ACADEMIC PREPARATION KIT

ACADEMIC PREPARATION KITINTER-REGIONAL FORUM - GUIMARÃES 2015EUROPEAN YOUTH PARLIAMENT PORTUGAL

APPEJ – Associação Portuguesa do Parlamento Europeu dos Jovens/European Youth Parliament Portugal Rua da Concórdia 45, 4465-601, Leça do Balio, Porto, Portugal www.pejportugal.com · geral@pejportugal.com

This Academic Preparation Kit was compiled for the Inter-Regional Forum of the European Youth Parliament Por-tugal, which will take place in the city of Guimarães, from the 13th to the 15th of March, 2015.

OVERVIEWS

The Topic Overviews are written by the Committees’ Chairpersons and serve as background material. They aim to iden-tify the importance of the issue at hand, as well as the principal matters within it, while offering a short look at their possible future development. 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 po-sitions of the Associação Portuguesa – P. E. J. (APPEJ)/European Youth Parlia-ment Portugal (EYP PT), which strongly encourages independent thinking, be-ing the sole responsibility of their au-thors. Likewise, while the Inter-Regional Forum - Guimarães 2015 will be held under the patronage of various pub-lic entities, no claim is made that their views are in any way represented by the contents of this Preparation Kit.

LINKS

As regards the suggestions of research links, the list is by no means exhaustive. Also, several of the websites may con-tain relevant information other than the one cited herewith. Please note that the EYP PT is not responsible for the con-tents of the various websites; the texts, images and/or audio or video clips re-flect the opinions of their authors, only. We recommend that you print this preparation kit, together with all the research you will conduct on your own and bring all of those materials with you to the forum. Wishing you a good read and successful preparation,

Anna BorrellPresident, Guimarães 2015

Mafalda Rodrigues & Miguel PaivaHead-organisers, Guimarães 2015

João MoreiraPresident, EYP PT

Disclaimer

Topic OverviewsThe EU ExplainedCommittee TopicsECONENVI IENVI IIITRE SEDETRANContacts

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Table of Contents

To make the most of the discussions at Guimarães Inter-Regional Forum and to create a solid resolution with your com-mittee, you will have to spend some time preparing: as a basis for that, this Academic Preparation Kit contains a topic overview for each of the 6 topics which will be discussed. These intro-ductions were written by your com-mittee chairpersons and will help you understand the topic and provide a starting point for your own research.

The overviews are merely a guidance towards which parameters need to be investigated further. They should be seen as the foundation, which will en-able you to continue your work towards a great resolution. To get there how-ever, you need to research your top-ic even further. The overview and the links provided alone, will not provide you with adequate information that will allow you to constructively contribute during Committee Work and GA.

In each one, you will find the following:

Definitions and Key Words – some central terms, which will help you re-search information on your topic, be it in news, documents or search engines.

Social Relevance of the Topic - The explanation of the problem positions your topic in current European polititics and the greater scope of things. What is the wider context of your topic? Why does it matter?

Main Conflicts – Every topic has a number of inherent conflicts that you will need to assess as a committee. How are the different aspects interlinked, how do they interact? You should not immediately take position for yourself at this point, but understand the dy-namics of the topic to a maximum.

Stakeholders – Every topic touches upon a certain number of actors and agents linked to the issue. In order to address a political problem correctly, a very important basic condition is to know which actors are competent in what regard.

Legislative Background - Measures already in place -There’s no need to re-invent the wheel! Knowing what poli-cies and institutions are already in place is central in your preparation and will result in a much better resolution.

Relevant Links – You will also find links to more information throughout the overview. The links provided are some more food for thought and an assis-tance for your research’s starting point. Remember that the overview is meant as a basis for you to go and do your own research!

Topic Overviews

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The European Union (EU) is a unique economic and political partnership be-tween 28 European countries which, together, cover much of the continent. The EU was created in the aftermath of the Second World War. The first steps were to foster economic cooperation: the idea being that countries who trade with one another become economical-ly interdependent and so more likely to avoid conflict. The result was the European Economic Community (EEC), created in 1958, and initially increasing economic cooper-ation between six countries: Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Since then, a large single market has been created and continues to develop towards its full potential.

From economic to political union What began as a purely economic union has evolved into an organisation span-ning policy areas, from development aid to environment. A name change from the EEC to the European Union (EU) in 1993 reflected this. The EU is based on the rule of law: everything that it does is founded on treaties, vol-untarily and democratically agreed by all the Member States. These binding agreements set out the EU’s goals in its many areas of activity.

Mobility, growth, stability, single currency The EU has delivered half a century of peace, stability and prosperity, helped raise living standards and launched a single European currency, the euro. Thanks to the abolition of border con-trols between EU countries, people can travel freely throughout most of the continent. And it has become much easier to live and work abroad in Eu-rope. The single or ‘internal’ market is the EU’s main economic engine, en-abling most goods, services, money and people to move freely. Another key objective is to develop this huge resource to ensure that Europeans can draw the maximum benefit from it.

Human rights and equalityOne of the EU’s main goals is to pro-mote human rights both internally and around the world. Human dignity, free-dom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights: these are the core values of the EU. Since the 2009 signing of the Treaty of Lisbon, the EU’s Charter of Fundamental Rights brings all these rights together in a sin-gle document. The EU’s institutions are legally bound to uphold them, as are EU governments whenever they apply EU law.

Transparent and democratic institutions As it continues to grow, the EU re-mains focused on making its govern-ing institutions more transparent and democratic. More powers are being given to the directly elected European Parliament, while national parliaments are being given a greater role, working alongside the European institutions. In turn, European citizens have an ever-in-creasing number of channels for taking

part in the political process. The institutional structure of the EU cannot be compared to that of any other international organisation (e.g., the North Atlantic Treaty Organization or the United Nations). It is neither a centralised unity like a nation state, nor does it imitate a relatively loose struc-ture, such as the Commonwealth of Na-tions or a confederation like the United States of America – it is an organisation sui generis. The structure is unique and continuously developed. The Treaty of Lisbon marks the last big step in this process.

A. MAIN INSTITUTIONS

1.Within the institutional triangle

European Commission

The European Commission (EC) is the ‘executive’ power of the EU. One Com-missioner is appointed by each Mem-ber State (with one, currently Jean-

Claude Juncker, being the President of the EC). The Commissioners are appointed by their respective Member States, approved by the European Par-liament and put in charge of specific issues (e.g., Miguel Arias Cañete, the Spanish Commissioner, is responsible for Climate Action and Energy). The EC monitors the Member States’ and the Union’s adherence to the ac-quis communautaire (the ensemble of all EU legislation), represents the Union in its foreign relations (especial-ly through Federica Mogherini , who is the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy) and has the exclusive Right of Initia-tive1. Additionally, the term ‘Commission’ is also used to refer to the full administra-tive body about 23,000 staff members working in various Directorates-Gener-al (DGs) or services, each responsible for a particular policy area and headed by a Director-General, who reports di-rectly to the President. The DGs draft laws, but their proposals become offi-cial only once the College of Commis-sioners adopts them during its weekly meeting.

European Parliament

The European Parliament (EP) is the first part of the EU’s legislative branch and consists of 766 Members of Parliament (commonly, MEPs), who are elected for five-year mandates by all EU citizens (over 18 years old, in Austria over 16). The first direct EP election was held in 1979; the latest between May 22nd and 25th, 2014. The EP is divided into seven large frac-tions plus several independent MEPs. The biggest three fractions are the Eu-ropean People‘s Party pooling Christian Democrats (EPP), followed by the Par-ty of European Socialists (PES) and by the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats Party (ALDE). It works either in a big

1. The Right of Initiative is the right to propose laws. In the EU, the EC has the right to propose Regulations and Direc-tives to the European Parlia- ment and to the Council of the European Union).

I. WHAT IS THE EU?

II. HOW DOES THE EU WORK?

The EU Explained

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plenary or in its 20 different Commit-tees, each responsible for specific issue areas. The EP shares its legislative com-petences with the Council of the Euro-pean Union.

Council of the European Union (Council of Ministers)

Also known as ‘the Council’, the Council of the EU is structured in issue-specific groups (councils), comprising the re-spective Ministers of the Member States (e.g., the Council for Justice and Home Affairs, with all Ministers of the Interi-or/Home Affairs). The presidency of the Council changes every six months and the ‘president’ in office supplies the dif-ferent councils with a Chairperson, with the exception of the council on Foreign Affairs, which is presided to by the High Representative. The issue areas are mirrored in those of the EP (e.g., environment, educa-tion, economy, budget), with whom the Council shares its legislative com-petences. Additionally, the Council also has executive powers. The last presi-dency (January–June 2014) was held by Greece; the current one (July–Decem-ber 2014) is being held by Italy.

2.Outside the institutional triangle

European Council

The European Council (no standard ab-breviation is used) is an EU institution comprising the heads of state or heads of government of the Member States, along with the council’s own President (Herman Van Rompuy, until November 2014) and the President of the Europe-an Commission (Jean-Claude Junker). The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy takes part in its meetings. The Europe-an Council was established as an infor-mal body in 1975; it became an official EU institution in 2009, when the Treaty of Lisbon entered into force. While the European Council has no formal legislative power, it is charged under the Treaty of Lisbon with defin-ing “the general political directions and priorities” of the Union. It is, thus, the Union’s strategic (and crisis-solving) body, acting as the collective presiden-cy of the EU.

European Central Bank

The European Central Bank (ECB) is the central bank for the euro and admin-isters the monetary policy of the euro area, which consists of 18 EU member states and is one of the largest curren-cy areas in the world. It is one of the world’s most important central banks. The bank was established by the Trea-ty of Amsterdam in 1998, and is head-quartered in Frankfurt, Germany. Since 2011 (and until 2019) the President of the ECB has been Mario Draghi, former governor of the Bank of Italy. The own-ers and shareholders of the European Central Bank are the central banks of the 28 Member States of the EU.

Court of Justice of the European Union

The Court of Justice of the Europe-an Union (CJEU) is an EU institution that encompasses the whole judicia-ry. Seating in Luxembourg, it consists of two major courts and a number of specialised courts. The institution was originally established in 1952 as the Court of Justice of the European Coal and Steel Communities [as of 1958 the Court of Justice of the European Com-munities (CJEC)]. In 2009, with the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon, the court changed to its current name. Its mission is to ensure that “the law is observed (…) in the interpretation and application” of the Treaties. The Court reviews the legality of the acts of any EU institution, ensures that the Mem-ber States comply with obligations un-der the Treaties and interprets EU law at the request of the national courts.It consists of two major courts: i) the European Court of Justice (created in 1952), the highest court in the EU legal system; ii) the General Court (created in 1988; formerly the Court of First In-stance);

3. Not an EU body!

Council of Europe

The Council of Europe (CoE) is an inter-national organisation promoting coop-eration amongst all countries of Europe in the areas of legal standards, human rights, democratic development, the rule of law and cultural cooperation. It

was founded in 1949, has 47 Member States with over 800 million citizens, and is an entirely separate body from the EU. The CoE cannot make binding laws. Its best known bodies are the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), which enforces the European Convention on Human Rights, and the European Phar-macopoeia Commission, which sets the quality standards for pharmaceutical products in Europe. The Council of Eu-rope’s work has resulted in standards, charters and conventions to facilitate cooperation between European coun-tries.Its statutory institutions are the Com-mittee of Ministers (comprising the for-eign ministers of each of its 47 Member States), the Parliamentary Assembly (composed of MPs from the parliament of each Member State) and the Secre-tary General (Thorbjørn Jagland).

B. WHAT CAN THE EU DO?

1. Exclusive competences – as per Article 2 (1) and Article 3 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the Eu-ropean Union (TFEU)

In these areas, only the EU may legis-late and adopt legally binding acts. Ex-ceptions are possible if the EU empow-ers Member States to act or with regard to the implementation of Union acts.

• The customs union, including an in-ternal free trade area with common customs tariffs (Art. 31 TFEU). • The monetary policy of the EU for the Member States whose currency is the euro, overseen by the European Central Bank and with certain precepts formu-lated in the Stability and Growth Pact (Art. 129 (3) and (4), Arts. 132, 138, 219 TFEU). • Competition rules controlling state aid from national governments and the actions of companies necessary for the functioning of the internal market. • A common international trade policy, e.g., a common position in internation-al trade negotiations (Art. 207 TFEU). • The conclusion of certain internation-al agreements (Art. 3 (2) TFEU). • Common commercial policy.• The conservation of marine biological resources (part of the Common Fisher-

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ies Policy, Art. 38 (1) TFEU).

2. Shared EU competences – as per Art. 2 (2) and Art. 4 TFEU

These are policy areas on which the Member States have agreed to act indi-vidually if the EU has not exercised (or planned to exercise) its competence. If a policy area is neither exclusive nor falls under supportive actions, it is a shared competence. Some examples are:

• Internal market; • Economic, social and territorial cohe-sion; • Agriculture and fishing (except the conservation of marine biological re-sources); • Social policy; • Transport; • Environment, pollution and energy; • Consumer protection; • Area of Freedom, Security and Justice.

3. Supporting, coordinating or complementary competences – as per Art. 2 (5), Art. 6 TFEU

The EU can financially support the ac-tions of the Member states that have agreed to coordinate their domestic policies through the EU. However, it does not entail harmonisation of regu-lations. These areas include:

• Education, vocational training, youth and sport; • Tourism;• Administrative cooperation; • Civil protection;• Protection and improvement of hu-man health; • Industry; • Culture.

C. LEGAL ACTS OF THE EU

While the EU can issue several types of legal acts, not all are fully binding for its Member States. These acts are named according to their legal strength and are divided into:

• Regulations – have to be strictly ad-hered to in all Member States and leave no room for adjustments during the implementation process; • Directives – provide a framework and give a certain policy direction, leav-ing the states with more flexibility and

room for adjustments;

• Decisions – always address certain recipients and are only valid for those specific countries/people/institutions;

• Recommendations – without legal force, but negotiated and voted on ac-cording to the appropriate procedure, they are not binding for the Member States;

• Opinions – similar to recommenda-tions in that they have no legal force, but not voted on, simply emitted.

The European legislative procedure runs considerably longer than those of most Member States. In brief: the EC (which has the exclusive Right to Initia-tive), the Council and the EP decide if the proposal becomes a legal act after having discussed relevant details. Gen-eral policy guidelines and statements, especially from the EP, are formulated in Resolutions. They can entail instruc-tions for future procedures, as well as regulations, which are formally valid in the Member States. Legal acts passed by the EP and the Council enter into force once the national governments have transposed them into national law. The combined legal heritage of the EU, including all legal acts, contracts and treaties is known as the acquis communautaire.

A. GENERAL LINKS

To learn more about the EU, its institu-tions and instruments, please visit their respective websites, below.

1. European Union http://europa.eu/index_en.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book:European_Union

2. EU-Institutions http://eu2012.dk/en/EU-and-the-Presidency/About-EU/EU-Background/EU- Institutions

3. European Neighbourhood Policy http://ec.europa.eu/world/enp/index_en.htm

4. Enlargement http://ec.europa.eu/en-largement/index_en.htm http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-con-tent/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=OJ:C:2010:083:-FULL&from=en

5. Common Foreign and Security Pol-icy http://europa.eu/pol/cfsp/index_en.htm http://europa.eu/agencies/regulatory_agencies_bodies/security_agencies/index_ en.htm

6. Lisbon Treaty http://europa.eu/lisbon_treaty/index_en.htmht tp : / /news .bbc . co .uk/2/h i /eu-rope/6901353.stm

7. Treaty on European Union (TEU) http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-con-tent/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=OJ:C:2010:083:-FULL&from=en

8. Treaty on the Functioning of the Eu-ropean Union (TFEU)http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:12012E/TX-T&from=EN

9. TFEU with explanations http://en.euabc.com/upload/books/lis-bon-treaty-3edition.pdf

10. Europe 2020http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2010:2020:FIN:EN:PDF

11. Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Unionhttp://www.europarl.europa.eu/char-ter/pdf/text_en.pdf

B. QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER

After you have read the Topic Over-views, it is recommended that you take the time to consider the questions therein, as well as the ones below. This will be an important phase in prepara-tion and will greatly aid you clarify your own stance on the matters at hand (which, in turn, is crucial for you to have decided by the time you start writing your Position Paper).

1. What is the legal basis for the Com-mittee Topic? 2. What are the relevant EU compe-tences? 3. What are the relevant EU institutions?4. Who decides on policies?5. Is an EU-level solution desirable? 6. What are the short-term and long-term implications? 7. What type of further legislation is needed?

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III. FURTHER RESEARCH

Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs - ECONChaired by: Carolina Macedo dos Santos (PT)E-currency revolution: Bitcoins and digital currencies are bringing about a monetary change. Whilst certain European coun-tries endorse the use of digital currencies, the European Banking Authority continues to issue warnings against their usage. What stance should the EU take on with regards to the opportunities and dangers presented by virtual currency schemes?

Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety I - ENVI IChaired by: João Bernardo Gonçalves (PT)The Ebola Crisis: the paradox of modern medical aid. Even though multiple initiatives are annually held to provide devel-oping countries with tools to combat diseases and epidemics, worldwide incidents, such as the recent spread of Ebola, expose underlying cracks in the Health System. What can the EU do to strengthen health systems in developing countries to prevent future crises?

Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety II - ENVI IIChaired by: André Oliveira (PT)Towards a low-carbon society: taking into consideration the EU’s Roadmap for moving to a competitive low-carbon econ-omy in 2050, which further measures can the EU undertake in order to reach the ambitious target to reduce its CO2 emis-sions by 80% by 2050?

Committee on Industry Research and Energy - ITREChaired by: Adriaan van Steut (NL)SMEs turning environmental challenges into business opportunities: In line with the Europe 2020 Strategy Plan, the EU prioritised becoming a sustainable economy whilst setting ambitious objectives for climate change and energy efficiency. What SME-oriented actions can be taken at European level to help exploit the business opportunities that the transition to a green economy offers?

Committee on Security and Defence - SEDEChaired by: Annie MacConachie (UK)Terrorism: The intercultural clash. The recent tragic events in Paris stand as a reminder that the EU is facing a continuous and evolving terrorist threat. Over the past decade this threat has harmed not only EU citizens, but also the very values and freedoms on which the Union is based. How can the EU best address its security issues whilst respecting its role as a peacekeeper across the globe?

Committee on Transport - TRANChaired by: Joana Gordinho (PT)Transport 2050: With many European towns and cities suffering from chronic traffic congestion, mobility is increasingly dif-ficult and inefficient. Accounting for 23% of all CO2 transport emissions and with estimated annual costs of EUR 80 billion, addressing transportation problems is imperative for the EU's steps forward to sustainable mobility. What actions can the EU take as to fully and successfully implement the Roadmap to a Single European Transport Area?

Committee topics

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the creation of legislation to control Bitcoin2. Furthermore, the EBA, among many other experts, have already issued warnings stating that bitcoin transac-tions are not safe3, pointing out the lack of regulation as the main concern, which results in insufficient control, thus remaining a distrustful medium of exchange.The recognition and regulation of Bit-coin as a currency would defy Bitcoin’s independence. Moreover, for the EU, it would imply a change in monetary politics.Meanwhile, Bitcoin is a reality and, at this moment, there are more than 13 500 000 bitcoins in circulation, however its lack of regulation makes this “coin”, which is worth more than 170 EUR, a swampy soil, demanding for action from the proper stakeholders.

E-currency revolution: Bitcoins and digital currencies are bringing about a monetary change. Whilst certain European countries endorse the use of digital currencies, the European Banking Authority (EBA) continues to issue warnings against their us-age. What stance should the Europe-an Union (EU) take on with regards to the opportunities and dangers pre-sented by virtual currency schemes?

KEY TERMS:

• Digital currency: an authority inde-pendent currency, used as a medium for exchanging goods virtually.• Cryptocurrency: digital currency based on cryptography – a technique used to safely communicate with codes. • Bitcoin: created in 2009, is the first and most used digital cryptocurrency. • Block chain: ledger that memorizes bitcoins’ transactions.

SOCIAL RELEVANCE:

The 21st century can be referred to as the “online century”. Now, more than ever, people from around the world are continuously connected while perform-ing several activities of their daily life, including trading – the world’s engine. Nevertheless, different currencies and transfer’s fees are a barrier to this global world, making a single, easy to transfer, and low-taxed digital currency a desirable instrument. Therefore, Bit-coin solves many issues, namely those related to commerce: by using digital

currencies, users around the globe can easily avoid the aforementioned barri-ers imposed by regular money.These digital currencies are also de-centralized, meaning they are not controlled by any entity, leaving its users susceptible to the dangers that result from its independence, as per example: volatility, criminal schemes, inexistence of consumer’s protec-tion.

CONFLICTS:

Many, namely economists, defend that since digital currencies have very little practical use in what comes to purchas-ing physical goods, and its creation is not transparent, they are not actual currencies1. Supported by this premise, most coun-tries, even though they consider the usage of bitcoins to be legal, do not acknowledge any responsibility for

Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON)

1 http://goo.gl/T39e8K ; http://goo.gl/j1vNoN;2 http://goo.gl/pobJJc;3 http://goo.gl/oTzXKQ;

Chaired by:Carolina Macedo dos Santos (PT)

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a blank page on legislation related to digital currencies. It is arguable whether or not Bitcoin fits under some EU Directives6. Finland considers that it fits under the EU VAT Directive7, however the majority’s po-sition, including EU’s opinion, remains that Bitcoin is not a currency8. Concerning the EU’s monetary and economic affairs, it is always important to be aware of the Treaty on Europe-an Union and the Treaty on the Func-tioning of the European Union9 as they define and limit the competences of the EU.

KEY QUESTIONS:

A lot of questions are to be answered in order to fully understand how the bitcoin’s world works, but you should begin with three core problems that will lead your research into many more interrogations:• Can digital currencies such as Bit-coin truly be considered currencies?

• Are these digital currencies a safe medium of exchange?

• If not, what shall be done for them to become safe for consumers?

STAKEHOLDERS:

National Governments: each coun-try has the authority to recognize or not the use of Bitcoin and create reg-ulations accordingly; in the EU Member States (MS) the country’s sovereignty is limited by the position of the EU re-garding this matter.European Union Institutions4: the Eu-ropean Parliament; the Council of the European Union; the European Com-mission; the European Council (unlike the previous three EU bodies, the Eu-ropean Council does not have legisla-tive powers; it has, however, political influence and can include this issue in the EU’s agenda); the European Cen-tral Bank, as it controls the emission of currency within the EU, it will have a say regarding the regulation of Bitcoin, in case this currency comes to be consid-ered an EU legal currency; the Europe-an Bank Authority.

LEGISLATIVE BACKGROUND:

As stated before, digital currencies lack regulation. Most of the Europe-an Countries do not consider the use of Bitcoins illegal5, yet fail to recog-nize it as a currency and regulate it. In what comes to the EU, there is also

RESEARCH LINKS:

Brief summary of the legislation’s status on bitcoin in various countries: http://www.loc.gov/law/help/bitcoin-survey/

Charts on bitcoin’s transactions, value, the profit of the miners10, among oth-ers: https://blockchain.info/en/charts

EBA’s opinion on the use of virtual cur-rencies (bitcoin) explained: http://goo.gl/oTzXKQ http://goo.gl/cNxMKq

Video explaining how Bitcoin works: http://goo.gl/8x3p1q

4 http://goo.gl/8Bi9AB;5 http://goo.gl/eAEkAD;6 http://goo.gl/4dl1Wr ; http://goo.gl/CaVpJo ; http://goo.gl/c4Mvyp;7 http://goo.gl/O1COHa;8 http://goo.gl/tBhmEY;9 http://goo.gl/8EBq3j;10 Miners are people that store bitcoins trans-actions by building blocks, which integrate the block chain.

Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON)

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.It is also important to remind that the present year is the deadline of the Unit-ed Nations Millennium Development Goals6, that promised halving extreme poverty rates, hunger and child mor-tality and the combat against several diseases.

CONFLICTS:

The major conflict concerning devel-opment aid is its effectiveness. Critics often question if it is used correctly and

The Ebola Crisis: the paradox of modern medical aid. Even though multiple initiatives are annually held to provide developing countries with tools to combat diseases and epi-demics, worldwide incidents, such as the recent spread of Ebola, expose underlying cracks in the Health Sys-tem. What can the EU do to strength-en health systems in developing countries to prevent future crises?

KEY TERMS:

• Developing Country: nation with a lower standard of living, underdevel-oped industrial base and low Human Development Index relative to other countries. • European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies: Institution that supports and promotes evi-dence-based health policy-making through comprehensive and rigorous analysis of the dynamics of health care systems in Europe. • Health System: Sum total of all the organisations, institutions and resourc-es whose primary purpose is to im-prove health.• International Aid: voluntary transfer of resources from one country to an-other. • OECD: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.• DAC: Development Assistance Com-mittee.

SOCIAL RELEVANCE:

According to a study by the Stanford University School of Medicine, “ For-eign aid for health care is directly linked to an increase in life expectancy and

a decrease in child mortality in de-veloping countries”1, which means that international aid provided by other nations has significant and positive ef-fects on the lives of developing coun-tries populations.Development aid can be defined as fi-nancial support given by governments and other agencies to support eco-nomically, socially and politically the developing countries. The European Union, as the biggest donor with an amount of €56.5 billion in 2013, declared 2015 as “The Euro-pean Year for Development”2 and with this decided to refocus their funds to countries that most need it, reducing the help for those countries that are in a situation of “graduation”3, like Malay-sia and India. Nevertheless, it is important to revive a United Nations General Assembly in 1970 when the developed coun-tries decided that by the middle of the 1970s the amount of international aid from each donor country should be 0,7% of GNP4, but by 2013 only five of these countries have reached that goal5

Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety I (ENVI I)

1 http://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2014/04/health-care-aid-for-developing-countries-boosts-life-expectancy-study-finds.html;2 http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/europe-an-year-development-2015_en;3 In recent years, several developing countries have experienced strong economic growth and have managed to reduce poverty. The EU is therefore phasing out direct aid to these countries, and this process is called graduation. https://europa.eu/eyd2015/en/content/eu-de-velopment-aid 4 Gross National Product;5 A deeper look to the 0.7% target: http://www.unmillenniumproject.org/press/07.htm6 The Millennium Development Goals are eight international development goals that were established following the Millennium Summit of the United Nations in 2000

Chaired by:João Bernardo Gonçalves (PT)

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if it reaches their intended recipients. They also affirm that development aid discourages local development and displaces domestic resources that might otherwise be devoted to health.Eran Bendavid, professor of Stanford University School of Medicine, has, however, a contrary opinion. The find-ings7 of this researcher proved that in-vestments in health do indeed lead to direct, beneficial outcomes in health improvements, as for instance the rapid rise in life expectancy and measurably larger declines in mortality among chil-dren under the age of 5. However, even with the amount of money provided for development aid, about USD 135 billion, the help contin-ues not to go to those that most need it and some of the help is lost on its way, due to corruption or bad infrastruc-tures, amongst other reasons.

STAKEHOLDERS

The OECD is an international organiza-tion of 34 countries founded in 1961. It has a sub-organization of 28 countries plus the European Union, called Devel-opment Assistance Committee, which is responsible for more than 90% of all development aid;When it comes to Developing Coun-tries, the term is difficult to define, be-cause each organizations, IMF, UN, etc., gives a different definition for “develop-ing country”. We can generally define it as countries “with a lower standard of living, underdeveloped industrial base, and low Human Development Index (HDI) relative to other countries”8;

The UN, with its numerous agencies and programs, such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Unit-ed Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations serve most of the times as a way of making the help get to where it is needed;The European Union, as the world’s largest aid donor, has several programs concerning this issue. Development and Cooperation - EuropeAid is one of the Departments of the European Com-mission and is responsible for design-ing European international cooperation and development policy and delivering aid throughout the world.

LEGISLATION:

• The European Consensus: Signed in 2005, it defines the framework of com-mon principles within which the EU and its Member States will each implement their development policies in a spirit of complementarity;• Action Plan for more, better and faster aid: This action plan set in a communication from the Commission in 2006, aims to improve efficiency, co-herence and the impact of aid to Com-munity development;• 2015 - European Year for Devel-opment: European Programme that intends to reinforce the importance of international aid and wants to inspire people to be involved in the events across Europe to promote the impor-tance of international aid.

KEY QUESTIONS:

• How can international aid be more effective? • How can we guarantee that interna-tional aid reaches the ones that most need it? • What can we do to ensure that coun-tries provide more 0,7% of their GNP to international aid? • What can the EU do guarantee that the European countries, even in a sit-uation of a crisis, do not decide to cut abruptly their aid?

LINKS:

• Academic article about the benefits of medical aid: http://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2014/04/health-care-aid-for-developing-countries-boosts-life-expectancy-study-finds.html;• Statistics about international aid pro-vided by DAC countries: http://www.oecd.org/newsroom/aid-to-develop-ing-countries-rebounds-in-2013-to-reach-an-all-time-high.htm;• Website of “Europe Aid”, with the policies, the projects and the funding: https://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/poli-cies/european-development-policy_en;• European legislation regarding de-velopment aid: http://europa.eu/leg-islation_summaries/development/general_development_framework/in-dex_en.htm;• Video about the benefits of the help provided by OECD donors.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csWQBsJhmVI;

7 http://archinte.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx-?articleid=1861035&resultClick=3;8 Sullivan, Arthur; Steven M. Sheffrin (2003). Economics: Principles in Action. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458: Pearson Prentice Hall.,p. 471

Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety I (ENVI I)

12

Towards a low-carbon society: taking into consideration the EU’s Roadmap for moving to a competitive low-car-bon economy in 2050, which further measures can the EU undertake in order to reach the ambitious target to reduce its CO2 emissions by 80% by 2050?

KEY TERMS

• Greenhouse Gases: Gases that trap heat and radiation in the Earth’s atmo-sphere due to their chemical composi-tion and reactivity, thus contributing to global warming;• Kyoto Protocol: Also known as the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), it is an international treaty which commits its parties to set-ting emission reduction targets;• European Environmental Agency: Agency of the European Union respon-sible for providing independent infor-mation on environmental topics;• Programme for the environment and climate action (LIFE): EU’s finan-cial instrument supporting environ-mental, nature conservation and cli-mate action projects throughout the EU.• European Strategic Energy Technol-ogy Plan (SET-Plan): European plan to accelerate the development and de-ployment of low-carbon technologies by improving new technologies and bringing down costs through coordi-nating research and helping to finance projects.

ture and storage technologies. Many of these technologies already exist today but need to be developed further.

CONFLICTS

Knowing that in 2012 energy indus-tries held 29.2% of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions2 it becomes clear the industrial sector is largely respon-sible for emissions. European com-panies are finding difficult to reduce CO2 emissions to achieve a greener environment due to the high inter-national competition3, which is be-coming more and more demanding. Within the current crisis, companies prefer assured stability than investing on engaging eco-friendly habits. Other companies are simply too focused on profits, discarding environmental in-vestments4. However, general engage-ment in eco-friendly solutions is man-

SOCIAL RELEVANCE

The European Union (EU) is concerned about the impact of climate change. A high rate of carbon emissions threat-ens the EU citizens via severe changes that can hinder living standards inside of the EU. Consequently, several goals were established in order to tackle ex-cessive emissions. However, recent numbers prove more needs to be done to meet the rigorous goals im-posed by the Kyoto Protocol1.The transition to a low-carbon society would boost Europe’s economy thanks to increased innovation and investment in clean technologies and low-carbon energy. A low-carbon economy would have a much greater need for renew-able sources of energy, energy-efficient building materials, hybrid and electric cars, ‘smart grid’ equipment, low-car-bon power generation and carbon cap-

Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety II (ENVI II)

1 Kyoto Progress in 2014: http://ec.europa.eu/clima/poli-cies/g-gas/docs/kyoto_progress_2014_en.pdf; 2 Emissions from transport and by sector: http://ec.europa.eu/clima/policies/transport/index_en.htm;3 http://science.time.com/2010/09/09/energy-reducing-co2-emissions-will-be-harder-than-you-think/;4 http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2014/jul/28/carbon-tax-australia-british-columbia-business-reve-nue-neutral;

Chaired by:André Oliveira

13

datory5 for the EU to meet its goals, which clashes greatly with companies’ stances towards this issue.To make the transition to a low-carbon society the EU would need to invest an additional €270 billion or 1.5% of its GDP annually, on average, over the next four decades, which could not be seen as something desirable for some in a time of economic crisis.

STAKEHOLDERS

The European Commission is the main actor concerning European GHG emissions policy changes. Within that the Directorate General (DG) for the Environment (ENV) works together with the Committees on Industry, Re-search and Energy (ITRE) and on En-vironment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI). The European Envi-ronmental Agency (EEA) provides impartial and recent information6, on which the Commission can base its de-cisions when it comes to environmental policies. National Governments, NGOs (such as Climate Group) and lobbyists (such as Business Europe) are also relevant because they influence EU institutions greatly.

LEGISLATIVE BACKGROUND

In 1997 the Kyoto Protocol was estab-

lished in order to reduce global emis-sions and is still being enforced today. In 1992, the Programme for the en-vironment and climate action (LIFE) was devised to be a financial instrument supporting environmental, nature con-servation and climate action projects7. 2008 saw the establishment of the Eu-ropean Strategic Energy Technology Plan (SET-Plan), aimed at accelerating the development and deployment of low-carbon technologies8. In 2012 and 2014, articles 191-193 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU and the EU policy framework strengthened cooperation between MS and focused on the smart management of resourc-es. With the European Roadmap for moving to a competitive low-carbon economy in 2050, the European Com-mission set out a cost-effective path-way for achieving much deeper emis-sion cuts by the middle of the century.

KEY QUESTIONS

• Is the EU on a good path to achieve the goals set by the Kyoto Protocol?• How can the EU promote low carbon consumption in order to achieve its goals?• How can companies be encouraged to look for environmentally friendly solutions?• Should the EU find its way through this problem or should it maintain a

passive position in this subject?• How can European industries adopt greener methods without undermining their gains?• What cost-efficient measures should be adopted to make the European economy more climate-friendly and less energy-consuming?

RESEARCH LINKS

• From Roadmaps to Reality: A Frame-work for Power Sector Decarbonisation in Europe. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xahXpzTNqsA • Article on cutting GHG emissions by 40% by 2030: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/24/eu-leaders-agree-to-cut-greenhouse-gas-emis-sions-by-40-by-2030 • International Energy Agency paper on reducing GHG emissions: https://www.iea.org/ciab/papers/ciab.pdf • UN’s report on the Transition to a Green Economy: http://www.unep.org/greeneconomy/Portals/88/documents/research_products/UN-DESA,%20UNC-TAD%20Transition%20GE.pdf • European Roadmap for moving to a low-carbon economy by 2050: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52011DC0112 • A resource-efficient Europe – Flagship initiative of the Europe 2020 Strate-gy: http://ec.europa.eu/resource-effi-cient-europe/

5 http://www.theguardian.com/sustain-able-business/carbon-reduction-employee-en-gagement-sme-discussion-round-up;6 http://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/re-newable-energy-in-europe-approximated;7 http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=OJ:JOL_2014_116_R_0001;8 http://ec.europa.eu/energy/sites/ener/files/comm_2013_0253_en.pdf;

Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety II (ENVI II)

14

SMEs turning environmental chal-lenges into business opportunities: In line with the Europe 2020 Strategy Plan, the EU prioritised becoming a sustainable economy whilst setting ambitious objectives for climate change and energy efficiency. What SME-oriented actions can be taken at European level to help exploit the business opportunities that the tran-sition to a green economy offers?

KEY TERMS

• Small and Medium-sized Enterpris-es (SMEs): Small and Medium-sized Enterprises are businesses having up to 250 employees. They are of key impor-tance in the economy of the European Union (EU) and provide two thirds of the workspaces in the private sector1.• Europe 2020 Strategy Plan: A 10-year strategic plan aimed at develop-ing a sustainable and flexible European economy through greater cooperation between the EU and Member States (MS). The concrete measures are out-lined in 7 flagship initiatives.• Resource efficiency: Using resources such as raw materials and energy more efficiently in order to reduce pollution and be more environmentally friendly, which is a major issue on the agenda of the EU.

SOCIAL RELEVANCE

With the world population expected to reach 9 billion by 2050, the pressure on the world’s resources will only increase in the coming decades2, making the ef-ficient usage of resources essential for governments worldwide. Reducing the consumption of raw materials (oil, gas, wood, etc.) while maintaining our stan-

dard of living is one of the most diffi-cult problems of our age and requires foresight and thinking in long-term solutions. In 2010 the European Commission (EC) proposed the Europe 2020 Strate-gy, a comprehensive strategy aimed at creating more jobs and stimulating economic growth while reducing envi-ronmental damage. It wishes to create a resource-efficient economy with low carbon gas emissions by – among oth-ers – investing in the development of clean technology, reducing energy us-age of the public and reducing the en-ergy cost of our infrastructure. As an important part of the European economy, SMEs need to be addressed in order to create a resource-efficient Europe. SMEs account for two-thirds of all jobs in the private sector and con-tribute up to 50% of all exports3, mean-ing that any legislation passed on SMEs will have far-reaching consequences. The EU is already trying to simulate SMEs and make them more globally competitive4 and any legislation that would stimulate SMEs to become more environmentally friendly would help in

achieving the goals set out in Europe 2020.

CONFLICTS

An important conflict in this issue is how much legislation should be passed on SMEs. Currently the ‘European As-sociation of Craft, Small and Me-dium-sized Enterprises’ (UEAPME), which represents over 12 million SMEs, is complaining about the amount of legislation and the administrative bur-dens and complex tax procedures this brings with it5. They are calling for sim-plification of rules and more freedom for SMEs in order to make them more globally competitive.Should the EU decide to allow SMEs

Committee on Industry Research and Energy (ITRE)

1 http://ec.europa.eu/growth/smes/busi-ness-friendly-environment/performance-review/files/annual-report/infographics_en.pdf; 2 http://ec.europa.eu/resource-efficient-europe/pdf/resource_efficient_europe_en.pdf; 3 http://www.edinburgh-group.org/media/2776/edinburgh_group_research_-_growing_the_glob-al_economy_through_smes.pdf, page 19;4 http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/sme/small-business-act/index_en.htm; 5 http://www.ueapme.com/IMG/pdf/UEAPME_Position_Paper_on_SBA.pdf;

Chaired by:Adriaan van Steut (NL)

15

greater freedom, it could lead to com-petitive advantages over companies in other countries but could also make reaching the goals of Europe 2020 more difficult. It would mean that the EU would not be able to support SMEs as much and would be unable to in-fluence them to invest in becoming more environmentally friendly and re-source-efficient.A course will thus have to be set out where the EU can stimulate SMEs to be-come environmentally friendly, yet also give them the means to keep compet-ing globally.

STAKEHOLDERS

As SMEs provide two-thirds of all jobs in the private sector, they form the backbone of the European economy. Ensuring a business climate in which SMEs can thrive is thus vital for all Eu-ropeans, as a failure of SMEs will leave innumerable Europeans without work. The EU is an important stakeholder in this issue. Being an organisation com-posed of 28 countries, its goals include ensuring prosperity and economic growth across the continent. It is in the EU’s interest to have successful SMEs in Member States and thus ensure that the Union keeps working properly. However, it has also committed itself to increasing sustainability and to priori-tising resource efficiency. Member States are also important stakeholders in this issue. They might have differing views and policies on SMEs, and as the EU cannot force its will upon countries, MS will have to decide whether or not to adopt cer-tain legislation in their countries. As a

consequence, it is important to take into account the effect of any potential solutions on MS.

LEGISLATIVE BACKGROUND

The EU has outlined its goals for estab-lishing a green economy in the Europe 2020 Plan. This plan lists goals and the concrete measures called the 7 flagship initiatives to reach these goals6. It does not contain any European laws but in-stead urges the governments of all EU Member States to set goals and laws for themselves and cooperate with oth-er Member States and the EU to bring these to success. The Plan specifically mentions supporting SMEs and calls for the development of a strong and sustainable industry in order to com-pete globally. The current legislation on SMEs is the Small Business Act for Europe, meant to create favourable conditions for SMEs at European and national levels . Also in this legislation is the ‘Think Small first´ principle, which means that whenever making new laws, SMEs have to be taken into consideration from the very beginning, thus ensuring that their interests will be served. The Green Action Plan (GAP) for SMEs proposes to exploit the business opportunities that the transition to a green economy offers, by improving productivity and driving down costs in European SMEs through resource efficiency, by supporting green entre-preneurship and by exploiting and de-veloping Europe’s leadership in green processes and technologies.

KEY QUESTIONS

• Should the EU strive for more legisla-tion about SMEs?• How can the EU ensure that SMEs become more environmentally friendly yet remain globally competitive?• Are there any other actions the EU can perform to support SMEs?• Should the EU involve national gov-ernments more in the issue of SMEs?

RESEARCH LINKS

• Information on the Small Business Act, also includes a report on how companies and businesses see its ef-fects: http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/sme/small-business-act/think-small-first/index_en.htm#h2-5• An overview of Europe 2020: http://www.efesme.org/europe-2020-a-strat-egy-for-smart-sustainable-and-inclu-sive-growth• A brochure explaining in-depth what the EU does for SMEs and why: http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/sme/what-eu-does-for-smes_en.htm• A brief article about the restrictions of EU legislation on SMEs looking for funding http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfi-nance/11221814/SME-funding-held-back-by-EU-rules.html• Green Action Plan for SMEs: http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/sme/public-consultation-green-ac-tion-plan/index_en.htm

6 http://www.efesme.org/europe-2020-a-strate-gy-for-smart-sustainable-and-inclusive-growth;7 http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/sme/small-business-act/index_en.htm;

Committee on Industry Research and Energy (ITRE)

16

Terrorism: The intercultural clash. The recent tragic events in Paris stand as a reminder that the Euro-pean Union (EU) is facing a contin-uous and evolving terrorist threat. Over the past decade this threat has harmed not only EU citizens, but also the very values and freedoms on which the Union is based. How can the EU best address its security issues whilst respecting its role as a peacekeeper across the globe?

KEY TERMS

• Declaration on Combating Terror-ism: 2004 Declaration of the European Council emphasising the need for co-ordination, which included the integra-tion of intelligence structures within the Council Secretariat, reinforcement of Europol, and Eurojust.• EU Plan of Action on Combating Terrorism (2004): Proposal of mea-sures such as joint investigation teams, specialist anti-terrorist teams, and a co-operation agreement between Europol and relevant United States (US) author-ities.• EU counter-terrorism Strategy: 2005 strategy produced by the EU and the United Nations (UN) that focused on 4 outcomes: prevent, protect, pursue and respond.• Europol: The European Union law enforcement agency that coordinates criminal intelligence. It deals with ter-rorism and also serious international organised crime. • Eurojust: An EU body designed to in-crease the co-ordination of internation-al investigations.

SOCIAL RELEVANCE:

The recent Paris attacks demonstrate a change in the nature of terrorism. Small-scale attacks are carried out on groups of individuals but attackers of-ten work alone or have little contact with their terrorist cell. This changing nature of terrorism has made it in-creasingly difficult for the EU to mon-itor and prevent threats. In Article 6 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights1 of the EU, the right to liberty and se-curity is enshrined. Aside from harming citizens, terrorism also damages the EU principle of security. The EU must balance the need to protect its citizens and prevent terrorism with its role as a peacekeeper representing the interests of diverse countries. Many anti-terror-ism frameworks are already in place but greater action is needed. The EU must now decide how active a role it should take in terrorism-prevention whilst also ensuring that human rights are respected.

CONFLICTS:

The main conflicts relevant to this topic are the EU’s role in anti-terrorism activ-ities and the kind of action that should be taken. A decision needs to be made regarding how the EU should explore collaboration with other internation-al bodies such as the UN, which many feel is a betrayal to its peacekeeping role. The EU stance on terrorism is also a source of disagreement: should the EU keep a diplomatic/monitoring ap-proach, or address current issues more directly? Additionally, intelligence sharing presents a potential conflict, as although the EU advised that multi-national intelligence cooperation is es-sential2, the individual Member States’ intelligence services prefer to work on a bilateral level so as to not jeopardise relations with other countries. There is also tension between individual MS due to lack of cohesion.

Committee on Security and Defence (SEDE)

1 http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TX-T/?uri=CELEX:12012P/TXT;2 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1468-5965.2006.00638.x/abstract;

Chaired by:Annie MacConachie (UK)

17

STAKEHOLDERS:

The EP Committee SEDE3 is an import-ant stakeholder as it adopts legislative proposals concerning terrorism. The Eu-ropean Commission is responsible for the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) and the European Institute for Security Studies (ISS) is also extreme-ly relevant as it analyses security policy issues. The European External Action Service4 is a diplomatic service dealing with foreign affairs. Member States are also relevant since each of them defines terrorism differently. NGOs such as the Anti-Terrorism Force5 and the Inter-national Antiterrorism Unity6 are also extremely relevant actors regarding se-curity and terrorism.

LEGISLATIVE BACKGROUND:

The EU’s Common Security and De-fence Policy outlines the EU’s stance on terrorism. In 2005 the EU and UN pro-duced the “European Union Count-er-Terrorism Strategy” which focused on 4 outcomes: prevent, protect, pur-sue and respond. The “Council of Eu-rope Convention on the Prevention of Terrorism” was then created and now serves as a regional multilateral treaty defining terrorist offences. The Declaration on Combating Terrorism was aimed at increased coordination7 . The European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) is a partnership between the EU and its southern/eastern neighbours, aiming for closer political association and economic integration. The Com-mission also adopted the “EU Internal Security Strategy in Action” in 2010, a

measure that advises 41 actions to tar-get the most urgent security challeng-es. To ensure its full implementation, the “Harmony Policy Cycle on organ-ised crime 2011-13” and the Commit-tee on Operational Cooperation on Internal Security (COSI) have been established. The revised EU Plan of Action on Combating Terrorism was updated in 2011 when the “Council of the European Union Report on the EU Action Plan on combating terror-ism” was published.

KEY QUESTIONS:

• Bearing in mind the evolving nature of terrorism, is existing legislation sufficient or should more be created? If it is considered to be sufficient, is it being implemented to its full extent?• Could pan-European intelligence sharing ever be truly feasible?• How can the coordination between MS be increased and existing struc-tures be strengthened?• How can the primary causes of ter-rorism be tackled?• How might the EU’s peacekeeper role be damaged by acting more definitive-ly against terrorism?

RESEARCH LINKS:

• EU Plan of Action on Combating Terrorism: http://webcache.goo-gleusercontent.com/search?q=-cache:tqSq1hEMi6gJ:https://english.nctv.nl/Images/EU-%2520Plan%2520of%2520Ac-tion_tcm92-132204.pdf+&c-d=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk

• The European Parliament, the Council and the Commission, Charter of Fun-damental Rights of the European Uion: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:12012P/TXT• What is the European Neighbour-hood Policy?: http://eeas.europa.eu/enp/about-us/index_en.htm• European Parliament, Fighting terror-ism in the EU and beyond its borders, Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1nP0PZIsbk• Paper that examines the main EU-level initiatives that have been put forward in the weeks following the attacks in Paris in January 2015: http://www.ceps.eu/book/eu-counter-terror-ism-policy-responses-attacks-paris-to-wards-eu-security-and-liberty-agenda • Report from the Commission to the EP and the Council on the im-plementation of Council Framework Decision on combating terrorism: http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-af-fairs/e-library/documents/policies/crisis-and-terrorism/general/docs/report_on_the_implementation_of_cf-d_2008-919-jha_and_cfd_2002-475-jha_on_combating_terrorism_en.pdf • Global Terrorism Index 2014: http://economicsandpeace.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Terrorism-Index-Re-port.pdf

3 http://www.europarl.europa.eu/committees/en/sede/home.html4 http://www.eeas.europa.eu/index_en.htm5 http://www.unodc.org/ngo/showSingleDe-tailed.do?req_org_uid=224696 http://coe-ngo.org/ingo/international-antiter-rorism-unity7 Including integration of an intelligence struc-ture of the Council Secretariat, reinforcement of Europol, Eurojust and the Police Chiefs Task Force, and a “solidarity clause”

Committee on Security and defence (SEDE)

18

Transport 2050: With many Europe-an towns and cities suffering from chronic traffic congestion, mobil-ity is increasingly difficult and in-efficient. Accounting for 23% of all CO2 transport emissions and with estimated annual costs of EUR 80 billion, addressing transportation problems is imperative for the Euro-pean Union’s (EU) steps forward to sustainable mobility. What actions can the EU take as to fully and suc-cessfully implement the Roadmap to a Single European Transport Area?

KEY TERMS:

• Traffic congestion: caused by the in-crease of road network usage, it is re-sponsible for queuing and longer trip times.• Greenhouse gas (GHG): emissions of GHG by oil-fuelled vehicles that con-tribute to global warming and pollution of the atmosphere.• Road transport: transport of passen-gers or goods on roads. By being the preferred mean of transport and also the least efficient one, it is the main concern to be addressed. • Trans-European Transport Net-work (TEN-T): sets its goal at ensuring a far-reaching transport network that unites all EU Member States (MS) effi-ciently.

SOCIAL RELEVANCE:

Current transport systems are far from reaching their full potential and ef-

ficiency. Road congestion costs the MS close to 80 billion1 euros a year. This value is lost due to delays in the transport of goods and the increase of fuel prices – each minute a truck full of raw material spends stuck in traffic leads to the loss of valuable produc-tion time by industrial factories. While it is still heavily dependent on oil based fuels, the transport sector accounts for 23% of all GHG emissions, and road traffic makes up to one fifth of all CO2 emissions2. Moreover, even though transport-related fatalities have decreased in the last years, the EU has set the goal to get this number close to zero by 20503.

CONFLICTS:

Traffic congestion and bottlenecks are more than just an inconvenience. Trucks do not arrive to their destina-tion in time and people have to leave

earlier for work, which causes a mas-sive hit on productivity. Taking vehi-cles off the road is imperative so as to reduce traffic4. On the other hand, the TEN-T guidelines set goals for building new roads and optimising the existing ones, in order to facilitate the traffic flow, but building new infrastructure to support railroad transport entails deep planning, cooperation among MS and a copious amount of initial investment5.Even though transport has become

Committee on Transport (TRAN)

1 80 billion Euros is the equivalent of over 1% of the MSs’ total Gross Domestic Product (GDP), more than their annual contribution to the budget of the EU;2 Road Transport – a change of gear: http://goo.gl/8FlPeY;3 White Paper - Roadmap to a Single European Transport Area: http://goo.gl/Qc6ohL;4 Cabotage works under the Regulation (EC) 1072/2009 and allows a haulier from one coun-try to transport goods within another country on a temporary basis when making international deliveries, increasing the efficiency of transport of goods while allowing for less trucks to be on the road; 5 Connecting Europe – Delivering the TEN-T, page 16: http://goo.gl/I8N7p3;

Chaired by:Joana Gordinho (PT)

19

more energetically efficient, the sec-tor still relies on oil products to sus-tain 95%6 of its energetic demands. However, investing in cleaner fuels and more energy-efficient engines will not make the cut by itself. Shifting passen-gers from these polluting means of transportation to cleaner ones, such as trains, is another option to consider. Nevertheless, other means do not offer the same door-to-door comfort that makes road transport so popular.

STAKEHOLDERS

The Directorate General for Mobil-ity and Transport7 is the department of the European Commission in charge of Transport affairs and works togeth-er with the MS, European industry, and other stakeholders in order to obtain a more sustainable mobility in the EU.Civitas8 is an initiative that works to-wards introducing ambitious, innova-tive solutions for green urban transport, having already changed the transport systems in more than 200 European cities. NGOs and private businesses inter-vene by lobbying for their economic interests. On the other side, MS have to balance those interests with the need

for greener and more efficient solutions for the transport of goods and people.

LEGISLATIVE BACKGROUND

The White Paper Roadmap to a Sin-gle European Transport Area aims at creating a more competitive and inte-grated transport network, combining its development with the reduction of CO2 emissions by 60% by 2050. This document sets guidelines in order to facilitate the movement of EU citizens and freight, while at the same time cut-ting costs and improving sustainability.The EU guidelines for the development of the TEN-T set the goals for the con-nection of all transport “patchworks” into one far-reaching network: land, air and maritime. The TEN-T aims at harmonising EU’s transport multimod-al network and assuring compatibility, while at the same time reducing GHG emissions.

KEY QUESTIONS

• Is reducing the number of vehicles on the road the best way to ease traffic? Or should the bet be placed on build-ing new roads and expanding existing ones?

• How can the EU help passengers move away from oil-fuelled transport to cleaner options? Is the investment on research and development of green-er technology viable?• What else can be done to increase public transport efficiency? How should information technology be implement-ed for this matter?• What steps should the EU take in or-der to ensure that every MS is connect-ed to the TEN-T and is able to benefit from it?

RESEARCH LINKS

• A video on TEN-T: http://goo.gl/16iaVM • Future of transport – analytical report: http://goo.gl/ADSY4S • Transport 2050: The major challeng-es, the key measures: http://goo.gl/SEzFmx • Climate Action – Reducing emissions from transport: http://goo.gl/bHI5Xa

6 “The EU Transport in Figures”, page 120 – Final consumption of petrol, diesel and biofuels for Transport: http://goo.gl/CUIdhz;7 Directorate General for Mobility and Transport website: http://goo.gl/SyK4xx;8 Civitas website: http://www.civitas.eu/;

Committee on Transport (TRAN)

20

Contacts

This Academic Preparation Kit is the responsibility of the Board of the forum and of the team of Chairpersons. General queries should be addressed to the President. Otherwise, the Chairpersons will contact their Committees regarding all pre-session academic prepa-ration tasks.

APPEJ – Associação Portuguesa do Parlamento Europeu dos Jovens/European Youth Parliament PortugalE-mail address: geral@pejportugal.comWebsite: www.pejportugal.com

Inter-Regional Forum of EYP Portugal - Guimarães 2015Email address: interregionalforum@pejportugal.comOfficial Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Inter-Region-al-Forum-of-EYP-Portugal-Guimarães-2015

Head-organisers of the ForumE-mail address: interregionalforum@pejportugal.com (reaches both)Telephone numbers:Mafalda Rodrigues – (+351) 915676118Miguel Paiva – (+351) 912702185

Forum’s PresidentAnna BorrellE-mail address: annaborrell23@gmail.com

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Under the patronage of I.P.D.J. and the Municipality of Guimarães.

With the appreciated support of Hotel S. Mamede, Pousada da Juventude de Guimarães, Escola Secundária Francisco de Holanda e Paço dos Duques de Bragança.