As we did for the previous Agorae, we want to present to you some of the proposals which will be discussed at Agora Bergamo. Don’t forget that for a complete picture you can (and should) check the entire proposal on our OMS. In this article we will be explaining four proposals, namely: “New DPPS Implementation Timeline”, “Making the life standards of members of the Comité Directeur and assistants a little bit better”, “Simplify the CIA: Resources of the Association” and “Improving the agenda setting and keeping”.

New DPPS Implementation Timeline
First, what is Data Privacy Policy Statement about? Since Agora Alicante 2011 there has been a huge debate in AEGEE regarding the lack of protection for potential sensitive data. Since Agora Patra 2014 these data have been classified in three categories: “external data” – accessible to everybody even outside AEGEE, “internal data” – accessible only to AEGEE members and “confidential data” – accessible to small groups of people and certain members who hold a position of responsibility (Netcommies, Audit Commissioners etc.). Confidential data are probably the most important one, it would be unfair if everybody could have access to private data. The DPPS was therefore ratified at Agora Patra. Among the new ideas the former MedCom worked on, a transition period was specified during which AEGEE should have implemented the DDPS. The deadline was Spring Agora Bergamo 2016, but the reform has not succeed yet. That’s why the proposer wants to propose a concrete timeline in order to have clear implementation steps in the next two years with the last stage scheduled for Autumn Agora 2017. As mentioned, the part of our statutes which will be modified is “Data Privacy Statement” – article 11, where deadline and specific steps of implementation will be changed. The proposer is Damien Latacz on behalf of the Mediation Commission, meaning that the proposers are the same people who will be implementing it.

You can check out the proposal here, get more information about the Data Privacy Police in this article or check out this presentation the MedCom prepared about it some time ago.

Making the life standards of members of the Comité Directeur and assistants a little bit better
Each member of the Comité Directeur and their assistants who are living at the AEGEE House is entitled to receive a subsistence reimbursement of ten euro per day spent in the house. Ander Guerrero Ruiz, Financial Director of AEGEE-Europe, submitted this proposal on behalf of the Comité Directeur. He states that the cost of living in Bruxelles has increased in the last three years, the last time the amount of money for our CD members was changed from eight euro per day to ten. If approved, this proposal is going to increase the amount up to 12,50 euro and would modify this number on our CIA, specifically in “GENERAL FINANCIAL RULES, Article 24: Subsistence Costs”.

Fun fact: if you check the entire proposal on our OMS you can see a long discussion about the cost of eggs and milk in Brussels, since the proposer used these two items as example of high cost of living.

Improving the agenda setting and keeping
Have you ever been at an Agora whose agenda gets modified the last minute? What kind of problems does it cause? According to Svenja van der Tol, who submitted the proposal on behalf of the Comité Directeur (and on behalf of the Agora reform task force, that cannot present proposals since they are not a body), last-minute changes can cause difficulties for the Chair Team to fix the agenda, create delays in the timing and problems for local organisers because of lack of rooms or materials needed. The proposed solution is to modify the CIA, specifically here: WORKING FORMAT OF THE AGORA, Article 2: Meeting and Convocation, sub. 3. Currently the agenda of the Agora has to be published at least two weeks before the event starts, but amendments to the agenda can be proposed at any time during the very same Agora. If approved, this proposal will regulate the submission of eventual amendments to the Chair team by admitting them not later than one week before the Agora, then the delegates would decide if they ratify these amendments at the beginning of the event. Once at the Agora, its members will still have the possibility to make amendments to the Agenda but, even if ratified, the Chair Team can decide based on the time and facilities. Still “the Agora may incorporate additional subjects that could not have been known one week before the Agora” in case something urgent must be discussed.

Download a copy of the CIA and read it!

Simplify the CIA: Resources of the Association
While the title of this proposal can make it sound as a minor one, the amendments proposed are a lot and a bit of pacience is is required to read them all. Let’s start off by saying that the CIA parts which would be modified are two: STATUTES OF AEGEE-EUROPE, art. 33 – Budget and GENERAL FINANCIAL RULES (with more than 12 articles modified, for a total of about 50 sub.). In fact, the proposers are the most expert people in budgeting and financial matters: Ander Guerrero Ruiz as Financial Director on behalf of the Comité Directeur and Deborah Pistori on behalf of the Audit Commission took care of the content changes. The last proposer is Claudio Gennaro, president of the Juridical Commission who took care of the legal part of this proposal.

Taking into account the most evident changes, if approved this proposal will provide these modifications:

– The introduction of a detailed explanation of which are the general resources of AEGEE-Europe.

– The outgoing Financial Director preparing and presenting the Financial Report at the Autumn Agora.

– The budget won’t need to be published two weeks before the Agora anymore.

– The dates of the financial year are clearly stated: from the 1st of January to the 31st of December and they are split up in two parts, with the first one starting on the 1st of January and ending on the 30th of June.

– The exchange rate is set twice a year and not every three months anymore.

– Reimbursements should be submitted no later than 21 days after the event/travel took place, not within one month as it happens now.

– CD and Commissions’ members can receive a reimbursement even if they are not active.

– The payment will not be made in the applicant’s currency anymore, but in Euro, moreover the Financial Director doesn’t have to present a list of currencies conversion rate into Euro before the Agora anymore.

– AEGEE-Europe does not have to reserve anymore an amount for the Training Course Fund, only if an open call for this is issued.

– There will not be anymore deficit guarantees by AEGEE-Europe for locals organising Statutory Events in case of unexpected loss after the event budget is approved by the Financial Director of AEGEE Europe.

As you can see the proposal is very articulated and on the OMS there is not much explained about the motivations and the changes this proposal will give bring. So, as always, it is recommended to study it and be ready to get the needed clarifications at the relative Prytanium.  You can check the complete proposal here to form your own opinion.

Written by Mattia Abis, AEGEE-Cagliari

One of the elections that took place in Kyiv was the Mediation Commission. In a twist, four people decided to run on the last minute, but their gamble paid off since they got the trust from the Agora. We asked some questions to know them better. Ana Gancearuc (AEGEE-Chişinău), apart from AEGEE, she likes running, hiking, swimming, photographing, reading and learning new languages. German by adoption, Damien Latacz (AEGEE-Aachen) loves cooking (anything from all over the world), hiking, spending weeks in the mountains during some nice winter treks and eating Ramen. Lisette Kunst from AEGEE-Groningen has an obvious passion for travelling (a common feature in AEGEE), but she also likes horse-riding, spending time with friends, hitchhiking, reading and organising activities for various students’ associations in her city. And lastly, Niels Perriens (AEGEE-Eindhoven) who is running a students’ bar, travels to new places and likes discovering new beers.

Ana Gancearuc (AEGEE-Chişinău)

The AEGEEan: You applied last minute not as a team, but with common goals. Why?

Niels and Ana: None of us planned to apply for MedCom at Agora Kyiv in advance. We all met during the pre-event in Chişinău, and there, proposals and candidatures were discussed. We were very surprised to see there were no candidatures for MedCom and we thought that maybe that’s because people don’t really know what it is and what it does. We knew there are plenty of capable people in AEGEE that could fulfill this task, but apparently they did not apply. Passionate discussions about the MedCom, its tasks, and why noone applied led to a lot of criticism and also ideas, but we knew that was not enough. For these reasons, we decided to take action and run on the last minute, and we will try our best during our mandate to make the MedCom more visible, so at the next fall Agora, people will step up and try to become candidates as well. This whole shared process led to a common motivation and goals. The decision to apply is however a personal one. Presenting ourselves as a team could have given the incorrect idea that we all think alike and that is not the case so far.

During Question time at the Agora, former President of AEGEE-Europe invited delegates not to vote for someone who is not aware of what the Medcom is. How did you take such comment?

Lisette: Although, of course, it stings a bit to receive such comment in front of the Agora, the comment wasn’t what bothered me the most after question time. The thing that frustrated and annoyed me afterwards was that I’d not been able to answer his question 100% correctly. I believe that people who run for a position like this should be capable of showing the Agora that they are fully aware of what they’re signing up for.

Damien Latacz (AEGEE-Aachen)

Despite of trying to make the most of the few hours of preparation after the last-minute candidature, I couldn’t do this and there are no excuses for that. In short, I think that – although he could have made a statement on this in a less direct way – he was right to point out the flaw in my answer and readily available knowledge of the Mediation Commission. Now that I’m elected after all, I take the comment as a good reminder that I need to put in the work to make sure that I have the right knowledge to do a good job in the Commission this year.

Let’s pretend to explain what the Medcom is and what it does to a child. How would you describe your commission to him/her?

Ana: As we all know, we have many locals, bodies and members in AEGEE and even though we all are pro Europeans and fight for our rights, there will always appear small divergences and conflicts between people, or antennae. How does AEGEE solve these issues, who analyses everything and tries to keep up with the procedure? The Mediation Commission, that’s right. These people, who were elected at the Agora, are transparent and visible for the whole organisation and try to keep the harmony within and between locals, bodies and members. We are here to listen to you about any issue you have and need help or a solution in order to make things right and clear.

Lisette: Beside what Ana already mentioned, we are also here to help implement and improve the Data privacy policy to ensure that the data our members give to AEGEE gets handled and protected in a responsible way. If we are called upon, we can also make decisions in cases where an ordinary member doesn’t respect the binding rules of the CIA. In this, we always try to solve conflicts in a friendly way before we consider sanctions.

The implementation of the DPPS is still going on. How would things change for locals and European bodies?

Lisette Kunst (AEGEE-Groningen)

Niels: For European bodies, the usage of and access to information is assessed and fitting Non-Disclosure Agreements are already being signed. The next step is investigating the systems and methods used to make sure the agreements are not violated, even if it happens unintentionally.  Moving things to the new Online Membership System in the future might make things easier in this regard, so it’s important to make sure that this system works in accordance to the DPPS. Locals have a lot of decision power over their handling of their internal confidential information. In most cases, they will do things in certain ways because they have always been done in that way or because it is easy. At no point they will think about privacy issues. We want to change this, not by enforcing rules, but by creating awareness. For example, Non-Disclosure Agreement templates will be created and locals can start using within their members.

What are the three fundamental things that everybody should know about the DPPS?

Damien: First of all, that it exists! The Agora votes it and you can find it in the CIA. It is not some document made for obscure reasons, it’s there to protect us, members. AEGEE is always using more and more online service: cloud storage, online voting, etc, and it is up to us to keep our structure adapted to these new technologies. Secondly, and probably the most important part of the DPPS, is the classification of datas in three different categories: external data (accessible to all), internal data (accessible only to AEGEE members) and internal confidential data (in a way, data which is accessible only to certain members or in some specific circumstances). Making people aware of these categories and how to handle them is also part of our job in the MedCom. And finally, the DPPS applies to AEGEE-Europe, so mostly Bodies are affected by it, it does not change much in the life of an Antenna. But a local can of course decide to follow it as well. This way, it would improve the Data Privacy of our whole network!

Medcom should be super partes and able to solve conflicts, but how much, according to you, members of the commission should be involved in other projects (both on local and European level) to avoid conflict of interest?

Niels Perriens (AEGEE-Eindhoven)

Lisette: We believe that the current CIA standards that Medcom members should not be members of the CD, JC, Audit Commission, Netcom, the Chair Team, boards of Working Groups or Supporting Committees and boards of Antenna or Contact Antenna are enough to ensure basic impartiality. Aside from this, we have an internal unwritten rule that if our own local or a local or European level project that one of us is involved in raises an issue to us, the member involved abstains from voting and discussing, regardless of the nature of the issue.

In an ideal world, Medcom should never be activated. What is your advice to locals and/or members that you have not involved?

Niels: Stick to the rules and keep communicating! That should keep the MedCom from being activated. That being said, we don’t mind getting involved in an early stage in our capacity as mediators, as it might prevent a possible activation later on.

Damien: I fully agree with Niels: communication is key when it comes to avoiding conflicts. Always saying what you think with complete honesty greatly reduces the risk of conflicts. Many cases arise after people misinterpret each other or feel unconsidered. You can also ask MedCom for some advice in case you feel a current situation could evolve into a conflict. We would be happy to help.

Written by Erika Bettin AEGEE-Verona

As any experienced AEGEE member might know, the Mediation Commission (MedCom) of AEGEE-Europe, besides mediating in disputes within our network, also acts as an ombudsman when it comes to data privacy. As for many people this might seem quite faraway from their daily AEGEE life and perspectives, or it might be difficult to grasp all the technical details of it, we thought it is time to explain the most recent ins-and-outs regarding data privacy in AEGEE, and finally explain what it means for YOU. For this we will let our readers ask some questions to the Medcom!
Agora Patra: data privacy statement
During Spring Agora Patra in 2014, we modified the “Data Privacy Policy Statement” – from this point referred to as DPPS – which was first adopted at Spring Agora Alicante in 2011. The purpose of this statement was to secure the right to privacy of AEGEE members with regard to the gathering and automatic processing of personal data relating to them, and information and all relevant data about the Association, its work and its members. Certainly in nowadays situation, with a lot of AEGEE work being done by online means and a lot of different data being stored this way, it is of the utmost importance to secure this. The statement outlined that all data should from that point on be classified in different categories:
– External data or data accessible for all;
– Internal data or data accessible only for AEGEE members (subject to exceptions granted by the ombudsman);
– Internal confidential data or data accessible only for certain AEGEE members holding an official position in the Association and responsible for information which they deal with and/or have access to for as long their term lasts.

Besides this, it was agreed that all data and AEGEE work shall be stored and presented through certain official tools meant for storing and spreading information accordingly. A list of approved data communication tools and a separate list of data storage tools according to the levels of protection would be made by the MedCom as the ombudsman for data privacy.

Implementing the data privacy statement
Since Agora Patra, the MedCom has worked to implement all aspects of the data privacy statement. It has started a big research, contacting all AEGEE bodies to find out exactly what kind of data is being used by different bodies, and what possible privacy risks could there be. This way, it would be possible for the MedCom to ensure the best possible compliance with the policy from all affected bodies and individuals. At the last Agora in Asturias, the MedCom finally came up with an annex to the data privacy policy statement, which was presented to the Network. To explain in a simple way, it basically consists out of three parts:

The first part categorises all data in the categories of external, internal or internal confidential data. For example, the Corpus Iuridicum Aegeense (CIA) is also available for externals, activity plans are internal data, but financial reports of locals are internal confidential data (avaliable only for the audit and the Financial Director of AEGEE-Europe). The second part, consists of approved communication tools according to the types of data. For example, The AEGEEan is for external use, so any data labelled “for internal use only” should not be communicated through The AEGEEan. The third part, lists which data storage tools are allowed for what kind of data. Of course, the demands that are set for internal confidential matters are much higher than those for external data.
For those who want to read the full annex with all listed types of data, you can view it here.

Right now, the MedCom is working on the last details analysing all data streams, and fully implementing all findings according to the DPPS and the DPPS annex. Of course, as always, this can only be done with the full cooperation of the network. So far, European bodies have all helped out listing the different types of data they touch. But in the next few months, more help is needed, mainly in the form of your awareness towards data privacy as a whole, and to the specifics being implemented.

As this is a case that concerns every AEGEE member, we let some active AEGEE members ask some (anonymous) questions.

Do you think the members actually care how their data is stored?
MedCom: Well, as the Agora approved the Data Privacy Policy Statement, it means they do care about it. Besides that, in nowadays society, we can clearly see a rising awareness towards our own privacy. For example, how many of you have friends on Facebook who made anonymous profile names, or to a lesser extent in guarding privacy, make sure to only make posts and pictures available towards friends, and not public? So if you do care about your privacy using tools like Facebook, we are sure our members also care about the privacy of their AEGEE data – even if it might seem harder to grasp than your Facebook privacy.

Do you encrypt every file in the mediation commission?
In the future, according to the DPPS, all data marked as internal confidential will be encrypted. But we have yet to work on how to implement this.

What does this mean for the locals?
For the locals, not so much will change, as the DPPS outlines data within AEGEE-Europe, thus it mainly affects European bodies that have to abide by it. Every local can have their own power how they regulate their own data towards the public and their members, only when it concerns official AEGEE communications and data, every local (and individual AEGEE member) should follow the guidelines being set. But it also works the other way around in this: any information a local has to send to AEGEE-Europe will now be classified in a certain way protecting the privacy of the data of your local. For example, the financial report your local has to send will be marked as “internal confidential” data only visible for the Financial Director and the audit, and not for anyone else!

On a final note, we would like to thank everyone for their cooperation regarding data privacy, and would like to note we are always open towards any input or questions you might have – you can email us at medcom@aegee.org!

Written by the Mediation Commission

You can follow the discussion on the DPPS on the forum here.