The Euro.Pa.S.

Daily
EVERYDAY INFORMATION INSIDE THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT SIMULATION 2012 Issue: 3 Date: Monday 9th April 2012 Circulation: 300 copies
Curtain falls for the Committees For more, see pages 2-3 & 8-9 Our photographers have all the answers For full story, turn to pages 5-6 4 foreign correspondents cover Euro.Pa.S.! Check pages 4 & 7

INSIDE THE GOSSIP BOX!

PAGE 10

Testing your knowledge on E.U.

Go to page 9

DESIGNED BY

Katerina Giosma

negligible. They made though some proposals, subjecting for instance to the other MEPs innovative By Tho Fatsas ideas like the transfer of a person from the public sector to the After two days of sharing their private so as to create a views on several politic dimensions of sport, the 28 MEPs compromise between the positions finally came to a draft report. But of the different forces. it was not the easiest thing to do; indeed whereas the first day came Undoubtedly, the CULT committee did a very good job to a happy ending because of a during its sessions, very finelyconsensus, the second one was much tougher. shaded opinions have been

CULT: Parlez-vous franais ?

Financial issues have been always the occasion for many arguments, and even more now in our economic crisis context. Obviously, the debate mainly divided the EPP and the S&D Party, having the first one being in favor of the development of the links between the private sector and the sport field, and the second one being against it because of the merchandising of sport it presupposes.

effective with the creation of new organizations or the amelioration of the function of the existing ones. Greens agreed with that suggestion. SDs representatives clarified that the only thing that LGBT people should be judged by is their working skills and any discrimination on employment should be abolished. On the field of family life, GREENs suggested giving LGBTs the option of marriage, since it is one of the fundamental rights. Both ALDE and EPP parties proposed as a solution to recognize some fundamental rights based on the institution of marriage, while SDs representatives stressed the need to empower LGBTs rights as a whole and specifically on the field of marriage.

Mr. Aggelous clarification that authority on family law remains a national and not international or european field was essential. The President of the European Commission suggested that presented throughout the sessions, regulations set by the European but will the MEPs be able to find Court of Justice on the field of family law be taken into Besides, the other Parties, in spite common positions by dint of consideration by the members of their apparent weakness due to debate? of the EU. their inferiority, gave emphasis on their ideas too, particularly DROI: A crisis flares up the A crisis had also launched regarding the taxes of firms to debate yesterday in the DROI committee. finance the sporting events. All MEPs condemned all By July Chatzizisi violations of those rights. The The ALDE fought, mostly beside EPPs representative of Germany the EPP, those taxes. The solution The second day of the sessions and all the members of EPP proposed by the ALDE Group in in the DROI committee started stressed that such practices are not order to promote the sport and with a productive discussion on related to EPPs policy. ALDE, compensate for the State economic the subjects of employment and GREEN and SD representatives of gap was to encourage directly the family life of LGBT people. Germany agreed that they would private sector for collaborating During the day, a crisis also demand an apology from EPPs, as actively with the sport field. launched and a debate among well as further investigation, MEPs started. justice at both national and On the other hand, the GREENS international levels and probably tried hard to participate in the The first topic MEPs discussed the resignation of the EPP debate, even if the place of was employment. The member. ecology in sport, and more representatives of EPPs proposed specifically in its financial form, is that the legal framework be more
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ECON: European Parliament vs the World

By Thomas Tsoulias

AFET: Unanimity rocks!!!

Day 2 inside the chamber of ECON and the problems do not seem to come to an end. The crisis By Karmen Koulas that has arisen between the United States and the EU has got out of hand, as more nations are intervening In the AFET committee, the 8th April 2012 was along the way. for once again such a productive day. The MEPs continued discussing refugee issues and they tried to China and Russia actively showed their discontent, take measures as well as to implement a common while nations like Venezuela, actually threatened policy. In the beginning, this seemed impossible due with counteractions. A few minutes later, the crisis to the intense arguments among MEPs, as the escalated further, because of the prices rising and the majority of them believed that the general problem oil rally taking place on a should be faced by the global scale. Due to this European Union as a whole. madness in economic On the other hand, the policies, the European GREENS French MEP Parliament decided to claimed that this is take firm action by considered to be an internal seeking the protection of issue. the WTO and by adopting Finally, they reached countermeasures against unanimity on the fact that those who seek to return there is the need to examine to a model of important clauses such as protectionism in the the effort of forming a economy. common asylum policy and empowering FRONTEX Furthermore, while the European Union tries to and EUROPOL, as they are breakthroughs on this resolve the American issue, Russia threatens that area. Suddenly, a crisis issue appeared and the MEPs possible disrespect of international treaties will started a fruitful debate in order to result in a final provoke the end of fossil fuel and natural gas solution. transactions between her and the EU, marking another turning point in the Parliament's policy. According to the official announcement, some illegal immigrants, who were spotted by French Last but not least, the report on this committee's authorities, constitute a threat of nuclear infection. original topic (the Economy Semester) still had not We must mention that there were also two other been completed and continued to be a duty of the crises; one concerning the nuclear product found on MEPs. All of these problems became the reason of the French-Italian border and one concerning the turmoil in the chamber, causing a rather "panic" corrupted Italian company, which was linked with atmosphere. some European Parliament Members. However, the MEPs proved to be more capable than One thing is for sure; that all AFET members worth congratulations! expected. Not only did they deliver their final decision on the crisis, but the report was ready on time as well. At the same time it reached a consensus among the members due to the submitted operational amendments. We can only hope their new policy will be the correct one for the European Union to follow.
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Oil makes the world go round

By Kalliopi Plexida for International Herent Tribute

The certain falls with a happy ending

By Catherine Proaki for Le morde diplomatique The rise in the oil prices has become a great concern for market analysts, especially with reference to the way commodities may be influenced The second days session was an absolute blast. by the recent changes on the prices. The upsets followed one another. Since the first days attempt to create a specific and complete Goldman Sachs has set a target at 150$ per barrel, resolution wasnt successful, MEPs started the with this price possibly increasing in the next three session with an unmoderated caucus. months. Commodity analyst Gordon Stroud warns that the global raise in consumption may create an The total number of the crisis that occurred during explosive cocktail for the global markets. these days was three. The first one referred to the With the upcoming 2012 Olympic Games in the United Kingdom, the country has started to create great concerns about the energy supplies, something that has brought about intensive and constant discussions in the British cabinet. Mrs. Harriet Harman, deputy leader of the Labor Party, has announced that keeping the creation of the Olympic Games, this summer, at a low cost is the main priority of the United Kingdoms government. disappearance of a dangerous nuclear product at the boarders between France and Italy. According to what the MEP of the French government said, Carla Bruni took the baby and left the country, while secret services carried out undercover investigations around the French territory.

The second crisis referred to the boat immigrants who ended up in France, in their attempt to escape death leaving Italy. Miss Papadopoulou claimed that the illegal immigrants were found and received proper treatment by the French authorities. On the As it is already known to the public, UKs economy other hand, she said that this issue is internal and the has declined significantly during the past years, EU shouldnt get involved with its domestic politics. since 2008, with a growing negative outlook for the The MEPs didnt seem to embrace this opinion. future of the country and also for its economy. This negativity from the UKs part elaborates the Last but not least, the third crisis was about the question regarding how the country is able to corruption of a number of members of the European economically afford running a big fiesta, such as Parliament and their link to an Italian industry. the Olympic Games, with the oil prices rising and According to the testimonies, in the particular rising every day. building immigrants where kept in order to be used for trafficking. Along with the other members of And if this great event successfully carried out, how AFET, France claimed that this situation is much will this tremendous spending cost the UK unacceptable and should be immediately terminated. government and the English people and how long will it take to recover? At the end of the day, the final resolution created by the MEPs was passed with a consensus, while France declared that the vital clause was No3forming a common policy and empowering frontiers. After all, we are all here for one reason to unite!
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From left to right:

The woman behind the Organizing Committee! Pre-election strategy Interesting perspective I am a very stylish girl! A hipster among us ,)

MISTAKES MAKE PEOPLE!!!

On last issues page 4, the copypaste procedure made Elenis article dublicate the last paragraphs ,( . We truly apologize for the inconvenience.

From left to right:

It is always time for a quick game The Press Team in action! I am in crisis Professors are always cooperative Habemus Papam!

Macroeconomic solutions and structural evolution in the EU, thanks to update and current crises
By Eleni Sakellaridi for Bilt 08.04.2012 has been a hard day for the ECON Committee of the European Parliament. The central point in the debates among the MEPs was the emergent crisis that broke the day before, with the threat of the US to support a cheap US dollar against the EU and the global competitiveness. Mrs. Panagopoulou highlighted that the World Trade Organization is the responsible body to condemn such actions. The WTO officially announced to the ECON Committee that the act of the U.S. could possibly be characterized as dumping, fact that would have a huge impact on the markets.

Mr. Terzis, the MEP for Germany in the ECON Committee, promoted Germanys leading role in the EU, suggesting and supporting opinions that strengthen the Union and express the trust of Germany towards a strong E.U. On the other side GB has shown that is ready to distance from the Union when its interests are efficiently satisfied through different ways.

Potential trade interoperability between EU -AL?

By Thetis Mytilini for Al Jameera

EEEEPITROPH

From the beginning of the session, the No 1 spoken issue was the crisis, whose facts were changing during the day. It was about the stolen container from Egypt with nuclear elements, for which an Italian company was finally responsible. It is well mentioned that at first most of the MEPs accused Egypt for this crisis, and only a MEP (SP-EPP) paid the appropriate attention, supported us and offered to help us The negative statements of China, BRICKS, Asian immediately. and other countries towards the U.S.A. were to follow, and even though no official body from the After taking the other MEPs into consideration, who stated that Europe was also responsible, Miss Bakouni side of the American Governance neither confirmed nor disproved the news, it got clear that (It-EPP) underlined this situation as an opportunity to the EU should promote its competitiveness against a further cooperation with Arab League (AL). Because of the false accusation, the whole Committee agreed the US by using bodies that now emerge among not to loose their mutual trust and good faith and the union and by utilizing the common policy of invited Arab League to discuss further these issues in the states that have also been harmed by the U.S. order to protect the boarders of both areas (EU-AL). action. The MEPs focused on the role of the European Semester Supervisor making suggestions that would lead to the improvement and strengthening of this body that will help to encounter with such crises in the future. Mrs. Trikaki and Mr. Stravoravdis agreed on the fact that the current crisis, in the same way as the financial and debt crisis of 2008, give the chance to the Union to improve its structure in order to be stronger against future crises and play a dynamic role on a global level, avoiding the introversion of the past years. The ECON committee, despite the multiple and continuous interruptions by the breaking news, remained focused on the macroeconomic solution, referring mainly to the banking and investment field, reaching agreements on topics such as the necessity of a specific regulation about the risk managements and the increase of the capital ratio Apart from this crisis, the European Parliament had also promoted some important suggestions so as to extend our trade relations. The agreement that all the MEPs had voted consists of the promotion of the sustainable development with investments in Arab League. Moreover, European Parliament was interested in a cooperation towards the sector of energy in order to have only economic benefits and not to improve trade relations. Only Mr Berberis (IT-S&D) noticed that both sides, EU and AL, must have equal advantages. Last but not least Miss Stavropoulou (IT-S&D) laid emphasis on piracy, which is a big problem for all the ship owners and Mediterranean countries. As everyone can recognize from the results of this committee, we have more supporters than the day before. Therefore we are optimistic for a potential agreement between Europe and Arab League!
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INTA: What happens in INTA, stays in INTA

By Carla Beraha and Fenia Megremi

separated in two groups in order not to linger. As the time went by, the crisis became more and more complicated, due to the various escalations. Opinions differed widely and specifically as to the question behind the theft of the container holding radioactive material, but the majority view was that E.U. and Arab League were both responsible for the situation.

The second day of the sessions in the INTA committee started with a more stable and understandable climate as a result of the clarifications and explanations that took place the day before. The session opened with a funny incident, characterized by the phrase what happens An avid minority defended that a single E.U. country in INTA ,stays in INTA (but unfortunately, I cant was responsible for the crisis taking place. As a result, the different opinions caused a dispute reveal more information!). between Mr. Berberis, member of the S&D Party and Miss Bakouni, member of the EPP Party, both The members of the Board, Mr. Papadimitriou and MEPs of Italy and Mrs. Mr. Konstas urged the Antonopoulou, member of MEPs to collaborate and the ALDE Party and MEP of make any implementations Germany. The effervescent needed, rephrase, include or climate urged Mr. Berberis to exclude clauses on the mention real events like the potential draft which was Siemens scandal! created the previous day. Moreover, there was the issue of the crisis that MEPs had to deal with. As there wasnt plenty of time, the MEPs were
By the end of a fruitful open session, in which MEPs discussed their proposals on how a similar By Theodora Ilia accident could be prevented, all the Parties procceded to an After the first day of unmoderated caucus in negotiations ended with the order to form their draft breaking news of crisis, all report. Furthermore, the the MEPs from SEDE discussion was focused on Committee returned to their security measures between positions prepared to deal the EU and its neighbors with this crisis, which (countries of the Arab concerned the theft of World). Once more, a lot of nuclear material from interesting propositions Egypt's territory. The first concerning this issue were session started with MEPs heard, such as an making personal statements international cooperation, and highlighting some stricter border control and points of their positions. ways to prevent terrorism. Most of the Parties agreed to the need of rapid reaction Not long ago before the from the part of the second session had started, European Union in order to another crisis arised. The deal with this important BBC announced to the issue. European Community that

After a substantial effort, the MEPs managed to reach a mutual agreement and include in the final draft specific clauses so as to avoid similar situations.
French authorities have found illegal immigrants during a border control by Corsica Frontex. They were sent to a french immigration camp and health checks revealed signs that they were exposed to radioactive material, probably the one which got stolen from Egypt. were soon alarmed by another announcement of the BBC channel clarifying that the thief of the radioctive material was an international organised crime group, whose main purpose was only the profit.

SEDE: All parties united as a fist!

Although these breaking news made most of the MEPs feel the future threat, they stayed calm, a fact that Firstly, most of the Parties showed their like SD and EPP felt the professionalism. As a urge to congratulate France result, they were capable of for her immigrant policy including in their final and her effectiveness in report some extra clauses action. During the concerning the recent crisis. unmoderated caucus which Finally, all the MEPs followed, all four parties proceeded to the voting discussed thoroughly the procedure for their draft breaking news and tried to report, which of course was come up with a proposal passed because it reflected about the crisis, included in everybody's hard work and their final report. the fruitful cooperation! However, all the MEPs
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MEET (THE REST OF) THE PRESS!

Hi everybody!!! My name is Rafaella Tsertsides and I come from Thessaloniki. I am a fourth-year law student at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and I am highly interested in international relations and international law. During the conference I was the managing editor of our newspaper and I really did my best in order to present a comprehensive summary of the daily committee sessions and all the intriguing events that took place in Euro.Pa.S. 2012. This different position made me realise that simulations and models will never turn out to be boring. I look forward to meeting all of you in Euro.Pa.S. 2013 and I wish you had a great experience and the unique opportunity to become familiar with the european procedures and the global events!!! Xoxo

experience intriguing global issues.

My name is Eleni Sakellaridi and I study Law in the National and Kapodistrian university of Athens. During Euro.Pa.S., I work as a journalist and I specifically cover the ECON Committee for the BILT newspaper. International relations and journalism are part of my interests as well. My name is Carla Beraha. I am 21 years old and I am attending the International and European Studies Department of the University of Piraeus. This is my third participation in the Euro.Pa.S. procedures, but only my first as a journalist, so as to see the things from a different view.

My name is Tho Fatsas, Im a 19-year-old French student. I have been studying Law and Political Science in the University of Nantes for 2 years. In November 2011, I discovered in Albania the concept of the Model of the European Union as a journalist, and Im glad to participate once again as a journalist to this Euro.Pa.S.

Hello ladies and gentlemen!!! My name is Catherine Proaki and I represent Le Morde Diplomatique in the AFET Committee. I am 20 years old and I currently study Law in the University of Athens. I chose the journalist position because I am sick of being a MEP! Finally, since it is difficult to describe the level of my awesomeness, I urge you to ask miss Lydia Bitsakou from the SEDE Committee to inform you about that. Love you girl!!!!!! Xx

Hello everybody!!! My name is July Chatzizisi and I come from Thessaloniki. I am studying in the faculty of Law in the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and I am familiar with the international procedures and activities; thats why I decided to participate in Euro.Pa.S. 2012 as a journalist. I think that Euro.Pa.S. 2012 will be a great experience for all of us and I am very excited to be part of this project.

Hi everyone, my name is Kalliopi Plexida! I come from Piraeus and I attend the International and European Studies Depastment, here, at University of Piraeus. This is my second time in Euro.Pa.S. and fourth in simulations generally. This time I am a journalist, something that I love and I hope to become one day in the future. I hope that you will have a great time here at Euro.Pa.S. and enjoy yourselves to the maximum! Love ya!

Hey guys!!!! I'm Karmen J. Koulas, a 21-year-old girl from Thessaloniki and I proudly study Law in the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. In Euro.Pa.S. 2012 I am a journalist for the AFET Committee and I have chosen this position because I want to participate in a different position in the world of simulations and to be with my daughter in the same press team. Kisses!!!!! Karmensita!!!!!

Hello to all!!! My name is Thomas Tsoulias and I am a Law student at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. My interest lies in the areas of international law and policies, history and technology. From this perspective, it is a great experience to attend EUROPAS 2012, since, apart from everything else, I am able to improve my writing and address the broader public at the same time !!!!

Hola EUROPAS world! Im Sofia Spanidou and I serve as a journalist of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy. I am a second year sophomore in the Faculty of Law in Aristoteles University and I am really interested in everything that concerns international law and diplomacy. After having experienced many simulations, I decided to try the position of the journalist, which so far seems to be very very interesting and challenging. I wish you all a fruitful debate, with lots of ideas and proposals on the floor, and of course plenty of gossip, so that our journalistic flair can be fed!

Merhaba, arkadalar!!! I am Katerina Giosma, a journalist specialized in International News. I have just finished my master focused on European Communication and Policies in National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. This was my first participation in Euro.Pa.S and I am sure it wont be the last! I holded the position of Editor in Chief for the Euro.Pa.S. My name is Theodora Ilia. I study in the University of Piraeus Daily. I wish everybody a HAPPY EASTER ,). and I am in my first year of studies. I participate in Euro.Pa.S. 2012 as a journalist in order to grab the opportunity to 9

Time for GOSSIPing!!!

Euro.Pa.S. 2012 seems to have the most good-looking male Presidents and Vice-Presidents!!! Mr. Terzis simulate nowdance later! Unfortunately, Mrs. Panagopolou stopped your way to the (dance) floor (ECON) A very passionate Human Rights MEP was affectingly caressing the long wavy hair of the MEP that was sitting in front of HER It seems that that the CULT committee wants to introduce Greek as one of the official languages of the simulation!!! EPP MEP Mr.Kazakeas was spotted kissing a MEP of unknown identity under the main staircase Dear delegates, you should be more polite towards our so helpful staff. There is no such thing as staffAKI. Thank you! Mme Kagiali of the French committee is trs chic We really loved her outfit yesterday!!! Mr. Stravoravdis (ECON) complained for not being printed in our newspaper so we do so now! Mr. Koulouris seems to be very intimate with some staff members!
For more photos and updates check our facebook page: European Parliament Simulation (Euro.Pa.S.) at

Please, MEPs, we know how much passion and love you have for the country that you present, but at least do not personalize it!!!

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