Current President is Jean-Claude Juncker from Luxembourg.

Other important institutions of the EU include the Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Central Bank.

The EU also has several agencies and other institutions.

European Youth Parliament Finland – EYP-Finland ry Uudenmaankatu 15 A 5, 00120 Helsinki http://www.eypfinland.org – info@eypfinland.org

Committee Topics 1. Committee on Culture and Education I (CULT I) Chairpersons: Alina Kastsiukevich (BY) & Krister Sepp (EE) The depressing reality of bullying in cyberspace: What should be done to combat the dark side of the Internet and the consequences of cyber-bullying?

2. Committee on Culture and Education II (CULT II) Chairpersons: Niall Buckley (IE) & Alma Vänttinen (FI) Education comes first: With the Pisa Report 2012 revealing a worrying disparity between educational performance across Europe, how can the EU support its Member States in providing the highest possible standard of school education?

3. Committee on Human Rights (DROI) Chairpersons: Sara Hoxhaj (FI) & Barry Philip (FI) A graveyard at sea: Taking into consideration the tightened refugee and migration situation due to political and humanitarian crisis in the Middle East and North Africa, as well as internal EU differences regarding migration management, how should the EU reconsider its migration policy in order to adequately respond to new demands and challenges of both legal and illegal immigration into Member States?

4. Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (EMPL) Chairpersons: Saga Smith (FI) & Halyna Virt (UA) “Out with the old, in with the new”: What measures can the European Union take to facilitate the inclusion of the youth in the labour market, without merely passing the problem to other age groups?

European Youth Parliament Finland – EYP-Finland ry Uudenmaankatu 15 A 5, 00120 Helsinki http://www.eypfinland.org – info@eypfinland.org

5. Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality (FEMM) Chairpersons: Piotr Cichocki (PL) & Lucie Mérelle (FI) With the appalling results of the EU’s Agency for Fundamental Rights’ study into violence against women, how can the EU encourage Member States to make a marked reduction in physical, mental, and sexual abuse of women?

6. Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) Chairpersons: Pieta Salonen (FI) & Katerina Zejdlova (CZ) With current geopolitical events serving as a worrying reminder of the EU’s heavy reliance on fossil fuels and natural gas imports, how should the EU balance upholding existing energy trade relations with the development of self-sustainable means of energy production?

7. Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) Chairpersons: Maria-Alexandra Cezar (RO) & Joel Juntunen (FI) Same-sex marriage will become legal in Finland starting in 2017. The Finnish Parliament approved a bill legalizing samesex unions in November 2014, and Finland’s president, Sauli Niinistö, signed the measure into law in February 2015: given member states’ autonomy in family law, what measures should be taken by the EU to fulfil its non-discrimination commitment with respect to sexual orientation in the Charter of Fundamental Rights?

8. Committee on Security and Defence (SEDE) Chairpersons: Aino Röyskö (FI) & Tom Wolfskämpf (DE) Beyond cloud nine: with 64 % of organisations in the EU using cloud services in 2012 and the demand for public and private cloud services expected to increase, how should the EU adequately support these services and safeguard the data therein from potential digital threats, while remaining globally competitive?

European Youth Parliament Finland – EYP-Finland ry Uudenmaankatu 15 A 5, 00120 Helsinki http://www.eypfinland.org – info@eypfinland.org

1. Committee on Culture and Education I (CULT ) Chairpersons: Alina Kastsiukevich (BY) & Krister Sepp (EE) The depressing reality of bullying in cyberspace: What should be done to combat the dark side of the Internet and the consequences of cyber-bullying?

Executive Summary The Internet has created a whole new world of social communications for young people, which has also become a powerful platform to anonymously target and bully peers. Cyber-bullying is often neglected and causes even more social isolation and psychological damage to its victims than offline bullying. Despite the media attention, due to a number of high profile and tragic cases of teen suicide, the rates of cyberbullying among teenagers as well as adults are rapidly rising.

Main Problem Bullying has always existed in one form or another, but anonymous bullying online is becoming increasingly common. Cyberbullying is induced by seemingly less strict rules online than offline, anonymity and negligence of the bystanders. The anonymity and the lack of personal contact between the victim and the attacker on the web also means that the attacks are not limited by empathetic reactions to the victim’s suffering, and moreover, the culprits can go unpunished for a long period of time.

According to various studies, cyberbullying rates for young people across the EU Member States range from 10% to 52%, the average for adults being 28%. However, children are even more endangered by the harm associated with cyberbullying due to lack of parental surveillance online, out of whom only 1 in 6 know their child has been bullied online.

Only half of teenagers who become targets of cyberbullying report it - the overlooked ones have a much higher risk of depression, social and emotional instability and tendencies to self-harm. Harassed adults tend to escape through excessive consumption of alcohol and other addictive substances. Only around one out of every ten victims admits to suicidal tendencies.

One of the problems with cyberbullying is that it proves hard to control due to the fact that it takes on so many forms (e.g. harassment, shaming or posing) and can use so many mediums, whereas offline bullying can be noticed immediately and intervention can take place right away.

A quarter of the youngsters who engage in cyberbullying are teenagers who have also bullied others offline. However, the remaining three quarters do not bully others in person, thus implying that the Internet has empowered youths who would never consider bullying anyone in the physical world to do so in the virtual world.

Despite numerous anti-bullying campaigns, according to the EU Kids Online 2014 pan-European survey, European children have become more likely to be exposed to hate messages (rise from 13% to 20%) and cyberbullying (rise from 7% to 12%), compared to the 2010 statistics. However, the prevalence rates for bullying and cyberbullying vary significantly across European countries.

European Youth Parliament Finland – EYP-Finland ry Uudenmaankatu 15 A 5, 00120 Helsinki http://www.eypfinland.org – info@eypfinland.org

Main Actors, Interests & Conflicts The European Commission has been highlighting the problem of cyberbullying in Europe especially in the past few years by creating campaigns against cyberbullying, such as EU Kids Online, originally Safer Internet Campaign, Daphne III Programme, the anti-bullying campaign #DeleteCyberbullying. Furthermore, it also launched The European Strategy for a Better Internet for Children as well as proposed to establish a European Cybercrime Centre to help protect European citizens and businesses against cyber threats. Moreover, The European Commission has been active in curbing online abuse by forming an agreement with 17 of the world’s leading social networks, including Facebook and Myspace, to ensure young people and children are better protected online.

Cyberbullies are people who use digital technology to deliberately and repeatedly harass, humiliate, embarrass, torment, threaten, pick on or intimidate another person. Cyberbullying happens in many different ways – by mobile phone, text messages, email, online games or social websites, and it can happen at any time of the day or night, anywhere where there is internet or mobile access. These situations mainly (but not always) do not compromise physical safety of the victim. However, electronic communications can also easily lead to a suicide of the person who is the target of cyberbullying.

Targets are the victims of cyberbullying. Although there is no physical violence involved, cyberbullying may be more traumatic to targets because there is an unlimited number of witnesses. Moreover, when bullying is anonymous, targets do not know who to watch out for or who to respond to. Young people often do not share or report being bullied for fear that they will be deprived of online access.

A bystander is a person who does not become actively involved in a situation where someone else requires help. Cyberbullying often occurs away from adults. Bystanders to cyberbullying play very different roles, some more active than others, and these contribute significantly to what kind of bullying. ‘Doing nothing’ does have a real impact on events and may cause harm. They have an important role to play when it comes to putting an end to cyberbullying.

COFACE is non-governmental organisation promoting social inclusion and working as the Confederation of Family Organisations in the European Union. COFACE is working on the European Awareness Raising Campaign on Cyberbullying #DeleteCyberbullying. COFACE promotes communication within the family about cyberbullying issue, examining the role of parents and other family members, as well as looking at the family situation and at how some may be more conducive to let their children fall victim to cyberbullying than others.

Current Legislation & Policies The European Strategy for a Better Internet for Children (proposed by the European Commission in 2012) set requirements for stepping up awareness and creating a safe environment for children online. It proposed a series of actions to be undertaken by the Commission, the Member States and industry in the specified area. Its actions were to be implemented by the end of 2014, and although the strategy proved to be a success, much work still lies ahead.

In the context of the Daphne III Programme and its predecessors, aiming at preventing and combating violence against

European Youth Parliament Finland – EYP-Finland ry Uudenmaankatu 15 A 5, 00120 Helsinki http://www.eypfinland.org – info@eypfinland.org

children, young people and women, the Commission has co-financed a large number of projects aiming to protect children from violence. The latest of them, a 2013-2014 anti-bullying campaign #DeleteCyberbullying proved to be one of the most successful projects to date, bringing together eight partners from seven countries across the EU. Its objectives were to raise awareness and exchange the best practice about prevention of cyberbullying through social media, as well as to organise a Europe-wide cyberbullying conference for European experts in the field.

EU Kids Online, funded by the European Commission’s Better Internet for Kids Programme (originally: Safer Internet) is a multinational research network seeking to enhance knowledge of European children’s online opportunities, risks and safety. It uses multiple methods to map children’s and parents’ experience of the internet in dialogue with national and European policy stakeholders. It is regarded as the key provider of trusted evidence on children’s internet usage in Europe.

The third phase of the work of EU Kids Online ended in 2014 and collected data across 25 European countries, holding indepth interviews with 9 to 16-year-old kids in nine countries.

The 8th European Forum on the Rights of the Child focused, among other topics, on bullying and cyberbullying (session no. 3). With representatives of the EU Member States, NGOs and international organisations such as UNICEF, UNHCR and WHO, the Forum addressed numerous issues on the magnitude of cyberbullying and discussed potential solutions among 270 participants and stakeholders.

Perspectives In Europe the problem of ensuring freedom of speech on the Internet while protecting those who take part in communications on social platforms has not yet been addressed efficiently on the national level, and the issue is further complicated by the existence of legislative gaps. However, due to the media coverage of cyberbullying cases leading to suicide, the national legislatures have criminalised offences related to this problem as stalking, threatening, menacing, harassing or encouraging suicide. The growth of online communications channels and the young age at which children gain access to the internet are increasing every year. Taking into account that online platforms mostly rely on basic rules of blocking cyberbullies, parents cannot be entirely sure of their children’s safety in their online activities.

Relatively little is still known about some aspects of cyberbullying, for example, the motivations and goals of those who cyberbully, the long-term impact of being cyberbullied and how should victims react to it? What can those who witness cyber-bullying do? How best can parents and schools supervise and support young people without infringing their freedom of expression and hampering their communication on the Internet? Bearing in mind all these aspects, what measures should the European Union take in order to ensure freedom of speech whilst keeping the internet accessible and safe?

Key Words Bullying, Cyber-bullying, Cyber harassment, Cyber stalking, EU Kids Online, #DeleteCyberbullying

European Youth Parliament Finland – EYP-Finland ry Uudenmaankatu 15 A 5, 00120 Helsinki http://www.eypfinland.org – info@eypfinland.org

Statistics Cyberbullying in the EU: http://www.debatingeurope.eu/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/05-cyberbullying.png Bullying and suicide correlation: http://nobullying.com/bullying-suicide-statistics/ Links European Strategy for a Better Internet for Children: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2012:0196:FIN:EN:PDF EU Kids Online: http://www.lse.ac.uk/media@lse/research/EUKidsOnline/About-the-project.aspx 8th European Forum on the Rights of the Child: http://ec.europa.eu/justice/fundamental-rights/files/8th_forum_report_en.pdf The Daphne III Programme: http://ec.europa.eu/justice/fundamental-rights/programme/daphne-programme/index_en.htm Infographic on facts about cyberbullying: http://nobullying.com/facts-about-cyber-bullying/ Cyberbullying facts: http://www.bewebaware.ca/english/cyberbullying.html CyberBullying versus face-to-face bullying: http://www.researchgate.net/publication/49281627_Cyberbullying_Versus_Face-to-Face_Bullying_A_Theoretical_and_ Conceptual_Review Different forms of cyberbullying explained: http://nobullying.com/different-forms-of-cyber-bullying-explained/

European Youth Parliament Finland – EYP-Finland ry Uudenmaankatu 15 A 5, 00120 Helsinki http://www.eypfinland.org – info@eypfinland.org

2. Committee on Culture and Education II (CULT II) Chairpersons: Niall Buckley (IE) & Alma Vänttinen (FI) Education comes first: With the Pisa Report 2012 revealing a worrying disparity between educational performance across Europe, how can the EU support its Member States in providing the highest possible standard of school education?

Executive Summary The PISA report found strong correlations between education spending and academic results however this is not true in all cases with highly developed nations (eg. Sweden and Finland with similar levels of spending and drastically different performances).

That being said the competency for education lies within the MS as the EU only has a supporting role. The EU can solely facilitate and recommend MSs the necessary measures for a more advanced and equitable result in future OECD studies.

To remain competitive on the global stage the EU and its MSs must act now, learning from past mistakes and successes of others.

Main Problem Throughout 2012 the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) conducted a mass survey into the quality of education in various EU and non-EU states, 65 in total. 510,000 students were surveyed by completing a two hour exam in three fields: Maths, Science, and Reading. This Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is held in every three years. Finland, The Netherlands and Estonia were the EU’s’ best all round performers but their results only put them in the top 10 globally by mean score. The disparity between EU Member States (MSs) in these three core areas is disturbingly large. The EU’s’ best results for reading were Finland (524 points) and Ireland (523 points) but this is a 88 point gap from the EU’s’ lowest recorded result Bulgaria (436 points). Science is a similar situation with 107 points separating Cyprus from Finland. These disparities aren’t statistical anomalies but rather fundamental differences in both resources available and strategic approaches to education. A clear example of an outlier in this case would be Estonia and Poland with lower average GDP per capita but higher results than many wealthier EU MS. Countries that outperformed the EU were East Asian wealthy states such as Japan and Taiwan. Selective more developed sections of China also performed exceptionally well but aren’t representative of the nation as a whole.

Every EU MS has its own idea of what educational system is the most adequate for that state. Similarly each nation puts a slightly different value to education. This can often be reflected in graduation rates for 2nd level institutions (high schools) or rate of pay for teachers as a percentage of the average wage in that MS and the general sum of GDP invested into education. The value and prestige of being a teacher in Finland is more comparable to that of a doctor rather than that of an ordinary civil servant (government bureaucrat).

Additionally the MSs guard their independence in the education sector, they can often see measures of conformity as an encroachment on their sovereignty. MSs are expecting to be provided with the largest possible funding with as few regulations as possible from the EU. This makes the EU’s influence in this area weak, limited to recommendations and requests instead of an implementation of EU policies.

European Youth Parliament Finland – EYP-Finland ry Uudenmaankatu 15 A 5, 00120 Helsinki http://www.eypfinland.org – info@eypfinland.org

Main Actors, Interests & Conflicts The EU, aiming for more uniformized standards of education with an emphasis on learning modern languages and thus allowing the EU to integrate better and to become more competitive and unified on a global stage. The EU has the best interest of the entire Union, not that of a particular MS, at heart.

National governments wish to focus education on not only transferable skills, but also on cultural heritage and identity, and rightly so the EU wouldn’t do as well of a job in this area.

Students generally want to do as little work as possible whilst achieving the best possible academic results.

Current Legislation & Policies The overwhelming majority of legislation on education is currently enacted by the MSs. The EU does however have several supporting structures in place to support the MSs. Erasmus+ is a European Commission programme i.a. allowing 3rd level (university) students to spend a subsidized year abroad to advance their education in a different environment. This program has been particularly useful in the area of language learning but it also carries cultural benefits. Erasmus + however isn’t limited to college students, 14.7 billion is in the process of being spent on sport, cultural and personal development in education.

ET2020 is the Strategic framework for Education and Training 2020. By 2020 the EU has set four goals, namely lifelong learning, improving quality and efficiency of education and training, promoting social cohesion and active citizenship, and building a better level of entrepreneurship in Europe. A series of statistical goals can also be found on a web page in the link section.

Key Words & Definitions • OECD stands for the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development • PISA is the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment • ET2020 - Strategic framework for Education and Training 2020 • Third level education is the University/College education Statistics Low achievers in reading, maths and science, by country, OECD PISA 2012: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/File:Low_achievers_in_reading,_maths_and_science,_by_country_Fig_5.PNG

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Links OECD PISA Results 2012: http://www.oecd.org/pisa/keyfindings/pisa-2012-results.htm OECD PISA Results overview: http://www.oecd.org/pisa/keyfindings/pisa-2012-results-volume-I.pdf http://www.oecd.org/pisa/keyfindings/pisa-2012-results-volume-II.pdf http://www.oecd.org/pisa/keyfindings/pisa-2012-results-volume-III.pdf http://www.oecd.org/pisa/keyfindings/pisa-2012-results-volume-IV.pdf The World Bank Successful Education Reform: Lessons from Poland http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTECALEA/Resources/ECA_KB34_Education_Reform_in_Poland.pdf European Commission’s Education and Training Monitor 2014 http://ec.europa.eu/education/library/publications/monitor14_en.pdf Europe 2020 (ET2020) website http://ec.europa.eu/europe2020/index_en.htm

European Youth Parliament Finland – EYP-Finland ry Uudenmaankatu 15 A 5, 00120 Helsinki http://www.eypfinland.org – info@eypfinland.org

3. Committee on Human Rights (DROI) Chairpersons: Sara Hoxhaj (FI) & Barry Philip (FI) A graveyard at sea: Taking into consideration the tightened refugee and migration situation due to political and humanitarian crisis in the Middle East and North Africa, as well as internal EU differences regarding migration management, how should the EU reconsider its migration policy in order to adequately respond to new demands and challenges of both legal and illegal immigration into Member States?

Executive Summary The brutal civil war in Syria started by the revolutionary wave of the Arab Spring, as well as the surge of the Islamic State, caused unprecedented instability in the already complicated Middle East. In the summer of 2015, Europe experienced the highest influx of refugees since the Second World War, most of whom were from Syria, the world’s top source of refugees at the moment. People keep losing their lives in an attempt to reach safe haven in Europe, but Europe has been taken by surprise and is failing to coordinate a response.

Main Problem Over half a million migrants have made their way across the Mediterranean to Europe in 2015. The unforeseen scale of the crisis has put huge pressure on all countries, especially Greece, Hungary, Germany and Austria. The struggle to cope with the influx has created a clear division between the EU countries on how to best deal with these people’s resettlement.

The majority (62%) of refugees who have reached Europe so far come from Afghanistan, Syria and Eritrea. Among other nationalities are also people from Libya, Sudan, Pakistan, Nigeria, Kosovo, Serbia, Albania, Iraq and Somalia, whose dream destination is Germany or Sweden. However, there is also a high influx of economic migrants from the Balkan area, especially Albania, Kosovo, Serbia and some countries in Africa, travelling mainly towards Germany. The German authorities have said to take their applications into consideration, but most of them will be sent back to their home countries within a year.

The lack of safe legal ways to reach a sanctuary in Europe has taken over 2,600 lives, as migrants find themselves traveling through dangerous routes, some with virtually no infrastructure capable of dealing with the influx, e.g. some Greek islands, or on overloaded fishing boats by sea. Survivors often report violence and abuse by human traffickers, who have taken advantage of the chaos and exploit migrants and refugees desperate to reach Europe.

To get asylum status in the EU, migrants have to prove to the authorities that they are fleeing persecution and would face harm or even death if sent back to their country of origin. Countries like Germany have said to give this status to all Syrian migrants, no exceptions made. Others, trying to pass on the issue of registering and processing the applications in their countries, such as Croatia, are sending their migrants to Hungary by bus, who responds in the same way, sending them to Austria. Hungary has even gone as far as building a fence along its border with Serbia and launching prosecution against those damaging this barrier in order to reach Hungary.

At the moment, surveillance of borders is vital to prevent illegal immigration. However, tough border controls might provoke people to seek access to the EU alternatively, e.g. though unseaworthy boats, which will risk even more lives. On the

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other hand, letting all migrants pass through without taking record of them, such as in Italy, would only contribute to the rise of illegal and unregistered migrants in the EU. Nevertheless, the main problem is the lack of common response agreed by the whole of the EU, which in the end only ends up aggravating this crisis.

Main Actors, Interests & Conflicts The European citizens are split between those who show support and humanity, supplying refugees with water, food, clothing and advocating their acceptance by the EU, and those who show racism and xenophobia, with many people reluctant as to which side to join. Many fear that these refugees will, in a few decades, take over the countries with their high birth rates and different religious beliefs, whilst many argue for being humane and accepting people needing our help, regardless of the culture they come from.

The United Nations’ (UN) Universal Declaration of Human Rights binds all Member States to deal with the refugee crisis.

The non-refoulement principle is the cornerstone of international refugee law, prohibiting the return of victims of persecution back to the country they originally fled from.

The Member States (MS) still lack a consensus on asylum issues and on whether migration policies should be dealt with on the EU level or the national level. Furthermore, many Member States struggle to successfully integrate refugees and asylum seekers into their societies. Currently, different countries are accepting varying amounts of refugees, for example Germany has said to accept 800,000 refugees, though it is also demanding an EU-wide solution, while for example the United Kingdom, which is of similar size population-wise, pledged to accept only 20,000 over the span of the next five years.

The Islamic State (IS) is believed to be “the wealthiest jihadist group in the world”, owning assets worth over $2 billion. IS aims at creating a pan-national state, uniting all the territories of the world inhabited by Muslims. ISIS takes over towns and cities and puts them under brutal and violent, yet organised rule, further territorially expanding across the Middle East.

In Syria alone, about 205,000 people have been killed in the civil war which IS also acts as a part of, and half of the country’s population, around 4 million, have fled as refugees to Europe or to other countries in the Middle East.

NGOs and charity organisations are providing critical help for the wave of migrants arriving in Europe, who are hungry, exhausted and often ill. Some large NGOs working in various countries are: Doctors of the world, based in France with its front lines in Germany; Doctors without borders working in Greece, currently concentrating its resources in Germany as well; UN High Commission for Refugees; The Spanish Red Cross setting up fundraising campaigns; Save the Children; and many more.

Migrants are fleeing their countries in search for a safer, better life. So far, 350,000 people have arrived in Europe from other countries this year, compared to 280,000 migrants who were detected at EU borders during the whole of 2014. More than 2,600 men, women and children are known to have died in an attempt to cross the Mediterranean Sea in 2015, mostly on fishing boats or rubber dinghies. The rising numbers of migrants in Europe pose an economic and logistical challenge for the EU. The EU leaders have recently agreed to give an extra 1bn euros to the UN refugee agency, World Food Program, for the refugees displaced in refugee camps in Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey.

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Current Legislations & Policies EU’s official refugee and immigration policy says that asylum is granted to people fleeing persecution or serious harm in their own country, and therefore in need of international protection. Asylum is a fundamental right; granting it is an international obligation. Member States have shared responsibilities to welcome asylum seekers in a dignified manner, ensuring that they are treated fairly and that their cases are examined by fair, uniform standards.

Dublin III Regulation establishes that the Member State through which the asylum seeker first entered the EU is responsible for filing and examining the asylum application. This however puts a lot of pressure on the Mediterranean countries like Greece and Italy in this crisis, and has mostly been ineffective. The regulation is a lot harder in practice than in principle. Greece, for example, is experiencing one of the worst depressions in recorded economic history and does not have the resources to process asylum claims, thus letting the refugees pass through without registration.

The European Refugee Fund is a fund that financially supports the EU states with a large amount of asylum seekers, giving away a fixed amount of assistance money that varies from country to country.

Perspectives The way to deal with the estimated 500,000 migrants currently in Europe is still unclear. The most popular destination so far has been Germany, as it has received a staggering 222,000 applications and is expected to receive 800,000 migrants this year. What is more, Germany has taken the lead and suspended the Dublin Regulation, saying that “it does not work”, and has been critical of France and the UK over their modest commitment.

Hungary is in second place with little under 100,000 applicants, and as precaution to keep the huge influx at bay, built a controversial 175 km razor-wire fence along its border with Serbia. Bulgaria is following in the same footsteps as well.

Slovakia, on the other hand has been preventing Muslims from seeking asylum at all, and Croatia, initially friendly to the migrants, was recently pressured by the EU to re-open its borders with Serbia that it closed after a great influx of migrants when Hungary closed its borders.

Dealing with the huge influx of poor, unprepared migrants is difficult, as the economic climate in Europe is still gloomy.

It makes us wonder if there will ever be a pan-European solution or whether each country will be forced to take its own measures. The EU’s recent vote on the controversial refugee intake quotas, where the majority voting principle established in the Lisbon Treaty has been used for the first time, has caused even further division as the quotas were forced onto some Eastern European countries. What consequences will this unprecedented decision have on the European response? Are quotas a way to go, and if so, how well can they be implemented in practice against some countries’ will? Will we make history as a strong, responsive and humane Europe, or a continent-wide Union that has broken apart on this human crisis?

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Key Words Migrant, Refugee, Asylum Seeker, Dublin Regulation, Principle of non-refoulement., Migration, legal and illegal refugee, human traffickers Definitions Asylum seeker is a person who, from fear of persecution, has left their home country and is seeking asylum in another, waiting for a decision from the authorities on his or her claim. Under EU rules, an asylum seeker has the right to food, first aid and shelter in a reception centre. They should get an individual assessment of their needs.

A refugee, on the other hand, has already received a positive decision from the authorities on his or her asylum claim.

An illegal migrant is a person who comes to the EU without a proper visa or a permit or who overstays after the expiry of their visa.

The Arab spring was a revolutionary wave of demonstrations, protests, civil wars and uprisings that originated in Tunisia and quickly spread across the Arab world in 2011.

The term migrant refers to all people on the move who have yet to complete the legal process of claiming asylum or applying for citizenship or a work permit. This includes people fleeing war-torn countries such as Syria, who are likely to be granted refugee status, as well as people who are seeking jobs and better lives, who are economic migrants.

Links Essentials one needs to know for a good debate and back up information: http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/34153104/mediterranean-crisis-why-are-people-fleeing-their-homes A sum-up on the refugee crisis: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-24583286 Facts sheet and some figures on the refugee crisis: http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/aug/10/10-truths-about-europes-refugee-crisis Why people are fleeing Syria, a brief explanation: http://www.vox.com/2015/9/4/9261971/syria-refugee-war http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/34153104/mediterranean-crisis-why-are-people-fleeing-their-homes On the difference between an asylum seeker and refugee: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/the-difference-between-asylum-seekers-refugees-and-economic-migrants-10460431.html

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Further links Who is an illegal migrant: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/atyourservice/en/displayFtu.html?ftuId=FTU_5.12.3.html EU’s migration policy: http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/what-we-do/policies/asylum/index_en.htm The migrant crisis: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34332759 Asylum seekers in the EU: http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2015/05/economist-explains-6

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4. Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (EMPL) Chairpersons: Saga Smith (FI) & Halyna Virt (UA) “Out with the old, in with the new”: What measures can the European Union take to facilitate the inclusion of the youth in the labour market, without merely passing the problem to other age groups?

Executive Summary Youth occupies a separate niche on the labour market. On one hand, young people have high mobility, openness and readiness to change their workplace, but on the other, they lack experience to remain competitive on the labour market.

Ineffective laws and regulations, absence of clear strategy towards youth employment, weak incentives mechanisms for employers make youth unemployment one of the most pressing issues nowadays in Europe.

Europe is indeed facing a major problem: Over 5 million people under 25 were unemployed in the second quarter of 2014, which represents about 20% of the youth and is more than twice as high as the adult rate. The gap between countries of the highest and lowest unemployment rates becomes bigger, with Spain and Greece failing to provide over half of its Not in Education, Employment, or Training (NEET) youth with employment.

Research conducted by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) also proved that a high rate of youth unemployment contributes to the overall disparity in the societies and to an increase in crime rates. Moreover, individuals who remain unemployed for longer periods of time are facing a lower likelihood of employment and lower wages in the future.

Main Problem In spite of an ever more-educated young workforce, many employers cannot fill their vacancies. The McKinsey survey provided statistics showing that more than 50% of employers said that candidates do not possess the skills needed. From a different perspective, 70% of educational institutions believe new graduates are qualified to be hired in the real world. The main conflict lies in disparities between what educators believe is needed and what employers are looking for.

Furthermore, there is a growing mismatch between the skills that young people offer and the positions available on the job market. Abysmal quality of education and the continuous expansion of the skill pool required for many jobs leaves young people underqualified and unsuitable for the existing work offers.

Besides, it is often the case that young people with higher education find it hard to find positions that suit their qualifications and skills. Those seeking work start accepting jobs, which they are in fact overqualified for. The skill mismatch affects the job satisfaction and wages of workers, while at the same time hindering the labour productivity. Moreover, the qualification mismatch prevents countries from releasing the full potential of their labour force.

It should be noted that young people with primary levels of education are more likely to remain unemployed than those with secondary and tertiary education. This becomes especially evident during crisis situations. In general, the majority of employed youth have upper-secondary and post-secondary non-tertiary education.

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Lastly, youth unemployment is much more sensitive to national output than adult unemployment. This holds true for every country, despite the variations in employment dynamics. The reason for it is the concentration of young employees in sensitive industries and in small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

Main Actors, Interests & Conflicts The European Social Fund (ESF) is Europe’s main instrument for supporting jobs, helping people get better job offers and ensuring fairer opportunities for all EU citizens. It works by investing in Europe’s human capital – its workers, its young people and all those seeking a job. ESF financing of EUR 10 billion a year is improving job prospects for millions of Europeans.

The EU Member States are the key actors in the field of education and carry out legislation on education- and employmentrelated issues. Hence, the influence and possibilities of the EU are limited. Moreover, legal systems in this field are not harmonised all over Europe and any influence by the EU would require a new Treaty to be ratified by all the Member States.

The European youth and its personal attachment to the topic plays a key role in finding solutions to the topic. Their active involvement and training is strongly supported by national and supranational actors.

The Employers play a key role in tackling youth unemployment, having a direct impact on the labour market demand. The key problem here is the lack of cooperation between the educators and employers.

Perspectives Youth unemployment has increased throughout Europe since the onset of the 2008 crisis, reversing a decade-long trend of modest decline. Youth unemployment rates are currently at an unprecedented level in the euro area, reaching 23 percent in mid-2014, well above the 15 percent rate in 2007 . Of even greater concern is the fact that the long-term youth unemployment rate (LUR) - unemployment for more than a year - has risen.

Policymakers are thus increasingly focused on tackling youth unemployment on both European and national levels. The most notable examples are the Youth Guarantee Scheme and the Youth Employment Initiative, aimed at providing European Union (EU) funds to support active labour market policies (ALMPs) for the youth. European Union Member States play a large role in outlining legislation regarding education of the youth. Hence, decision-making capacities of the EU are limited.

Key Words Youth unemployment, Youth labour market integration, NEET - Not in Education, Employment, or Training”, Youth Employment Initiative, Labour Market Otsikko on tällä sivulla erillisessä tekstilaatikossa. Jatka tätä tekstilaatikkoa tarvittaessa seuraaville sivuille marginaalien mukaan.Leipäteksti: DIN Regular 9 pt, riviväli 14 pt.

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Links Eurostat Participation of young people in education and the labour market: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Participation_of_young_people_in_education_and_the_labour_market Juan J. Dolado (2015) No Country for Young People? Youth Labour Market Problems in Europe: http://www.voxeu.org/sites/default/files/file/No_Country_Young_People_VoxEU.pdf Institute for Public Policy Research States of transition: Youth unemployment, education and labour market policy in Europe and the US: http://www.ippr.org/publications/states-of-transition-youth-unemployment-education-and-labour-market-policy-ineurope-and-the-us IMF Youth Unemployment in Advanced Economies in Europe: Searching for Solutions http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/sdn/2014/sdn1411.pdf Eurostat Statistics on youth unemployment explained http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Youth_unemployment International Labour Organisation (2015) World Employment Social Outlook http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---dcomm/---publ/documents/publication/wcms_337069.pdf

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5. Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality (FEMM) Chairpersons: Piotr Cichocki (PL) & Lucie Mérelle (FI) With the appalling results of the EU’s Agency for Fundamental Rights’ study into violence against women, how can the EU encourage Member States to make a marked reduction in physical, mental, and sexual abuse of women?

Executive Summary Violence against women is a major problem and is a violation of human rights. It is a worldwide yet still hidden issue in modern society and it affects the lives of women everywhere cutting across boundaries of wealth, race and culture. Every single day millions of women worldwide experience violence. This abuse take many forms, including intimate physical and sexual partner violence, female genital mutilation, forced marriage, sex trafficking and rape.

Main Problem In today’s society, violence against women is a severe problem that by no means should be tolerated nor accepted under any conditions. It is a worldwide, institutionalised phenomenon, which may vary depending on a society’s social, economic, cultural and political context. However, many women keep on living under the shadow of aggression and abuse. With the mental and physical health of victims at risk, these women are exposed to domestic violence, sexual abuse, human trafficking, forced prostitution, oppression and physical abuse. The term “violence against women” refers to any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or private life.

Through extensive cooperation with national police and intelligence forces, the EU has taken many measures towards violence against women and women trafficking. European Commission programme Erasmus+ features funding for projects aiming to combat sexualised violence. Victims of women trafficking are eligible for financial assistance from certain EU funds in order to reintegrate into society through education, training and employment. Even though there are programmes that fund women’s refuges and health facilities, as well as efforts to change attitudes, little progress has been made in trying to tackle a matter of such importance as this.

Main Actors, Interests & Conflicts European Parliament’s Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality (FEMM)‘s work mainly focused on topics such as the pay gap, women’s economic independence, female poverty, women’s underrepresentation in decision making, sexual and reproductive health rights, trafficking and violence against women and girls.

European Commission, the sole EU body in charge of proposing new regulations. The topic is in the sphere of competence of many Commissioners. The European Parliament can call upon the EC to create draft laws it will then be able to amend.

National governments are in charge of ratifying the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention).

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National police forces are responsible for seeking perpetrators yet too many victims of sexualized violence fear to contact them. Unfortunately, they very often have valid reasons for avoiding contact (such as lack of professionalism and insufficient education).

NGOs, namely the European Women’s Lobby (EWL). EWL is the largest umbrella organisation of women’s associations in the EU. It is working to promote reducing violence against women and leading campaigns across the continent.

Current Legislation & Policies Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW): Implemented in 1981, CEDAW did not explicitly include language on violence against women. However, the primary focus of CEDAW is to “condemn discrimination against women in all its forms” which is also supported by State Parties. As said by Rashida Manjoo, the current UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, “States must acknowledge that violence against women is not the root problem, but that violence occurs because other forms of discrimination are allowed to flourish.”

This view of violence against women as the most extreme manifestation on a continuum of discrimination led the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the monitoring body of CEDAW, to adopt General Recommendation Number 19. This recommendation explicitly included gender-based violence as a form of discrimination covered by CEDAW, saying: The definition of discrimination includes gender-based violence, that is, violence that is directed against a woman because she is a woman or that affects women disproportionately. It includes acts that inflict physical, mental or sexual harm or suffering, threats of such acts, coercion and other deprivations of liberty. Gender-based violence may breach specific provisions of the Convention, regardless of whether those provisions expressly mention violence.

Perspectives As the issue of violence against women does not belong to the category of issues that might solve by themselves, action needs to be taken in order to change the alarming status quo. To successfully tackle the issue, two-way action consisting of both prevention and combatting sexual violence is needed. What the delegates will have to focus on will be finding innovative measures that will change societal attitudes towards sexualized violence and enable and empower its victims to safely seek justice.

Key Words Violence against women is understood as a violation of human rights and a form of discrimination against women. Including all acts of gender-based violence that result in, or are likely to result in, physical, sexual, psychological or economic suffering for women, incorporating threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, in both public or private life.

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Physical Violence refers to a bodily harm suffered as a result of the application of immediate and unlawful physical force.

It also encompasses violence resulting in the death of the victim.

Psychological abuse, also referred to as emotional abuse or mental abuse, is a form of abuse characterised by a person subjecting or exposing another to behaviour that may result in psychological trauma, including anxiety, chronic depression, or post-traumatic stress disorder.

Sexual abuse is unwanted sexual activity, with perpetrators using force, making threats or taking advantage of victims not able to give consent.

Domestic violence shall mean all acts of physical, sexual, psychological or economic violence that occur within the family or domestic unit or between former or current spouses or partners, whether or not the perpetrator shares or have shared the same residence with the victim.

A victim is a person who has suffered harm, including physical, mental or emotional harm or economic loss, which was directly caused by a criminal offence.

A perpetrator is a person who commits violent acts against women. Boyfriends and intimate partners are the most common perpetrators of violence against women. Acquaintances, such as friends and co-workers of the victim, are the second most common perpetrator of violence against women.

Statistics • 78% of women in the EU think that violence against women is common in their country; • One in 10 women in the EU has experienced some form of sexual violence since the age of 15, and one in 20 has been raped; • Only a third of victims of partner violence and a quarter of victims of non-partner violence contacted either the police or some other organisation; • On average, every second woman in the EU is aware of existing legislation concerning protection and prevention with regard to domestic violence; • Every second woman in the EU, on average, has recently seen or heard campaigns addressing violence against women; • In 68 % of cases of sexual harassment faced by women since the age of 15, the perpetrator is an unknown person; • 30 % of women who have experienced physical violence indicate a relative or a family member (other than a partner) as the perpetrator, and one in four women who have experienced physical violence say that this involved somebody whom they did not know beforehand.

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Links Council of Europe (2011). Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention). So far ratified by: Albania, Andorra, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Denmark, Finland, France, Italy, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, Poland, Portugal, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey http://www.bka.gv.at/DocView.axd?CobId=52143 European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights’ Violence against women: an EU-wide survey http://fra.europa.eu/sites/default/files/fra-2014-vaw-survey-main-results-apr14_en.pdf Gender equality legislation in the European Union http://ec.europa.eu/justice/gender-equality/law/index_en.htm EU guidelines on violence against women and girls http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=uriserv:dh0003 UN Treaties on violence against women http://www.stopvaw.org/un_treaties_on_violence_against_women

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6. Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) Chairpersons: Pieta Salonen (FI) & Katerina Zejdlova (CZ) With current geopolitical events serving as a worrying reminder of the EU’s heavy reliance on fossil fuels and natural gas imports, how should the EU balance upholding existing energy trade relations with the development of self-sustainable means of energy production?

Executive Summary According to latest statistics 53% of European Union’s energy consumption came from imported sources at a cost of 350 billion per year, the biggest supplier being Russia. With continuous disputes between Russia and its neighbouring gas transit countries, concerns about possible disruptions in energy supply are growing. As emphasised especially by the crisis in Ukraine, heavy reliance of the EU on Russia as an energy supplier has been criticised. The situation is not going to resolved itself, as on the contrary, the amount of energy imported to the EU is in fact increasing.

Main Problem Currently around 73% of the energy the EU consumes is generated from petroleum, natural gas and solid fuels, 14% from nuclear power, 12% from renewable resources and 1 % from other sources. The production of energy has declined inside the EU by 15,7% in ten years’ time. The supply could no longer meet the demand; therefore EU has become more and more dependent on imported energy. At the moment, the EU relies mostly on Russian energy resources, particularly on its natural gas supply.

The EU imports more than 90% of its crude oil and 66% of natural gas consumption, with some countries almost exclusively reliant on their gas supplies from Russia. More than half of the gas coming to the EU travels through pipelines in Ukraine.

Disruptions in natural gas supply occurred in 2006 for the first time, and in 2009 a gas dispute between Ukraine and Russia caused severe supply shortages in many EU countries, drawing attention to the problem. Since then there have been debates about possible solutions to EU’s heavy reliance on foreign energy supplies and especially on energy coming from one major supplier, which leaves countries vulnerable to political or commercial disputes that cause supply disruption, and this debate has flared up again with the Ukrainian crisis.

As the amount of natural resources in the world is decreasing and the geopolitical situation in Eastern Europe is less stable than ever before, the decision-makers in Europe have become worried about EU’s reliance on imported energy. There seems to be a growing will to become more independent with the energy production, but acquiring the means to put these policy recommendations and ideas into practice does not seem to be that easy. The core issue thus is the important strategic decision about what EU’s energy mix should be in order to achieve future energy security for the whole union and how to implement these policies efficiently as a united bloc.

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Main Actors, Interests & Conflicts The EU, and especially the European Commission, which possesses the main executive powers inside the EU, plays a key role in the issue. One of the Commission’s main priorities is to ensure sustainable energy for all its citizens, as well as to secure the energy supply in case of conflicts causing disruption. See the full EU agenda on energy in the next section.

The Member States have different energy pallets. Some use almost inclusively fossil fuels, while others, such as Sweden and Finland, have a higher share of renewable resources. The energy policies of the Member States are, however, strongly affected by the EU, as most of Member States’ energy legislation actually came from the EU level and has then been adapted to the national law.

Russia is the main supplier of natural gas to the EU. While Russia has good relations with some (mostly Eastern) European countries, especially in the past few years it has become evident that there are still many underlying problems in the relations between Russia and the West. During the crisis in Ukraine tensions between Russia and the EU in particular have also escalated.

Ukraine is the most important transit country for gas coming from Russia into the EU. Ukraine and Russia have had several conflicts in the past resulting in disrupts in gas supply to Europe.

The energy suppliers are companies, either state-owned or private, which seek profit. Their interest is therefore to keep the demand for energy high and the costs for producing energy low. They want to avoid making risky and expensive investments (e.g. infrastructure building in conflict areas) where there is no guarantee of the continuity of consumption.

The EU citizens care mostly about having undisrupted and affordable energy supply to be able to work and live normally.

However, the citizens are also becoming more and more conscious of the environmental issues and urge their governments to focus more on sustainable and ecological energy production. lien mukaan.

Current Legislation & Policies The Energy Strategy of the EU is aimed at ensuring secure and reliable energy supplies whilst maintaining competitiveness and price balance in the energy market. Apart from ensuring supply, the key aim of the strategy is also to create sustainable consumption, and thus the long-term goals of the EU in the energy field constitute lowering greenhouse gas emissions and pollution, as well as decreasing its dependency on fossil fuels and on energy imports in general.

These aims are to be achieved through various policies and measures.

The project of the European Energy Union aims at ensuring ‘secure, affordable and climate-friendly energy’. It strives to achieve these objectives through diversifying EU’s energy sources, investing in research and innovation, preserving domestic energy sources and making the use of energy produced within the EU more efficient.

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Another key goal of the strategy is the Internal Energy Market, ensuring the free flow of energy across borders in the EU without technical (i.e. building infrastructure, energy grids, pipelines) or regulatory barriers (i.e. harmonising legislations across borders). This would not only establish a freely competitive energy market in the EU and thus benefit the customers, but it would also allow the EU to fully develop its renewable energy potential.

As the EU aims to shift away from fossil fuels, its main focus in energy solutions is on the development of renewable energy. This is actively supported and expressed in EU’s long-term strategies. The 2020 Strategy (the ‘20-20-20 goals’) sets out to increase the share of renewables in Europe’s energy mix to 20% (as well as reductions in emissions - mainly using the Emissions Trading System (ETS) - and increase in efficiency by 20%), with the 2030 Strategy increasing the goal to 27% of renewable energy production. The 2050 Strategy further explores new possibilities with the focus on decarbonising the energy system through carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies and early investments into infrastructure, emphasising the efficiency of a European approach compared to a national one.

The EU’s stance towards nuclear energy is neutral, where countries can decide whether or not to use it, with 14 EU countries currently running nuclear facilities. The EU puts an emphasis on nuclear safety and security.

The most important policy regarding this issue is the Energy Security Strategy which has been released in 2014, with its primary aim being ensuring stable energy supply for the EU. As a part of a short-term strategy, energy security tests were run this year in all EU countries, examining the response and the impact of a potential partial or complete gas supply disruption from Russia, concluding that cooperation between EU countries would significantly limit the negative impact. The long-term solutions entail sustainable energy production within the EU (renewables, sustainable production of fossil fuels and possibly nuclear energy where desired) and diversification of supplier countries and routes. Furthermore, it stresses the need for building missing infrastructure links and enhancing emergency and solidarity mechanisms that would strengthen cooperation between countries. It has been concluded that these are essential to respond quickly to supply disruptions, helping re-direct energy across Europe. Lastly, it emphasises the importance of a unified external energy policy of the EU. Perspectives Many proposals have been made regarding the issue of avoiding the transportation of gas through unstable zones (i.e.

Ukraine). One of those projects, the Nord Stream pipeline has been completed in 2012, transporting some of Russia’s gas through northern Europe. Other projects have been planned yet not put into practice quite yet or have been abandoned with uncertain future. The South Stream project that was to transport gas through the Black Sea, Bulgaria and the Balkans has been cancelled by Russia in December 2014 due to obstacles posed by the EU (the Crimean crisis began in March 2014).

The Nabucco pipeline which is to run from Turkey through Bulgaria to Austria is being developed, aiming at diversification of EU’s gas suppliers. These are just some of the possible solutions that are on the table to avoid energy disruptions due to uncertain political situation, mainly in Ukraine, whilst maintaining gas trade relations with Russia, or alternatively seek different suppliers.

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However, what if the EU wanted to go in the direction of alternative domestic energy production instead? If so, how should the EU make sure that the goals for renewable energy set out in long-term strategies are achieved or exceeded? Furthermore, there are disproportionate levels of renewable energy production within the EU and some states have more resources and potential for renewable energy than others. How should the EU make sure that countries that are highly reliant on gas imports catch up with the rest of the Union? Alternatively, how can other sources, such as nuclear energy, come into play, and should they? To summarise, what should the mix of EU energy sources be and how can it be achieved?

Looking at the various EU energy strategies, are they set in the right direction? If yes, how can they be efficiently implemented? If no, how should they be amended? How can cooperation within the EU be facilitated, making sure that the whole of the EU is ‘on the same page’ when it comes to both external and internal energy policy?

Key Words EU energy strategy, EU Energy Security Strategy, European Energy Union, EU Internal Energy Market, 2020/2030/2050 Strategy, renewable resources, fossil fuels, nuclear energy, sustainable energy, natural gas Russia, natural gas pipelines

Statistics Energy production and imports in the EU http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Energy_production_and_imports Europe’s existing and planned pipelines (graphic from 2010 - Nordstream already constructed) http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/RNGS/2010/JUNE/BELARUS.jpg EU imports of Russian gas - through which pipelines and to whom is gas being imported? http://i.bullfax.com/imgs/8195beb415893dce1af9e2773e06ac476dad417d.jpg

Links The energy strategy of the European Union https://ec.europa.eu/energy/en/topics/energy-strategy Energy Security Strategy of the EU https://ec.europa.eu/energy/en/topics/energy-strategy/energy-security-strategy Energy Union Q&A factsheet by the European Commission http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-15-4485_en.htm

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Further links The 2020 Strategy http://ec.europa.eu/clima/policies/strategies/2020/index_en.htm https://ec.europa.eu/energy/en/topics/energy-strategy/2020-energy-strategy The 2030 Strategy https://ec.europa.eu/energy/en/topics/energy-strategy/2030-energy-strategy The 2050 Strategy https://ec.europa.eu/energy/en/topics/energy-strategy/2030-energy-strategy Information on the Nordstream pipeline https://www.nord-stream.com/the-project/pipeline/ Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) - technological innovations in for the future http://ec.europa.eu/clima/policies/lowcarbon/ccs/index_en.htm Russia and the future of European gas supply http://www.ecfr.eu/article/commentary_russias_gas_pipeline_strategy_and_europes_alternatives_3065

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7. Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) Chairpersons: Maria-Alexandra Cezar (RO) & Joel Juntunen (FI) Same-sex marriage will become legal in Finland starting in 2017. The Finnish Parliament approved a bill legalizing samesex unions in November 2014, and Finland’s president, Sauli Niinistö, signed the measure into law in February 2015: given member states’ autonomy in family law, what measures should be taken by the EU to fulfil its non-discrimination commitment with respect to sexual orientation in the Charter of Fundamental Rights?

Executive Summary Article 16 of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states ”men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution.” But is that truly the case in the society nowadays?

There are only 15 countries allowing same-sex couples to marry. There are still countries such as Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, or Cyprus where couples are not allowed to adopt in any way (same sex marriage is constitutionally banned) and where the only legal way LGBT people could adopt is to hide their sexual orientation and present themselves as single parents to the office clerks.

Main Problem It is common knowledge that the LGBTQ community faces harassment and discrimination in areas such as the family law every day, Europe wide, especially in specific Member States, even though the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights states that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is forbidden. Despite EU legislation protecting LGBT persons from discrimination, one in five LGBTQ people had felt discriminated against according to the EU LGBT survey conducted by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) in 2012. The statistic was significantly higher for transgender people.

The differences in the legal status of the LGBTQ people between the Member States causes a multitude of problems for the LGBTQ community. Civil unions and marriages come with a lot of rights and benefits but if a same sex couple decides to practice their freedom of movement it can be problematic given the example that their destination country does not acknowledge their marriage.Furthermore, the FRA report, which covers the entire Union, discovered that an overwhelming 47% of respondents felt discriminated against or harassed due to their sexual orientation or gender identity.

Main Actors, Interests & Conflicts European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) is an EU body which i.a. collects and analyses data on LGBTQ discrimination.

Non-governmental organisations (NGOs), such as ILGA-Europe and its members, are advocating for the interests of the community at the European and national levels.

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European Commission is the executive body of the European Union responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the EU treaties and managing the day-to-day business of the EU. National Governments - governments of every EU Member State is responsible with implementing directives and regulations enforced by the EC, as well as with the functioning of the country.

Conservative and left-wing liberal groups in the societies: all European societies are generally divided in two on the LGBTQA+ rights issues. Usually civil partnerships have the biggest number of supporters, whereas granting adoption rights to same-sex couples traditionally has lower public support.

Countries like Sweden, the Netherlands and Spain, have adopted very favourable legislation on LGBT rights and a vast majority of their societies supports granting rights to LGBT people. Poland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania and Cyprus have traditionally conservative societies generally opposed to the idea of same-sex marriage and joint adoption of children by samesex couples. This conflict is the source to many problems such as the one concerning the legal status of non-heterosexual couples and their children when travelling.

Current Legislation & Policies Officially LGBTQ rights are protected in the EU. At this moment same-sex sexual activity is legal in all 28 Member States.

This is the only thing where all Member States agree upon. Only 19 out of the 28 Member States recognize same-sex unions, same-sex marriage is only legal in 12 of the 28 Member States.

Adoption for same-sex couples has to be divided into two categories: joint adoption is legal in 13 out of 28 Member States and step-child adoption is legal in 16 out of the 28 Member States. LGB peopleare allowed to serve openly in the military in 27 out of 28 EU Member States with Cyprus being the only exception. In order to get membership to the EU a country requires a state to ban anti-gay discrimination in employment only, therefore every new EU Member State makes an effort to do so. Lastly, the identity or expression concerning gender is legal by law in all Member States.

The US Supreme Court’s decision to legalise same-sex marriage in all States left a great impact worldwide, and it represents a step forward towards equality each country should follow.

Perspectives LGBTQ rights have been supported throughout history by the social movements of the LGBTQ community which advocates for the equalized acceptance of gay people in society. Supportive organizations are active worldwide even though there is no umbrella organization that represents all LGBTQ people and their interests.

The biblical idea that all sexual relationships should be only with people of the opposite-sex and that children should only be reared in homes with both a father and a mother is the cause of the religious conflict. This furthermore creates difficulties when it comes to adoption and marriage in many countries.

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Key Words LGBTQ Community, registered partnership, pan-European strategy, legal certainty, equality Definitions Marriage: Legally or formally recognized union of two persons in a relationship as partners. Often ratified by a religious organisation.

Civil union: A civil union is a legal union that grants two persons relationship recognition by the state and some rights and benefits, it is similar to marriage but doesn’t grant the same rights. Civil union is not recognized in all EU Member States and the benefits granted vary between member states.

Redefined marriage: Term used by anti same-sex marriage activist groups for same-sex marriage.

Transgender: A term depicting people who experience a mismatch between their gender identity or gender expression and their assigned sex.

Hate speech: Speech that attacks, threatens, or insults a person or group on the basis of national origin, disability,sexual orientation, ethnicity, skin color, religion, gender or gender identity.

Links European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights’ (FRA) European Union lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender survey http://fra.europa.eu/en/publication/2013/eu-lgbt-survey-european-union-lesbian-gay-bisexual-and-transgender-survey-results European Commission proposal Property effects of marriage and registered partnership http://ec.europa.eu/justice/civil/family-matters/marriage/index_en.htm Council of Europe Combating discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/lgbt/default_EN.asp Marko Karadzic LGBT Rights and Conflict Transformation: Views from a Former Serbian State Secretary http://www.beyondintractability.org/reflection/karadzic-lgbt From a different perspective. Family Research Council Ten Arguments From Social Science Against Same-Sex Marriage http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=if04g01

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Further links Futurelab Europe The illusion of the EU’s commitment to LGBT rights http://www.futurelabeurope.eu/blog/the-illusion-of-the-eus-commitment-to-lgbt-rights/ European Court of Human Rights Sexual orientation issues http://www.echr.coe.int/Documents/FS_Sexual_orientation_ENG.pdf Slate.com European Court: Same-Sex Couples Have a Right to Legal Recognition http://www.slate.com/blogs/outward/2015/07/21/the_european_court_of_human_rights_says_same_sex_couples_ have_a_right_to.html European Dignity Watch website http://europeandignitywatch.org/day-to-day/read-excerpts.html ILGA-Europe Situation of LGBTI people in Europe http://www.ilga-europe.org/sites/default/files/Attachments/side_a_rainbow_eu- rope_map_2015_a3_no_crops.pdf Website of Stonewall - a LGBT rights charity in the United Kingdom http://www.stonewall.org.uk/ About COC Netherlands - founded in 1946, it is the oldest LGBT organisation in the world. http://www.coc.nl/engels UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/

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8. Committee on Security and Defence (SEDE) Chairpersons: Aino Röyskö (FI) & Tom Wolfskämpf (DE) Beyond cloud nine: with 64 % of organisations in the EU using cloud services in 2012 and the demand for public and private cloud services expected to increase, how should the EU adequately support these services and safeguard the data therein from potential digital threats, while remaining globally competitive?

Executive Summary With the amount of people connected to the internet rising, the amount of data stored online is on the rise too. Data is not only the resource of the information age, but also a liability when it leaks. In many cases such leaks could have been prevented with better security measures in place or increased awareness of the risks associated with online data storage. If nothing changes, data leaks will become more and more common, putting everyone’s right to privacy at risk.

Main Problem Cloud computing provides many advantages for organisations - it is cost-effective, time-saving and it increases productivity, no wonder popularity of cloud services is increasing rapidly. However, there are also numerous risks that are closely related to the use of cloud services. The two main issues lie in the security and the privacy aspects of cloud computing; loss of control over data and dependence on the cloud computing provider.

Moreover, many cloud computing providers also store their users’ data outside of the EU’s jurisdiction in countries where data protection laws are less strict and do not fulfil EU’s minimum data protection standards.

Cloud computing has the possibility to contribute billions of euros to the EU’s GDP by 2020, but numerous legislative barriers still exist, making investment into European companies less attractive and technological growth more difficult in the EU, which makes these companies less competitive on the global market. However, the more regulated the industry get, the safer is the data stored on cloud computing providers’ services.

Main Actors, Interests & Conflicts The European Commission and especially its Commissioner for Communications Networks, Content and Technology Günther H. Oettinger are responsible for leading the EU to a future of safe digital communication. Together, they can work on legislation which provides an ideal legal frame for safe online data storage.

The European Union Agency for Network and Information Security (ENISA) is responsible for improving digital security cooperation between member states and advises them and the European Commission on information security issues.

ENISA’s staff members work on analysing risks and creating guidelines.

Private firms offering cloud services such as Google, Dropbox, Apple, Microsoft and Amazon build the foundation of today’s online data storage trend. Amazon is mostly known for online shopping, however it is also involved in the much bigger business of data storage. Amazon’s AWS is used throughout the web to host customer and website data, specia-

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lising on large file sizes. This leaves a lot of user data in central storage, making it a very valuable target for attackers.

Apple does not only sell computers and smart devices, but is also in the business of data storage. Just recently, Apple’s iCloud was attacked, leaking a large amount of sensitive data to the public. Microsoft now provides a variety of online services, such as Office 356 or OneDrive. New versions of Windows (e.g. Windows 10) now also store some of the user’s data online while not making this clear enough for all consumers. With businesses and organizations using these services, the amount of sensitive data stored online is on the rise.

Generally, it is in every EU citizen’s interest to keep their private data truly private. One may decide which services to use, forcing companies not to be too demanding about what rights they claim on the data one entrusts them with and to constantly improve their security, as it could impact the size of their user base. This conflicts with corporate interests in terms of desiring relaxed rules for data storage security, as more security costs more money.

Security Enthusiasts look at software and online services, aiming to find problems with their security measures. If they abide by the law while doing so and are usually requested to perform the hacking by the company itself, they are called white-hat-hackers. Instead of abusing the vulnerabilities, they contact the software or service provider and try to make them fix the problem. If the company does not fix their security problem in a given time, grey-hat-hackers would normally publish an article detailing the vulnerability and how it can be exploited, forcing the company to react immediately as the vulnerability is now public, or possibly offer to repair it for a small fee or simply ignore it. Their work helps companies, organisations and consumers, but if companies do not act on time data can be leaked. They are often not affiliated with any specific company or organisation themselves, instead they usually see what they do as a hobby. If they do work for a specific company, they can be called pentesters or auditors.

Hackers with malicious intent, also known as black-hat-hackers, are also security enthusiasts, but they use the vulnerabilities they find for profit instead. It is important to distinguish between black-hat-hackers and white-hat-hackers.

Instead of contacting companies, aiming to fix security problems, black-hat-hackers sell the vulnerability as a so called zero day exploit on black markets. Some of them also cause problems for their personal entertainment or send political messages by hacking highly frequented websites. Given real job opportunities, black-hat-hackers can be lured away from illegal business and enjoy a legitimate income as a pentester or an auditor, essentially by turning into a white-hat-hacker.

Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) also play their role in this issue. For example, the US-based Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) with a branch in Brussels is fighting for digital fundamental rights, such as freedom of speech, privacy rights, freedom of innovation and consumer rights. It mainly works in courts, aiming to win important cases in these areas.

Current Legislation & Policies The European Cloud Computing Strategy is a strategy adopted by the European Commission in 2012, aiming at increasing and speeding up the use of cloud computing across economic sections. The strategy includes three main actions: •

creating safe and fair contract terms and conditions;

•

“cutting through the jungle of standards”;

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establishing a European Cloud Partnership.

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European Cloud Partnership (ECP) brings together industry and the public sector to work on common procurement requirements for cloud computing in an open and fully transparent way and to create a single digital market for cloud computing The European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS), currently Giovanni Buttarelli, is an independent controlling instance of the European Union. His main goals are ensuring that privacy and data protection standards are being respected.

The International Safe Harbor Privacy Principles are a decision made by the European Commission, allowing companies which adhere to certain data protection standards to share their user’s data outside of the EU, especially with companies in the US and Switzerland. It has been recently called “invalid” by the advisor of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) . If this is also ruled by the ECJ, there would be no legal grounds for the transfer of customer data between the EU and the US anymore. Usually, the court rules the way it was recommended to by the advisor. National legislation could also overrule a decision of the ECJ in case it verdicts the “Safe Harbor Principle” to be valid.

Perspectives Personal encryption is accessible and free of charge for anyone who would like to encrypt his or her data. The difference between personal encryption and using encrypted solutions provided for the user by companies is that the user encrypts the data even before it is sent to any company’s server. But even with these solutions being freely accessible in terms of cost, personal encryption is usually not very accessible when it comes to the ease of use. This is especially problematic for those who are not as technologically competent as they would like to be. Cloud storage providers could offer encryption solutions that offer such functions in an easy and an accessible way. How can the EU help make personal encryption more accessible for everyone so that data is protected not only by the companies that store data online, but also by those whom the data belongs to?

Creating your own personal cloud has been a possibility since the very beginning of the internet. Hosting your own data offers complete control over how the data is used and who can see it. Given that a personal cloud is set up correctly, it should be impossible for third parties to access data stored in it. However, doing this correctly requires a lot of effort and knowledge at the moment. Free and open source software (FOSS) is available already to bring personal clouds closer to the average consumer, but as FOSS does normally not have a paid team of developers, the development process is not as fast as it could be. Being adequately funded, projects such as OwnCloud could become much more user friendly and accessible even to inexperienced users seeking to better protect their data by storing it on hard drives in their own homes instead of in data centres. How can the EU help FOSS speed up their development processes and make personal clouds accessible for everyone?

Data is often treated as a valuable resource, but it is even more so a liability. If the increasing trend of data stored online could be slowed down, the outcome of data leaks would be subsequently less dramatic. In its essence those storing data online - EU citizens and organisations - are the ones who can help most with slowing down that process. How can the EU ensure that less critically private data and thus less liability is put in the hands of online storage providers?

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Key Words cloud computing, big data, data centres, encryption, backdoors, International Safe Harbor Privacy Principles, source code, free and open source software (FOSS), free software foundation, European Cloud Computing Strategy, European Cloud Partnership Definitions • Online storage providers are companies providing the means to store data on the internet. Services popular amongst consumers are e.g. Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox and Apple’s iCloud.

• Auditing is the process of completely checking a software’s or service’s security. Often auditors are hired by companies to check their software, but it is also possible for anyone to audit free and open source software, as the source code is available for everyone to read.

• Backdoors are intentional security problems almost exclusively found in proprietary software. They are often demanded by governments and are mostly used to extract data from servers. Law enforcement then uses this data for their purposes, but as mass surveillance becomes more and more apparent, the legitimacy of backdoors is questioned more and more, as they put security over freedom and are easily abused.

• Zero day exploits are software security problems which are already being abused without a software patch ready from the software manufacturer. They are often sold on black markets and can lead to immense and continuous data leaks.

Fighting zero day exploits is crucially important.

Statistics •

19 % of EU enterprises used cloud computing in 2014, mostly for hosting their e-mail systems and storing files in the electronic form. The percentage varies vastly country by country, Finland having the highest percentage of 51%.

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Four out of ten enterprises (39%) using the cloud reported the risk of a security breach as the main limiting factor in the use of cloud computing services.

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In 2014, 21 % of the EU population aged 16-74 reported having used internet storage space to save documents, pictures, music, videos or other files.

Statistics on the use of cloud computing by enterprises: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Cloud_computing_-_statistics_on_the_use_by_enterprises Statistics on the internet and cloud services use by individuals: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Internet_and_cloud_services_-_statistics_on_the_use_by_ individuals

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Links The Commission’s decision on the Safe Harbour Principle: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2000:215:0007:0047:EN:PDF The list of companies which are a part of the Safe Harbour: https://safeharbor.export.gov/list.aspx Article on the current validity of the Safe Harbour decision: http://www.dw.com/en/data-sharing-deal-between-eu-and-us-invalid-ecj-advisor-says/a-18735385 European Commission’s website about cloud computing: http://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/en/cloud European Commission on the European Cloud Partnership: https://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/en/european-cloud-partnership Website of a DIY solution for personal cloud storage: https://owncloud.org/ Article on Windows 10 and its online data privacy concerns: http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2015/08/even-when-told-not-to-windows-10-just-cant-stop-talking-tomicrosoft/ Article on iCloud hacking incident in 2014: http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/sep/01/naked-celebrity-hack-icloud-backup-jennifer-lawrence Electronic Frontier Foundation’s Annual Report 2009-2010: https://www.eff.org/files/eff-2009-2010-annual-report.pdf

Partners of Kauniainen 2015 the Regional Session of EYP Finland

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