Category: Politics

This category deals with all contributions related to a broad definition of politics. May it be policies of the European Union or European states, cooperation between national governments, Europe’s foreign policy or the policies of other global actors: whenever a political decision maker or decision making body stands at the center of the issue, you will find it in all likelihood in this category.

How can we “youth up” European policy making?

Posted on by Johanna Nyman
"Youth up” European policy making! (Flickr: Pete<a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/" target="_blank">CC BY 2.0</a>)
“Youth up” European policy making! (Flickr: Pete/licensed under CC BY 2.0)

The EU has done a lot for young people: we can move freely (well, quite freely!) to live, work and study in the country of our choice, we are the most mobile generation than any that came before us. Yes, times are tough for us: youth unemployment within the EU is still staggeringly high and this needs to be tackled, but there are some mechanisms in place for this such as the Youth Guarantee, which we at the European Youth Forum fought for sometime. Things can and should though be improved for young people in Europe. That is why it is so vital that young people speak up and have their voices heard!

“By not voting young people are counting themselves out of having a say in the issues that affect them”

But only 27.8% of young people voted in that the last European elections. By not voting young people are counting themselves out of having a say in the issues that affect them and, even worse, by not making our point of view clear, politicians do not target us and therefore do not make policies to help win our vote. It is a vicious circle! That is why, in 2013, a year ahead on the European elections, we launched the League of Young Voters in Europe. The aim was both to encourage young people to vote – to explain why it is important for them to do so and to help them to navigate the rather complicated landscape of EU politics with easy to use online tools. The aim was also to raise up their concerns to those in power. Leagues were set up in pretty much all EU member states by the Youth Forum’s member organisations and many of these have gone from strength to strength: the British Youth Council, for example, had a very vocal and high profile campaign in the run up to the UK general elections this month. And the number of young people that cast their ballot in the British elections stood at 58%, significantly up from the election before (44% in 2010).

“We would like to see civic education about democracy and voting to be compulsory as part of young people’s education”

Beyond encouraging and educating young people about voting, we also want the voting age to be lowered across Europe to allow 16 and 17 year olds to vote. We feel that by empowering young people earlier on and granting them the democratic right to vote, they would become more engaged and excited about the whole process and would continue to vote as they grow older. There have been some recent examples which show that by giving young people this power, they take it seriously and turn out at the ballot box in very large numbers! In the Scottish referendum, for example, 16 and 17 year-olds came out in force to make sure that their view was taken into account. This shows that if an issue is important enough, if it matters to young people, then they do vote. This must not, though, happen in a vacuum and we would like to see civic education about democracy and voting to be compulsory as part of young people’s education.

What is very clear from our work in encouraging youth participation is that young people are indeed interested in politics and in the decisions that affect them, but that many of them are engaging in non-traditional forms or outside of the current system. If the traditional media are not keen to hear the youth voice, then young people are turning to social media where they are running viral campaigns to get the word out there about the issues that matter to them! If the system does not take them into account then young people are taking action outside of the system!

That is why this year, the European Youth Forum is launching YouthUP, an open-source campaign aiming to empower and bring together all initiatives for better youth political participation across Europe. We will be looking for young people, partners and activists to build together resources and campaigns to help young people join democracy and political life in the way that they should be able to. This will become a resource for all young people in Europe to use and build on and with which the Youth Forum can help their voice be heard! To become part of this movement, sign up on the website.

 

About the author:
EYF Board and Secretariat, Brussels. Copyrights www.michaelchia.eu 2014
Johanna Nyman, EYF Board and Secretariat, Brussels. Copyrights www.michaelchia.eu 2014

Johanna Nyman (25) is the President of the European Youth Forum. Johanna lives in Helsinki where she studies environmental change and politics at Helsinki University.

Johanna has a long background in youth organizations. She joined the scouts at the age of twelve and held various positions within the Scouts and Guides of Finland. She was an activist in the school student movement, and acted as Vice-Chair of the Swedish-Speaking School Student Union of Finland. In 2013-2014 she was a board member of the YFJ.

The Referendum

Posted on by Tomás Algarvio de Abreu Rocha
An empty conference room, Spotlight Europe
What would happen if Germany were to leave the EU? (Flickr: blu-news.org/licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0)

On 3 March 2030 a referendum will be held in Germany on its permanence in or exit from the European Union. As in the UK, where the “no” narrowly won in 2017, the German people will determine its own future directly, since the referendum’s result will be binding.

This referendum was proposed by “Alternative für Deutschland (AfD)”, the Eurosceptic party, which steadily continued to grow since its creation in 2013. If the AfD’s Euroscepticism was initially a soft one, the party gradually became more hardline as regards the EU.

After winning seven seats at the 2014 European Parliament elections, the AfD’s members elected Bernd Lucke as sole leader (as opposed to three beforehand) at the end of 2015. In 2017 the party entered the Bundestag for the first time with 9% of the vote. In 2021 it became the 2nd largest party behind the SPD, which gained an absolute majority. In 2025 the AfD formed a coalition government with the CDU/CSU (it fell 23 seats short of the total required for a majority). In 2029 it was finally able to govern alone.

How was this growth in popularity possible? The main reason was that the German voters became fed up with having to pay for successive bailouts of other Eurozone members. They can no longer tolerate that countries such as Portugal and Spain profit from their strong economy. Germany is also tired of being a net contributor to the EU budget.

More and more German citizens thus turned to the Eurosceptic party, which satisfied its expectations. This constant electoral progress can also be explained by the fact that German voters lost confidence in the CDU/CSU and in the SPD. These parties were not seen as proposing concrete measures or reforms.

When Greece exited the Eurozone at the end of 2015, people realized that Germany had lost a great amount of money. From 2016 to 2027 the standard of living fell because Germany had to prop up amongst others the French and Italian economies, which were threatening to crumble.

The arrival of new Member Sates (Albania, Montenegro and Serbia) meant that Germany’s economy and finances had to assume an even greater burden as Europe’s powerhouse. This was further aggravated by Germany having to take the main responsibility in assisting the recovery of the Ukrainian economy.

Originally the AfD’s goal was not exiting the EU. Under the leadership of Bernd Lucke the main objective was to have greater autonomy for Germany whilst remaining in the Union. However in 2023 Bernd Lucke had to resign for health reasons and Frauke Petry took over. Her positions were more radical. She came up with the idea of a referendum on the EU and managed to force a constitutional amendment legally allowing the holding of referenda in Germany.

Given the high number of undecided voters the result is too close to call. The no supporters recall the 2nd world war and point out that Germany’s contribution to the EU budget has already decreased considerably. They also note that many businesses and jobs depend on being in the EU and that Germany has a bigger influence in world affairs as part of that union. The yes proponents respond that world war two started almost a century ago and that Germany’s debt to history has already been paid. They further claim that the living standard is still too low and Germany needs to use its money as it sees fit in order to address its own internal problems.

What would be the consequences for the EU should the “yes” win? Without its main economy the EU would be in grave danger of disintegrating. Eurosceptic parties would have finally achieved their objective. This would mean an economic invasion of some weak countries by China. In the worst scenario, Russia, having already annexed the Crimea and the Donbass area, could be tempted to try to further enlarge its territory.

To conclude, if a disastrous situation is to be avoided, countries which are net beneficiaries in the EU should adopt a more responsible behavior but the richest countries should not abandon solidarity towards the others completely. A system where a more productive minority carries the whole group is ultimately destined to fail.

About the author:
Tomas Rocha, Spotlight Europe
Tomas – Author at Spotlight Europe

Tomas (17) participated at our “My Europe” workshop in Brussels in February 2015. He is a student at Collège Saint-Michel.

On Net Neutrality in the European Union

Posted on by Seán Lynch
Save the internet, Spotlight Europe
Is net neutrality currently at stake? (Flickr: Stephen Melkisethian/licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

To anyone with an interest in modern technology or international relations, the issue of Net Neutrality shouldn’t be completely unheard of; to the general public though, it might sound unusual. In essence, Net Neutrality refers to our ability to freely browse and communicate over the Internet without interference from Internet service providers (ISPs), governments, law enforcement bodies or businesses and corporations.

“preferential activities are now illegal”

To preface the situation here in the EU, it’s interesting to know that in May 2014, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the US proposed a bill that would have let ISPs such as Comcast and Verizon create specialized “traffic lanes” for faster access to sites and services (e.g. YouTube, Spotify etc.) on a paid basis, ultimately discriminating against smaller/lesser content providers. Earlier this year, after a strong online backlash, the FCC ruled to reclassify the Internet as a public utility, meaning that preferential activities are now illegal. This is just a simple outline of what has been happening in the US and most European spectators seemed to just shrug it all off as something that would never affect them – until now. Back in March 2014, the European Parliament passed a set of reformative rules protecting Net Neutrality in all 28 member states, preventing ISPs and mobile carriers from blocking and/or slowing down any services.

“some countries called for the prioritisation of ‘special services’ “

However, in a recent turn of events, some countries have called for the prioritisation of what they call “special services”, although they have yet to be specified. European Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society Günther H. Oettinger has stated that he recognizes the need for such services but details are lacking. Mr. Oettinger gave a speech at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona at the beginning of March, addressing the move towards 5G mobile network standards, which will usurp current 4G speeds. As progressive and appealing as that sounds, executives from Deutsch Telecom and Vodafone also made an appearance at the event, speaking publicly in favour of rules that would enable them to give priority to “essential services” that require “high quality Internet” such as healthcare etc. The Latvian presidency of the European Council has already expressed a desire for a two-tier speed system, but again, has not defined exactly what this means and how it would impact the average consumer.

“The danger is where exactly regulators will draw the line.”

The danger here is where exactly regulators will draw the line. Given the current circumstances, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to think that companies like Vodafone would abuse such regulations, using the most recent proposals as an opening into a situation where they would be able to dictate what sites and services are and are not available, or the speeds at which some can be accessed over others. This would be completely unfair and counter to what the Internet stands for as a whole – that is, the users have the power.

Fortunately, such proposals have not gone unchallenged. Over 100 MEPs signed a letter to the Telecoms Council (dated March 4th 2015), requesting “clear definitions” in regards prioritised services, aiming to “ensure consumers are protected…on the open Internet”. The letter also referred to the 3 year delay in the abolition of data roaming charges by the Council as lacking in “ambition”.

Without a doubt, the most compelling aspect of the Net Neutrality debacle in America was the enormous response from the majority of people opposed to paid-prioritisation. This ranged from protests and public demonstrations to over 1 million comments on the FCC’s website, all arguing against the proposals. The state of Net Neutrality in Europe seems stable at the moment, but if the tide turns – and I personally think it will – the people must make their voices heard for the greater good of the Internet.

About the author:
Seán Lynch, Spotlight Europe
Seán – Author at Spotlight Europe

Seán participated in the “My Europe” workshop in Dublin in October 2014. Probably he can tell you a lot about how discussions are being held in the European Parliament and the European Council.

A Strong Europe Is Needed Now

Posted on by Manfred Pohl
Prof. Manfred Pohl, Spotlight Europe
Europe needs to be stronger to master the crisis, writes Prof. Pohl. (Remix by Spotlight Europe)

One crisis seems to succeed another nowadays. At the moment there is on the one hand the European financial crisis which has hit not only Greece and there is the political crisis in Crimea, Eastern Ukraine on the other hand. Looking globally there are wars and terror in every part of the world: The “Islamic State” in Iraq and Syria, Boko Haram in Nigeria or the Houthi rebels in Yemen to name a few.

The trouble spots of this world demand for a strong Europe. Because of this, Europe should evolve as quickly as possible in political as well as economic and military terms. This means specifically that Europe needs to become a political union – either as a union of states or a federal state in the example of the United States of America. In this regard further discussion will be necessary.

A swift solution to the European debt crisis has to be developed that deals not only with Greece alone but equally encompasses all countries of the Union.

Finally a European army needs to be set up that is strong enough to play a crucial role in NATO – together with other Western countries (e.g. USA). In the long term Europe strongly needs a bundling of forces in order to be not only heard but also taken seriously in the world.

Europe’s evolution has to be realized quickly so that future generations will know in which Europe they will live in some day.

About the author:

MP1Prof. Dr. Manfred Pohl is the Founder and Chairman of Frankfurter Zukunftsrat, the think tank that organises “My Europe”. more…

Grexit, Too High a Bill and Too Big a Deal

Posted on by Camilla Crovella
A Greek temple bathed in sunlight, Spotlight Europe
The Greek heritage. (Flickr: petros asimomytis/licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

The European reality has always been crossed by threats of division and secessionisms due to its cultural and political diversity which constitutes both its weak point but also the basis for building its strength.

One of these aspects, which had remained a latent possibility in the last years, is now becoming more concrete; It has been nicknamed as Grexit, the hypothetical Greek withdrawal from the Eurozone.

“European reality has always been crossed by threats of division”

In February, the new Tsipras government reached an agreement with the Eurozone creditor countries, including a package of immediate reforms and an extension of four months of the financial assistance program. Even though Europe could feel relieved at the moment the compromise calls for tough negotiations on a new financial assistance program, to be introduced by the end of June.

In any negotiation the fundamental element that influences the behaviour of the players and then the final result, as Jean Pisani-Ferri, French economist, public policy expert and French government Commissioner General for Policy Planning recently observed, is the cost that the impossibility to find a further agreement would bring to the protagonists themselves.

To understand more deeply the phenomenon, it is important to focus on two key points: The actual legal provisions it could base its ruts in and the economic consequences of its realization.

Concerning the first aspect, under the Treaty on the European Union, the fundamental document of institutional regulation of the EU, it is written that «Any Member State may decide to withdraw from the Union in accordance with its own constitutional requirements» (Art. 50), but no provision appears to establish either the opposite process, an exclusion carried out by all the components against one Member State, or the revocability of the Euro – membership.

Andre Sapir, Bruegel, Spotlight Europe
Andre Sapir, Bruegel (Detail, Flickr: Department for Business, Innovation and Skills/licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0)

André Sapir, think tank Bruegel’s Senior Fellow, Professor of Economics at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) and former economic adviser to the president of the European Commission confirmed this. In an interview that recently appeared in several European daily newspapers, the Italian Il Sole 24 Ore, he affirmed that Grexit is just an exercise of «Phanta-politics». He also underlined that the other Member States would not accept to lose a Mediterranean politically and economically strategic point, such as Greece.

But what would be the bill generated by a possible Greek withdrawal from the Eurozone, in economic terms?

continue

 

So, Who Is This New Important Guy?

Posted on by Jakub Sieradzan
President of the European Council and Polish politician Donald Tusk
Since December 2014 Donald Tusk, former Polish Prime Minister, is President of the European Council. (Flickr: Αλέξης Τσίπρας Πρωθυπουργός της Ελλάδας/licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0)

Donald Tusk – the name is well known in Poland but people from other countries may not know him at all. If you heard about him, it is probably because he is the President of European Council now. But you might wonder: Is he going to handle the tasks that were given to him? What can we expect? And from where did he even come from? That is why I am here to tell you some basic information about him.

Donald Tusk was born on 22nd in 1957 in a Polish city – Gdańsk. He was a part of anticommunist groups like Student Solidarity Committee, which he was cofounder. For his opposition activities, his job in a state-owned company was taken from him. In 1980 he graduated from Gdańsk University.

In 1994 he became deputy chairman of Freedom Union, established from fusion of two polish political parties – KLD and Democratic Union. After the elections he became Speaker of the Senate in 1997. In 2001 he lost his position of chairman and left the party. Soon enough in 2002 with two other politicians, he founded Civic Platform and he was a chairman of it in the years 2003-2014.

Lech Kaczyński, Spotlight Europe
Lech Kaczyński (Flickr: Mazur/catholicchurch.org.uk/licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

In 2005 he applied for presidency but lost to Lech Kaczyński. That was his last defeat. From 2007 his party wins every next election – from parliamentary through presidential to government elections. However in last year he and his Civic Platform are losing support in the polls. He was Prime Minister through the longest amount of time in the Third Polish Republic. He is happily married and has a grown up son and a daughter.

Although he may seem to be a great politician, he has a lot of enemies. Not only in politics but in normal, everyday people. A lot of them are angry about unfulfilled promises Donald Tusk had given them. He promised low taxes but nothing happened in Poland. You can imagine how angry people were who had voted for him. But the list is much longer. Cheaper kindergartens, clearer accounting of priests or helping young people getting an apartment. All of these promises were not kept and there are more of them.

As you can see, Donald Tusk is a controversial politician. He did a very good job in so many ways but betrayed the trust of Poles too many times. I cannot tell you if he won’t do the same thing this time, I really cannot. Nevertheless I hope he gained enough experience, throughout his political career and will not let down anyone who believes in him.

About the author:
Jakub Sieradzan, Spotlight Europe
Jakub – Author at Spotlight Europe

Jakub Sieradzan (20) participated in the “My Europe” workshop in Warsaw, Poland, in 2013. He is interested in political personalities of his home country.