The review of 2011 followed the “Arab Spring” and supported EU’s partners who were undertaking reforms towards democracy, rule of law and human rights reforms. The review of 2015 favours the same values but the format is a bit different. The European Commission started by consultation sessions in order to come up with more effective proposals. In total, the Commission has consulted more than 250 organizations, individuals and think tanks. This external participation enables the European Commission to better understand remaining issues and write more pragmatic policies, changing some principles, scopes and instruments.

However, the 2015 review continues to use previous methods such as the “more-for-more” principal which was developed in the 2011 review. Actually, the European Union prioritizes stronger partnerships and offers greater incentives to countries that make more progress in their democratization process. The importance of human rights and rule of law is essential in EU ethics and Europeans promote these values to make them universal.

In terms of structure, the review now presents a four years strategy with annual meetings, a strategy that will last until the end of President Juncker’s mandate with clearer targets. All in all, these strategic changes yield in a more transparent outcome.

The 2015 review is based on four main priorities: new areas of focus, differentiation, flexibility, and ownership and visibility.

New areas of focus: The review wants to limit ENP activities on decisive areas of focus. These new areas are regrouped in five main pillars: 1) a greater focus on economic development and job creation; 2) a bigger cooperation on energy supply; 3) a coordinated security; 4) a better management of the flux of migration; 5) an emphasized dialogue with the neighbours of the neighbours.

Differentiation: Each country now benefits from a clear and individual approach. The review also acknowledges countries individual interests. It shows the importance of a distinct and more pragmatic guidance for the following years.

Flexibility: Johannes Hahn, Commissioner of the ENP, emphasized how flexibility “is a must”, especially in time of imminent “crisis”. Thus, in this review, there are more possibilities of shifting budgets and adapting policies in case of need but also part of the budget can be used as a reward for countries that achieved good reforms.

Ownership and visibility: European’s personal interest is now emphasized and it is explained how developing peace, stability and prosperity with a focus on political, economic and security coordination in its neighbouring countries is in EU’s personal interests. ENP now focus more on bigger projects and provide more “visible” money, instead of the “invisible” funding. Europe should not be at the centre, and stronger partnership is imperative.

A stronger and more balanced partnership can be outlined by this example given by Commissioner Johannes Hahn. He explained that in the Union for the Mediterranean, which is the Southern regional cooperation branch of the ENP, the numbers are demonstrating an unbalanced partnership and this should be reverse. There are 43 countries (28 European and 15 Mediterranean countries) but in terms of trade the ratios are very different. 90% of the trade happens amongst European countries, 7% between the EU and Mediterranean countries and only 2% amongst Mediterranean countries. Until today, the relation is mostly in one direction but this review emphasizes the benefits of a positive triangle relations between the EU, its neighbours and the neighbours of its neighbours.

As Johannes Hahn mentioned, the formulation of policies is always simpler than the implementation of them which would the next step, so let’s see how the implementation process will go and assess the main achievements.

UNITEE had the opportunity of meeting Christian Saublens, Director of the European Association of Development Agencies (EURADA), on his views on the Digital Agenda for Europe in the context of entrepreneurship and SMEs and how digital entrepreneurs can be the future of European business.

What are the benefits of going digital for entrepreneurs who own SMEs?

The main advantage associated with going digital is to be able to reach out to new clients in different geographical circumstances, whether it is in your own region where you have established your company or at the national or global level. It also allows you to minimise the cost of investing in distribution channels. Nowadays, you do not necessarily need to have a physical store or find distributors to start a business.

Another important advantage is that new types of entrepreneurs can start their own business, because they do not have to have all the capacities related to the traditional way of doing business. Going digital is a good alternative to traditional business models and can be form of diversification.

Are “web entrepreneurs” the future of European business then?

We will still be needing the classical entrepreneur, and this depends on the business proposal and model these web entrepreneurs are able to offer to existing clients or new markets. In a sense, yes, web entrepreneurs can contribute to European business growth or can even increase the number of entrepreneurs that Europe has.

Are there disadvantages to entrepreneurs going digital?

I do not see real disadvantages, but rather risks if you do not move in that direction. With the rise of e-commerce, various entries to markets are shutting down. Also, you are faced with more and more new competitors if you do not go digital as soon as possible.

The small disadvantage that I see is exposure. Today, many entities are more relaxed with intellectual property rights (IPR) and imitations come very softly where your business model, products and services can be more easily be copied without any legal sanctions.

Despite the Digital Agenda emphasising on e-commerce being a potential tool for SMEs to grow, be more competitive and create jobs, according to the European Commission’s recent progress report, only 14% of SMEs use the Internet as a sales channel, less than half of the EU’s average target of 33% by 2015. What is lacking in this EU strategy in terms of supporting and encouraging entrepreneurs to go digital? How can these figures be improved?

There are two different issues regarding the Digital Agenda. One is on existing policies and the other on the culture of entrepreneurship in Europe. With policy, we lack ad hoc support systems for digital entrepreneurs. We tell ourselves that the internal market is functioning, but in reality it is not.

Also, many civil servants and politicians often say that we have a fantastic internal market, that it is bigger than that of the US, except that we have 27 languages. In which language should you invest in? Who pays for the translation of your website? Do you have the internal capacity to do business in another language.

Another problem is the lack of a clear legal framework for web entrepreneurs. If we have a look at the problem faced by Uber or Airbnb for instance, we see that the internal market is not functioning correctly. Also, though politicians say that the future of Europe is innovation, as soon as you come up with an innovation, we have countries like France who have adopted anti-innovation legislation. If you do not have a strong legal framework, entrepreneurs will not be able to innovate.

Moreover, politicians decided that the Digital Agenda target is to have 33% of SMEs use the Internet as a sales channel by 2015, is that realistic?

We have some good goals, but then we do not really have the right environment for achieving these goals. I used to say that in Europe, we are good at making strategies in paper, but we forget that strategies do not create jobs per se, it is the way you implement them, with the right instruments for the right people at the right moment.

What role can the local and regional level play in fostering digital entrepreneurship and SMEs in Europe?

Today, development is more on regions rather than the state, since the state can be far from regions and cities, especially in large countries. We have to provide SMEs with the right services, either through coaching or giving vouchers that help them buy support services, have an attractive web design, or secure payments through Web Order. Sometimes it is not necessarily about funding, although needed, but about the interface or the fact that you make digital enablers available to SMEs with insufficient capacity to do these online tasks. This is the area where government bodies have to work more on, as well as to come up with realistic solutions.

We need to have a complete ecosystem that favours digital entrepreneurs in production, distribution and promotion: entrepreneurs who use 3D apps and printing, e-commerce and crowdfunding. This is EURADA’s suggested business model in the digital era. If you are young and talented, you can design anything on a software which you can then send to fab labs who can make the prototype. Once the prototype is done, you can go to a small service outsourcing production firm or a 3D printing business. They can easily do a thousand pieces of your product for you. You can then use a dedicated e-commerce website like EDZI or A Little Market, and display your product in a crowdfunding platform where you can decide to have it crowdfunded on a reward basis for example. After obtaining the market’s feedback, you can easily decide to either pursue this business venture or move on to another product.

This is the fifth and last article from the series of What’s Up Europe articles published by UNITEE every (two) week/s on the Digital Agenda for Europe, focusing on different sectors of European society: Arts & Culture, Research & Innovation, Politics, Youth & Education, and Employment, Entrepreneurship & SMEs.

Their recommendation? Digital education, especially among younger Europeans, as youth unemployment in the Union has become a very serious problem. But is going digital truly a way out?

Youth unemployment amid a digital revolution

In 2014, more than five million young Europeans were unemployed in the European Union, unevenly dispersed in the 28 Member States. The gap between the North and South, the East and West is extremely high, with Germany having about a 7% youth unemployment rate while countries such as Greece, Spain and Italy have more than 40% of their youth jobless.

Some of the likely reasons behind the alarming rise of unemployed young people are: (1) jobs having an increasing demand for a high level of education and modern competencies; (2) excessive skills mismatches on the European labour market; and (3) insufficient digital skills.

“The digital revolution will affect and benefit every European, but it is the younger generation who will shape it and be shaped by it”. – Neelie Kroes, former EC Vice-President and Commissioner for Digital Agenda

All these factors have been heightened by a digital revolution happening in Europe and the rest of the world. Despite the Union moving towards a digital culture, economy and society due to the benefits associated with being and going digital, there is a widening digital divide in the old Continent.

Despite a big increase in the number of Europeans making use of the Internet in the past few years, about 25% of the population are non-Internet users. With more and more daily activities being done online, the European Commission has emphasised through the Digital Agenda the need for a digital revolution. Despite this, nearly 50% of the EU population lack in digital skills and a staggering 25% have none at all.

Schools going digital?

The Digital Agenda emphasises on the role of education in fostering digital skills, creating jobs and boosting competitiveness and innovation. Under the DAE, the EC launched several digital learning platforms and initiatives such as Open Education Europa.

The EU’s main fighter against youth unemployment is the Youth Guarantee currently being funded by the European Social Fund (ESF). It recommends digital skills training for early school leavers and young people who have an insufficient skill set.

Former European Commissioner for the Digital Agenda Neelie Kroes and social media mogul Mark Zuckerberg both agree that coding and programming should be taught in schools as early as possible. In several EU countries such as Germany and Estonia, these tech skills have already been introduced to children as young as six. But other countries barely offer such education due to several factors: lack of resources, equipment, teachers, etc.

Despite the European Commission providing financial support to national programmes dealing with digital education, funding is limited and education remains the prerogative of Member States. Aside from this, there is also the fear that going digital could destroy, instead of create, jobs for young people.

Integrating digital education to school systems and providing digital skills training opportunities for all young Europeans have a long way to go, if these were to be the solutions to the growing youth unemployment crisis. And as Peter Matjašič, former President of the European Youth Forum said, “digital education is not a panacea. Digital jobs won’t save young people. We need more concrete action and investment from European leaders”.

This is the fourth article from the series of What’s Up Europe articles published by UNITEE every week on the Digital Agenda for Europe, focusing on different sectors of European society: Arts & Culture, Research & Innovation, Politics, Youth & Education, and Employment, Entrepreneurship & SMEs.

As far as one can remember, humankind has always sought to show its treasures, not only to fulfil whatever aesthetics purposes, but also to ensure the perennial character of our History –for cultures are meant to be passed on from generations to generations, experienced and learnt.

Digital culture aims at fulfilling the same objective. Despite being optimum on paper, however, this process poses theoretical, practical, technical and scientific problems.  When it comes to answering the “what is to be digitalised and what is not” question, it is believed that it is a matter of co-operation between partners (librarians, science experts, ICTs experts, information scientists-museologists). Europe’s history is extremely rich and diverse, and immediately raises the issue of another type of co-operation: a cross-border co-operation.

Digitalising Europe’s cultural heritage, making it accessible online and preserving it for future generations is one of the challenges set up by the Digital Agenda for Europe that launched five years ago its online culture data-base: Europeana.com.

Europeana, the way forward?

Europeana is a network of more than 2,500 cultural heritage organisations and a thousand individuals who are working hard to make the collections held by European libraries, museums and (audiovisual and ‘regular’) archives available online. Pledging for a win-win agreement for culture, economic growth and individual fulfilment, this is only achievable when digitally available under appropriate licensing conditions.

Europe’s single access point to online culture, Europeana, serves as a means of education, spreading of culture and enhancement of creativity and innovation; it aims at turning Europe’s cultural legacy into a long-lasting culture hub for citizens.

“We have centuries of culture in our pockets – on our phones, on our computers. What we do with it is down to our own curiosity.”

Georgi Godspadinov, writer

Driven by a deeply felt belief that Europe’s cultural heritage belongs to all of us, the European Union tried to make its dream of “a world where every citizen has access to all cultural heritage” come true.

But how? By connecting widely spread cultures from all across Europe through a unique online platform, driven by one mantra: “culture can transform lives”.

Usable, mutual and reliable

• Usable: culture is a catalyst for social and economic change, but this sweet utopia is only feasible if people have a rapid access to it. Just like crusades knights or like Spanish conquistadores, Europeana is on a mission to unlock Europe’s cultural heritage, harnessing technology to help people learn, grow and pass knowledge on.
• Mutual: Europeana defines itself as “a network that involves cultural institutions to commercial software developers”. The emphasis is being put on the power of creative collaboration and teamwork so as to achieve working common goals, mutual benefits, and foster innovation and new working practices.
• Reliable: This platform represents cultural associations, institutions and organisations, preventing our heritage to be put in jeopardy. The digitalisation of such a tremendous part of our culture was made possible through the hard work of professionals committed to ensuring that digital data is genuine, trustworthy and robust. This process is called “Cultural Innovation”.

Unfortunately, Europeana is far from having harnessed everything. Truth is 90% of our cultural legacy has not been digitalised yet. However, the 10% that has, represent some 300 million witnesses of our common History captured in books, paintings, letters, photographs and audio-visual materials.  Digitalisation is a way to hand over to future generations a shared interest and have memory institutions get greater visibility, cost reductions and the return they deserve from tapping into such a unique online infrastructure.

On top of fostering Research and Development and giving a voice to libraries, museums and archives, and playing a significant role in the revitalisation of the EU economy especially through uplifting tourism numbers, you, citizen, can benefit from it too. It will allow you to broaden your horizons, your minds and you will be offered the chance to better grasp our common ground: the European History heritage.

Culture is to be understood as a temporal context, societies are evolving, technologies and innovation are being revolutionised. Is it not time we, the people, moved on too?

This is the third and penultimate article from the series of What’s Up Europe articles published by UNITEE on the Digital Agenda for Europe, focusing on different sectors of European society: Arts & Culture, Research & Innovation, Politics, Youth & Education, and Employment, Entrepreneurship & SMEs. ]]> Wed, 14 Jan 2015 Category: Innovation What's Up Europe? https://blog.unitee.eu/archives/whats-up-europe/digital-agenda-series-digital-culture-friend-or-foe Want to file a complaint against one of the EU institutions? Need not worry, the European Ombudsman is at your service. Former journalist, broadcaster and European Commissioner Emily O’Reilly is now on her second term in the Ombudsman seat, having been re-elected last December for a five-year mandate. UNITEE had the opportunity of interviewing her on the work she does in her institution.

Since July 2013, you are the new European Ombudsman. What is your role and what are the activities of your institution?

As European Ombudsman, my mission is to serve democracy by working with the EU institutions to create a more effective, accountable, transparent, and ethical administration. To achieve this, I investigate complaints from citizens, companies, and organisations about the EU administration. Issues raised range from lack of transparency, such as the refusal to disclose documents, to conflicts of interest in the EU institutions, and problems with EU funded projects and programmes.

I also have the power to open inquiries on my own initiative. When I started my work as European Ombudsman, I decided to concentrate some of my resources on strategic investigations into systemic problems in the EU administration, in order to maximise the impact of my work for the European public.

One such strategic investigation concerns the ‘revolving doors’ phenomenon where civil servants leave EU employment to take up jobs in the private sector or in government agencies and vice versa. I urged the European Commission to make its review processes on ‘revolving doors’ cases more robust to avoid conflicts of interest.

Two of my other strategic investigations concern the transparency of the ongoing transatlantic trade and investment partnership (TTIP) negotiations, and the composition and transparency of the Commission’s expert groups.

Can any European citizen get help from your institution? Is it also possible for non-EU citizens and businesses to lodge complaints?

Every year, I receive around 2 500 complaints from citizens, businesses, and other organisations. Around 100 of those are submitted by citizens or companies from outside the EU. Whenever I find sufficient grounds to open an inquiry, I do so, regardless of whether the complaints come from within our outside the EU.

To give you an example: If a Turkish company has a problem with an EU funded project, it can of course submit a complaint to me and my office will look into it.

Which European institutions are the most complained about?

The majority of inquiries that I conduct concern the European Commission, followed by the EU agencies and the European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO). Not surprisingly, the Commission tops the list – with a more than 64% share of the inquiries – because it is the biggest EU administration whose decisions have a direct impact on citizens.

Does the work of the Ombudsman institution impact, in the long term, the functioning of other European institutions?

My key priority is to have a strong impact on the work of the EU institutions. I aim to do this by focusing on key systemic issues that are most relevant to the interests of citizens, companies, and other organisations. I also intend to use the full scope of my powers, including my right to get access to all EU documents and to ask EU officials to testify in certain cases.

To enhance our ability to influence, the awareness of the Ombudsman’s work needs to be stronger and deeper. I therefore also intend to strengthen the visibility of my office, by informing our audiences about our key cases, by engaging with the EU institutions, and by co-operating with the European Network of Ombudsmen.

Based on your experience, what are the most common problems that companies face when dealing with the EU institutions?

I deal with approximately fifty cases submitted by companies every year. They come to me with problems of late payment, contractual disputes, tendering, refusal of access to documents, unnecessary delays, and violations of fundamental rights.

I have helped resolve, for example, complaints about the Commission’s late payment in connection with programmes and projects that it funds, about the restrictive language policy for public consultations, and about delays in EU infringement cases.

How can a citizen or resident complain to the Ombudsman?

You can send us your complaint in writing in any of the 24 official languages of the EU. The easiest way is to use our online complaint form, which is available on our website at www.ombudsman.europa.eu.

Indeed, women represent the majority (59%) of students graduating from Europe’s universities and, according to a recent study, if women were to work as much as men, Europe’s GDP could grow by 27%.

The question is thus spontaneous: why do we not make use of this great potential? There are actually various reasons, and here are some of them.

First, because expectations to women are different than to men. Although traditional gender roles have evolved in the past decades, women are still the ones expected to take care of the children and of the household – even policies establish different conditions on parental leave for women and men.

However, international research shows that in countries where men take 1 to 3 months of additional paternity leave, child wellbeing, social mobility and educational performance of children improve noticeably and the gender pay gap is reduced.

Second, because women face discrimination when being recruited for jobs in professional sectors which are traditionally male-dominated. As the UK Equality and Human Rights Commission states, “some employers still have stereotypical ideas about what is women’s work and what is men’s work – for example, assuming that a nursery nurse ought to be a woman, or that a bus driver ought to be a man”.

This is of course a subtle dynamic that derives from traditional ways of thoughts. If there were more women employed in such sectors, they could lead the way for younger female workers and increase the possibility of change in society. The only ways this thinking can be changed is on the long-term: education and sensibilisation are key.

Third, and as highlighted by the speakers of the last conference organised by UNITEE on gender equality at work, because the work ethics of western countries creates the expectation on workers to stay longer in the office as a proof of their commitment. This is clearly very difficult for parents with children, especially mothers, who remain thus far behind in the career race.

Another additional problem is the cost of childcare. If parents cannot afford childcare (and this is the case in many countries), at least one of them has to stay at home and take care of the children – and most of the time it is the mother who does so.

This being said, we need to remember that the concept of gender equality defends the belief that a person’s rights, responsibilities and opportunities should not depend on whether he or she is born male or female. In other words, and in relation to business, gender equality refers to equality between women and men with respect to their treatment, opportunities, and economic and social achievements.

In order to reach true, meaningful and effective gender equality with all its economic benefits, society needs to act together:  all of us have to be aware of the potential of an equalitarian inclusion of women in the professional environment and defeat the traditional understanding of the role of the woman in family and society in general.

As Philippe Keraudren stated during the aforementioned conference, progress is being made in gender equality at work but a plateau is being reached from which it might be difficult to move. “Relying solely on good will, it will take at least 70 years to achieve gender equality”. We need to take action, and not wait any longer.

However, in an era where digital seems to take over, how can one be safe on the internet? Today, joining a social network or booking a flight online are, amongst many others, example of John and Jane Doe’s online risky behaviours. But have you ever wondered what you could do so as to avoid personal data to be used for scornful purposes and what rights do you have on it?

Although your personal online behaviour is to be rethought, it is also vital for supranational institutions, such as the European Union, to review the sometimes outdated rules on personal data protection, strengthening, then, individual rights and tackling emerging challenges from globalisation and new technologies. This is why, the Digital Agenda for Europe (DAE) is going to be your best ally to vanquish online misbehaviours and threats. You can read more about this here and here.

And since we made it clear that your online behaviour must change, here are some tips from the European Commission for a safer use of the World Wide Web:

• They ask, you do not tell.

Make sure you know the difference between signing up (an email account or a social network profile) and having a comprehensive profile. This would ensure that companies’ data analyses strategies to predict your behaviour (yes, we are talking about those annoying little ads on the right-hand side of your Facebook timeline) do not go too far. Making up an email address could be one solution, should you need not be contacted.

• Cookies are to be eaten, that is all.

Cookies are ways websites you visit collect your personal information. Reduce the chances to information theft (via false adverts embedded on those websites) by setting your browser to reject third-party cookies.

• Not-so-easily open Sesame.

Easy-peasy. Do not use the same password everywhere, nor one username on a website as password for another. Hackers can cross-reference.

There are 26 letters in the English alphabet: shuffle them, come up with combinations that cannot be found in dictionaries. Make great use of diacritics of foreign languages (you know those weird signs on top of some letters used to distinguish one letter from another, such as ñ, ö or even å), of capital letters and punctuation. The safer the better.

• Do not give yourself away.

Think about it: if you can stalk on people or read about them online… So can they. It is common knowledge that once you post a photo or fill in your ‘about’ section on Facebook, they become their propriety, usable for whatever purpose they want, and unfortunately you hardly have any control over it. Still want to fill in those details or post that photo of last night’s party?

Social platforms are a goldmine for data-harvesters, so make things way harder for them by setting your profile(s) to the strictest privacy options. We acknowledge it, sometimes it is too tempting to give yourself away. The urge to rant is unmanageable and feelings are overwhelming: you fall in love, get angry or broken up on, and you want to tell the whole world. Understandable, but think twice before doing it.

• Close one door before you open the next.

You would not leave your car or your home unlocked, why would you leave your social media account logged in? Do not be foolish and avoid being an easy prey for hackers.

• Hitchhiking is best in nature, not online.

Secure your Wi-Fi network with a robust password and, when possible, use WPA encryption as it is safer. Thus, you will not have any hitchhiking parasites along the ride.

• Limit the damage.

Online shopping has almost become the way to shop: more convenient, sometimes cheaper and the perfect place to unearth the rare pearl (and tell your friends it is either handcrafted or a one-off… Yes, we have all done it).

Who has not heard about ASOS, Amazon, ETSY and countless others? Big brands ought to have an online shop, otherwise they would lose a great deal of customers. But do not let your head get to hazy and set your priorities straight: consider using one payment method for online shopping as well as setting a low credit limit.

Want to know how secure you are? Take this quiz and find it all out! (Click on me)

Europe is lagging behind other continents in the transition from analogue to digital, a process of digitisation going on since the invention of the computer. What is the European Union’s solution to keep up with the rest of the world? The Digital Agenda.

Digital Agenda for Europe

“Europe once led the world in all things digital. Now, we need more than ever to recapture that lead. Let’s not turn our backs on that opportunity.” – Neelie Kroes, former Commissioner for Digital Agenda

With the digital economy as the fastest-growing sector in the world, the European Commission launched the Digital Agenda for Europe (DAE) on May 2010 as one of the seven flagship initiatives for Europe’s 2020 growth strategy.

The Digital Agenda’s purpose is to “reboot” the economy by providing opportunities for citizens and businesses in Europe to maximise the benefits associated with digital technologies.

Through the DAE’s 101 actions, the European Union wants to revolutionise public services through the use of digital technologies. Entrepreneurs will be able to set up and run a business remotely, from anywhere within the EU through fast and reliable broadband connectivity, having video conference meetings instead of costly and long travelling.

Citizens will also be able to study or work easily and efficiently in a safe online environment from home. Digital skills will become part of the school curriculum, ensuring digital inclusion among EU citizens and weakening the digital divide.

Of these goals, the creation of a connected digital single market is the most ambitious and now belongs to the ten key priorities of the new Commission.

The Digital Future: Recent Developments and Challenges Ahead

More and more politicians, businesses, and citizens are realising the great potential in ICTs and digital technologies and how Europe can benefit greatly from them: over the next eight years, the European Commission is expecting a 5% increase in the EU’s GDP, additional growth in Europe by €250 billion, and the creation of more than 1 million jobs.

Despite this optimism, there are still many barriers to achieving most of the initiative’s targets for Europe’s digital future.

Despite an increase in internet usage and citizens going digital, as well as an improvement in broadband speeds, investments on digital infrastructure, research and innovation has been very low despite the Horizon 2020 programme. In addition, only a small number of businesses, especially SMEs, utilise digital technologies in their business model and transactions due to the cost, the lack of digital competencies and a limited digital workforce. Appropriating policies for a digital economy at the local, national and European level is also a huge problem for policy makers.

Of all these challenges, the biggest barrier of all is the lacking digital mindset among many Europeans. They have yet to put their foot on the door and get inside the digital bandwagon before the door of opportunity closes as more and more non-Europeans embrace the digital future. After all, there is no way forward but digital.

This is the first article from the series of What’s Up Europe articles published by UNITEE every two weeks on the Digital Agenda for Europe, focusing on different sectors of European society: Arts & Culture, Research & Innovation, Politics, Youth & Education, and Employment, Entrepreneurship & SMEs.

I was born in East Germany, in January 1989, merely 11 months before the Wall came down on the 9th of November 1989. Back in the days, no one could have guessed the big change that was just about to happen.

My mum likes to tell the story of when she first heard about the fall of the Wall. She saw it on TV. She thought it was a joke. She just could not believe it.

Of course, protests all over East Germany had been going on for a few months already. The old one-party soviet system was deadbeat and non-functional, and people could feel it. They had enough.

But seeing a system fail, you grew up to believe to be invincible, is not easy. Furthermore, the fall of the wall did not only mean the end of East Germany, but also the end of the Iron Curtain and the East-West divide that dominated global foreign politics for decades.

The following years brought massive changes and challenges to all the former East-bloc countries. Many struggled to find their place in the new world. By now, some like Poland and the Czech Republic have found it by joining the European Union. Others, like Ukraine, are still facing difficulties.

East Germany had a somewhat more lucky start. After the fall for the wall, East Germany was reunited to the German Federal Republic. It profited enormously from the stability and wealth of West Germany, for example through the national loan-balancing programme. With the reunification, the Eastern part became automatically part of the European Union and had fast and direct access to the European Structural Funds.

Of course, the more than 50 years divide of Germany is not easily overcome. Differences between East and West remain up to today, especially when it comes to employment, salaries and industrialisation. But today, the current heads of state Chancellor Merkel and President Gauck are both East Germans. The Eastern part developed constantly over the past 25 years, and the big majority of former East Germans would now simply call themselves German.

I, for my part, like to say I am European. While my parents never had the chance to travel in their youth and were born, raised and live, up to today, in my hometown, I left. Thanks to the EU non-discrimination directive, I had the chance to study in Scotland without additional fees. Thanks to the Erasmus programme, I could go on and do my masters in France, where I received an Erasmus grant. And thanks to the principle of free movement of people, I now work and live in Belgium.

Luckily, today, Europe is no longer divided. The fall of the wall is just one example of how much better life gets without borders. The European project is the idea of the abolition of frontiers, the idea of a united, democratic and free continent. And even though today, we take these achievements for granted, let us not forget that only 25 years ago, this was merely a dream for many Europeans.

What was the inspiration behind the organisation, Young European Leadership? And the Young European Council?

When we came together as a group of young people, we had the feeling that young people are very interested in regional, national and global politics, but the decisions that were made on behalf of us were often influenced by others. We do not necessarily have a strong say on what is actually happening. And we thought we should change that.

We should speak out, not only when we are of older age, but now. So we thought about how we were going to do that. Based on this conviction that young people should have their voices be heard, we came together.

Young people should have the option to shape not only their future, but also Europe’s because Europe is our home. Young people should take the lead, take leadership for and in Europe, and beyond. The question of the how is that, based on the fact that young people should have a strong say, we see that there are several means of engagement. For example, with political Parties, it is very difficult for young people sometimes to embrace the entire width of their political and societal values. It is difficult and they have to sometimes accept the Party’s positions they do not really agree with.

We thought to find a more innovative way of engagement and provide direct opportunities for young people to meet decision-makers and experts, and to really speak up and make their concerns and recommendations heard. We do not push our own agenda. When we have a delegate or a participant, for example with the Young European Council (YEC), they say what they want to say, what they are thinking. So, coming from this position of providing direct opportunities, the YEC really follows this direction.

As the name suggests, YEC is inspired by the Council of the European Union and the European Council. Young people all over Europe come together in Brussels and negotiate on topical issues, on a very realistic setting with very innovative content. It is based upon young people’s ideas and approaches, giving them the opportunity to speak up among themselves and policy makers. We had guests from the Committee of the Regions, the European Commission, as well as from businesses, organisations and civil society: a broad and wide variety of people to connect with. And it is not a one-sided conversation where the guests just speak and leave. During the closing ceremony, we have this conversation, this dialogue. For example, when our chairs presented the outcomes, there was this dialogue and this exchange between the speakers and the delegates.

We have a lot to learn from politicians and experts, but they too have a lot to learn from us as because they might be disconnected from young people and their needs, and as the young generation, we have a more innovative approach to problems, hence new solutions. We can inspire their decisions and their thinking. And that is really what we do and what we aim for in YEC.

How do you explain the gap between the EU institutions and citizens, especially young people? What can politicians and organisations like YEL do in order to close this gap?

The only thing that is important is that this gap is, so to speak, “sexy” and topical. It is often associated with a general disconnection, between young people and politics and a lack of people’s engagement. I think that this is completely wrong. It is important for me and for YEL to point out that most young people have a huge interest in European affairs and in politics. They want to know what is happening at a local, national, European and international level. It is just that the means of engagement are not necessarily there. This is where organisations like YEL come in. We try to facilitate the exchange of ideas and share knowledge. We, at YEL, work hard to have young people believe that, yes, they can do something. We translate European policies, decisions or laws into an easy-to-understand version, then we connect young people with decision-makers.

On the other hand, decision-makers have to do their homework better. Plus, different levels should work together, starting at the grassroots level. Decision-makers should learn to listen better, not only to people with a “lot of money“, but especially to us, the younger generation. After all, we are the future. Trust should also be enhanced. Very often when one talks about this gap, they mean the distrust people may have towards institutions, which is, to me, an easy thing to tackle. We have this wonderful tool called the Internet, use it! In connection with this trust, young people ought to be taken more seriously, not only as being the generation paying for pensions, but rather as the future. Politicians should work with us to make things change.

Do you agree that there is a democratic/information deficit in the EU?

Yes and no. The information deficit is there, on the one hand mostly because people may not clearly understand what is going on in the European scene. This could maybe be explained by an educational deficit that has to be tackled at a local level. And on the other hand, people take Europe for granted, the peace and prosperity… these are the results of sixty years of hard work by very devoted people. The history behind this European peace or even behind the mobility across European countries is very rich, and only a few people seem to be aware of the whys and hows, which is pretty frightening.

How does YEL empower young Europeans to become leaders, entrepreneurs and innovators? To what extent can youth leadership help fight youth unemployment?

 The YEL team believes our generation has to make the change. We have to make it happen; we have to go out and have to live up to our responsibilities, abilities and opportunities which we have more of than any other generation before us. Providing these direct opportunities is also a learning-by-doing process.

When people come to our events, not all of them actually have a big negotiation or team-living skills. Our events do not really have this direct and technical entrepreneurship or innovation training as other organisations have, but a more soft-skilled perspective so to speak. During our events or the summits we attend, our delegates and participants brainstorm on new, innovative ideas they have.

This policy input is actually a form of innovation, a softer form of innovation. It is not like technical innovation where you come up with a new software. It is more into policy, policy innovations so to speak. Also, I think it strengthens people’s convictions and self-beliefs. If you lead a team and work in an international setting, you really can do something.

I think of myself as a very normal person to be honest. I am not Superman. I am not overly intelligent. I am just a very normal person. If I can actually make things happen, I think many other people can and should do too.

If you look at the problems we have, especially on youth unemployment and how youth leadership can fight unemployment, I think of it this way: in an economy, it is not necessarily large or small businesses creating jobs. It is new businesses. So if we have young people who have the conviction and the understanding that they can really do something that they believe in themselves, that they learn how to lead and how to inspire themselves also senior decision-makers, then they can establish new businesses, create new jobs, and fight youth unemployment. This is a very indirect approach but it has a very positive “side effect”.

With the end of YEC 2014, what are the next steps for YEL? What does the organisation plan on doing in order to take the delegates’ recommendations on education to employment, digital revolution and technologies and sustainable development in cities to the next level?

YEC is not finished it yet. What we have to do is first, work on the recommendations our delegates came up with, they have to be heard. We had 16 speakers and guests from all over the European spectrum and they have already heard, shared and discussed the recommendations, but then this cannot be the end. So, we, in YEL, we really try to get the word out there. We try to connect not only with stakeholders at the European level, but also at the national level. We help our delegates connect with their respective national governments.

We fight this misconception that young people have a poor leverage to the European institutions. At YEL, we help them jump over this gap between stakeholders and them. We help their voices be heard, through different processes: after publishing a final communiqué, we go to press and to partner organisations… This is a very important part of our work: we move and react. Otherwise, it is just one more piece of paper ending up on many desks and then nowhere.

The second step takes the form of a continuity: the next Young European Council is coming up and we already started planning it a month ago. We have been really excited about it, even while working on YEC 2014. We know that everything was not perfect this year, but we have analysed our flaws and assets and we will try to make the 2015 edition better, more innovative through dwelling on what can be improved. This will take a lot of time, but the Young European Leadership team is already working on in.

Then we also have this series of diverse delegations, so we have an armada of motivated young people entrusted with different portfolios: a perfect way to achieve our goal of making the voices of young people be heard.