Europe — a concept filled with opportunities
Rasmus Udde
I decided to take it upon myself to dedicate an hour of my time to have my say in the debate following Satu’s opinion piece. Being a recent alumnus of University of Aberdeen, the piece caught my eye and I wanted to share my view with the rest.
Who am I to cast my opinion?
From growing up in a deprived neighbourhood in the immediate post-Soviet Estonia to moving to the European capital at the ripe age of 12 to study, I have what one could call an opportunity to make comparisons from two opposite-end situations. I know the reality of the society driving change from the bottom-up as it was in Estonia in the first half of my brief existence and of EU, where experts drive change based on the best information available at the expense of what might be referred to as democracy. Most of my cognitive time, I spent within the European vehicle (European School) churning out Euro-believers made me a sceptic, but as time moves on, my understanding of Europe changes. It makes me appreciate my own understanding of Europe.
What is Europe to the European Rasmus?
Europe from my perspective is the ability to relocate, explore, experience, and cherish different people, culture, locations, and opportunities. I have already lived in Tallinn, Brussels, Aberdeen, Geneva and Edinburgh, something which would be unimaginable without a mobile and ‘borderless’ Europe. For me, Europe, or the EU, is not merely a political institution, even if my educational background has worked tremendously hard to engrain me in that notion. For me Europe, is a region and a concept that is filled with opportunity, where we all can make a mark, regardless of our backgrounds, degrees, ambitions, or age.
What is Europe to the Estonian Rasmus?
What is Europe to the Rasmus that did not move to Brussels? What is Europe to someone who did not have the privilege to choose where to study and someone who is one specific location bound for one reason or another? I’d say, Europe is nothing to them… it is the equivalent of the United States or Russia. It is something to read or watch news about or visit as a tourist. But it is not something that is a significant part of them. Why would I care about what happens in Brussels or Strasbourg or in Athens? It seemingly has no bearing to me and I have no bearing to the people there. I understand that there can be indirect benefits in the economic, political and security sphere as stipulated by the European experts, but are these tangible and accessible to me specifically. If the answer remains a no, then the Estonian Rasmus will never truly engage actively to shape Europe, because to him, Europe does not matter.
Who is assuming responsibility for Europe, the narrative
Since the age of 12, I have travelled around Europe more than my family, my friends, or the people I meet daily. I’ve been introduced to numerous European cultures and languages, speaking five of them myself. This freedom, mobility and knowledge derived from the EU is deeply engrained in who I am, much like Satu’s story. Thus, I truly believe that I must assume responsibility for Europe. However, this is not enough. Because if people like me assume responsibility for Europe from an early age, we will purely shape Europe the way we see fit, through our eyes. This will not improve Europe for the majority, this will push away Europe from the Estonian Rasmus, people who make up the vast number of citizens in the union.
What I want to leave you with
Therefore, look at your grandmothers, your friends back home or the friends you ‘grew apart with’ and ask yourself, if I perceive Europe like this… do they?
I would like to leave you debaters with two main questions and ideas that I personally have:
Can Europe-wide education help bridge the gap between people and our culture?
- Does the European School system help bridge the gap between different member states or does it further the gap between the select few with the opportunity to attend and the rest? This, in my opinion is an extremely important question, as the system was designed to exactly help bridge the gap and grow European identity, however if this is not done on state schools, doesn’t it have a counterintuitive result?
Are we Europeans, are we Estonian, British, Italian or are we both?
- If the answer is either/or, we must try harder. Because the answer makes us more, not less divided by creating a pseudo us vs them narrative.
Rasmus is a MSc Carbon Finance student from Estonia currently studying in Edinburgh, Scotland. Rasmus is a previous graduate of University of Aberdeen with a First Class degree in Economics and International Relations. On top of his home country and Scotland, he has resided in London, Geneva and Brussels, thus he considers himself a bonafide European. He is a Co-founder of CreatEd, award winner of the Scottish Dragons Glen competition, avid enthusiast of renewable energy, basketball and European (Nordic) politics.
