Harvard Model United Nations 2019

Transcription

1 Harvard Model United Nations 2019 Summit for the Creation of the European State Country Positions Germany Germany s government is a democratic, federal, parliamentary republic, and its constitution emphasizes the protection of individual liberties. The government system consists of an executive, legislative, and judicial branch each fulfilling their own specified roles. Germany has also established its position as the economically strongest country in Europe, so its position and voice within the EU is undoubtedly one of power and influence. Martin Schulz once served as the leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany and is an ardent EU supporter. Schulz has explicitly called for the creation of a United States of Europe by 2025 in addition to a stronger social security net and the phasing out of coal power. Schulz also is highly in favor of establishing a constitutional treaty for a United European state that includes civil society and the people. He also stated that those countries who do not approve of the constitution will automatically have to leave the EU. He believes the European Parliament should control a strong central European government and has argued that the EU be allowed to focus on big issues so that the national, regional, and local authorities be delegated to focusing on the country-specific issues. Generally, Germany is very for the solidified union of the European countries and hopes to streamline European structures. As a highly developed social market economy, Germany has the largest national economy in all of Europe. It is also the third largest exporter in the world and trade is an incredibly important contributor to the economy s success. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that Germany would look very favorably upon expanding trade between the European State itself and foreign countries. The united from of a pan-european entity would also not directly harm Germany too much, since it was already acting as a cushion for economically weaker countries to receive aid. Schulz has specifically expressed that Europe needs to establish a system of managed, legal immigration to the continent to address the desperation that has led to many migrants risking their lives on dangerous journeys to reach Europe. Schulz hopes all European countries can help each other in relieving the burden of accepting immigrants. He has specifically criticized the fact that net financial contributors should deal with migration alone, while other countries receive money very happily but then refuse to help with the migration problem. Germany is currently the largest contributor to the EU budget, and in 2015 and 2016, took more than a million

2 2 Update Paper, Summit on the Creation of the European State refugees from the Middle East and Africa. Thus, in a unified European State, Germany and Schulz will push towards opening borders and enabling more migrants into Europe. Turkey Turkey currently operates under a secular parliamentary representative democratic republic, Turkey has had a complicated relationship with the EU. Although the European Union has agreed with most of Erdogan s reforms, they remained critical of his policies. In particular, Turkey s refusal to recognize Cyprus and fundamental rights violations. The EU has also long criticized Turkey for human rights violations and deficits in rule of law. As deep political shifts took place in Turkey with the victory of the conservative Justice and Development Party, the government began to adopt stricter views on social issues. The rising influence of nationalism in the EU also made the bloc less welcoming of a large and less-wealthy Muslim country such as Turkey. However, trade is Turkey s major motivating factor for gaining prominence within the EU. Turkey s economy has recently been facing several issues as it has gone a downward spiral. Due to international debt and low interest rates, the value of the Turkish lira has continued to drop, and many government officials fear an economic crash. Thus, as a part of a united European state, it would best be in Turkey s favor to establish economic policies that would help boost Turkey s economy while also enabling Erdogan to have sufficient control over the country and its economic functions. One of the most relevant and important topics connecting Turkey to the EU is migration. In a March 2016 agreement, Ankara, the capital of Turkey, was designated to work to prevent asylum seekers from the Middle East from reaching the European Union. As part of the deal Brussels promised Ankara 6 billion euros ($7.4 billion) to assist the asylum seekers in Turkey. The number of Turkish people migrating to other parts of Europe have also been the focus of anti-immigrant sentiment. Erdogan s weapon has long been his stark control over the floor of migrants to Europe due to the agreement in which the EU would give Turkey up to $6.3 billion to keep migrants from crossing into Europe. It is likely that Turkey s main priority in the topic of immigration is to keep its control so that it will possess some leverage over the many countries in the European state that are still very opposed to Turkey s inclusion. Finland Finland functions as a constitutional republic. Juha Sipilä has emphasized that the EU remain united. And although he did not propose any new treaty changes, he wanted the union to focus on cooperation and for the bloc to move forward at the same pace. Finland itself seeks concrete measures and unity but believed that immediate integration would be a waste of time, therefore Finland was one of the lower voting countries on the referendum. However, now that the European state has already been created, Finland will look favorably upon a stable and equitable functioning of the state. It also aims to ensure that democracy will still be carried out throughout decision-making. Finland hopes solidarity will be a strong pursuit that the state can turn to when facing troubles. In terms of economic decisions, Finland believes structural reforms and following a disciplined fiscal policy will lead to prosperity in Europe. Sipilä also believes that multiannual financial framework negotiations and a non-growing budget should persist in the future. Overall, Finland would hope to focus on maintaining economic stability above any desire to achieve sudden growth. Sipilä strongly believes in helping migrants and has agreed in the past to increase the number of accepted refugees. However, the overall

3 Harvard Model United Nations opinion on migrants amongst Finns is very negative. The most common concerns are that more refugees will lead to more crime, asylum seekers do not attempt to learn Finnish, and that the reception centers are too expensive. Finland within the European state however, is generally in favor of expanding the reception of quota refugees to additional Member states to promote legal immigration. The goal is to ensure that Finland s values on human rights and Sipilä s own declared values on developing Finland as a culturally international country is maintained while at the same time keeping the Finnish people happy and satisfied. Spain Spain currently operates on a parliamentary constitutional monarchy led by its 1978 constitution. The constitution is a symbol of democracy, and the Spanish monarchy is expected to uphold the sovereignty of the constitution. Mariano Rajoy has long emphasized an anti-europe, populist government. Much of his career has been tainted by many corruption scandals. The largest economic concern in Spain is the high unemployment rates. Due to the current state of Spain s economy, it would look favorable towards anything that could save it from the current crisis it faces. One to note however, is that Spain has not contested the usage of the euro, so that is one aspect that is very likely to stay the same. Spain is widely known as the most welcoming European country for immigrants. Most Spaniards support welcoming refugees and the country accepted over 49,000 refugees in Rajoy himself has publically announced his strong support for allowing migrants to enter Spain and to provide them asylum. Anti-migrant rhetoric in Spain is very rare, thus in a European state Spain would look favorably upon opening boarders and making immigration to Europe much easier, especially for refugees fleeing wartorn countries. Poland Poland s increasing movements towards the conservative right in the parliament has worried the European Union in the past. The government has tightened its control on civil service, courts, and the media. The fairly new conservative has established measures that limit the right to free assembly, restrict freedom of expression through stringent anti-terrorism laws, and limit the rights of refugees and asylum seekers. Thus, it will be interesting to see how Poland will respond to a new, united European state. Members of the European state have expressed explicit concerns over the Poland s authoritarian government that they believe are threatening the bloc s democratic principles. Poland has even been given an official warning from the European member states, and if it is unable to bring about change to reestablish democracy, its voting rights will be suspended. Thus, due to the increased control and criticism, it is easy to see why Poland was one of the lowest voting countries on the referendum for a European State. Within a European state, it s current governmental structure will be threatened by other European states and their mission to enforce democracy. Poland s conservative government has taken specific stands concerning its economy. Since 1990, it has pursued a policy of economic liberalization and its economy was the only one in the EU to avoid a recession through the downturn. As of 2017, the economy has been growing steadily for the past 26 years. Poland has masterfully engaged in a reliable, stable economy through a policy that acts to destabilize the economic environment. The country has established itself in global expansion, and current leaders hope to reshape the European Union s biggest eastern economy in the mold of South Korea or Japan, where

4 4 Update Paper, Summit on the Creation of the European State governments and national champions drive expansion and rely less on foreign investment. Concerning the issue of migration, Grzegorz Schetyna has made a point that Poland is not against accepting refugees while emphasizing that Europe s first priority should be to seal EU borders to ensure security. Thus, throughout this summit, Poland s main mission in immigration would be to increase border controls. Another suggestion Schetyna has made is the investment in reception centers for refugees, where they would be identified and, based on their country of origin, assessed as to whether they are in fact refugees or economic migrants. Schetyna further suggested that a list of safe countries could help in the endeavor of filtering migrants. And finally, Schetyna has declared that another priority of the European Union should be to bolster stability in the refugees countries of origin. He has urged for Europe to play more active roles in defusing the conflicts. Switzerland Switzerland has relations with the EU that are framed by bilateral treaties. The Swiss Confederations adopts various provisions of the EU law to participate in the Union s single market without becoming an official member state. The EU is Switzerland s largest trading partner and after US and China, Switzerland is also the EU s largest trading partner. Thus it is fair to assume many of the economic policies affecting the EU will also affect Switzerland. In 2017, Switzerland passed a referendum against mass immigration. However, to come to a compromise with Brussels while also addressing the referendum to cap EU immigration, the Swiss Parliament passed a law that would avoid explicit quotas on EU immigrants, but would prioritize Swiss job seekers over EU citizens. Recently, a new civil rights act has been cracking down on the refugee crisis that has been draining state funds for several years. The new act will push migrants to integrate themselves within Swiss culture. Italy Paolo Gentiloni is fighting to maintain a pro- European attitude from Italian citizens amidst the threat of the rise of populist and Eurosceptic political parties, such as Lega Nord and the Five Star Movement. Being one of the founding and leading members of the European Union, Italy has a lot to say for historical reasons although its economical situation diminishes its influence over the other countries. Italian debt is the second highest in Europe only after Greece, meaning that their favorable views towards a unified economic policy are seen by other countries with a more robust economy as mere self-interest and are therefore reluctant to follow Italy s model. In terms of borders and migration issues, Italy will hold a key position in the summit, as it is one of the main entrances for refugees into Europe due to its location beside the Mediterranean Sea. Many boats from Libya have Italy as its final destination, and the pressure of the antiimmigration parties have pushed Italy to be very demanding in terms of borders. Gentiloni s aim will be to make the borders of the new European State much more restrictive and have northern countries to accept for refugees and migrants. Ukraine Since the Euromaiden began, Petro Poroshenko has tried for long to establish stronger relationships between Ukraine and the EU that have ultimately allowed Ukraine to become part of the unified European state. However, the predominant influence of Russia over Ukraine that had its climax with the annexation of Crimea to Russia is one of the major challenges for Poroshenko. It is clear that Russia will not remain passive throughout the negotiation

5 Harvard Model United Nations of the creation of the European State, as the amalgam of the European countries can become a threat for the Russian economy and power. Although Ukraine s economic situation is much worse and its levels of corruption are much higher than the majority of the other countries, they have a lot to say in this negotiation because of their relation with Russia and because of the power of their army, being the second-largest military in Europe after Russia. Poroshenko will try to maintain the power they have through the military by opposing the creation of a European army. It should also be noted that Ukraine is not part of the NATO in 2025 but it was one of Poroshenko s main goals before the creation of the European State. This is why he will support the entrance of the EU as a country in the NATO. Netherlands The Netherlands has always been a progressive and well-developed country. Being a founding member of the EU, the Eurozone, and NATO, the European feeling is rooted in its society. President Bas Eickhout Will, a member of the GreenLeft and a stronger campaigner for environmental issues, will fight for the establishment of a policy regarding climate change in the new European State. Although Eickhout s main objective in the summit will be to discuss the EU s position in regard to environmental issues, the enduring monarchy of the Netherlands will also be on the table. Eickhout defends the popularity of the monarchy and is against the establishment of a Republic in the European State, therefore allowing countries to decide on this topic even if they are all united in the European State. He will have to defend the monarchy because of countries who will argue that the European State should be a republic in all its territory. Portugal Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa will find it difficult to have a voice in the summit since Portugal will not be seen by other leaders as a key country in the negotiations. Heavily indebted since the financial crisis of 2008 (like other countries in Southern Europe), Portugal is not at its best position to make economic decisions. However, de Sousa s ability to negotiate and bring together different political views and ideologies (as he has proved in Portugal) will make him a figure of consensus. Portugal will also put into the table the need for a drug policy in the European State, since the country decriminalized the usage of all common drugs in 2001 despite the criticism of other European countries. Austria Sebastian Kurz s main goal during the summit will be to ensure hardline immigration policies. Austria is one of the countries in Europe that is receiving more asylum petitions, and Kurz wants to block refugees from entering his country. Having opposed Germany s policy on welcoming refugees and having shut down the Balkan route, his stance on the topic of immigration is very clear and will try by all means to get other countries to accept refugees and to ensure the presence of very strict borders in the new European State. He will also bring up the problematic of the presence of terrorism in Europe (blaming the entrance of refugees for it) and will therefore initiate the discussion on how the European State should handle its national security and intelligence. Although Austria has historically been Germany s trade partner, the two countries will strongly disagree on the immigration model of the European State. However, Austria s commitment to permanent neutrality since 1955 means Kurz is also going to be a key figure that helps reconcile the disputes between

6 6 Update Paper, Summit on the Creation of the European State Eastern and Western European countries. Nonetheless, some countries are reluctant to Austria s alleged neutrality since from 2017 Kurz is ruling with the support of the Freedom Party of Austria, a right-wing party that openly supports Russia. Greece Tsipras figure will be inevitably marked by the enormous Greek financial crisis that started in 2009 and lead to several rescuing packages from the Eurozone and Greece s obligation to apply austerity measures. In the summit, other European countries with a more stable economy will try to implement an economic model that remains severe to countries with a huge debt in fear of another financial crisis. Tsipras goal will be to soften such regulations to ensure the economic stability of his country. Greece will also play a key role in the immigration discussions, for it is the main way of entrance to the European continent of those who come from the Middle East. Countries such as Austria will demand Greece to be much more strict with their borders, but Tsipras will stand with his tolerant immigration policies. Bulgaria Korneliya Ninova will put into the table the necessity of Bulgaria to finally join the Schengen Area. She will argue that a unified European State requires unified borders, although other European countries have been reluctant to include them in the area due to Bulgaria s problem of corruption. Indeed, Bulgaria experiences the worst levels of corruption in the EU, and therefore Ninova will have to negotiate harsh anti-corruption policies that the other leaders will be willing to implement in order to avoid corruption cases in the newlyformed EU state. Bulgaria will also be considered one of the countries that Russia could target in order to avoid a loss of influence among countries that belonged to the Communist bloc. Although Bulgaria s relation with Russia is not as tight as the one of Ukraine, other countries will also remain fearful of the possible relations between Bulgaria and Russia. Georgia Georgia is a representative democratic republic with a Prime Minister as the head of government and a President as the head of state. Having in recent memory the national pro-western Rose Revolution and boasting one of the highest voting percentages to enter into a pan- European state, Georgia demonstrates a strong desire to pursue its European connections. This remains a difficult task, however, as Russia, the nation which occupies all of Georgia s northern border, considers Georgia to be within its nearabroad, and too much European influence within Georgia may provoke Russia, resulting in consequences felt not only by Georgia, but by all of Europe. Georgia s current Prime Minister, Bidzina Ivanishvili, is the founder of the pro-european, social democratic Georgian Dream Party. As such, Georgia may find itself less opposed to partaking in a more centralized European economic model. Georgia finds itself in a similar position to Turkey and Ukraine in that all three of these nations voted in high proportion in support of a pan-european state, but particularly finds commonality in the latter from the nations shared past under Soviet rule and their shared recent endeavors to deviate from their past and focus instead on Western foreign policy. As an additional note, Georgia continues to struggle with internal autonomy issues in regard to the South Ossetia and Abkhazia regions, and these provide the nation with yet another layer of difficulty through which to work in the pursuit of creating a European state, for which balancing autonomy is also a pressing issue.

7 Harvard Model United Nations France The government of the French Republic consists of a legislative, executive, and judicial branch, with the President holding significant power compared to other European nations, among which being the powers to appoint the ministers and the Prime Minister. This system may be in danger of dissolving if a decision is reached against such a system within the European state. The current President of the French Republic is Benoît Hamon, founder of Génération.s, the movement, a centre-left, democratic socialist political party. This and France s crucial historical role in financing the European Union (of which it was a founding member) imply that the nation would be likely to support an integrated approach to economic policy in the pan-european state, but this may be challenged intranationally by the rise of the right-wing, hard-eurosceptical National Rally. This same national conflict may be applied to France s view on refugees and migration, but President Hamon favors refugees integration into European life, proposing that those fleeing to France be offered French classes and the opportunity to work promptly in France. Hamon also supports the establishment of a universal basic income, and it is unclear if (and, if so, how much) he will advocate for such a policy in the European state. France will likely share similar interests with the United Kingdom, which holds seats along with france in NATO and the United Nations Security Council, and perhaps with Germany, with whom France worked to fund the European Union, and possibly, but not necessarily, with the other nations with which France founded the ECSC. United Kingdom The United Kingdom, unlike the vast majority of nations in this committee, holds observer status; this is to say that the United Kingdom has not opted to join the European state, and as such is not able to vote in this committee unless a referendum is held in the UK and the people decide to join the European state. The difficult relationship the UK holds with this committee also shows in the nation s having retained its own currency, the pound, through the European Union s transition to the euro. Remember, however, that at the time of this committee, the United Kingdom has already left the European Union. The current Prime Minister of the UK is Conservative Party leader Theresa May. Though she did not campaign strongly for either side in the Brexit referendum of 2016, Theresa May had expressed support for Remain (that is, for the United Kingdom to remain in the European Union). Many British citizens have in recent times campaigned for another referendum on the Brexit issue, so it is not set in stone that the United Kingdom must remain an observer for the entirety of this committee. May has, however, taken steps as prime minister to restrict immigration to the UK, and this issue is one of the greatest behind the UK s decision to leave the EU. An additional roadblock to the United Kingdom within the EU is its status as a monarchy. If the delegates in this committee decide against such a system, it is not clear if the United Kingdom would be able to both re-enter the EU and remain a monarchy. Sweden Like the United Kingdom, Sweden is a monarchy, and this system of government may or may not be at stake within the Kingdom of Sweden if the committee is to standardize a form of government throughout the European state. Sweden also does not have a President; it has a Prime Minister who leads the government. The current Prime Minister is Stevan Löfven, leader of the centre-left Swedish Social Democratic Party. Löfven has controversially made an abrupt reversal of his immigration policy in the past, from acceptance of unprecedented numbers of refugees into Sweden to a late-2015

8 8 Update Paper, Summit on the Creation of the European State crackdown on immigration. Sweden is also one of the nations which has struggled recently with anti-immigration nationalist movements, and these two facts may play a crucial role in Sweden s voting on various decisions related to immigration to the new European state. Sweden may share interests with the other nations with low referendum approval to enter into the European state, and indeed with nations more skeptical on the topic of immigration. Lithuania Lithuania is a representative democratic republic with a President as the head of state and the Prime Minister as the head of government. At the time of this committee, the President of Lithuania is Dalia Grybauskaite, currently an independent but with a history of membership in the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, and, later, the Communist Party of Lithuania. She has, however, expressed severe disapproval of Russia s aggression in the context of the Ukraine, and as such may find common ground with Ukraine and Georgia, nations directly subject to this aggression. Lithuania has historically, after all, also been subject to Russian aggression. Lithuania has held off from practically any political relationship with Russia and would likely support a more centralized European economy to give safety to Lithuania s geopolitical position. This sentiment is strengthened by Lithuania s relatively high support for joining the pan-european state in its national referendum. Russia remains always at Lithuania s Eastern border, however, so it must speak, vote, and act carefully in committee to strike a balance between strengthening Lithuania and avoiding a Russian provocation. Hungary Hungary, like many of these countries, has a Prime Minister as head of the government and a President as the head of state. Notably, however, the Hungarian President position is practically devoid of actual governmental power. The Hungarian delegate may, then, be willing to compromise on removing the position of President from European government, unlike some other leaders. The current Prime Minister of Hungary is Viktor Orbán, leader of the conservative and soft-eurosceptic Fidesz- Hungarian Civil Alliance. During his time as Prime Minister of Hungary, Orbán has demonstrated a fairly anti-immigrant status, and as such may seek to bloc with delegates sharing this view, in addition to delegates of fellow countries in the paths of refugee movement. Orbán has maintained a fairly socially liberal approach to the Hungarian economy, and may seek to pursue some of his socialized reforms in committee; as a result of this, additionally, he may be amenable to a more centralized European government, but this could be met with strong pushback by the growing nationalist movement in Hungary. Czech Republic The Czech Republic has a Prime Minister as head of government and a President as head of state. It is also, importantly, a unitary state, i.e., the power of government lies mainly in the central government. This may render the Czech Republic willing to cede more power to the greater European state, but as the current Prime Minister, Petr Fiala, is the leader of the Eurosceptic Civic Democratic Party, an unwillingness to cede power to the pan- European state is just as, if not more likely to be the case. The Czech Republic is among the nations with the lowest referendum approval to join the European state, which may indicate even less popular desire to cede power away from the nation. Fiala s Civic Democratic Party is also heavily anti-immigrant, and so Fiala may be disposed to bloc with those who share his views on this topic.