Source: www.gizmodo.co.uk

Hei, Ivan!

As one of our networks political pioneers I guess you are also aware of the fact that the EU is about to game away peoples trust – in leading German newspapers there has been articles about the trust erosion going on. However, for me this is not an effect taking place somewhere at the ”bottom of society” because of the crisis but actually I can already
feel it in my circle of friends, among relatives and students – anybody I talk to about politics at some point – and I also feel trust eroding in my own mind.

The most decisive imprint in that direction was caused by the attack of Monsanto and co. in order to make the EU prohibit seeds that are not traded by the biggest seed factories. This event as one of the most aggressive harassment upon self-determination in private life striking for essential standards (What do I want to eat?) was, sadly, not the first one.

Years before there was – and still is – Nestle trying to privatise drinkable water; some months ago discussions on EU level touching this issue made huge waves. Also, food restrictions cause great waste of food for nothing (see film: “Tast the Waste”). The things happening because of “the crisis” in Greece and other southern countries don’t need to be
mentioned…

Not only because of their doubtable morality such activities should spark our interest: It slowly corrodes sovereigny and the (imho not yet fully established and thus highly vulnerable) democratic structure of the EU – with an increasing pace. Plus I fear that it will heavily endanger our EU election program since I believe in a atmosphere of powerlessness and ignorance from above people will turn away from policy or, even worse, vote for radical parties creating a fall-back into a pre-EU mind state.

Either way, “shit is f***ed up and stuff”. Now why am I writing this? I have the urgent feeling that sth. has to be done but I am not fully clear about what it should be and how it could be initialised. The only thing I am sure about is that this issue and the related further procedure of AEGEE has to be discussed before entering EU election promotion events – maybe with a “task force”, maybe with delegates from the whole network on the next EBM.

Since you are deeply into AEGEE’s political site, how do others see this or am I the only/first one who has ants in the pants?

Best regards

Armin

Hello Armin!

First of all, thank you for your email and sharing your thoughts about the EU with me. I am glad that I am not alone with such thoughts about the EU in AEGEE. I try to respond as best as I can.

You are right that the element of trust is missing in the EU. This is serious problem if we think about the future we want. The future of the European continent lies in cooperation, not competition of nation-states. But the EU as a symbol of cooperation among states lacks trust of the inhabitants. I myself feel vanishing emotions about European project in my surroundings.

The sad news is that the EU has not done very much to reverse the flow. Instead, as you rightly point out on the examples, it seems they are doing exactly the opposite. The role of civil society is ridiculously low in the EU. Those who have impact in the EU are not citizens, but lobby groups of industry and agriculture. The European project is still about economy and profit, not about legitimacy and freedom. But I am afraid that there is long road to overcome these obstacles.

And what should we do? Well, if I have an answer for this question, I will not be in AEGEE First step I recognize as an essential is to discuss such problem even if not many people are interested in. Through discussion and mutual exchange of opinion we can start from the bottom and shape our view about the EU. I believe that we could change the world around us by our activities.

I am glad that you wrote me (and put trust in me) and I kindly ask you if I could post your email and my answer to the members of AEGEE and IPWG. This is kind of topic which is really relevant for everybody. This way we can collect the opinions of the others.

Have a nice day!

Ivan

Hei

You can post the mail I wrote you if you want and if it helps.

Of course also big fires start with a spark but however the “sparking process” has gone long enough in my opinion. We need more people talking and acting in their interest for shaping the EU from the bottom and yet I somehow fear the majority will just turn away in disappointment.

Also it is not my own unrest causing my eagerness but more the dimension of problems and the frequency they impinge upon policy and social or even private life – starting with your surrounding is better than rolling thumbs, nevertheless I fear this will be not enough even for holding the lobbyists at bay and keeping the as-is state. Since states and whole supra-national structures are about to bow in front of economical power (by thread or bribe doesn’t matter) there are not many institutions left as correcting elements. Actually there are enough NGOs striving for the same aim under such circumstances but many fight on their own, unfortunately AEGEE is not an exception - just think about how loosely the bonds still are between AEGEE and ESN, IAESTE and similar organisations.

Imho, unifying NGOs for a specific reason (as f.eks. helping the European citizens against a breakdown of democracy) would highly increase the attention given to our aims (us, that would be AEGEE and all other supporting organisations).

All this might sound like the preparation for a battle rather than for political involvement – however this should symbolise how serious I feel about the process going on.

Greets

Armin

What do you think about the role of the EU? How could we change things? Now this is time for us to discuss important issue which are closely related to us.