MAGAZINE OF THE YOUNG EUROPEAN FEDERALISTS ISSUE 2/2006 thenewfederalist new series VOX POPULIS E-GOVERNANCE PETITION DEMOCRACY ELECTIONS POLITICAL BLOGGING PARTICIPATION WHAT’S IN HERE? contents 03 dear reader daniela grech 04 constitution? straight to the emergency room! jan seifert EVOLVING EUROPE 05 europe and the sauna george kipouros 06 a european in the italian parliament daniela grech 09 change in italy and a visit to ventotene federico brunelli 10 a hope for democracy in belarus vaida jazepcikaite 11 hungarian parliamentary (s)elections daniel bartha 12 what caused the turmoil in france fabien cazenave & damien routisseau 13 the plight of polish workers in ireland elizabeth lannoo 14 europe and asylum: a promise betrayed jean pierre gautci EVOLVING REACHING EUROPE 15 e-governance for eu democracy asimakis valavanis 16 do eu blog? jon worth 17 the next generation anne-christine roisin 18 european civil service - a wonderful project jessica pennet REACHING THINKING FEDERALIST 19 vox populis radostina zhelyazkova 21 second citizens' convention in vienna friedhelm frischenschlager & reinout prez 22 european parliament, quo vadis? emmanuel vallens & anders ekberg 24 the services directive: take it or leave it lieven tack FEDERALIST ACTIVE JEF 25 the jef europe foundation thomas heissmeier 26 two stars make a supernova ecaterina matcov 27 life in jef sections vaida jazepcikaite 28 contact ACTIVE JEF WHAT’S THIS? WHO MADE THIS? WHO PAYS? thenewfederalist editorialboard financing The New Federalist is a publication of the Daniela Grech, Editor in Chief JEF-Europe receives financial support Young European Federalists (JEF-Euro- Samuel Müller, Layout Editor from the European Commission and the pe). It is sent to all JEF-Europe sections David Hanson Council of Europe. and members as well as to international Vaida Jazepcikaite If you are interested in reaching out to politicians, political parties, governmen- Ecaterina Matcov our thousands of members across more tal and non-governmental organisations Peter Matjasic than 30 countries in Europe by adverti- and institutions. George Kipouros sing in TNF, please contact our office for Opinions expressed in the TNF are – ex- Peter Strempel more details. cept if otherwise stated – the personal Radostina Zhelyazkova opinions of the authors, which are not necessarily the same as those of JEF-Eu- rope, the JEF-Europe Executive Bureau YOUNG EUROPEAN FEDERALISTS (JEF Europe) or the Board of Editors. European Secretariat, Chaussée de Wavre 214d, 1050 Brussels, Belgium Phone +32 2 512 0053 | Fax +32 2 9501 | [email protected] 2 thenewfederalist EDITORIAL EDITORIAL dear reader Welcome to the summer edition of The New Fe- taking) place in the Member States, and even bey- deralist! As you will see, the team behind this issue ond. Moreover, we have also included topics which has built on the great work done by the previous have not been dealt with before in our magazine, Editorial Boards, both in terms of content but es- like blogging, e-Government and Human Rights, pecially in terms of layout, to provide you with a as well as a rehash of a highly discussed topic in new issue of the magazine of the Young European JEF – that of the European Parliament seat as con- Federalists which we hope will attract and interest tested between Strasbourg and Brussels. more and more of you with each edition. As part of our ommitment to increase the interest DANIELA The June number is brought to you by a new edi- range of our magazine, the new editorial board has GRECH torial board resident in all parts of Europe, and we also included innovative sections, such as the Vox are very proud to have been able to overcome many Pop and a more comprehensive page dedicated to Editor in Chief difficult obstacles and distractions, including full- the activities of JEF-sections, an interview with a FC Member time jobs, university exams, crashed computers politician elected into the Italian Parliament, as JEF Europe and the World Cup(!!) to get the articles and opi- well as the Double Interview, wherein two stars of nions of our contributors in time for you to enjoy JEF-Europe, the outgoing and incoming Secretary them during the summer months! General have agreed to answer identical questions, but in a very different way! As I write this piece, the Council has come to an end, and the only achievement that might be de- To conclude, I would like to say a very special thank scribed as so was the “experimental” opening up you to the members of the Federal Committee who of the Council meetings in co-decisions procedu- entrusted me with The New Federalist as from res. Votes and deliberations as well as legislative March, the absolutely brilliant Editorial Board, the proposals are now to be made public. While this Executive Bureau, and of course, the Secretariat. is some sort of step ahead, it still not enough, es- And as a very last note, I take this opportunity to pecially when one sees the dismal result reached spend a few words on the latter, as an ex-Secretari- as regards the prolongation of the “reflection peri- at member, to welcome Vassilis to the JEF-Europe od” until the end of 2008. Hence, while waiting for office, but also to say a public thank you to our out- the Big Break in Europe, or actually...for anything going Secretary General, Joan Marc. In the name to happen that might be remotely considered as a of all of us who had the luck to work with you, I success for the future of the EU, the contributions would like to say thank you for the endless hours of our June issue focus mainly on the idea of demo- spent in the office working for JEF, your commit- cracy in terms of the rights to vote, to choose and to ment and the way you always made things end up demonstrate. Hence this edition goes through the just a little bit more fun than they were meant to different happenings that have taken (or are still be. Fins ara y bona sort Jefe!!! ¢ Meet Arnold Cassola 06 Review we want to hear your opinion! Do you have any comments, suggestions or Galaxy Europe opinions that you would like to share with us? Would you like to express yourself on any topic, 16 whether raised by one of our contributors, or else it is one which you would like us to tackle in upco- ming editions? Then write to us! We want to hear Listen to the what you have to say! VOX POPULIS Email us on [email protected]. Your views might be published in the next edition 19 of The New Federalist! thenewfederalist 3 PRESIDENT PRESIDENT’S CORNER constitution? straight to emergency room! A year has passed since the European integration The issue of communication – has encountered its biggest punch in the face since and argumentation de Gaulle’s “empty chair” policy. Ironically enough The delivery agenda brings us to the second chal- it is again a French president, who is the cause for lenge - arguing the case for Europe. It cannot be the current stalemate. But it is not only him lying that a (Dutch) Prime Minister comes up to the in the political emergency room but also our key electorate to tell them that a no-vote in the refe- project, the Constitutional Treaty. I wonder if I rendum will bring back war in Central Europe. If expose myself here as the inhumane federalist for that is all we can say in defence of the Constituti- admitting that I feel much more sorry for a pile of onal Treaty or indeed any further integration, we articles than for Monsieur le Président. With him better buy an apartment house and stay in Vento- JAN being dismissed in about 12 months time new hori- tene. On the contrary, my impression was still that SEIFERT JEF was the one driving force both on European zons might open up and we can examine where we President stand today to learn from the miseries of Monsieur and national level to get at least some bottom-up JEF Europe Chirac and his European Stammtisch – Summit activity both to influence the Treaty text as well as mates. later during the ratification process. Still, we face three problems, which we have to tackle if we do The delivery problem not want to loose out in 2007-2009 (again). First- The one thing we should always remember from ly, we need to sharpen our arguments, come up the Dutch, French, Spanish and Luxembourg refe- with the right examples for the right target groups rendums is that the biggest number of no-voters and then get ourselves out to where we can influ- did so, because they were dissatisfied with their go- ence people. Secondly, we are not the only ones in vernment, unhappy with the economic situation or the “European family”. Both for national and Eu- feared the whole idea of globalisation and “neo-li- ropean level I believe that there is so much more beralism” on the wider front. If we (and even more UEF and European Movements can do with us. Let so the governments) want to win back these people us change them from the inside and turn them into for European integration, then we do indeed have the kind of citizen-campaign organisations that to address the delivery problem. Historic links, will mutually stimulate our work. Finally, we need peace and past economic prosperity are understan- to reach beyond our own circles. How many inte- dably not the kind of thing the long-term unemp- resting new groups have come up during and after loyed in Eastern Germany cares much about.