Maarten de Groot, member of AEGEE-Amsterdam is the Manager of “Think before you Vink”, a campaign on behalf of AEGEE in the run-up to the referendum on the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement, which will be held on April 6th. We asked him for more info about this campaign and the activities concerning this topic.

During the Network Meeting (NWM) in Delft, in November 2015, Loes Rutten (AEGEE-Utrecht and Network Commissioner) started the discussion on the referendum on the EU-Ukraine Association within AEGEE. During a couple of Skype meetings with active AEGEEans interested in the topic, a basic outline of an AEGEE campaign was established. Members decided to launch an open call for campaign team members, because they needed more human resources to make their ideas come true. After a successful recruitment period, they managed to form a campaign team consisting of fifteen AEGEEans from six Dutch locals. In order to organise their work efficiently, they distinguished between a Core Team and three sub-teams (Content Team, PR Team, Video Team).

The following AEGEEans are members of the campaign team: Femke Lokhorst and Steven Hagen from AEGEE-Delft; Willem Laurentzen and Matthijs Dirks from AEGEE-Nijmegen; Rick Kloosterman from AEGEE-Groningen; Sien Rongen and Jeroen van Rijn from AEGEE-Utrecht; Isabel Louhenapessy from AEGEE-Leiden; Gijs van Amerongen, Leonie Francien Sellies, Herman Hilverda, Tessel Peereboom, Maxime Nelissen, Margreet Clemens, and Maarten De Groot from AEGEE-Amsterdam.

Since July 2015, a new Dutch law has come into force, which allows citizens to call for an advisory referendum on many of the bills that pass Parliament, as long as they collect the right amount of signatures (i.e. 10.000 in the first and 300.000 in the second round). The EU-Ukraine Association Agreement was the first bill to pass the Parliament after this law had come into force, and a number of organisations working under the name of GeenPeil have taken this as a first opportunity to launch a citizens’ initiative. The basic reason behind their initiative is that citizens must have a more direct say in the political decision-making processes, and European ones in particular. They managed to collect 428.000 signatures, which is more than enough to call for a referendum.

The Association Agreement between the EU and Ukraine would tighten the cooperation between the EU and Ukraine considerably. Most of the 323 pages of juridical text concern trade and economic cooperation, but others relate to the fight against corruption, strengthening the rule of law, human rights, and easing visa regulations.

‘Vink’ means ‘to tick a box’ in Dutch, which is what you do when you go to vote, so the campaign name basically states ‘think before you vote’. This is also what the team essentially wants to convey and facilitate with their campaign. They want to inform young Dutch people about the Association Agreement and the referendum in general, to involve them actively in balanced discussions on the topic, and to encourage them to cast a well-considered, well informed vote.

“We notice that many people in the Netherlands do not really know what to do with this referendum. The topic is a complex one, and not everyone is convinced that it is well-suited for a referendum. With our campaign we hope to stimulate Dutch youth not to take for granted their democratic right to vote, and to use it responsibly. That is to say, whether young Dutch people decide to vote or not, and if so to vote ‘yes’ or ‘no’ is up to them, but we want them to take this decision only after careful deliberation” says Maarten.

The team started the campaign during the EPM Fair in Leiden, on February 27th. Subsequently, it held a lecture in Delft on March 4th, with Vasyl Myroshnychenko and Laura Starink, on the wider context of the Association Agreement. It was a successful event, in a room packed with 60 participants.

The biggest event took place on April 3rd, in Amsterdam: the Big Referendum Afternoon. There was an academic introduction of the topic of EU-referendums, followed by debates between six Presidents of Dutch youth political organisations, and a debate between a member of the Dutch national parliament for GroenLinks, the Dutch Left-wing Green Party and a member of the European Parliament for the Dutch Socialist Party. After this three-hour program, there was be the opportunity to talk to Ukrainians during a “living library” event combined with social drinks.

More information about the program of the AEGEE campaign can be found on their website or Facebook-page, mostly in Dutch.

Written by Matteo Lai, AEGEE-Cagliari.

To Brexit or not to Brexit: that is the question. Though this be Brexit, yet there is method in‘t.  Can one desire too much of a Brexit? The thing we call a Brexit would be just the same if we called it by any other name. Despite the badly quoted bits of Shakespeare, people do wonder: should the United Kingdom leave the European Union? What is the thought behind it? Do people think too much of it? And why did people come up with such a lame and catchy name for this? Some of these questions, and more, will be answered.

Qu’est-ce qu’est un Brexit?

The word ‘Brexit’ is a contraction of the words Britain and exit, and refers to a possible event of the UK, colloquially dubbed Britain, to leave or exit the European Union. This decision will be submitted to the British public in a nonbinding referendum on Thursday, the 23^rd of June 2016, meaning that British Members of the Parliament could block a Brexit. Regardless of a possible block, British, Irish and Commonwealth citizens over 18, who are resident in the UK, UK nationals living abroad, and members of the House of Lords and Commonwealth citizens in Gibraltar can vote on polling day on the following question, “Should the United Kingdom remain a member of the European Union or leave the European Union?”.

Doctor ehm… Politician Who?

The British public seems to be quite evenly split on the matter of leaving the EU. The same goes for the MPs of the ruling Conservative Party in the UK Parliament. The UK Independence Party (UKIP), who won 12.6% of the popular vote in the 2015 UK General Elections, is in favour of secession, just as several MPs of the Labour Party, the largest opposition party, and of the right-wing Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) (Wheeler).

While the Conservative Party has pledged to remain neutral in the referendum campaign, British Prime Minister and leader of the Conservatives, David Cameron, has come out in support for staying in the EU. The Labour Party, Scottish National Party (SNP), Liberal Democrats (Lib Dems) and Plaid Cymru (Party of Wales), being the second, third, fourth and seventh largest parties in the UK, have all spoken out in favour of staying in the EU. The EU, not willing to see its second largest economy leave the Union, would also not want the UK to leave (Wheeler).

ACTOR (amazed): Why?

The two main arguments in Britain for leaving the EU centre on economics and border security. Pro-secession groups state that the EU imposes too many rules on businesses and charges billions of pounds annually in membership fees, which both reduce, if not cripple, economic output in Britain. Another big issue is the EUs relatively loose restrictions on travel between its member countries. The pro-secession camp advocates stronger borders for the UK and more direct control of those borders by the UK government (Wheeler).

The two main British arguments for staying in the EU, also centre around economics and border security. Anti-secession groups point out that it is economically more beneficent to stay in the EU, because of free-trade agreements between member states and those between the EU and non-member countries (Wheeler).

Regarding border security, some British politicians point out the importance of collectively managing the flow of immigrants throughout the EU. Others point out that staying in the EU is critical in order to maintain the British border control in Calais, France. This is crucial, because the UK is not obligated to provide asylum to people who are not in Britain, like those who are prevented from travelling to Britain at the UK border checkpoint in Calais (Wintour).
David Chameleon

British Prime Minister, David Cameron, had initially resisted calls for a ‘Brexit referendum’, but changed his mind in 2013 due to the level of influence of EU policies in Britain. After the Conservatives won the UK General Election in 2015, they pushed for a referendum, which started negotiations between the UK and the EU.

Cameron has recently made a deal with the other EU member states that will go into effect should Britain vote for staying in the EU (Wheeler). This deal gives the UK more control over its own border security, limits further influence of EU regulations on Britain and other member states, and protects UK financial institutions, most notably those in the City of London and the Bank of England. This deal, in turn, has made Prime Minister Cameron argue for staying in the European Union.

The terms of our divorce

If a majority of Britons should vote in favour of leaving the EU, then the United Kingdom would not have seceded on the next day. Even if British MPs would not block the referendum, Article 50 of the EU’s ‘divorce clause’ states that secession from the European Union would be preceded by a two-year negotiation phase (Karnitschnig). As a member state, Britain has signed a lot of treaties with the EU over the years that would require many months of redefining, renegotiation, and rewriting, before any secession could be finalised. However, since a secession from the European Union has never happened before, there are hardly any provisions.

What do the AEGEEans say?

Being a youth forum that advocates for European integration, some AEGEE locals are involved in projects to discuss the ‘Brexit referendum’. AEGEE-Canterbury, as a chief example, has organised a debate regarding the UK’s membership within the EU, and has been actively campaigning for staying in the EU. AEGEE-Manchester, to name another, is trying to organise an event in May that would try to focus on the positive aspects of the relation between the United Kingdom and the European Union.

Written by Willem Laurentzen, AEGEE-Nijmegen

Works Cited

Karnitschnig, Matthew, and Nicholas Hirst. “A long, costly and messy divorce.” Politico 2 Mar. 2016: n. pag. Web. 25 Mar. 2016.

Wheeler, Brian, and Alex Hunt. “The UK’s EU referendum: All you need to know.”BBC 24 Mar. 2016: n. pag. Web. 25 Mar. 2016.

Wintour, Patrick, and Anushka Asthana. “French minister: Brexit would threaten Calais border arrangement.” The Guardian 3 Mar. 2016:n. pag. Web. 25 Mar. 2016.

Ten years ago, Spain became a pioneer in human rights and broke with many former types of being a conservative and closed minded country. Ten years ago, the Spanish government approved same-sex marriage and adoption. And, everything changed… for a better society.

Many arguments and positions were raised during the campaign for the approval of same-sex marriage for many months. Arguments used went from one extreme such as “the Spanish society will collapse and families will disappear”, passing through “it is fair, it is equality” to “we don’t need same-sex marriage because marriage is an old contract of society”. The approval rates of same-sex marriage in Spain were slightly over 50%. Ten years later, they are over 90%. Spain did not break, it got stronger.

I could continue talking about different positions, arguments and facts, but I just want to share why for me marriage, and same-sex marriage does matter.

First, because, it is a matter of equality. The European Union and, the majority of their members states, consider themselves a stronghold of human rights. However, it still a shame that the European Union has not created a common directive imposing, yes, imposing same-sex marriage to its members.

Second because we are talking about love. Love can be expressed in many ways, but after all, it is one of the pure and more positive feelings of mankind. Banning people for making their love official should be a crime and something we fight against. We have other and bigger problems in society to tackle than to say no to love. Yes, it may seem different if you have never seen it or you have been raised being told that it is not correct, but I consider ourselves clever enough to acknowledge a new type of love that can enrich our society.

Third, it is a matter of law. Some countries have some same-sex couple recognition and protection, but this is not enough for many law related topics. Without an official equiparation as marriage, in many states, being just a registered couple gives you a “second class citizen status” towards many legal side effects (inheritances, children, health care, etc.).

And, last but not least, because, maybe you are just a teenager without any gay references around you, and you think you live in a society you don’t belong to, feeling an outsider and feeling guilty or different for realizing you may have other type of preferences. This is just an example of why same-sex marriage (among other laws) could be important for giving support to people with these feelings.

Ten years ago, I was having this feelings. Ten years ago, I was 14-15 years old, and, as the majority of teenagers, I started to realize many things in my life: what I liked, what I didn’t like and what my preferences were. One of those was who I love. Even though I was lucky enough to have a tolerant education and family, I was feeling lonely for many years. I was feeling lonely because I felt my society didn’t accept or acknowledge me, and therefore, my family and my friends could refuse me for being different.

My story was not that bad. It could have been much worse, but it could have been much better too. If same-sex marriage would have been accepted already in Spain back then when I was feeling like that, probably, it would have changed my reality (and the reality of a lot of people), and that is also why same-sex marriage does matter.

However, this is a battle that is fought step by step, barrier after barrier everyday by, luckily, more and more people that have accepted and embrace all type of love.

Ten years later, today I feel quite proud to be Spanish and of the fact that many people, when I was feeling alone, fought for all of us (gay, lesbian or whoever). I feel proud that Spain made that step and we are a quite open and tolerant society. True, way more things are needed to be done still, but we are on the way. As I said, step by step and everyday, we are more and more people fighting for the cause, and these words are my small contribution to the ongoing fight.

Now, it is time for Slovenia to make this step. In ten years, I want to see  that these words are not needed anymore and my Slovenians friends will feel proud to be the first Slavic and Central European country to approve same-sex marriage directly, embracing all types of love. I really hope so. I could not expect less from such a hospitable and beautiful country that, after all, contains the word love in their name. So, please, sLOVEnians, vote ZA! the next 20th of December!

Written by Ander Guerrero Ruíz, AEGEE-Zaragoza and Financial Director of AEGEE-Europe

Do not be afraid, the isle is full of noises, sounds, and students, that express their delight for AEGEE. Sometimes a thousand young people in Britain will speak about Europe, and sometimes these voices will form an antenna that seems so natural that it looks like it had been awoken from a long sleep. After being founded almost half a year ago, AEGEE-Canterbury is now a full-fledged antenna. That is why the AEGEEan decided to interview Emily Zerling again, and see what has happened in these past few months.

The AEGEEan: Could you tell us something about yourself?

Emily: I’m half French and half English, so I’ve always felt very European. I’m really happy about my double nationality, because it has given me the opportunity to benefit from a double culture, and has helped me broaden my horizons.

When did you guys decide to set up a local in Canterbury?

We decided to set up a local in Canterbury almost a year ago but it took a few months before we were able to get it fully started.

AEGEE-Canterbury was officially ratified as a contact antenna about two months ago. What were the most difficult obstacles you had to overcome in order to achieve this goal?

I think that the most difficult obstacle to overcome was to try and find ten members, because we set up our local in Canterbury in March, which was nearly at the end of the year for students in the UK. And then we had to convince people to join us and become members during the summer and September, which wasn’t always easy. However, we managed, and I’m really glad that we have so many committed members this year, and a lovely committee on whom I can count on. So I’d like to thank them for their help again.

Of which activities or events that AEGEE-Canterbury organised are you most fond?

I really enjoyed the European dinner that we did at the beginning of term, the food was so lovely and everybody participated. It was a nice way to start the year and get to know people.

I was also very pleased with the mock referendum that we organised at our university. A lot of people came to vote, and the result was really encouraging, 82% of students in favour of the UK staying in the EU. Also, I appreciated the work that had been done preparing the event. Thank you again Roland for being in charge of organising the referendum, and James, Marlène, Emir, Rebeca, Ian, Chiara and all the others. You all did a great job!

What (kind of activities) has AEGEE-Canterbury planned for the future?

AEGEE-Canterbury will organise a student-led debate about UK membership in the EU at the beginning of December at the University of Kent, where all societies representing political parties in the UK will be debating. It is going to be interesting to see all the arguments of each political party, and it is a good way to raise awareness about the upcoming referendum and it might help people that don’t know how they should vote.

Otherwise, I hope we’ll organise events with other AEGEEans in the UK next year.

Could you tell us a bit about Euro-Optimism in Canterbury and the UK in general?

Canterbury is located in Kent, which is in the South East of England. It is a very Euro-Sceptic area, so therefore it is important to concentrate the “Yes campaign”, to stay in the EU, in this area. Students and young people are more Euro-Optimistic, so it’s not a problem for us, but we are also trying to target other groups by joining alliances with other pro EU groups, such as the East Kent European Movement, or the Young European Movement in Canterbury.

I feel that the UK in general has always seen the EU, or even the European continent, as something very distant and foreign, because it is an island. So I feel that there is a lack of European identity, which is a shame. I think it has also to do with the fact that the UK was a colonial power before and seems to think that it’s influence doesn’t have to be limited to the EU only.

How do you feel about British Prime Minister Cameron’s upcoming referendum in 2017 for Britain to leave the UK?

I don’t know if you know, but there has already been a similar referendum in 1975 with a positive result that led to the UK to stay in the EU.

So having a referendum again, before the end of 2017, has more to do with the recent rise of Euro-Scepticism, especially inside the Conservative party. I feel that it might be more of a political calculation that Cameron did in order to satisfy his own party. I think that if the result is that the UK will stay in the EU, then the EU will gain more legitimacy and more credibility for UK citizens. So this referendum can’t be such a bad idea.

Written by Willem Laurentzen, AEGEE-Nijmegen

Have you ever dated that one person who always made all the decisions for you? That one person who asked for ideas for something to do, but never really seemed to be as interested in your suggestions as he or she was in his or her own? Or have you ever been this kind of person in a relationship yourself? If any of these scenarios rings a bell than you might already know that there is generally one decision all of these kind people never made, breaking-up.

Although a relationship could end for a multitude of reasons, a misrepresentation of both partners in a relationship might be an important one. Whenever a person feels that he or she has no agency over his own life, that is to say to live or make decisions with a sense of free will, that person will likely start to address this discomfort to or even rebel against whatever he or she thinks is responsible for this. In case of couples this might mean that they split up and countries are no exceptions. Scotland, for example might want to change its Facebook status after its referendum for independence from the United Kingdom on the 18th of September. So, will this become the biggest European break-up since Kosovo and Serbia? (Or the biggest since Serbia and Montenegro, should you live anywhere here, as Spain, Slovakia, Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Romania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Serbia, Greece and Vatican City do not recognize Kosovo as an independent country). Time to answer some questions.

Countries break-up because of misrepresentation… are you for real?

Breaking-up might not be the proper term for it, since countries conscious human beings, however, they are filled with a multitude of people who do have interests. If these feel their government does not represent these interests or even threatens them, they might want to declare independence. Misrepresentation in this case is an often recurring reason. Take for instance this quote from the American declaration of independence, “Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it”.

Why does Scotland want independence now?

Scotland does not, strictly speaking, only now wants to gain a greater autonomy for itself. As far back as the late nineteenth century Scotland has received more autonomy through processes of ‘devolution’. In the late nineteenth century this meant that Scotland would be allowed to tend to some local matters for the first time in almost two hundred years. From the mid-twentieth century onwards Scotland has received more responsibilities and in 1999 it has even got its own parliament. Perhaps in 2014 it will take the first steps of becoming an independent state. For more info on the history of Scottish independence check out this short clip by horrible histories and The One Show.

Why is Scotland part of the UK anyhow?

At the end of the seventeenth century Scotland and England (Wales at the time was a part of England) faced some political trouble. Both countries had different parliaments and different legislatures but the same king for about a hundred years.  However, at this point in history Scotland suffered a tremendous loss of wealth due to an overinvestment in a possible colony in Panama and from trade and navigation blockades from England and other European countries. In response Scotland passed some laws that would allow it to choose its own successor to the Scottish throne, which could mean that Scotland could further untie its bonds with England and seek new alliances with other countries. By uniting both states into the United Kingdom of Great Britain with the Acts of Union in 1707 an attempt was made to solve both problems. For more info check out this link.

What can the Scottish people vote for on 18th September 2014?

In a nutshell the Scottish people can only vote for things to stay as they currently are, that is to say to remain a constituent state with its own devolved parliament, or to opt for independence. However, should the Scottish people vote for independence, a new state is not simply born. Negotiations must be made about how an independent Scotland would look like, how much debt Scotland would own after the independence, what its interest rates would be, which parts of the North Sea are actually part of Scotland and which belong to the rump-UK and whether Scotland would keep the Pound as currency. In short, with independence comes a lot of paperwork.

Why don’t the English [and the Irish and Welsh] get to vote on 18th September?

The best answer that could be found it that democratic representation comes in largely two ways. (Three if you count the communist definition of a one-party people’s democracy) There is direct and indirect representation. Direct representation is the ones the ancient Athenians used in their polis In short it means that you represent by voting on laws directly, similar to what the Scottish people are allowed to do in their referendum. On the other hand there is indirect representation. That’s when the people elect representatives to make and vote on laws on their behalf. It could be said that the English, Welsh and Irish vote for Scottish independence resides in the standpoints that their representatives in Westminster have taken on the issue.

The UK is the only constituent country in Europe, after Scotland there won’t be any countries who want independence, right?

Not quite and no. It is true that the United Kingdom is a constituent country, that is to say a country that is actually a union of other equal countries; England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland for instance form the UK. The United Kingdom is not the only constituent country in Europe; there is also the Danish Realm, the French Fifth Republic and the Kingdom of the Netherlands. However, contrary to the UK these constituent countries are mostly comprised of a mother-country and several overseas territories from the colonial days, mostly in the Caribbean and the Pacific, that these mother-countries have not (yet) parted with.

But that’s it right? There are no other countries left.

There are no countries left, but there are still many autonomous or not-autonomous regions left in Europe. One example is some of the regions formed by the no longer existing kingdom of Aragon on the Iberian Peninsula. Like Scotland it once had its own legislature, monarchy and currency. This country was formed by fusing other Christian kingdoms together during the purge of Islamic rulers from the peninsula in a period called the Reconquista. While the kingdom seized to exist after the marriage of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabelle of Castile (the very same who funded Christopher Columbus’ voyage to the West Indies), its boundaries are still visible within the various red and yellow striped flags of the now autonomous regions of Aragon, Catalonia, Valencia and the Balearic Islands. The most vocally expressed plea for independence, however, is that of the people in the autonomy of Catalonia in north-eastern Spain.

How many European regions want independence?

There are over one hundred different regions in Europe that either already possess a certain degree of autonomy or that aspire independence or a greater sense of autonomy than they already have. Most of which are in Spain, Southern France, Northern Italy, Belgium, the British Isles and Northern Scandinavia.

Written by Willem Laurentzen, AEGEE-Nijmegen

Note: if you are interested in the topic, AEGEE-Europe is sending a group of observers to the Referendum in Scotland tomorrow! You can follow their steps under this link.