Political Seminars on “European Integration in Progress: European Policies Towards The Youth” 

The Centre for European Studies and the Constantinos Karamanlis Institute for Democracy jointly organized a series of political seminars under the title “European Integration in Progress: European Policies towards the Youth”. The seminars took place in four different cities of Greece, between March and May 2008. More than 120 leading members of the Nea Demokratia Party’s Youth (ONNED) attended them. The places and the dates of the events are the following: on 20 March in Komotini, on 11 April in Thessaloniki, on 18 April in Athens and on 9 March in Patra.

The aim of these activities was to inform a great number of young people and student leaders about the latest developments of European integration and current issues of European concern in general, giving particular emphasis on the discussion of the Lisbon Treaty and the contemporary EU policies toward the youth. The main objective was to make those youth representatives better acquainted with the matters mentioned above, in order to impart their knowledge to the base of their organization.

The seminars consisted of two sessions: The first one was entitled “European Programs for the Youth” and hosted speakers from the General Secretariat for Youth of the Hellenic Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs. The second one, which was entitled “Political and Institutional Developments in the EU”, was mainly supported by distinguished academics.

Session I

European Programs for the Youth Pantelis Sklias, Secretary General for Youth (Hellenic Ministry for Education and Religious Affairs), delivered a lecture on the first seminar, in Komotini. Mr. Sklias presented the framework of European policies that are designated for young people and their impact to the actions of the General Secretariat for Youth. Moreover, he presented the role of the European Youth Pact and the main programs of the Secretariat. At this point, Mr. Sklias gave particular emphasis to the participation of the young generation in the institutions of local administration (i.e., the Locals Youth Councils), as well as to the professional and economic opportunities for the young people. “The young people, more specifically, those coming from the minorities, face challenges in various stages of their lives between the high-school graduation and their employment” Ms Katerina Patsogianni, Counsellor to the Office of the Secretary General for Youth, also informed the audience about the European Youth Pact and the policies of the General Secretariat for youth. “…I should explain that in many European countries, over and above the ministries of education we have the ministries for youth, meaning that in the EU the states are not only concerned about the issues of education. They are also separately concerned on youth issues”. She also outlined four points that must priorities in the European youth policies. Those are: the employment of young people, the opportunities of young people who belong to vulnerable groups, the approach towards youths which must be more global and finally, the abilities of young people in taking initiatives for their social and professional life. The president of the Patras Brunch of the Constantinos Karamanlis Institute for Democracy, Ioanna Iliopoulou-Georgoudaki, referred to the White Paper, its priorities for youth (the informatics, the participation, the volunteering activities and the demand for more knowledge concerning young people) and its main aim, which is the transformation of young people into active citizens. Furthermore, the Coordinator of the EU Program “Youth in Action”, Anastasia Filini, stressed the necessity of placing paticular attention to the young people with less opportunities. “We don’t only mean those people, who have a handicap, but those, who come from diverse backgrounds. It might be from remote areas, from degraded socio-economic backgrounds, migrants, refugees”. Moreover, she spoke about the importance of the adoption of a common European identity. Another program that has been analysed during the seminars was the “Eurodesk”. The operator of this program, Ms Ioanna Tsoukana was the most appropriate person to present it. In her speech, she referred to the services that this program can offer, underlining the significance for young generation to access the European and national information community. “The success of Eurodesk lies in the numerous services that it can offer. It can help young people [...] to clarify the terms and to be able to identify what they are looking for without having to struggle with the volume of information”.

SESSION II

“Political and Institutional Developments in the EU” Tomi Huhtanen, Director General of the Centre for European Studies, opened the seminar in Athens by making a reference to the European Programs for youth, as well as to the political and institutional implications that the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty will have for the EU. Additionally, he presented the newly founded Centre for European Studies and praised the very fruitful cooperation with the CKID. “…the Centre for European Studies is basically the official think tank of the EPP party. It was established one year ago. The Constantinos Karamanlis Institute for Democracy, with its strong presence, has been among the founders”. The Lisbon Treaty and its impact in the European youth was also in the center of the speech of Giorgos Papanikolaou, the president of the Youth of the “Nea Demokratia” Party (ONNED), Under this frame, he set some questions to the panelists, concerning the fears and the concerns of the young people. “…European mentality […] cannot be imposed from above. […] That means that all the programs have to be implemented with respect to youth, and whether this is in Greece or in the EU is something that contributes to a better future, and that is why we always want to cooperate with them”. Another representative of the young generation, and President of the Youth of the European People’s Party (YEPP), Yannis Smyrlis, tried to analyze the spirit of the Lisbon Treaty and to highlight the changes that it will bring after its promulgation. “So, I think that the Lisbon Treaty will allow us to make a leap forward to the future. I think, above and beyond what has been mentioned before, we see that the European citizens consider this as the way forward, how we can deepen this European construction”. Closing his speech, he gave some information about YEPP. Mr. Dimitris Chrysohoou, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Crete, in his speeches, made an analysis of the qualitative and the institutional characteristics of the Treaty of Lisbon. “So, I would say that this point in which we have struck a balance in the EU can be viewed in the way that we have structured the Lisbon Treaty, and this can be considered as an expression of reconciliation among two different opposing tendencies, one that has to do with the political unification of all, and the other has to do with the regional autonomy of the parties”. He also supported that through this Treaty, EU has the chance to make a step further to the direction of the political unification. An Associate Professor from the Department of Political Science and Public Administration in the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Kostas Ifantis, tried to define the role of the EU in the world scene. According to his opinion, EU has to look deep inside to its institutions and structures, in order to search for a more clear political orientation. During this introspection, the following questions should be answered: What is Europe? What do we know about Europe? And, what do we expect from Europe? “So, Europe is a vision and interests at the same time. […] To all of us in this room, these are luckily just a few lines in a history manual, but for the previous generations, for those, who are a bit older than us, those who have lived in a Europe ridden by poverty and disaster, the achievement of the Union is really, truly great. And that is why we have had this explosion of a European vision…” Finally, Nikolaos Tzifakis, Head of the International Cooperation Department of the Constantinos Karamanlis Institute for Democracy approached the matter of EU enlargement. He elaborated on the discussion that has been waged in Europe since 1995 – i.e., the failed French and Dutch referenda on the European Constitutional Treaty – that has revolved around the EU’s capacity to absorb/integrate more member-states. Mr. Tzifakis suggested that the ‘deepening’ and ‘widening’ processes of the EU are inextricably linked in a manner in which an impasse in the one process has ramifications to the other. Altogether, during these seminars, the interaction between the audience and the speakers were intensive and of a high level. The discussions, which followed the speeches of the panelists, shed a light upon many crucial questions around the debated issues. In general, these events could be characterized as successful in informing an important number of young representatives on the state of the art in EU institutional developments as well as, Europe’s targeted policies towards the youth.