Dear all,

the Issue 0 is a special edition of the 70th International session in Tallinn session magazine.

While it may not convey to the fullest the excitement for the session and everything that awaits, we hope it sheds new light on the topics and deepen your understanding of the issues involved. From the insightful Chinese-made fish and chips, over the ever complicated relations between the EU and Russia, all the way to the everyday problem of balancing personal and professional life, the Issue 0 is a benevolent attempt to bring you closer to comprehending the complexity of perspectives you are about to embark on tackling.Much luck in your preparation and see you all very soon!

Yours,Media Team

2

3 Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs 2 (LIBE 2) Other side of Censorship

5 Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs 1 (LIBE 1) Parking Space, Outer Space and Closet Space

7 Committee on International Trade (INTA) Fish & Ships: Made in China

9 Committee on Constitutional Affairs (AFCO) Reinventing European Union both for the sake of today and tomorrow

11 Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs 3 (LIBE 3) When Europe becomes the new Dreamland

13 Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET) European Union & Russia

15 Committee on Development (DEVE) Water... water everywhere - and not a drop to drink

17 Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety 2 (ENVI 2) Thirsty for some action

19 Committee on Regional Development (REGI) Ecotopia

21 Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety 1 (ENVI 1) Time to choose your own natural disaster

23 Committee on Industry, Research and Energy 2 (ITRE 2) Playing God: Science and Future

25 Committee on Industry, Research and Energy 1 (ITRE 1) Everything comes down to... more investment?

27 Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) Banking Union: breakthrough or breakdown

29 Committee on Employment and Social Affairs 1 (EMPL 1) No princes here, only paupers

31 Committee on Employment and Social Affairs 21 (EMPL 2) Europe is turning grey

33 New Horizon Speech

Content

Internet policy – the de-bate on how to prevent

cyber crime while ensur-ing freedom on the inter-net – has quickly become one the most controver-sial topics in politics. Con-sidering the recent public outcry over attempts to pass legislature such as the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), how should we approach a topic to which, cyni-cally put, every solution seems to create more problems than it solves? Here are four things to keep in mind.

Firstly, when dis-cussing cyber crime most people talk about free file sharing, or piracy. Piracy is the act of sharing and downloading copyrighted material without the per-mission of the copyright holder. Some people equate this to stealing, and many industries have tried to lobby governments to introduce anti-piracy laws. Although such laws have been introduced in Eu-ropean countries such as France and Sweden their efficiency has to be ques-tioned. Sweden’s soft In-tellectual Property Rights Enforcement Directive (IPRED) has done little to curb file sharing. At the same time revenue in the music industry has de-creased by 3,9% in France since the introduction of

the Haute Autorité Pour la Diffusion des Œuvres et la Protection des Droits sur Internet (HADOPI), which allows the government to turn off all internet access if you are caught illegally downloading files three times. Secondly, if we return to Sweden, and fo-cus on the music industry, there has been a clear de-cline to music piracy. How-ever, this is not due to the legislature but rather the rise of the music platform Spotify. Spotify offers 10 hours of free music with commercials each month, and if you pay a fee you get unlimited monthly music access which you can also download to your computer or phone. But what does this teach us? That it is possible to make

the other Side of CensorshipBy Felix Makarowski (SE)

3Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs 2

a profit off music in today’s digital age. Maybe there is not a problem with the legislature, but rather a problem of the market clinging tightly to old and inefficient methods. Thirdly, there is certain paranoia about how states can use inter-net laws to censor and monitor its citizens. What are such concerns based on and how seriously should we take them? Ac-cording to the Economist Intelligence Unit’s 2011 Democracy Index, only 16 of Europe’s roughly 50 states rank as full de-mocracies. That is roughly 30%. Six states are ranked as either hybrid or au-thoritarian regimes, Tur-key, Ukraine and Russia among them. The rest of Europe is considered to

consist of flawed democ-racies. Although most Eu-ropean countries scored high on civil liberties, the rise of the extreme right in Europe and the declin-ing democracy in Hungary and Romania are a cause of serious concern. In light of this assessment – how can we move on as one united Europe? Fourthly, al-though this article has so far focused on the critical aspects of new internet legislature, there is a le-gitimate concern about internet fraud. Nigerian princes and bankers from places you have never heard of waiting to give you your non-existing aunt’s inheritance need to be dealt with, so do web sites and people selling counterfeited goods. In

order to achieve this, we need to look at our exist-ing laws and ask ourselves: Do we feel safe that an independent court would uphold our case if we were defrauded today? If yes, then fine. If not, action needs to be taken to pro-tect all European citizens from scams on the inter-net. To conclude, be-fore beginning discussions on the topic, I invite you to see what really needs to be done, andwhy. Also consider who needs to change and how we should implement these changes. Finally, I ask you to consider this: in a free society, things have a way of working them-selves out. •

4

‘Families: A social unit where the father

is concerned with park-ing space, the children with outer space and the mother with closet space.’The 1950’s comedian Evan Esar’s definition of the word family. While the definition which can be found in “Esar’s Com-ic Dictionary” is by no means official, it does re-mind one of how the fam-ily unit has evolved over the past few decades.

Families were once almost exclusively comprised of a mother, a father and a couple of kids. Nowadays this fam-ily norm no longer ex-ists; there is no “average family”. Families could consist of single mothers or fathers, two mothers, two fathers, only siblings, foster parents, aunts or uncles or friends as guard-ians. Does a family even require the presence of a child in order to be defined as a family? Now while it may not be advisable to try and define “family”, it is well worth being aware that each family is unique, that it finds itself in its own specific situation and therefore may have differ-ent needs to other fami-lies in the country or con-tinent.

What needs might a fam-ily have and who should provide them? Society has also changed over the years. In the past we moved around less, meaning extended families lived nearby and reliable granny or grand-dad could mind the kids when mommy and daddy needed a break, give ad-vice when new parents were unsure and maybe even offer financial sup-port in rough times when that electricity bill seemed impossible to pay off. What about the neighbours that replaced them? They seem to be little relief as many of us no longer real-ly knows our neighbours. Modern lifestyles and the desire for both career and family have us commuting long distances and have

Parking Space, outer Space and Closet Space

By Sandra Harney (IE)

5Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs 1

resulted in a detachment from what is local and a familiarity of that which is far away. So, as much as progress and modernisa-tion has made our lives much easier, the way in which it has evolved has stripped families of their natural support mecha-nisms that supply many of the family services that lo-cal governments now find themselves having to sup-ply.

What can the European Union do to help local governments to step up their game in ensuring families can live happy balanced lives? Naturally differ-ent countries will have varying approaches to how much taxpayer or

welfare money should be spent on family related services. What kind of policy should the EU have when on one hand you have states like Finland where high taxes provide for universal daycare, big family benefits and gener-ous parental leave and on the other hand states like Latvia where parents have to juggle multiple jobs just to stay afloat?Society has changed, fam-ily needs have changed. Most countries in Europe offer family services but not at the same level, what can the EU do to ensure equal living stan-dards for all citizens in Europe? We have come a long way from Esan’s Comic Dictionary’s defini-tion of family, the values have stayed the same but

in the name of progress we now strive to ensure that no woman’s, man’s, a citizen’s professional am-bitions are held back by their wish for a family life. As the playwright George Bernard Shaw once said: ‘Perhaps the greatest so-cial service that can be rendered by anybody to this country and to man-kind is to bring up a fam-ily’. •

6

Fish and chips, that quintessential dish of

English cuisine, is tradition-ally prepared using codfish. Now that the once-plenti-ful stocks of cod around Britain and in the Baltic Sea are depleted, many chip-pies are switching to other white fish instead. A com-mon but inferior substitute lacking the exquisite flaky texture of cod, pangasius, is often farmed cheaply insmall, muddy Vietnamese ponds. They are exported frozen via China, where the fish are deboned and packaged as fillets. Lower labour costs in Vietnam and China allow pangasiusto beat out the tastier tra-ditional Norwegian cod, endangering the quality of one of England’s finest tra-ditions.

The hidden dan-gers threatening fish and chips reflect some of the costs of international trade. By importing pan-gasius rather than cod, fish and chip shops can sometimes avoid raising their prices, which ben-efits consumers. However, not only do Vietnamese pangasius put English cu-linary culture at risk, they divert revenue from the certifiably sustainable and historic fisheries of Nor-way and Iceland to fish farms in Southeast Asia where labour is exploited and mismanagement damages local habitats, compromises water sup-plies and sometimes leads to disease-causing bacte-ria developing antibiotic resistance.

Meanwhile, the EU’s Com-mon Agricultural Policy maintains a tariff and sub-sidy regime that shuts out imports while drastically reducing export prices. This raises prices and tax-es for European consum-ers and distorts develop-ing countries’ agricultural markets. Every year, cheap European sugar dumped in Mozambique costs the country more than the total of its national bud-get for agriculture and ru-ral development. Frozen chicken thighs and wingsexported to Senegal and Ghana are 50 per cent cheaper than fresh chick-en from domestic farm-ers. Under-priced surplus powdered milk from the EU forces farmers in Mali, India and Jamaica to let fresh milk run into under-

Fish & Chips: Made in ChinaBy Saki Shinoda (CH)

7Committee on International Trade

serviced gutters. Yet with-out the CAP, Europe’s pas-toral traditions, the fertile fields and the lowing, lum-bering cattle that preserve the green beauty and age-old lifestyles of rural re-gions, could all disappear. The CAP allows Europe to carry out development in its own rural regions, pre-serve tradition and keep European agriculture ef-ficient. In many develop-ing countries, imported products from European firms with experience and global economies of scale put great pres-sure on domestic firms in fledgling industries. While this pressure can push do-mestic firms to become more efficient, it can also put them out of business. Even in newly

industrialised economies, European firms risk crip-pling technological or service-oriented domes-tic industries, or prevent home-grown innovation. European countries in-vesting or trading in de-veloping countries may also be accused of con-tinuing colonialism, or be criticized for their exclu-sive trade deals with for-mer colonies. For a long time, European countries have had the upper hand in their foreign relations with today’s developing countries. Compared to the easy and brutal exploi-tation of resources made possible by colonialism, trade interdependency is undoubtedly riskier. Being dependent on huge quan-tities of imported crude

oil, coal and gas from Rus-sia or rare metals from Congo renders Europe po-litically and economically vulnerable. Nations must meet theirown needs and protect their own interests. Eu-rope does that and more: it often looks out for the rights and interests of populations beyond their borders. Still, some of its actions reflect a waning power clinging desperate-ly to the disproportionate benefits of an outdated system. Trade and global-isation threaten to change everything: life, language, culture, people, the status quo, even what fish we get with our chips. Inevi-tably, tradition may have to be sacrificed. Compro-mises will turn out to be necessary. Difficult, divi-sive questions will have to be answered. The shape of tomorrow remains un-clear as of yet; tomorrow could bring cod, pangas-ius or even a new national dish for England. Tomorrow is unclear, but it is Europe’s chance to define it today. •

8

While Euroscepti-cism has been

growing for years, the current economic, finan-cial and debt crises seem to be the true catalysers for a profound change in the way the European Union (EU) works. In-deed, now is the time to redesign the institutional framework of the EU, not only to resolve the acute problems of the Eurozone, but also issues that have been present for years. Problems, such as the demographic defi-cit or the rather delicate challenge of balancing competences between Brussels and national capitals, must be ad-dressed, whilst drawing up new structures.

Moreover, in order to make the new framework sustainable, it must also take into con-sideration megatrends which will shape Europe in years to come. At the height of the current crises, when crucial decisions regard-ing Europe are taken by a handful of people that have not even been di-rectly elected, increas-ingly many are losing faith in European institutions. Consequently, anti-EU parties are gaining ground across Europe. This has also been confirmed by, for instance, the persis-tently decreasing voter turnout at elections of the European Parliament. While no simple and rapid solution exists, in addition to increasing the number

Reinventing the european Union:both for the sake of today and tomorrow

By Arnolds Eizenšmits (LV)

9Committee on Constitutional Affairs

and role of bodies chosen by all citizens, other op-tions, such as informing Europeans better, could be discussed. In the long-term, various megatrends will change our continent pro-foundly and the new mod-el must be able to adapt to those developments. For example, taking into consideration the increas-ingly important role wom-en will play in society, the EU should contemplate the introduction of ‘pink quotas’ which would fos-ter the participation of women in its institutions. Another megatrend is the increasing speed of de-velopment in the field of technology, which will ac-celerate even more in the future. That raises several questions, for instance,

about how digitalised the EU should become. Fur-thermore, bearing in mind climate change, the new framework needs to take into account environmen-tal aspects, too. Inevitably, the Committee will need to agree upon the general di-rection of the EU – should the new framework pave way for more European integration, or quite the contrary? Is it time for the EU to take up new competences, such as determining a common policy regarding educa-tion? Which way would individual Member States be stronger to face future challenges? And how can it be ensured that Euro-pean citizens will consider this new order legitimate?We eagerly wait to find out

what would the young Eu-ropean minds of this Com-mittee do, if they could start from a scratch. •

10

The search for wealth, freedom and the

improvement of living conditions have always moved masses andentire populations from country to country, from a continent to another one. A constant desire for a better life, where hu-man rights are respected and where oppression is just a shadow of a for-mer existence, remains one of the main causes of migratory flows. During the centuries, the name of the dreamland has changed several times. Once European massesmoved to America for a better future, now it is the European Union’s turn to represent the hope of the oppressed.

Every year thou-sands of people risk their lives and give all they have got to human traffick-ers with the promise of a safe passage through the European borders. While a conspicuous number of immigrants dramatically die while trying to reach our shores, the ones who manage to arrive in their dreamland have to settle in new countries, embrace new laws and obtain a res-idence permit. However the migratory flux towards the EU does not have the same impact on all Mem-ber States. Southern Eu-rope is obviously the core of this phenomenon, as it offers the easiest way to reach the continent and move north to settle in other regions. Another widespread conthem back

When europe becomes the new Dreamland

By Elisa Martinelli (IT)

11Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs 3

sequence is the involve-ment of immigrants in il-legal traffics, worsening the living condition of the hosting country. This led some states to establish a prevention policy aiming at reducing the migration towards their own soil, a decision that seemed to go against the principles of united borders and mutual help. A recent ex-ample can be found in the attitude France adopted after the events of the Arab Spring. An increased number of refugees fled from their own countries to start a new life in Eu-rope, far from war and its horrors, landing on the Italian shores. They then moved towards the French border trying to join some of their relatives, but the French government sent

them back to Italy as soon as they got caught. Thisevent triggered a clash between the two coun-tries: on the one hand France tried to protect its own borders, on the other hand Italy considered this policy hostile and opposed to the principle of coop-eration among the Mem-ber States. It is therefore fundamental to find a solution that can pro-tect the borders of every state. Should all the coun-tries join forces and find a reasonable compromise to solve this problem or should they act indepen-dently? The EU has always acted as a single body, basing all its strength in its unity. In a moment where a severe economic crisis is striking every single coun-try and outside their bor-

ders people struggle for their living, is cooperation the only way to deal with this issue? Europe can help these people finding a better future, bearing in mind the importance of protecting not only its borders but also its inter-ests. Finding a balanced policy is definitely the key to success, but the ques-tion on how the EU should reach this goal remains open. •

12

If we realise that the main raison d’être of

NATO was to counterbal-ance the power of Russia (or the USSR), it seems to be a fairly extraordi-nary idea that NATO and Russia now cooperate. Nevertheless, the situa-tion today is very differ-ent from the one 50 years ago, and the threats faced by today’s nations differ substantially from the ones of the Cold War. As we have realised, the current status quo can no longer be held and the EU needs to come up with a clear strategy on how to deal with its vast eastern neighbour.

For many people in Eastern Europe, it is still difficult to accept that Rus-sia should be taken as an equal partner in military negotiations. They still remember the Red Army invasion into Hungary in 1956 or the Warsaw Pact occupation of Czecho-slovakia in 1968. Even in Russia, some people still believe that the fall of the USSR is the ‘’greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century’’, and that Russia needs to keep its sovereignty rather than share it with the US or in-deed the EU. The recent protests against Russian membership in the WTO have shown that there is still some level of distrust towards the West among Russia’s citizens.

On the other hand, the facts are unde-niable – Russia has been one of the most impor-tant business agents east of Germany, and without Russian resources, more than 100 million Europe-ans would have no jobs, no heating and would not be able to drive their cars. Due (or thanks to) the cur-rent economical interde-pendence of Russia, the EU and the US, isolation-ism is clearly not an op-tion. The EU’s hopes to establish an alterna-tive source for our energy consumption have sadly enough failed. The Nabuc-co project is extremely un-likely to materialise due to Turkey’s demands. Keep-ing the recent Arab Spring and the huge political in-

european Union & RussiaBy Jan Nedvídek (CZ)

13Committee on Foreign Affairs

stability of that region inmind, it would not be very smart of us to rely solely on oil from the Middle East. Renewable sources of energy being not effi-cient and the nuclear en-ergy not popular enough, the fact that Russia will carry on being our main source of energy is self-evident. At the same time, we can observe a shift in the priorities of American foreign policy. Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkans are no lon-ger the US’ main interest. We might therefore ask whether the US Secretary of State is not willing to make some concessionsin terms of the EU-Rus-sia relations in order to secure Russia’s support in the Asia-Pacific region.

All these facts, together with Western criticism of the unsatisfac-tory situation regarding human rights in Russia create a difficult environ-ment for a real and hon-est military partnership. Nonetheless, scholars have described politics as the “art of the impos-sible”, and therefore we ought to at least try. Perhaps the tra-ditional military coopera-tion is no longer desirable. Perhaps we need to focus more on terrorism, cyber-netic safety and humani-tarian catastrophes. I can merely conclude that we must not underestimate the importance of the EU-NATO-Russia rela-tions, especially after the crisis in Syria, where these three entities seem to

disagree. It is undeniably a very complex issue, but the possible outcome- a safe and energetically se-cured Europe is. •

14

It has to seem a bit ironic that while 70 per cent of

our “blue planet” is cov-ered by water, only 0.007 per cent of that water is readily accessible for hu-man use. Still, as small as 0.007 per cent sounds, that water would be sufficient to comfortably cover the global industrial and do-mestic demand of 7 billion people living on this plan-et. That is to say, it could be sufficient, if geography and politics would not dis-tribute the access to it so unequally.

For example, in the Jordan Rift Valley, where the eponymous Jordan Riv-er provides water for Israel, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon, the river’s flow has de-creased by 90 per cent due to human utilisation. Israel’s daily water usage amounts to 350 litres per capita, com-pared to 60 litres per Jorda-nian and 30 litres per Pales-tinian, while a mutual limit of 200 litres daily per capita could grant all parties a suf-ficient supply. Fortunately, in the last decade, the effort to increase access to drink-ing water has made a dent in the water scarcity of the Middle East and Africa. Ac-cording to EuropeAid, the UN Millennium Develop-ment Goal to decrease the proportion of people with-out sustainable access to safe drinking water by half was reached in 2010. Proj-

ects supported by the Eu-ropean Commission alone contributed to that goal by improving water access for 32 million people between 2004 and 2009. Yet Europe has the possibility to make a still greater impact on both the geographical and political factor of water scarcity and conflicts that arise from it. On the one hand, Europe can contribute to ensuring that existing water supplies are utilised fairly and efficiently. On an inter-national level, that means stressing the importance of “hydro-diplomacy” be-tween neighbouring states in arid regions, as well as be-tween the aforementioned states and the European countries themselves.In de-veloping countries, official institutions for (esp. trans-national) water manage-

Water… water everywhere – and not a drop to drink

By Randolf Carr (DE)

15Committee on Development

ment often lack capacities and resources. Effective wa-ter management in these countries also includes fair cross-sectorial coordina-tion between different wa-ter consumers, such as the general population, public services, and (oftentimes European) industries or cor-porations. “Public owner-ship” – participation of ac-tors at all levels – is essential for water management pol-icies to function. Therefore individuals, corporations and governments must be aware of their relativeresponsibility for the sound management of scarce re-sources. On the other hand, equalising water distribu-tion is not doing enough. Population growth, urbani-sation, and economic de-velopment are increasingly taxing the limited water

resources in developing countries. Therefore, a ma-jor task is also to sustainably increase the supplies in re-gions where water is scarce. Europe as a leading force in the development of envi-ronmental technology can play a great role in meeting this practical challenge. For example, the technique of desalinating seawater has proven effective in Australia and the Arabian Peninsula. Constructing desalination plants with European help could also increase freshwa-ter supplies for African coun-tries, many of which suffer from very limited water access despite long coast-lines. Next to increasing the amount of available fresh-water, recycling it is equally important. It may not be glamorous, but European aid to improve sanitation infrastructure and agricul-

tural techniques to prevent water contamination could have a crucial impact. The World Health Organisation estimates that 1€ invested in drinking water and sani-tation can generate returns of up to 34€ that save lives and increase prosperity. In Europe water is taken for granted and used abundantly, often even carelessly, while people in other regions of the world suffer. If this abundance apparently cannot be sacri-ficed and shared with these less fortunate regions, it is up to Europe to at least fos-ter their regional develop-ment and take the edge off their water distress. Either Europe takes action to alle-viate water scarcity now, or it will have to deal with the dire consequences of water conflicts and migration al-ready tomorrow. •

16

At primary school one learns how vital

water is for life on our planet. However, the European Commission (EC) seems to have only recently started paying attention to this little fact. Not only the Euro-pean structures, but also important international actors, such as the Unit-ed Nations (UN), have promptly brought water into the spotlight.

The increasing worldwide demand for safe water for human and animal consumption, es-pecially in the emerging economies, along with the growing fears of po-tential conflicts caused by water insufficiency, have mobilised policymakers, economists, environmen-talists, consumers and civil society. Worrying about water seems to be the new trend in interna-tional politics. Despite the at-tention, what we know for sure is that we know very little. The data offered by the EC is not recent and does not cover all aspects of this problem. One of the most important steps so far, has been the launch of the “Roadmap to a Re-source Efficient Europe”

by the EC in 2011. None-theless, the water issue is not optimally addressed in this publication. The upcoming “Blueprint to Safeguard Europe’s Wa-ters” seems to be the most promising action for improving the EU water policy. The Blueprint will go along with the EU 2020 Strategy and is expected to be implemented by 2020. It will include analy-sis on the current waters in the EU, as well as setting future targets concerning water efficiency, water management, governance in water policy, global di-mension of water resource management. Moving the water issue from a nation-al to an EU level is a re-quest gathering more and more followers. The idea of the EU standardising

thirsty for some actionBy Aida Grishaj (AL)

17Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety 2

practises regarding water management, controlling the quality and prices of this resource, seems to be the most acceptable one. There are several reasons for this. First of all, the prices across Europe dif-fer a lot from one region to another. Secondly, the new incentive of privatis-ing water resources has led to objections from different stakeholders. They claim that a com-mon good such as water is better for specific groups or enterprises. Improving technology is another im-portant step to be consid-ered since it is estimated to significantly reduce wa-ter leakage. The consumer behaviours in Europe are also a matter of concern. European citizens often

lack accurate and up-to-date information on this is-sue. Taking water, its qual-ity and supply for granted, and therefore not doing enough in using it wisely, is an attitude that must be changed. Even though the quality of tap water is very good in many countries, for example Germany, citizens continue to buy bottled mineral water. Not knowing that mineral water is not any healthier than fresh water that they have access to at their homes, leads to a nega-tive ecobalance due to the plastic waste caused by their consumption habits.By making water a central topic in the political dis-cussion, the EU is trying to put itself in a globally leading position in offer-ing the issue long-term

and sustainable solutions. The commitment to meet the Millennia Goals set by the UN, as well incentives such as the “Blueprint to Safeguard Europe’s Wa-ters” seem promising, but in order to set standards , which are supposed to be a reference point for the whole world, the EU needs more than words and documents. •

18

In a metropolis double the size of another in

area or population, av-erage per capita electric cable length and num-ber of gas stations falls by approximately 15%, while income, patents, savings and other in-dicators of wealth rise by 15%. In developed countries, many cities, including Madrid, Seoul, Brussels and New York, have lower per capita greenhouse gas emis-sions than the national average due to high population densities and public transit systems.

Unfortunately, this efficiency boost is offset by urban sprawl. New York has much lower carbon dioxide emissions than most other American cities because the latter are characterised by suburban sprawl. Many homes lie beyond walking distance of workplacesand shops. This sprawl gob-bles up clean air, farmland and energy. Though seen oc-curring all over the world, notably now in developing countries, sprawl is not nec-essarily the organic way for a city to grow. It historically occurred, and still continues to occur, because people desire more living space—a preoccupation probably agricultural in origin—and because cars are affordable and available. Both these factors can and will change. In the face of pressing en-

vironmental concerns and growing global populations, they must. Reformers must not be afraid to dream big. While Europe does not have the problems of rapid popu-lation growth and mass ru-ral-to-urban migration as many developing countries do, it stands to benefit just as much, economically, so-cially and environmentally, from innovative urban re-form. This does not have to be in the form of designing and building eco-cities fromscratch as China and Abu Dhabi are doing in Dongtan and Masdar City. Smaller plans that affect specific facets of life in specific cities can do as much good. Visions for future cities are necessarily limited by inevitable constraints. Many cities, including Lon-don, do not have a single central authority with the

ecotopiaBy Saki Shinoda (CH)

19Committee on Regional Development

power to completely trans-form an entire metropolis with a unified plan for large-scale infrastructure, as in historical Seoul. Existing homes cannot simply be de-molished. Cultural heritage must be protected. Geo-graphical factors have to be accounted for. High-pollut-ing heavy industries cannot just be wished away. N o n e t h e l e s s , technology and clever thinking can offer many solutions to the vast range of growing pains that a city might experience. Tokyo, with its limited space, high population and frequent earthquakes, has somewhat extreme requirements that are effectively fulfilled by a strict building code that al-lows for seismically stable skyscrapers, prevents tall buildings from blocking sunlight to neighbouring

buildings, and maintains adequate space between buildings to increase qual-ity of life. Urban farming techniques, especially high-density farming, while still largely untested, could po-tentially reduce transporta-tion costs for food, act as local carbon sinks in urban centres, and allow for more rural land currently used ag-riculturally to be restored to natural conditions. Walking, cycling and public transit becomes more efficient and attractive in more compact, densely populated areas,and sprawling cities based on the car could become vertical cities built around elevator backbones. The concept of the ‘aerotropo-lis’, a city built around air traffic just as 19th-centurycities were built around rail-ways, further investment in high speed rail, or develop-

ment of more efficient air travel, as with sub-orbital spaceflight, could increase connectivity between these compact urban hubs while preventing encroachment on valuable rural resources. This vision is still only one of many possible forms that the city solution to growing populations and environmental pressures could take. It is still vague and riddled with problems, but the radical changes that the human population and the world environment are undergoing require both short-term measures, and long-term visionary strides that can truly transform cities into sustainable solu-tions for the future. •

20

It cannot be disputed by anyone; nature, our

own world, is becoming more and more danger-ous. From draughts to tsunamis, from earth-quakes to tornados, our environment has always shown its great power. In an era of financial tur-moil, our ability to tack-le this kind of challenges is much more difficult than the past years. The reflexes of European Union are being ques-tioned more than any other time in the past; if EU Member States could not control their own finances, how can they deal with unpredicted and sudden natural di-sasters?

Τhis situation is not only limited to great disasters. The impact of climate change is obvious in our everyday life. The last five spring periods in Greece have been re-corded as part of the top 20 of the warmest ever, while the last one (March-May 2012) was the warm-est since 1987. One is also to expect warm winters, considering the fact thatscientists claim that Earth’s average tem-perature is climbing. Nevertheless, this is not the case. Winter periods across Europe are harsher than ever, while many people lose their lives be-cause of the low tempera-tures. Therefore, it is of the vital importance for Europe to find the way to

tackle this kind of crisis. To start with, the level of preparedness is definitely something that we need to focus on. For instance, regions facing flood dan-ger or those exposed to an increased earthquake risk need to take the re-spective measures. A higher level of prepared-ness can also help a coun-try’s economy get back on track after a disaster. The need for quick and effective response mech-anisms is undoubted. However, the means of succeeding a goal like this is still under discussion. Who should take which measures, and what role should the EU play in this process? And yet there is even more we need to focus on. The European

time to choose your own natural disaster

By Ilias-Marios Oikonomou (GR)

21Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety 1

Union is often accused of being very slow, when needed to react quickly. This point is referred to a number of different as-pects; from decision-mak-ing to crisis management. Slow crisis management for climate-related disas-ters could even create greater problems than the ones that came up from natural causes. Thus, how should Europe prepare for extreme weather con-ditions? How can all the agencies in charge provide the people with the best possible solutions? Is there any proper way for them to be coordinated? There are numerous points to be taken into account in or-der to provide high quality services in a crisis situa-tion. Furthermore, some argue that the European

Union needs a crisis man-agement mechanism that focuses on the right level. Extreme weather condi-tions can be present either throughout Europe or lim-ited to a small region. On the other hand, natural phenomena such as great floods usually influence a big yet specific area. Ac-cordingly, all diversities between different regions, as well as the common ground that can be found in greater areas should be taken into consideration. A variety of regional and larger reaction schemes could be created or more attention could be given on town planning in pro-portion to the demands on protection by extreme natural phenomena. Last but not least, one has to think

about the prevention of an even increased num-ber of similar phenomena. The implementation of an environmental policy and the cooperation between Member States could bring progress, and is part of the Treaty of Lisbon; however, its implemen-tation is still in an early stage. It is now up to you, Delegates, to come up with the solutions in or-der to protect Europeans for future natural disas-ters and extreme weather conditions. It is up to you to find the way for every-one to be and feel safer at those hard moments. •

22

Humans are “play-ing God” and many

things seen in science fiction films are far from fiction. Mankind is at a turning point because science and technology have combined in a way no one ever thought possible.

Dr. Craig Venter, who is leading a special area in human genome analysis, has been work-ing to create synthetic life forms for years. In his own words, his company Synthetic Genomics Inc. is very near to creating world’s first man-made living creature. Many ar-gue that this can lead to irrevocable problems, both accidentally and consciously. No one has made any headway pro-posing some sort of con-trol criteria either. There is a gamble between main-taining biological balance and taking a step too far and actually abusing sci-ence. Many are crying out the magic word “ethics” in order to stop the pos-

sible consequences. De-spite all the hype around ethics, science and tech-nology have improved the life of the “normal person” immensely. Stem cells are used to regener-ate and repair diseased or damaged tissue. Be-fore using new drugs on people, researchers can also use stem cells to test the safety and qual-ity of experimental drugs, therefore, putting PETA well at ease, too. From a social viewpoint, biomet-ric passports offer a good example. Data security is the direct result of us-ing biometric passports, which reduce the risk of theft, forgery and em-bezzlement. Of course, the EUo take into consider-

Playing God: Science and its Future

By Erdem Osman Topçu (TR)

23Committee on Industry, Research and Energy 2

ation that people have dif-ferent perceptions of what is right and what is wrong. There are still many people who oppose the x-ray ma-chinesin airports despite welcoming biometrics passports. In order to bring some objectivity into re-search, some are suggest-ing scientific experiments be supervised by control mechanisms. They would support the scientists by publishing feasibility stud-ies without interfering in the actual work. However, legislations are different in many EU countries, no ac-tual control mechanisms, criteria are considered yet. And should the EU even limit and control scientific freedom?

Many feel such a step needs to be taken. Recent Eurobarometer surveys show that Europe-ans want ethics to play an essential role in scientific research and demand har-mony between the meth-ods and goals of scientific research and moral and ethical principles. Those surveys also show Euro-peans’ strong attachment to social values and ethics. However, a majority give priority to objectivity over moral and ethical issues as far as science and technolo-gy decision-making process is concerned. The positive role scientists play in soci-ety is widely recognised, but the way scientists han-dle information towards the public is criticised. With this

societal interest in scientific developments, a balance between ethics and science can be found by taking into consideration the opinions of people and actualisingthem in control mecha-nisms that the EU is trying to set up. Who knows what the future brings to scien-tists like Dr. Craig Venter and if the ethical red line will stay as strong as it has thus far. The doctor, howev-er, is not so easily swayed. “Science in my view is, and should be, fun,” Dr. Craig Venter says. “A lot of people make it tedious. I don’t un-derstand why. ... I’m con-stantly accused of trying to have the best of all worlds, and I. •

24

With a current electric grid built more than

half a century ago, some argue the continent’s age-ing grid infrastructure is “creakingly inefficient, hope-lessly wasteful and liable to breakdown”. EU has already underlined the urgency to upgrade Europe’s networks toward a European “smart supergrid”, interconnecting them at the continental level. According to the Internation-al Energy Agency (IAE), Eu-rope requires investments of €1.5 trillion from 2007 to 2030 for the renewal of the electri-cal grid. Meanwhile, a report from Pike Research forecasts that during the period from 2010 to 2020, cumulative Eu-ropean investment in smart grid technologies will reach a mere $80.0 billion.

Under the Digi-tal Agenda, EU’s target by 2020 is to get coverage for every European to have fast broadband of over 30 megabits per second; and to get 50% of households sub-scribing to ultra-fast speeds of over 100 megabits per second. The Digital Agenda Scoreboard confirms that research investments are “falling further behind our competitors”; with a drop in commercial research in-vestment, the EU Informa-tion and Communications Technology (ICT) has less than half the R&D intensity of the US ICT sector. With the 2011 White Paper “Roadmap to a Single European Transport Area” the European Com-mission adopted a roadmap

of 40 concrete initiatives for the next decade to build a competitive transport sys-tem that will increase mo-bility, remove major barriers in key areas and fuel growth and employment. The de-mand for transport has been estimated at over €1.5 trillion for 2010-2030, while the current value of invest-ments required for devel-oping the trans-European transport network (TEN-T) in the EU is be in the rage of €80-140 billion. Needless to say, at the moment the in-vestment in transportation infrastructure is nowhere near the estimated cost of such a development.

everything comes down to… more investment?

By Ekin Arslan (TR)

25Committee on Industry, Research and Energy 1

To cut a long story short: more money is needed. At present, the numbers clear-ly show that there is a con-siderable (!) gap between current and optimal invest-ment in Europe, which can only partly be explained by the current economic crisis. At first glance, the solution seems simple: More investment is needed to establish reliable, Euro-pean Union wide energy communications, transport and knowledge infrastruc-tures to cater to the future market needs. However, “A Budget for Europe 2020” promises a fund of €40 bil-lion to energy, transport and digital infrastructures and the Commission’s research and innovation funding pro-gramme proposes an €80

billion investment with ICT as the largest beneficiary. The funds from “Connect-ing Europe Facility” grants almost €9.2 billion from 2014 to 2020 on pan-Euro-pean projects to give EU cit-izens and businesses access to high-speed broadband networks and the services that run on them. And when many other investments are provided by both public and private sectors already, the simplicity of the solution disappears. More investment is needed in almost every technology that will make life easier and sustainable – this is no news. However, when EU is already push-ing its limits in investments in infrastructure projects, would it not be wiser to fo-

cus on other problematic areas on the path to devel-op sustainable energy, com-munications, transport and knowledge infrastructures, instead of unrealistically and almost shamelessly asking for more invest-ments? Similarly, it is also lazy to stay passive while waiting for the money to come, when there are other serious barriers stopping Europe from becoming bet-ter connected for a better future market. •

26

When outgoing World Bank president Rob-

ert Zoenick was asked if the latest European nightmare was Spain, he aptly replied: “There’s no shortage of things that can give you in-somnia”. European banking policy makers are no strang-ers to sleeplessness: despite their thorough proposal for a Banking Union, they face skepticism from all sides. While the rough history of the European monetary union and unreliability of the European Banking Agency is discouraging, the newest proposal could rep-resent the dawning of the Eurozone crisis. Many criti-cisms and reservations are justified, but just as easily taken apart: here are five of the most common ones.1. “Berlin’s resistance to Eurozone debt sharing

suggests it will be unwill-ing to bail out Spain’sdepositors.” Countries in southern Europe would most likely not find them-selves in such precarious situations had Germany and France not given them huge loans during the boom. While most of the blame rests on the Spanish government and investors with poor judg-ment, German banks are the ones that remain vul-nerable: by “bailing out Spain’s depositors”, they are actually protecting their own lenders. In fact, Germany is an advocate of the banking union: if they are able to oversee and advise the system, this eliminates substantial anxieties about how their funding is being used by

financially weaker mem-bers.

2. “Pan-European regu-lation would make it easier for parent banks to drain liquidity from their often well-fundedcentral European subsid-iaries.” This fear is par-ticularly rife in Poland and the Czech Republic: there are few banking problems and savingis favored, but large western-European banks, e.g. UniCredit, make up almost 90% of the sector. Hence, it is a rational concern that in times of trouble, Italy would reach towards sta-ble central Europe. But a banking union does not imply that subsidiaries will have no say about plans for liquidity with re-

Banking Union: breakthrough or breakdown?

By Cecilia Mihaljek (CH)

27Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs

gard to their parents. If anything, it should make it easier for the voice of host countries’ supervisors to be heard. More a matter of technicality than opinion, this statement is only true to a certain extent.

3. “Fiscal union” is a weighted term, implying integrated government saving and spending poli-cies. Politically, eco-nomically and realistically speaking, this is impossible, and thus it is tempting to write off the banking union with it. Nevertheless, a clos-er look at Brussels’ proposal is reassuring: the funding of deposit insurance is solely up to banks, leaving only cross-border bank resolu-tion to the European tax-

payer. While the portion ofgovernment revenue go-ing towards the monetary union will have to increase, this has nothing to do withDanes and Romanians pay-ing the same VAT. Further-more, the supervision will be limited to banks, i.e. themonetary union; fiscal pol-icy will remain an autono-mous matter.

4. Moral hazard: “If banks ‘know that they will be bailed out when in great difficulty, they have an incentive to offer riskier loans.” I am still wait-ing for an empirical study that actually proves the existence of moral hazard – in the meantime, it is safe to say that no bank ap-proaches its finances with government bailout as a

backup plan. Regardless, the banking union cannot be accused of providing a pan-European safety net for irresponsibility. Due topolitical pressure, it is dif-ficult for individual govern-ments to let their national institutions fail, but interna-tional objectivity and scru-tiny would circumvent this dilemma altogether.

5. “Time.” There is no way to refute the claim that the banking union will not be created overnight – consid-ering that the crisis is bed-ded on years of irresponsibil-ity, this is hardly surprising. But if policy-makers can master a gradual approach whilst maintaining a sense of urgency, they will have developed their own sleep-ing pill. •

28

A couple of years after we saw the United

States suffer an economic meltdown proportional to that of the Great Depres-sion, Europe is finding it-self on the verge of a simi-lar disaster. News is filled with reports on the fiscal crisis, unemployment and the current inability of governments to cope with it. The international scope of the economic cri-sis makes it an even more urgent of an issue. Many have turned to emergen-cy measures in the hope of quickly stabilising the situation. This means that enormous amounts of fi-nancial means are handed out without paying atten-tion to social consequenc-es.

The results of recent elections across Europe show that people, too, want a change in direction. The question stands whether there is an effective way of us-ing welfare reforms to improve the deterrent state of many European countries. Or even more importantly, will it be fast enough? In most cases the dissatisfaction is caused by unemployment, which in the time of crisis, is get-ting increasingly severe. However, it is by no means easy for a country hit by a crisis to provide people with enough workplaces, as both the public and private sector are facing financial losses and are

forced to make redun-dancies. The situations such as the one Europe is in at the moment require not only acting on remov-ing the consequences of the crisis, but also coming up with long-term solu-tions that would prevent potential problems in the future. That being said, reforming the labour market should also be ap-proached through educa-tional reforms. Although the effects of such mea-sures may not be imme-diate, they can be imple-mented right away and have a major influence on students’ course choices in the near future. The research speaks for itself. There is a lack of 300,000

no princes here, only paupersBy Nives Kaprocki (RS)

29Committee on Employment and Social Affairs 1

engineers in Germany, withnew work places created in the ICT sector every day. The need for people pro-ficient in health and social care, as well as green econ-omy, is rising, too. Before moving on with educational and then financial reforms, this all should be taken into serious consideration. Another issue that Europe has been try-ing to cope with for years is the challenges of an age-ing population. Structural changes in the labour mar-ket would aid progress as information technology could play a major role in assisting older people to more fully take part in work life, offering many a pos-sibility to work from home. If an increasing number of

older people learnt how to make use of IT, thus beating negative stereotypes set by younger generations, theywould not only be able to have access to information and different services, but would also become eco-nomically more active. A complex issue needs a complex and well-structured solution. The is-sue of unemployment andthe labour market structure is by all means complex and widespread. When it is the well-being of a population at stake, there are no mea-sures too large or small to be taken into considerationwhen dealing with prob-lems that can in the end have a major effect on all areas of life. For that rea-son, different national

governments have to co-operate to solve them, and not drift further apart. We cannot solve problems with the same way of thinking we have been used to. The time has come for things to change. •

30

One may think that Eu-rope is facing bigger

problems than the abstract “demographic change”, being confronted with the challenges of a long lasting financial crisis that evolved into a pan Euro-pean crisis. Europe’s finan-cial and economic struggle is calling attention all over the globe. In contrast, age-ing is a long-term process; Europe’s hair turning grey is left nearly unnoticed.

The continent has enjoyed a comfortable and unique ascent within the last 50 years and yet no one believes in the frightening scenario of the harsh con-sequences the predicted demographic change can bring along. The problem is something of a blur to be considered in the faraway future. On the contrary, demographic change cannot be more relevant than it is now. The time has come to flatten and reduce the grave impact on Europe’s overall wel-fare that accompanies the ageing process in all Eu-ropean societies. A brief look on official statistics helps to learn about the extent of the problem, a problem that affects es-pecially the generation

aged 30 and younger: the predicted median age will rise from approximately 38 years nowadays to 52 in 2050; this means a re-alignment of interests and needs in all terms of society and economy. Ac-cording to EU’s 2009 Age-ing Report, more than 61 million Europeans will be older than 80 by the year 2060. The working popu-lation will decrease simul-taneously. The time of the clearly visible pyramid shape of the age distri-bution chart in European countries is certainly over; Europe’s graph threatens to end up as a ballot box. The main principle of so-cial insurance systems – the intergenerational contract – is in danger and seems unsustainable

europe is turning greyBy Jonathan Engel (DE)

31Committee on Employment and Social Affairs 2

in the light of worker pen-sion rates decreasing to 1:1 by 2050.

What should the EU do? Most European welfare systems secure pen-sioners all over Europe with their safe “sunset years”. However, employ-ment and social policy are traditionally national sover-eignties. Europe is facing a variety of legal frameworks. The Lisbon treaty empha-sises the general need for harmonised and coordi-nated policies in the field of labour market conditions and employment strategies to maintain and strengthen one of the main guidelines in each and every society: intergenerational equity. Welfare systems all over Europe must be re-formed. If not, all European

welfare states will certainly struggle, suffering from a huge lack of social security contributions. In other words, our social welfare systems will only survive if mainly social security contributions and fertility rates can be lifted, and meanwhile unemploy-ment rates, especially youth unemployment lowered. It does not take a lot of creativity and “think-ing outside the box” to conclude that age-related spending will go through the roof. What does this mean for the strong European domestic market? It means a realignment of demands. The average customer aged 52 definitely has different interests from that of a 37-year-old, keeping in mind that the number of people aged 65+ will have doubled

by 2060 (from 85 million in 2008 up to 151 million). The European market for age-related products will grow, translating into a booming future for economic sectors which are nowadays not as important and big as they will be in future times. 2012, the Euro-pean Year for Active Age-ing and Solidarity between the Generations, opens a chance to discuss the ob-stacles and challenges as well as opportunities and the potential that an ageing continent is exposed to. The time to raise continent-wide aware-ness to a future problem is now.•

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New horizon speech explanation or something like that

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The Issue 0 is brought to you by:

Sandra Stojanović, editorMichal Korzonek, editorKonrad Staeger, editorial assistantKarin-Liis Lahtmäe, editorial assistantLiva Kreislere, editorial assistant

Ekin Arslan, journalist Randolf Carr, journalist Arnolds Eizenšmits, journalist Jonathan Engel, journalist Aida Grishaj, journalist Sandra Harney, journalist Nives Kaprocki, journalist Felix Makarowski, journalist Elisa Martinelli, journalist Cecilia Mihaljek, journalist Jan Nedvidek, journalist Ilias-Marios Oikonomou, journalist Erdem Osman Topçu, journalistSaki Shinoda, journalist

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