Academic Aid Lux2016

ACADEMIC AID Everything you need to know about the Committee Topics ... ... and more

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“Proper Preparation Prevents Poor Performance�

During the past few days you have analysed the problems of your topic and come up with solutions how to tackle these issues. In order to prepare for the General Assembly (GA) and fully grasp all the other topics as well, here is the Academic Aid! This booklet consists of general pointers for GA and digs into specifics how our last day at the session will work. Additionally you can find a short overview of all the topics, which will help you to get a general overview.

Good luck and we wish you fruitful debates!

General Rules

1.) How to Succeed in GA What is GA?

General Assembly (GA) is the final part of any session, and where you will come together to present your resolutions to the other delegates. This is your chance to share your views and make your voice heard!

How will it work?

General Assembly is divided into several stages. Firstly, the board of the Session will introduce your topic to the assembly. They will then invite a member of the proposing committee to read out the resolution’s operative clauses. Next, another member will be asked to deliver a 3 minute defence speech. Following this, Committees will bid for attack speeches. This will be delivered from the podium and should last for 3 minutes. The proposing committee will then have 1 minute to respond to the attack speech. We will then move into General Debate. The board will select committees who have their placards raised to deliver points in turn. At regular intervals, the board will return to the proposing committee and ask them to respond to the points made. The debate will end with a summation speech from the proposing committee. They will respond to the general points of debate, and then make a final speech to present their resolution. Committees will then vote on whether they feel the resolution should pass.

Placards Direct Response - This is to be used when you wish to directly respond to points made in GA. You may use this twice per debate.

Point of Privilege - This is to be used when you are unable to hear the point made by another delegate.

Point of Order - This is to be used when the board makes a procedural error.

How Can I Make A Good Point?

Be confident and clear when making your points - speak to your audience, your fellow delegates - not the board or your committee. Try to be inventive, and limit the amount you read from notes.

This is the most important part!

Make sure to keep the points you make are short and concise - no longer than 30 seconds. You should only address one issue, or concept in each point you make - stay with one general theme per point.

Try not to be critical, but instead to be constructive.. Instead of saying that you disagree with something, you don’t think it is the correct method, or you have further questions, instead look to give reasons why.

Look to be constructive - rather than criticising something, look for ways to improve it and suggest these to the committee. Remember to make points regarding OCs, not ICs! How Can I Prepare?

Make sure you take the time to read each resolution. It could be useful to prepare a short summary of each resolution for yourself, so you are able to contribute to each debate.

You could prepare some points for each debate, but remember to also be actively involved - and only use points when it’s relevant to what is being discussed currently, to help the flow.

For those writing speeches - make sure to practice with your committee beforehand and time yourself.

For those writing attack speeches - even if you are unsuccessful, make sure to break the speech down into points to use it for general debate.

2.) How to make a great speech #

ADDRESS THE CORRECT PEOPLE!

Make sure you are presenting your speech to the right people. Dear Mr./Miss President/Vice-President (take note of who is chairing the debate!). Also make sure to address your fellow delegates; they’re who you’re debating with after all!

Similarly, when you are addressing the proposing committee - make sure you are facing them so they can hear everything you have said. #

Be charismatic

Make sure you are presenting your speech to the right people. Dear Mr./Miss President/Vice-President (take note of who is chairing the debate!). Also make sure to address your fellow delegates; they’re who you’re debating with after all!

Similarly, when you’re addressing the proposing committee - make sure you’re facing them so they can hear everything you’ve said.

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TALK ABOUT CONCEPTS AND THEMES - NOT ONLY EACH CLAUSE

Try to avoid going through a resolution clause by clause when delivering your speech. Focus on general points, themes, and concepts. Tie it all together, and present strong reasoning for why you think the way you do. #

USE KEY FACTS & FIGURES

Make sure to give your speech some academic depth by using facts and figures to highlight your key points, and give reasoning why your solutions are the best way to solve these problems. #

FOCUS ON THE WHY

The operative clauses of your resolution cover who you want to act, what you want them to do, how you want them to do it, and when you want them to do it by.

The speech should cover the why - why you think this solution is the best, or why you feel this resolution is inadequate for it’s problems if you’re attacking. #

Be on Time!

Make your speech 3 minutes! The board has to keep everything on time - we want to hear everything you have to say, and don’t want to cut you off midway through, so make sure that you

Table of Contents AFCO 5 AFET 6 DROI 7 ECON 8 FEMM 9 JURI 10 SEDE 11

AFCO

by Nicolas Hoffmann (LU)

Is the European Union representing the opinions of the people?

The European Union is continuously subjected to allegations of a democratic deficit within its structure, debates concerning the legitimacy of the Union have become prevalent ones within mainstream politics. Why is this the case?

One of the main issues is the legislative power. A lot of the legislative power has been transferred from national governments to the European Institutions. Member States give up parts of their sovereignty, in an effort to find solutions on the European level, which should make cooperation easier. However, this system makes it hard to create laws that adapt to different situations of the different countries as much as national laws could since a compromise between 28 partners has to be found.

Emergency situations require fast reactions. The problem is that emergency legislations do not go through the normal legislative process. This gives the national parliaments no time to amend the new legislation and so European Institutions can decide without the consent of the national parliaments.

Another much debated aspect of this topic is the structure of the ordinary legislative procedure, where the European Commission has the executive legislative initiative power. The problem lies in the fact that the Commission is not a democratically elected body, but appointed by Member States without the consent of its citizens. Additionally, the dropping voter participation is often seen as a sign that the connection between the European Union and its citizens is fading because voters do not feel able to influence European politics.

In the end the European Union has to find ways to involve their citizens in the political process and make sure that the decisions they take represent the opinions of the people.

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AFET

by Liza Skorobreshchuk (UA)

A cube of problems How to make the biggest world leaders find a compromise while satisfying each actor’s interest?

The political tension continues for years and even got stronger in 2014 after the Crimean annexation and Russian invasion in Ukraine. The Member States took different priorities due to their closeness to the Russian border. While one is worried about the security and military invasion, others are positive towards Russia as to a powerful trade partner. As a result of the conflict of interest, the economic sanctions by the EU were implemented towards Russian Federation. Certain trade with the EU was stopped by Russia too.

Although Russia stays strong from outside, the economic crisis hit hard. This means it will either have to work with Asian partners such as China or find a compromise with the EU. So far it is seen that sanctions do not solve Crimea Crisis or the conflict in Eastern Ukraine and Russia is still having an aim to keep the lead. Moreover, the tensions are further increasing by some Eastern European countries which feel menaced by the Russian Constitution’s law #62 which says that a Russian citizen has the right for defence from its country even if he/she lives at the territory of another country. Although this contradicts international law, any organisation as United Nations or others cannot interfere into Russia’s national legislation. When one may see the problem in Russian embargo towards the EU, others benefit from it. The export level all over the EU increased, regardless that impact level was reduced in some specific sectors in such countries as Lithuania, Finland, or Greece.

Both EU and Russia are the main actors in the world politics and trade arena, which makes this topic very current and highly important. As the EU may mostly use diplomacy in a conflict situation, the diplomatic relation with Russia should be re-established in order to avoid future conflicts and economic instability.

DROI

by Elise Buis (FR)

Mind blowing Mental Health is identified as one of the main challenges the European region is facing, when it comes to public health.

In 2015, 38% of the European population was declared mentally ill and only one person out of three were getting proper treatments. In order to improve the status of mental health in Europe, the European Union (EU) decided to implement a range of pacts such as the European Pact for Mental Health and Well-being in 2008, and the Mental Health Pact in 2009 in order to ameliorate the living conditions of mentally ill people in Europe.

Factors such as the economic crisis or ageing of the population tend to increase the percentage of mental illness. Those factors are contributors to stress and put pressure on people’s lives, which may lead to a higher rate of depression. It is also really important to acknowledge that mental illness is the main reason for suicide. It has been reported that 90% of suicides in the EU are due to mental illness.

For this reason, the EU proposed different a variety of resolutions in order to reduce the rate of mentally ill people. These ideas are based on awareness campaigns, education, and employment. Moreover, their main aim is to reduce the risk factors such as excessive drinking, drug abuse, and social exclusion. ÂŤ Every 9 minutes a citizen dies as a consequence of suicide in the EU Âť These ideas are nonetheless raising some questions. How can we implement solutions without compromising the safety and well-being of each and every European? This topic has become a burning issue within the EU those past few years.

The most important thing you should remember during the debate is that the right for health care is a fundamental right. We wish you the best of luck in the understanding of this topic and make the best of it.

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ECON

by Edvin Pohto (FI)

Economic difficulties and hard choices According to the Global Competitiveness Index, Europe is trailing behind when it comes to overall global competitiveness, and disparities between-, and within-, Member States further complicate the situation.

In the year 2008 the world experienced a gargantuan setback in the form of an economic crisis. For years countries and economies have been struggling to get back on their feet, some with better success than others. Socioeconomic inequality is in no way a new problem for the European Union (EU), but in the wake of this crisis the issue has grown greater than ever. The Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) focuses on finding solutions which the EU could adopt in order to promote competitive economic growth and sustainable development in poorer regions, whilst at the same time, not compromising social progress.

The most apparent consequences of a recession are the downfall of Member States’ Gross Domestic Product and employment rates. Additionally, the declining average incomes, increased inequality and higher government borrowing are some of the negative effects of a recession. In order to conquer these issues countries use different types of monetary and fiscal policies. Monetary policies aim at controlling the supply of money and are carried out by the European Central Bank. Fiscal policies include controlling taxes and public expenditure in order to reduce or promote aggregate demand and economic activity.

Generally the widening of the socio-economic gap is highly related to economic downturns. Within the EU there is a huge difference between Member States with some countries being more susceptible to the issue than others. A very common way for a country to try to deal with recessions is by enacting austerity policies. Unfortunately this has negative short term effects especially on people who come from low economic backgrounds, therefore widening the wealth gap even more. These are all issues that the EU tries to confront on a daily basis, but has not yet managed to solve. All this proves the difficulty of the topic, but also how important it is to find a solution.

FEMM

by Kryštof Stupka (CZ)

FEMMinism and ways to cope with it A brief introduction to the topic of FEMM and the issues they need to tackle Over the past decade, the importance of the word “feminism” has been frequently questioned. People nowadays often argue against it, saying that in the past it has been more important than today because we have almost no gender-based discrimination anymore, and that the new word should be equalism, not feminism. Whilst the first part of the argument is correct, the second is not even close the reality, so let us look at the issue in detail.

The word feminism has been defined as “the advocacy of women’s rights on the ground of the equality of the sexes”. Looking at the history of the movement itself, we can see that in the past feminists were focused on social and legal inequalities, such as women’s suffrage, cultural disparities, gender norms, and the role of women in society. Even though the European Union and its Member States have incredibly progressed on the matter, there is still a lot to be done.

The European Commission is currently addressing this issue, as it has identified five top priorities for the Member States’ strategic engagement in the process of achieving gender equality. The priorities are: equality in decision-making, dignity, integrity, and ending gender based violence, and promoting gender equality beyond the EU. The biggest disparities between men and people of another gender are in the labour market, for example, gender employment gap in the EU has reportedly not improved. The highest gender employment gap is currently in Malta, where 75% of men are employed, yet only 50% of women have a job. Another colossal problem is the representation of women on boards of large enterprises, in parliaments, and top positions in media.

The major question for the FEMM committee is to decide whether or not should the EU interfere more to achieve gender parity, and if yes then how.

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JURI

by Elina Stavidrou (GR)

A quick look at the current refugee crisis The topic of the Committee on Legal Affairs revolves around the issue of refugees, its repercussions on the Member States and the ways the situation could be improved in a legal framework.

History of the topic Recent developments near the borders of the European Union (EU) have led to a massive influx of refugees, most of them coming from war-torn Syria. A big portion of asylum seekers pass through Turkey to get into EU Member States via countries like Greece or Italy. However, inadequate registration and identification of them poses a dire threat on EU security, as it makes it difficult to keep track of who is crossing the border. As a result of this, key values of the EU, such as the free movement of people are being reconsidered. At the same time, extreme pressure is being put on entry countries, which are responsible for the processing of all asylum claims (Dublin III), by this situation in conjunction with the economic crisis. Refugees that enter Greece often stay in questionable living conditions several weeks or more, until their asylum claims are processed.

Importance This topic examines how the EU will be able to adapt its policies to current events, whilst also taking into account the stances and interests of all its Member States. Furthermore, it questions whether it can adhere to its core values at times when basic human rights are at stake. Reviving European ideals, such as equality and solidarity, is especially crucial when such intense discussions take place within the EU. Questions it raises What changes should be made to the current policies in order to accommodate asylum seekers?

How could illegal immigrants be prevented from entering the EU? How could the situation in entry countries be ameliorated?

What role could hotspots play in the solution of the problem?

Last, but not least, how can we ensure that the human rights of refugees will be protected in the process?

SEDE

by Eric De Oliveira (LU)

State of emergency After the recent attacks in Paris and Brussels European security policy has to reshape, but should we emphasise on more security or maintain freedom – that is what Committee on Security and Defence has to decide.

Recent terror attacks have lead to growing concern over security. Many voices call for increase in security measures and more power for law enforcement agencies. However, non-governmental organisations and the Council of Europe have long warned that increased security would restrict the civil liberties of the general population.

The state of emergency in France has confirmed those fears, some of the fundamental rights granted by the French constitution have been suspended. For example, police can now raid homes without warrants from a judge. The state of emergency also allows police to detain individuals up to 120 hours, it lets the government to impose curfews and shut down public places like museums, parks and markets.

The State of emergency is based on the exceptional powers of the president granted by article 36 of the French constitution and had no formal constitutional support. After the Paris attacks the Valls government proposed a constitutional amendment, formally establishing the state of emergency. Now the government can, together with the parliament, simply proclaim the state of emergency when they think it is necessary.

Furthermore, recent statistics have shown that the actions taken by law enforcement officers, disproportionally affect minorities, especially Arab Muslims. A trend that will not help to better integrate them nor combat extremism. Thus SEDE is facing many different angles of this problem and has to take a concrete stance how to tackle these issues.

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