Resolutions and Policy-Papers
2023
END OF THE DEATH ZONE: AGAINST THE INHUMANE TREATMENT OF ASYLUM SEEKERS ON THE BELARUSIAN BORDER
A HARVEST OF CHANGE: A RESOLUTION TO REAP FAIRNESS IN AGRICULTURAL LOBBYING
ADDRESSING THE STRUCTURAL ISSUES UNDERLYING THE TIDE OF DISINFORMATION
DECOLONISING EUROPE STARTS WITH US: BREAKING THE CHAINS OF COLONIALISM WITHIN THE GREEN MOVEMENT
2022
2020
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Every person should have the right to live freely according to their gender identity and gender expression, and the right to self-determination and bodily autonomy. Trans people, people who do not identify with the gender they were assigned at birth, are often denied these rights across Europe and reduced to only being seen as "trans", depriving them of the ability to also have other parts of their identity, including their sexual orientation, independently recognised. In most countries this discrimination occurs at a systemic level, where rigid and static norms about gender, bodies, and sexuality uphold legal and health systems which do not recognise, respect or value trans people. In some countries anti-trans laws and practice are enforced through the rise of anti-gender rhetoric, the silencing of trans people, and viciously polarising debates which have an impact on the mental health, safety and everyday lives of trans people. Often the ‘T’ in ‘LGBT’ is overlooked, and the current attack on trans people makes it necessary, now more than ever, to support trans people and fight against anti-trans hostility and violence. It is important to affirm and amplify the voices of trans people - trans women are women, trans men are men, non-binary is valid, and trans rights are human rights!
EGP Resolution adopted at the 32nd EGP Council, 2-6 December 2020
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Still in the 21st century, transgender people in Europe and the world are threatened in their daily lives and their rights are attacked. These attacks range from threats to their dignity and safety and escalate to social exclusion, physical violence, and death threats. Police brutality against black trans people is a significant threat in the United States but moreover, Europe has not been protecting trans people either: in 2012 the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights conducted the EU LGBT survey in which they found that 54% of trans people felt discriminated or harassed due to the fact of being perceived as trans, with the indication that the more open the trans person was, the more likely they were to feel discriminated against.
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We need to be the change we want to see. FYEG has been on the forefront of the fight for more transparency in political institutions. Over the years, we have kicked open closed doors behind which fossil fuel lobbyists and crooked politicians plot and scheme to destroy our planet all around Europe, pushing for everyone to be able to see and understand exactly what is going on.
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"An essential component of democracy is that it is active: it is not just the right to vote but the possibility to constantly influence government decisions. A functioning democracy allows citizens the freedom of thought, expression, assembly and association. If people disagree with the actions of the government, or other forms of governance, it is within their democratic right to demonstrate this in peaceful ways.
EGP Resolution adopted at the 32nd EGP Council, 2-6 December 2020"
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Many policies affect us and everyone around us. As we move forward with pushing for systemic change and more common sense policies it is hard to ignore the impact that the legalisation of cannabis products for medical and recreational use could have on society, from a health, social, and economic perspective. Its legalisation has positive implications both on consumers and the economy, from safety and regulation, to combating organised crime and getting revenues that can be used for better research, prevention, and treatment of cannabis related impacts.
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The now-withdrawn Hong Kong extradition law which would transfer suspected persons to Mainland China has reawakened protests from Hong Kong’s young people for genuine representative democracy and against meddling from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in Beijing, as enshrined in the Sino-British Joint Declaration and the Hong Kong Basic Law.
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On August 6 and 9, 1945, the American army dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese towns of Iroshima and Nagasaki, killing more than 100,000 Japanese, most of them civilians. Countless people perished from diseases caused by the radiation absorbed during the attacks, and both cities were reduced to rubble in seconds. This massacre marks the beginning of the current nuclear age.
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FYEG Political Platform is a key document for FYEG that reflects the principles the Federation is based on as well as our positions in main political fields. It is important that FYEG’s political platform remains in line with the priorities of European Youth and takes into account the work done by FYEG and its member organisations in defining new concepts and solutions to the crisis Europe is facing.
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Each year, 58.000 people die from suicide in the European Union - more than from traffic accidents. As the generation with the most common reason of death being suicide, we feel the need to urge every member of the nations parliaments, the European parliament and the European Commission. Mental health is a European topic, we finally have to work on a European solution for this crisis! Actually, in 2005 the European Commission signed the "Mental Health Declaration for Europe", which included mental health as a priority in the European agenda, but since then nothing has really changed! This has to stop: we want a European Union that focuses on the people who live in it and not just on the economy. European solidarity also means European health policy.
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It is time to take a radical stance against the consumption of animal products. FYEG is convinced of the necessity of taking action against climate change. There is also a need to end the overwhelming amount of suffering that animals endure in the current system. Moreover, the industry surrounding animal products leads to enormous inequality between the global North and South while at the same time furthering pre-existing social injustice. Therefore, we want to strive for as little consumption of animal products as possible. This is an important step towards a more sustainable and animal-friendly society. The restriction of consumption of animal products is absolutely necessary to achieve these goals to realize a sustainable future for all.
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Over the last years, the world has seen the rise of authoritarian leadership, and Europe also has a fair share of such leaders. They never fail to stir controversy to push through their own ultra-conservative inward-looking values, much at the expense of protection for minorities, separation of powers, and the rule of law.
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The EU Green Deal has been hailed as the main policy that will influence and guide the Green Recovery in a post-pandemic Europe. However, the Green Deal should not stay at a level of a big statement or ambition, but be backed by strong plans and action that will lead to a more resilient, united and equal Europe.
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It is hard to date when the first computing program was written. Current computers are different from the ones that were used in the 1950s. Augusta Ada King, known as Ada Lovelace, is considered the first programmer when in 1840, she published the first algorithm showing that computers could potentially do more than simply compute mathematical problems.
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In the last decades, countries have used citizens’ growing concerns over increasing threats to personal safety to amplify security policies based on endless militarisation, greater surveillance, tighter border controls, higher power for the police and intelligence services. The increasing militarisation is based on the hypothetical belief that an increased military capacity acts as a deterrent from conflicts.
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A wave of protest has flashed across Europe. In the wake of extensive protests in the United States against police brutality and discrimination specifically against black individuals and communities, the Black Lives Matter movement has also proved to be relevant in European countries.
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2019
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Over the last years, the economic, social and political situation in Venezuela have worsen and turned into a crisis of international relevance since the president of the National Assembly of Venezuela, Juan Guaidó, proclaimed himself Interim President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.
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After the shockwaves of the global financial crisis swept through Europe, indicating the unsustainable nature of lax neoliberal economic policies, the answers ruling decision-makers gave to the crisis further deepened wealth inequalities through austerity measures. These measures, coupled with other factors, such as climate change, new technologies, demographic changes, and globalization, have not only led to very high youth unemployment rates in Europe (especially in Southern and Easter European countries) but also to a stance among political decision-makers that “any job is better than none.” But we need to focus on qualitative indicators of young people and other vulnerable groups’ work experience, instead of having a fixation merely on quantitative indicators. The current generation of young people is worse off than their predecessors, pillars of European welfare states are gradually being deconstructed and labour deregulations coupled with new technologies are taking us even further away from a labour market equally benefiting employers and employees.
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The European elections of May 2019 were the climate elections. In the months leading to the elections young people rose up in unforeseen numbers. They have been brave, they have been calling out the ignorance of mainstream parties on what are the most crucial challenges our societies are facing today. They reclaimed their future. At every step of the journey, we were with them, joining them in the streets, spreading a shared message throughout the continent.
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Climate change is an urgent crisis on an unprecedented scale. Alongside the alarming rate of biodiversity loss (sixth mass extinction), it threatens the very foundations of human civilisation. Despite the aim of the Paris Agreement to keep global temperature rise to 1.5 and at least well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, government reactions have been mainly timid and overdue – and at times utterly negligent. At best, we have seen individual pockets of action addressing the crisis. Adopted by the EGP Council, Tampere, 8 - 10 November 2019
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Cross borders, meet people, get together. European citizens are becoming more and more mobile. We are going out more often, we are going on holiday more frequently and further than ever. That is really amazing from a social and cultural perspective. However, there is a downside to this: the frequency and the impact of flying, notably, is increasing significantly over the years.
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Despite the inactivity from governments all over Europe, climate change is imminent. Many of these governments represent insular countries, such as the United Kingdom, Ireland, Iceland, Malta or Cyprus, as well as states with insular territories and outermost regions, such as Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, Croatia or Greece, among others.
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By the summer of 2019, more than 790 local councils across the globe as well as the governments of the Republic of Ireland and the UK have issued a declaration of climate emergency. Carried forward by the increasing awareness of the climate crisis, we can expect that the movement demanding similar declarations will grow in the coming years. While we in principle welcome these developments for providing an accurate label of the situation and a concrete frame for taking action, we believe they also raise several questions. We believe that for the concept of climate emergency to prove successful, the climate movement needs to work intensively towards specifying the demands for measures which should follow any climate emergency declaration.
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The 2019 European Elections demonstrated that Greens have become a considerable political power in the EU and we have Green Wave materialized in some EU Member States as well. With the climate crisis being fought for becoming a priority in the EU and outside, also major established political parties falling short on people’s expectations, it is projected that Greens will gain more traction in the foreseeable future. This year Greens group in the European Parliament has 75 MEPs that gives them more leverage to engage and further Green agenda on the EU and Member States levels as well as outside the Union. Especially, Green MEPs that are subscribed to the relevant committees working on the EU external policies will be able to position themselves and contribute to the policy-making for the non-EU countries. And hopefully, with the coming years, Greens will be able to significantly shape and influence the decision-making in the EU institutions.
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2018
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For almost three generations, Palestinians have lived in occupied territories where each day, more and more land and resources have been confiscated by settlers, and where the Palestinian inhabitants have endured constant humiliation and violation of their human rights. As the Israeli government continues to mistreat Palestinians and their culture and history, it is not an option to remain silent. At the very end of 2016, United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334 was passed, demanding the end of Israeli settlement activity on Palestinian territory. Nevertheless, the Israeli government legalised 4000 houses of settlers in Palestine in February 2017. This FYEG resolution is not aimed to put an end to internal discussions on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Rather, we call for an increased effort to fight for equal treatment, security and freedom in the region. As long as the power dynamics are unequal, sustainable peace cannot be established. To create this equal playing field the steps that are presented in this resolution are needed. It is beyond the scope of this resolution to describe the full extent of all the steps that have to be taken to solve the conflict. We condemn all war crimes from both sides.
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A third of the world’s population has limited access to essential medicines. Also in developed European countries the costs of new and expensive medicines can cause problems of accessibility. High prices of drugs threaten every patient’s’ right to treatment.
A third of the world’s population has limited access to essential medicines. Also in developed European countries the costs of new and expensive medicines can cause problems of accessibility. High prices of drugs threaten every patient’s’ right to treatment.
Resolution Text
2017
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As stated in the resolution “Hot air or climate justice? The COP21”, adopted on May 28, 2016 during the General Assembly in Prague, Czech Republic, rights of climate refugees are currently not being discussed during the Conferences of the Parties (COP) under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Conferences. This despite the fact that according to the United Nations, by mid-century one in 30 people could be displaced as a result of climate change.
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A basic idea of democracy is that all people in society should have the same right to influence political decisions, no matter who we are. Public governance is not just for the smartest, those with the best education or the most mature; it is for everyone. The more excluded from the right to vote, the more distorted becomes our representative democracy.
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In order to facilitate the reconciliation process between various Member Organisations of the Federation of Young European Greens [FYEG], the General Assembly calls on all parties involved in this issue to consider this resolution. Without a proper debate, this resolution does not necessarily fulfil the needs of all Member Organisations and can hence only be understood as the starting point for a discussion. It is understood that this paper cannot be seen a final position, but rather as a sign of good faith and trust in the possibility of a good debate between all parties that results into an end of the damaging debate between MOs at the next reasonable opportunity:
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The fight against refugee and migrant smuggling has evolved into a central paradigm of EU asylum and migration policies in the past several years and has played a pivotal role in the public discourse ever since the adoption of the EU Agenda on Migration and the Action Plan on Migrant Smuggling in 2015. We consider the policy prerogative of fighting smugglers misconceived in several ways.
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In 1957, European leaders decided to start a Common Agricultural Policy to commonly face challenges such as the low income of farmers, the dependence of Europe from foreign production, the instability of market and the high prices of food. Sixty years later, European Agriculture is once again stuck in a deep systemic crisis and faces new challenges. Because of the too low prices, many farmers cannot live from their production. Industrial agriculture keeps on using too many chemical inputs and pesticides threatening both our health, our soils and climate.
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The rise of national populism in Europe is mainly caused by the lack of citizenry empowerment and neoliberal policies and others. One element that contributed to the multiple societal challenges we are facing is a lack of citizenry empowerment at the transnational level. Instead of reacting progressively to these challenges, the European Union is pressing the member states to comply with the demands of capitalistic structures to continue with neoliberal policies as if nothing happened. This left the vast majority of people behind. The continuation of neoliberal policies and the lack of democracy at the European level are only some of the causes that led people to consider the false solutions proposed by the far right.
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In many European states, narcotics policy springs from the view that drugs should never be present in a society. Based on this ideology, the goal becomes a simplistic one: minimising the demand for narcotics. This is typically done by stigmatising drug users, believing that less people will use narcotics if you make them suffer for it.
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Europe’s Southern countries experimented a great political, social, cultural and economic progress since their entry in the European Economic Community during the eighties (with the exception of Italy). Nevertheless, despite the period of growth and stability in these countries within the context of a buoyant Europe, their structural problems concerning its productive systems and administrations weren’t faced by the EU. What is more, this growth was built upon low skilled employment, bank credits, large infrastructure investment, etc.
Resolution Text
2016
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With a notion to Federation of Young European Green’s values of green social economy and in light of our 2008 Resolution on Basic Income, we, the member organisations of FYEG, demand a European basic income to protect European’s social rights. Taking action for this matter is more important than ever, especially in the light of the economic crisis.
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With a notion to Federation of Young European Green’s values of green social economy and in light of our 2008 Resolution on Basic Income, we, the member organisations of FYEG, demand a European basic income to protect European’s social rights. Taking action for this matter is more important than ever, especially in the light of the economic crisis.
The Paris Agreement is a two sided medal: Ambitious for what was possible, catastrophic with regard to what is needed. The inclusion of the 1.5°C goal is a success for the Global South and the climate movement. The universality of signatories and the rhetoric leaders used at the COP21 were unprecedented and this agreement is the most ambitious up to now, in addition to it being legally binding. The deal makes reparations for losses & damages caused by the climate crisis impossible. Human Rights and other principles are not ensured. Necessary support for the Global South is not provided. The failure of Paris leaves the planet with a manifestation of global injustice and a poisoned 1.5°C goal.
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Fortress Europe has during the past year manifested its’ exceptional brutality, exposing the face of those who defend it. Fear and selfishness. Demagoguery and fascism. Whatever the motivation, the result is the same.
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The Paris Agreement is a two sided medal: Ambitious for what was possible, catastrophic with regard to what is needed. The inclusion of the 1.5°C goal is a success for the Global South and the climate movement. The universality of signatories and the rhetoric leaders used at the COP21 were unprecedented and this agreement is the most ambitious up to now, in addition to it being legally binding. The deal makes reparations for losses & damages caused by the climate crisis impossible. Human Rights and other principles are not ensured. Necessary support for the Global South is not provided. The failure of Paris leaves the planet with a manifestation of global injustice and a poisoned 1.5°C goal.
2015
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Ever since 2008, the world economy has been shattered by aftershocks of the mortgage crisis in the US. The crisis made its way across the Atlantic and throughout the world taking the form of a banking crisis in the European Union. The Heads of EU States swiftly bailed out the banks with public money turning the banking crisis into a debt crisis. The eurozone, an elliptic system of monetary union lacking a common economic policy was the first to show symptoms of this failed political attempt to avoid an implosion. The crisis has shown how tightly interconnected and interdependent our economies really are, as well as the weak spots of our Union.
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As Greens we have always supported the anti-colonialist struggles of those who have been under the control of often European countries. Even today, colonialism is still visible on the maps. The Western-Sahara, under Moroccan occupation, is one of these cases, whose liberation has been demanded on countless occasions by the UN Special Committee on Decolonisation. We the Greens in Europe demand the freedom of Western-Sahara and an end to this case of colonialism just outside our borders.
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FYEG believes that freedom of movement is a human right, migration is not a crime and no human is illegal. We strive for the complete abolition of borders and the unquestionable right for everyone to choose a place of residence and of work.
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The same scenario repeats over and over again: Boats filled with refugees trying to reach Europe, yet drowning, unidentified, in the Mediterranean instead. The European strategy has been one of indifference and cruel cynicism for all too long. We are ashamed of Europe that lets people drown at its shores in order to prevent others from coming. We are ashamed of European leaders for whom more than 20.000 dead in last 15 years were not enough to take the necessary actions to finally protect lives of refugees and migrants at High Seas. Europe cannot and must not let people die at its doorsteps. A Europe that leaves people dying at its shores is not the Europe we want and not the Europe we need and we can live in.
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The last General Assembly (Strasbourg, July 2014) voted the resolution Olive Tree Branch, mandating FYEG to promote training and further discussion between all its structures on the issue of the situation in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. To take this forward taking into account the range of positions existing within the Federation, the EC has put together the attached project outline proposal.
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