Members of the press team give an overview of their work of the EPAS Together event, a gathering of ambassador schools of the European Parliament.
Article from Anna Marie Zudova and Ivana Ferková
As the second day here in Graz started for all of us participating in EPAS together 2024, so did the Media Group covering the event on social media. We’ve started brainstorming for the ideas we could use, the perspectives we can take etc. Groups were formed to cover as much as possible and to work as effectively as possible. One of the main suggestions we’ve agreed on was to do an interview. The aim was to compare the answers of various participants (- representatives of the states we have here) answering the same question each.
We could have been seen kidnapping some students throughout the day for the purpose of the interview. It was really interesting to see how different people of different nationalities respond to our questions. It truly showed how we came here with similar goals and still have all those differences among us.
What do you expect from this event and what would you like to take away from it?
This was our first question we asked our participants. Their answers were indeed very similar. They were all eager to make new friends, create bonds and relations between the countries. They also wanted to work on their social skills and explore different cultures while working together on their way to knowledge about the EU.
Do you think that it’s reasonable to make ecologically prosperous legislation at the expense of our comfort?
This was one of the more complicated questions that got our host to think a little deeper about the matter. Some of the answers we got could be considered as the opposite poles of the theme. From the opinion that comfort is basically useless if we don’t have the ecological stability to the one which stated that it is important to push it but we are not prepared for legislative like this yet to a very diplomatic answer explaining that we should focus equally on both sides, as much as on the ecology, as much on the comfort.
How do you feel about accepting the Euro?
Even though we had participants from various countries, some of them do use the euro and some don’t, the answers were surprisingly very similar and agreeing. All of them agreed that accepting the euro helped their state towards economic stability, brought it up to a “European union standard”, helped inter-European trade etc. For example Czech, who didn’t accept the euro, said that the word should be spread first about the European Union in their state and when it is done so, then there can be a debate about accepting it although in their opinion it would be just a benefit to do so.
Do you think that people should be able to vote from the age of 16 or 18? What is the percentage of people from your country voting?
Again, the students more or less agreed on the answers and showed that their thoughts are probably heading in the same direction. Mostly there was an agreement that young people at the age of 16 are not educated enough and are too easy to manipulate and that 18 years is just right to be ready and mature enough to go and vote. Although a representative of Austria, where people can and do vote from the age of 16 disagreed in this matter, because as she said, going to vote from the age of sixteen is indeed valid, people are mature and ready to go vote, just as she did. Not always the participants knew what percentage of the state population goes to vote, which we can just assume is not the topic of discussion among them.
Should the EU protect the integrity and individuality of different cultures?
This question received a unanimous agreement from all representatives of countries, reflecting on the integrity of diverse cultures and societies within the European Union all working together towards a common goal of peace. Slovakia was of the opinion that too much support of diversity would lead to “ultra nationalism,” since it would create more rifts between the cultures rather than bring them closer, but no one fully disagreed.
What should the EU do to support ties and interrelationships between different countries?
Everyone agreed that the European Union should continue to support interrelationships between its member states, either by hosting events such as EPAS together for young minds that the future will belong to, or by the EU acting as a sort of mediator for countries, having the final say in who was in the right and who was in the wrong. The Czech Republic also mentioned the importance of Erasmus projects that strengthen the interstate bonds. It also mentioned that, according to them, the EU shouldn’t be strengthening bonds between itself and other big powers standing in opposition to its goals, such as Russia or the Middle East.
Should the EU become more centralized with a single foreign policy and military?
The interesting aspect about these answers was that they were the most diverse. Two countries — Croatia and Austria — thought that all of it wasn’t a good idea, while Slovakia was the only country that said the European Union should have one centralized foreign policy. All other countries said that they would potentially want a single military force. However, no country agreed with this question fully, showing much variety in opinions and reasonings for them, while providing a view of the common mindset and goal.
Should there be a system for expelling member states that violate democratic policies?
A completely unanimous and vocal “yes” ended our series of questions. Every country viewed democracy as a fundamental part of the pact that makes up the European Union and agreed that if such a fundamental piece and a right is to be broken, there should be a controlled, just and systematic process with which to expel member states in order for the union to prosper. Most of the countries however added that the measures should not be too drastic, or rather that they should be put into use only for serious violations. They also highlighted one of the foremost values of the European Union, which is help and cooperation, going on to say that the EU should strive towards helping their member countries to remain in a state of democracy.
Our research ended up disproving our initial hypothesis. We expected the representatives of different countries to have more contrasting opinions, but the majority seemed to agree on almost every front. We must take into account that we were asking students that are very aware and were part of this event because they are very involved in the topics we asked about, so their opinions didn’t necessarily align with the opinions of their countries. They do however all come from different social backgrounds, with different ideas and experiences, so it was a surprising revelation to hear that they all unanimously agreed on so many things. This research only goes to show that even for our differences, finding compromise and agreement is always possible.
