A FLAS Fellow's Semester Abroad in Amman

Audrey Dombro, an agricultural and consumer economics student and 2019-20 FLAS fellow, reflects upon her experience studying in Jordan.

Master of Arts in European Union Studies

The European Union Center at the University of Illinois offers the only Master of Arts in European Union Studies (MAEUS) program in the Western Hemisphere. Learn more here.

Nuclear Energy and Its Environmental, Policy, and Security Implications

On Earth Day 2022, the EU Center organized a symposium on the future of technology, energy, and security in Europe, featuring prominent scholars and policy makers from France, Germany, and the U.S.

Conversations on Europe

Watch the collection of online roundtable discussions on different EU issues sponsored by the University of Pittsburgh.

Accelerating Climate Change Mitigation: Policy Statements on the Road to Sharm-El-Sheikh and Beyond

Bruce Murray, Resident Director of the Illinois Program in Vienna, presents a series of student-written policy statements for accelerating climate change mitigation.

Videos of Previous Lectures

Missed an EUC-hosted lecture? Our blog's video tag has archived previous EUC-sponsored lectures.

Wednesday, April 28, 2021

Case Studies in the Making of the European Parliament and Parliamentarians: A Conversation with Rory Palmer

By Alicja Szczepkowska, M.A. Student in European Union Studies 

Rory Palmer is a British politician who aligns himself with the British Labor Party. He was a member of the European Parliament representing the East Midlands from 2017 until 2020 when the United Kingdom officially withdrew from the European Union. Mr. Palmer was born in 1981 in Worksop, Nottinghamshire, England and attended the University of York where he received a Bachelor of Arts in Social Policy. His political career began in 2007 when he became Leicester city councilor for Eyres Monsell. He also served as deputy to the mayor of Leicester, Peter Soulsby. 

During the 2014 European Parliament elections, he was second on the ballot for the East Midlands constituency but ended up not getting elected. Glenis Willmott was elected but stepped down in 2017 resulting in Palmer becoming her successor. During his time as an MEP, he was a member of the Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats. 

Mr. Rory Palmer joined us for the April 14, 2021 event, speaking as a member of the European Parliament Former Members Association. Mr. Palmer joined the European Parliament midterm in 2017 which presented several challenges. Nevertheless, as Mr. Palmer emphasized, while his term was a short one, it was an effective, busy, and eventful one. 

Mr. Palmer shared with us that European Parliament members are active across a variety of networks and arenas. More specifically, while MEPs are active in the Parliament itself, the majority of the work occurs across legislative committees and inter-parliamentary delegations. In addition, MEPs are able to join inter-groups that are aligned with specific causes / issues and campaigns. Mr. Palmer was active in a number of inter-groups related to equality, social rights, trade union, and labor rights. In fact, Mr. Palmer formed a new cross-party campaign group that aimed to secure stronger employment protections for people with terminal illnesses. Mr. Palmer explained that this Dying to Work campaign was one that he had taken from his own constituency and brought it to the attention of European officials in Brussels. 

One of the most significant insights that Mr. Palmer brought to light was how multidimensional the role of an MEP really is. From working at a local level to working at a national level and then to working at an international level, the political agendas of MEPs are driven by not only their own constituencies but also by their countries as a whole and the European Union itself. On top of all of these networks, MEPs are not only active in their own national political parties and political groups within the Parliament, but also must work with external networks including but not limited to universities, schools and colleges, businesses, and trade unions. 

This insight also led to another interesting perspective that Mr. Palmer shared related to how he would break down the role of an MEP into three to four broad domains. The first role is of course that of being an elected representative and advocate for the constituency that you represent in your home country. The second role is that of being a legislator and working in a legislative body, which in this case would be the European Parliament. The third role is that of being a campaigner and leader for the causes and issues that you care about but also wish to pursue in the interests of your constituency. And the fourth role is that of a diplomat through the work that occurs within the interparliamentary delegations. These different responsibilities prove to show that the “everyday life” of an MEP does not exist as every day is different with the tasks that are presented at hand. 

Furthermore, Mr. Palmer’s plan of action to how he approached his compressed term in the European Parliament was quite commendable. While he knew his time of him as an MEP would not be long, he still wanted to make an impact, be an effective representative, and advance the causes that he deeply cared about. Mr. Palmer's service in the European Parliament, although brief, was efficient and productive. Unfortunately, Brexit led to the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union, which resulted in an end to Mr. Palmer's appointment.

Share/Bookmark

Friday, April 23, 2021

The Power of Perspective: 4th Annual Student Summit and Global Dialogue

On Saturday, March 20, the Illinois Global Scholar certificate program held its fourth annual summit. This year the summit took place virtually, and high school students and teachers from around the world — from Armenia to Jordan to Serbia to the U.S. —attended. The theme this year was “the power of perspective.”

 

“Given the impact of COVID-19, we decided to [organize this year’s summit] virtually with a focus on dialogue,” said Seth Brady, Illinois Global Scholar project director and a teacher at Naperville Central High School. “We were pleased to have 22 countries and over one hundred schools participate. I was grateful to help create an opportunity that offered students and educators an  opportunity to share the impact of this truly global moment.”

 

The European Union Center has been a sponsor of the Illinois Global Scholar certificate program since its inception in 2015 and seeded the program’s launch. In 2017, the Illinois State Board of Education signed the legislation that created the Illinois Global Scholar Certificate. High school students in Illinois can now earn the certificate through globally-focused coursework, service learning, and a capstone project. 

 

This year’s summit began with a breathing exercise and guidelines, which included being empathetic, giving full attention to others, and being open to other viewpoints. The first speaker of the day was Natalia, a student from Naperville Central High School who briefly presented on her Illinois Global Scholar project on prison reform and humane practices for incarceration. 

 

After watching the documentary “13th,” Natalia was struck by the fact that the U.S. has 5 percent of the world’s population but 25 percent of the incarcerated population. She became interested in Norway’s criminal justice system, which focuses on rehabilitation rather than punishment. Natalia learned about an initiative in which prison officials from North Dakota and Oregon visited Norway’s prison system in order to reform correctional facilities back home. 

 

Natalia was inspired to create two resolutions and meet with state representatives, who agreed to help Natalia get her resolutions heard by the Illinois General Assembly.

 

Next, summit attendees heard from Wali Khan, a motivational speaker and former trauma nurse who is now studying to become a nurse anesthetist. Wali started his keynote talk with the observation that almost exactly a year has gone by since the state of Illinois went into lockdown on March 19, 2020. In the early days of the pandemic, Wali said, many people went into a “survival of the fittest” mindset, stockpiling groceries and toilet paper. Wali recalled seeing an elderly man in a grocery store, looking down at his grocery list and up at the empty shelves. 

 

For Wali, the scene in the grocery store illustrated the fear-induced greed and gluttony that accompanied the pandemic. “It shouldn’t have taken a pandemic for people to realize that they should look out for each other,” Wali said, noting that this past year has shown us that we are all a global family. What happens in one part of the world can affect everyone. 

 

After the keynote talk, summit participants were split into 10 breakout rooms. In each room, two or three facilitators led a discussion on takeaways from Wali’s talk, individual experiences of the pandemic, and what surprised everyone about themselves or others during this time. A common theme during the discussions was the personal reflection and growth that resulted from the pandemic and lockdown. One student from the U.S. spoke about how difficult it was not to be able to see his friends, but this is something to which he has successfully adjusted. Another student from the U.S. mentioned reevaluating her religious beliefs during the pandemic. 

 

A number of students talked about gratitude and acceptance. A student from Georgia said that the pandemic made her more aware of the need to appreciate the simple things in life. Another student, from the U.S., said that she realized that nothing should be taken for granted, including mundane things like playing sports and seeing her friends at school. 

 

Angelique Evans, a EU Center graduate student who previously worked overseas as a teacher for 10 years, served as a breakout room facilitator. “After assuring my students this wasn’t a place of judgment but a place to share openly our thoughts and feelings, the students in our group shared amazing feats,” Evans recalled. “One young lady shared she wrote a book of poems. Another discussed the way she and her peers rallied around a classmate who needed support regarding her SAT. I was proud of the accomplishments and tenacity of the young people from around the world in my room. I look forward to participating again next year.”

 

After about forty minutes of breakout room discussion, everyone returned to the main session, and a representative from each group shared some highlights of what they discussed. 

 

The final speaker during the summit was David, a student who completed an Illinois Global Scholar project on the treatment of the Muslim Uighurs in China. David began his presentation by asking the audience to think about where they were 12 years ago. “Now imagine facing 12 years of human rights violations,” said David, who then gave an account of the human rights abuses faced by China’s Uighurs, which include forced sterilization, torture, detention, and political indoctrination. Like Natalia, David noted that social media helped him learn about issues around the world, and it was initially through a social media platform that he learned about human rights abuses against Uighurs in China. 

 

The summit concluded with an overview of the Illinois Global Scholar certificate. High school students in Illinois may receive the certificate by completing eight courses that have a strong global focus; participating in a globally-focused service learning project; collaborating on projects with peers around the world; and completing a capstone assessment task.

 

After the summit, Brady shared with the EU Center a few quotes from students in attendance. “I love how we are all able to unite after such a hard year,” one student said. “My biggest takeaway is to focus on how to create a better global community by opening yourself to sharing and learning others’ perspectives and ideas.” Another student said, “Talking to a teacher from Moldova really provided me with a new perspective on this whole situation. Everyone has had to adapt to COVID in similar ways, even from across the world.”

 

For more information on the Illinois Global Scholar program, see: https://global-illinois.org


Share/Bookmark

Wednesday, April 21, 2021

The European Green Deal and the Quest for Global Tipping Points

By Professor Bruce Murray, Retired Resident Director of the Illinois in Vienna Programs

On the eve of the U.S. Global Climate Summit (Earth Day 2021), the European Union reached a breakthrough with its EU Climate Law. Ten weeks earlier, in February 2021, six University of Illinois students and I began our investigation of the European Green Deal. The EU ambition to lead climate mitigation efforts globally motivated our choice of its plan for our case study. Our goal has been to identify best practices for combating climate change in the EU that can be replicated elsewhere. With that in mind, learning what might be useful in the United States and in the transatlantic partnership has been of particular interest. So, too, has been determining what practices initiate domino effects, leading to rapid and widespread adoption everywhere. In other words, we have sought existing and potential tipping points in the EU and transatlantic context to accelerate the transition to global sustainability.

First, we familiarized ourselves with the Paris Climate Agreement and its intersection with the European Green Deal, focusing on the Climate Dialogues, which were hosted by the UNFCCC at the end of 2020, and the relevant EU legislative process, focusing on its EU Climate Law negotiations. We then investigated links between the EU, regional, and national initiatives, selecting and investigating specific policy areas. The following EU experts assisted us:

  • Günter HörmandingerEUC DG for the Environment, Transport, on leave 
  • Georg FischerEUC Director for Social Affairs, DG EMPL, ret. 
  • Andreas Beckmann, Regional CEO, WWF Central and Eastern Europe
  • Stephan Renner, Cabinet Member, Austrian Federal Ministry for Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology 

Their presentations, discussion sessions, and answers to our follow-up questions improved our understanding of European Green Deal provisions in these policy areas:

  • Biodiversity--Ana Valenzuela
  • Building and Renovation--Chris Piton
  • Circular Economy--Lingfei Liu
  • Clean Energy--Vikram Sudhan Muthuvel 
  • Just Transitions--Reagan Humphrey 
  • Sustainable Mobility--Victoria Heredia-Ferran
Each student drafted, presented for peer-review, revised, and completed a final report with information on the policy goals, actions, funding, strengths/weaknesses, and best practices. Our full report is available here. Below are the best practices we identified in four areas: communication, funding, policy, and technology. We encourage all to share them and push to implement those best suited to ensure we reach the Paris Agreement goal even before 2050!


Communication


      Disseminate information with the invitation to participate actively.

      Commission invitation for public consultation on EU 2030 Climate Ambition

      Citizen deliberation and participation program funding with 1,500 grant applications

      Saturate mainstream and other media innovatively.

      Euronews,EU Member-State RepresentationEU press release Green Deal content

      Euronews Debates: Can the EU Green Deal empower business and consumer change?

      Strive for individual, NGO, and government social media multiplier sharing.

      EU Commission Facebook page with 1.2 million followers

      #EUGreenDeal with almost 6,000 post shares in 24 hours

      Host and nurture invited, as well as invented, public-sphere events.

      European Climate Pact with invitation for citizen action in focal areas

     EU Earth Day 2021with link to 51 Earth Day action suggestions


Each recommendation warrants serious consideration in the EU, United States, for the transatlantic partnership, and globally. While all can be, and many are being, replicated, two warrant special attention. Linking information delivery and invitations for active participation is particularly effective for enhancing stakeholder input and acceptance. Linking invited and invented public-sphere events is well suited to generate global interactive communication capable of tipping the balance in favor of the necessary behavioral change. The recent 350.org Just Recovery Gathering is another excellent example of such global interactive communication. 


Funding


      Pool resources from relevant government budgets

      European Green Deal Investment Plan with EU and national public investment

     Just Transition Mechanism (Just Transition Fund, InvestEU, European Investment Bank)

      Target research/development investment with public-private partnership

      Horizon 2020 European Green Deal Call with €1 billion in grants

     European Partnerships in Climate, Energy and Mobility with draft partnership proposals

      Strive for an intelligent incentive, disincentive mix

      Energy Tax Directive Revision review of current policy and proposal for new ETD

      Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism with carbon pricing for some imported goods

      Support venture capital investment and corporate-driven green endeavors

      Forbes assessment of European Green Deal Investment Plan opportunities

      Nordic Pension Funds renewable energy investment with ambitious growth potential 


Given the relatively small EU budget, just 1% of the total EU economy value, it relies on funding from all relevant internal sources for projects within the scope of the European Green Deal. It also must make use of its investment to trigger member-state, as well as private spending. The European Green Deal Investment Plan and Just Transition Mechanism offer good examples of such methods. We see the Horizon2020 European Green Deal Call emphasis on international partnership, especially in the developing economies of Africa, as another effective tool to accelerate the transition to carbon neutrality. We recommend replicating it globally.


Policy


      Strive for an intelligent top-down, bottom-up, combination of approaches

      EU Commission leadership in national strategy development

      EU Climate Law trilogue negotiation

      Focus on stakeholder participation

      2018 stakeholder consultation on strategy for long-term greenhouse gas reduction

      2020 stakeholder consultation on 2030 Climate Target Plan

      Ensure transparency, coherence, accountability

      Evaluation of the EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020

      European Green Deal Legislative Train Schedule

      Strive for an intelligent soft and hard compliance measure mix

      Paris Agreement Implementation and Compliance Committee model

     EU Climate Law governance processes for national energy and climate plans


Some of the cited examples reveal room for improvement. For example, while the EU trilogue method lessens the likelihood of roadblocks, it can slow the legislative process and favor compromise. The current situation demands quick and decisive action. Citizen stakeholders must demand both immediately. In addition, when the EU implements its Climate Law, it must employ all compliance tools effectively. Timely, transparent, and public member-state performance disclosures must include praise for compliance and stiff consequences for delinquency. Public awareness of and support for enforcement are essential. In other words, whether in the EU or elsewhere, methods to motivate intensified citizen demands for performance and accountability are more important than ever.


Technology


      Accelerate the transition to solar and wind energy generation

      Powering a Climate-Neutral Economy

      EU Strategy for Energy System Integration

      Accelerate the transition to e-mobility

      EU Sustainable Transport

      Electric Mobility Europe

      Accelerate support for natural carbon removal, support other forms of carbon capture

      EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 with goal to protect 30% of EU land and sea

      Carbon Capture and Geological Storage (CCS) with CCS Directive

      Promote intelligent digitalization to measure and reduce carbon emissions

     Digitalisation for the Benefit of the Environment

     Eco-Innovation and Digitalisation


While technical tools can and must be important climate mitigation components, we wish to emphasize the need for energy conservation that requires only behavioral change. Having noted that, we consider two technical tools well suited to generate tipping points. Recently, major combustion-engine producers, including General Motors and Volkswagen, have pledged to accelerate their transition to electric engine production. The EU plan to accelerate its transition to e-mobility must serve as a catalyst for such plans in the U.S. and globally. We urge the EU and U.S. to establish a joint e-mobility plan with an ambitious goal for 2030 and invite India, China, and others to join them. We also consider regional and global collaboration in protecting the land and sea capable of tipping the balance in carbon reduction. We urge the EU and U.S. to establish a joint Biodiversity Strategy for 2030, challenging each other to surpass the current 30% goal, challenging other nations to join them, and improving our natural carbon sink in the process! 


Share/Bookmark

 
Cookie Settings