The General Assembly
"The General Assembly is the moment when all come together."
(Oliver Knoll, President)
General assembly - ITRE
The ITRE committee, led by the chairpersons Jasper Dienst, Ida Frenzel and Dajana Schlichtemaier called for a stronger cooperation between the member states in the field of energy policy and modernization of a common European electricity grid Their goals include achieving a climate-neutral Europe and strengthening unity within Europe.
"No action is worse than no action."
Pontus, Germany (ITRE)
General assembly - AFCO
This committee discussed how the European Union can become more democratic, more transparent and faster in decision-making by reforming the European Parliament and the European Commission.
Their resolution suggests giving the Parliament the right to propose laws, reducing veto powers and making the Spitzenkandidat system legally binding.
They also propose a clearer and more transparent law-making, faster action in rule-of-law cases by the European Court of Justice and more uniform election rules in all EU countries.
However, other committees were concerned about removing veto rights, the very high majority needed for decisions and the risk of freezing EU funds while court cases are still ongoing.
“We have to move forward together.“
AFCO
General assembly - ECON
ECON faces many Economic challenges like financial market volatility and the risk of dependency on external powers.
The members of ECON suggest the EU commission to implement Eurobonds to help countries to refinance themselves and also urge the European members to be disciplined when it comes to paying debts to reduce government debts.
They encourage the European Central Bank and the EU Commission to adress the issue of a strong dependence on the US Dollar on international markets and take according measures as soon as possible.
It is appealed to direct the European Commission to reinforce resilience against strong resource dependencies. They name suggestions like recycling rare earths to reduce import dependency, renewable energy development and last military technology.
Additionally they suggest to encourage to diversify trade relations between BRICS, the USA and other countries to avoid total dependency on single trade relations regarding rare earths, renewable energy and military technologies.
It is also a goal to expand the EURO-Zone by implementing measures like adjusting the convergence criteria to make it easier to join the EURO and to impose sanctions for today‘s EU member states that fail to join the Eurozone by 2030.
"Europe must act united“
- Patricia (Romania), ECON
General assembly - SEDE
The SEDE Committee with the chair persons Jasper Helm and Leana Kasch wanted to aim to address Europe’s growing security vulnerabilities and its strong military dependence on the United States. It proposed strengthening the EU’s defense capabilities by introducing binding defense spending targets of 2% of GDP by 2030 and 3% by 2035 for EU NATO member states, while still maintaining the transatlantic alliance. In addition, the proposal calls for greater standardization among national armed forces, enhanced military mobility by upgrading infrastructure and harmonizing cross-border regulations, and increasing the attractiveness of voluntary military service instead of introducing compulsory EU-wide conscription.
General assembly - AFET
AFET calls on the European Union to secure its own critical resources and energy in order to remain globally competitive, reduce dependence on powers such as the United States, China and Russia, and act as an independent “third pole” through unity among its 27 Member States. It urges trade partnerships particularly with democratic allies, expanded supply chains to other regions, and stronger industrial production within the EU, especially in Eastern Europe, supported by investment and technology transfer.
The other committees objected to the point that the EU should act as a neutral and transparent mediator, thus this suggestion was removed from the AFET resolutions.
General assembly - CULT
The committee of culture and education addressed several problems in the European Union.
Many people are influenced by misinformation, which is why better political education is needed.
Citizens in the EU are not closely connected, so cooperation between different cultures should be strengthened.
The committee suggested that Immigrants should be integrated into society through education and equal opportunities. There are also more international crises and security threats near Europe. To deal with attacks on democracy, CULT asks the EU to fight fake news and improve digital security.
“If we want a strong Europe tomorrow, we must educate Europe today.“ Marie, CULT
The venue for the General Assembly:
the local parliament
Since Eutin is the capital of the district “Ostholstein”, we have a small parliament building
very close to school. On Sunday, we will take a short stroll through the city centre to set up
the general assembly in the halls of our local democratic representatives.
“Being nervous is part of the deal. I think even professionals are nervous in those situations when you have to talk in front of a lot of people.“ -
Philipp Loose (Head Organiser)
Opening ceremony
The presidents officially opened this year’s General Assembly. In their speech, they
emphasized the importance of a fair and respectful debate. Oliver Knoll, one of the three presidents, describes the General Assembly as the moment when it all comes together. They also shared the current House Cup Points, in which SEDE is leading for now. The committees can now gain more points through convincing arguments.
Video message
Rasmus Andresen, Member of the European Parliament for the Green Party, sent a short and motivating video message with words of appreciation in which he highlighted the importance of young people getting involved in democratic processes:
The resolution booklet
All the resolutions which were prepared by the committees this weekend and are debated by the General Assembly can be found in this booklet: