Y Vote2014

yvote2014@aegee.org www.facebook.com/Yvote2014

@yvote2014

Project OutlineThe European Parliament Elections in 2014 will be the 8th time when the citizens from the EU member states will be called to use their rights and elect the democratic instance of the European Union for the next 5 years. It is vital not only to cast a vote, but to rebuild the trust between the citizens and the European Union, which has been deteriorated due to the financial and social crisis Europe is going through.

Therefore, dear Reader, if you have this document in your hands, it is because you believe that a different Europe is possible, you still have not given up on Europe of our dreams which our founders such as Schuman and Monnet believed in. You have power in your hands, it is time to make an informed choice and use it wisely.

Do you think that young people are not aware enough of the impact of the European Union on their daily lives?

Do you think that there is a strong lack of interest of young people towards traditional decision-making processes, such as elections?

Do you think that there is a lack of clarity and transparency regarding the European Parliament elections as well as the messages from the European political groups?

Do you think the European elections are too often framed into a national perspective and lack a real European dimension?

Do you think that participation of young people in the elections, espe-cially the European Parliament elections 2014, is one of the keys to give Europe more legitimacy, more visibility and more strength?

Do you think the European Parliament elections 2014 are a way of winning back trust between citizens and the European Union?

We do.

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Do y

ou th

ink.

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The Y Vote 2014 team is formed by young people, who are aware of the lack of credib-ility that Europe is currently going through among youth and want to do something about it!

Young people should be involved in the democratic processes of the European Union and realise the power of their vote and their responsibility for shaping the future of Europe. Ignoring the polls is definitely not a solution. Young people are not merely the future of Europe. Young people are the present of Europe and they must be aware of it and use their potential to alter the reality around them.

This is the message the Y Vote 2014 project team stands for.

We have inherited a very precious and valuable gift from the previous generations who managed to build peace and harmony within the continent, resulting in the establishment of the European Union. .

For our generation, peaceful Europe is an everyday reality. Having the opportunity to travel, study, work and develop our potential in any country within European Union is taken for granted by many young Europeans, whilst they were unthinkable for most of our grandparents and even parents.

Europe proves to the world what can be achieved: peace, cooperation, tolerance, as well as mutual understanding and common values.

In the time of crisis, the support for Europe has to be even strengthened. Facing different challenges, people tend to lose faith in the European Union. It is the responsibility of our generation to develop the European project and to shape it into Europe of every citizen.

The first step is to use our right as citizens of the European Union to make an informed choice by electing our representatives in the European Parliament.

It is time to contribute to Europe. It is time to improve democratic processes in Europe. It is time to take your chance and vote!

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What is the project Y Vote 2014: It’s up to you(th) about?The Y Vote project is not a brand new idea of European Students’ Forum AEGEE-Europe. In 2009 members of our organisation worked together on a European-wide campaign in order to raise awareness and increase youth participation in the European elections. Still, the voter turnout among young people was dramatically low, as 75% of them did not take part in the European Parliament elections 2009. (Eurobarometer 2009)

Developing this project about the European elections 2014 starts therefore with a need: we believe that young people need to receive better information regarding the European elections, as well as different European institutions and the European Union in general. Currently Europe is mentioned more than ever due to the crisis affecting many member states and the way European Union is dealing with it. This information is often biased and unclear. The media and politicians too often use general terms like ‘Europe’ or ‘Brussels’, instead of clarifying if they refer to European Parliament, European Commission or the European Council. Moreover, we can observe a lack of understanding of what the European Union really does and how it affects young people on a daily basis. As a result, the motivation of young people to actively participate in European democratic processes decreases.

We have observed those problems regarding youth’s participation in the EU elections. While approaching young people, they identified the following concerns:

➢ Lack of information: Currently, youngsters grow up in a European living space, but are insufficiently aware of the benefits and opportunities they can receive from it.

➢ “Brussels is far away”: The European Union, having most of its institu-tions in Brussels, may seem too far from youth. They are unaware of what is going on within the European institutions and how the EU institutions’ decisions affect them.

➢ Lack of a European public space: Media tend to present European issues from a national perspective. The few European media that exist, remain in the Brussels’ bubble without a strong visibility and recognition outside.

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➢ Europe is the one to blame: The work of the European Parliament is not visible, its powers are unknown to the general public. At the same time, the work of MEPs is rarely visible in the media, rather being highlighted in a negative perspective. In most European countries it can be observed that the European Union is used as a scapegoat for all unpopular decisions.

➢ EP elections as a national political tool: The campaign for the European Parliament elections is based on national politics. It is often used as a test before the next national elections. Therefore, 28 campaigns are being led instead of one joint European campaign.

➢ EP elections are not taken seriously: European Parliament is not attractive for the most popular politicians in the member states. It may be linked to a shared belief that decisions taken at the European level are less relevant than those at the national level.

➢ The campaigns are not clear to the general public: There political groups’ programmes lack a clear vision of Europe, as a result people vote according to their ideology or the national politics. It is difficult to realise what ideas concerning European affairs different political parties have, as there is not much of a European agenda that the citizens are aware of.

➢ Ideological barriers: A rise of Euroscepticism, as well as a rise of nation-alism and xenophobia can be observed throughout Europe. These radical voices discourage youngsters from getting involved in the democratic processes of the European Union.

We are aware that a great effort needs to be made in order to win back youth’s trust on the European Union. That is why we believe that peer learning between young people is one of the best ways to carry it out!

As we are a youth organisation, our project is addressed to young Europeans, espe-cially:

➢ first-time voters, which means mostly people of maximum of 23 years old

➢ students, who have already had voting rights

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What do we want to achieve with this project? Our aim is to turn first-time voters and students into actors of the European Parlia-mentary Elections 2014 by informing and encouraging them to participate.

More specifically, we want to:➢ Reach with our campaign first-time voters and students from the 28 member

states

➢ Increase by 30% the voter turnout of the participants of our actions

➢ Inform students and first-time voters from the 28 members states and students from neighborhood countries about the powers of the European Parliament and its impact on our daily lives.

➢ Empower all participants of our actions to make an informed choice by creating a Voting Guide until December 2013.

➢ Strengthen students’ and first time voters’ understanding of Europe and their sense of European identity.

➢ Create a Youth Agenda which will present youth’s vision of Europe.

Our ActivitiesThe Voting Guide, specially tailored for young peopleThe aim of the Voting Guide is to empower young people to make an informed choice in the elections by providing them with information about European political groups and their vision of Europe.

The Voting Guide will deliver information about the parties participating in the elec-tions and their programmes, the link with the national candidates and tips how to vote when you do not live in the country of your origin.

The guide will be distributed both in a digital and printed version, written in all official languages of the EU member states.

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The Youth Agenda – expressing youth’s voice10 European Youth Conventions are going to be organised between September 2013 and April 2014 in order to gather the opinion of young people on relevant topics, such as education, research and innovation, youth unemployment, sustainability, enlarge-ment and EU Neighbourhood Policy, democratic processes, youth participation, the impact of the crisis and gender equality. Moreover, during those conventions a lot of street actions will be carried out, followed by creating videos and workshops at universities in order to reach as many young people as possible.

As a result of the conventions, a set of recommendations will be created, given by young people to the newly elected MEPs, in the form of the Youth Agenda.

Local Actions – think Europeanly, act locallyWe believe that in order to have a real impact, it is crucial to act locally, having the European perspective in mind. The organisation of local actions seems to be the way to reach youngsters outside our organisation and therefore young people who are less likely to be aware of the upcoming elections or not intending to vote.

The list of local actions consists of:

➢ Interactive workshops in high schools and universities on the topic of the European Union’s impact on its citizens everyday life, as well as presenting basic facts of how the European Union works. The aims of this action are to make young people understand why their voice matters, to inform them how they can contribute to the European democracy and what is the impact of the European Union on their lives.

➢ Street actions, which will increase awareness about the elections. This broad term includes picnics, flash mobs, city games, stands in career or education fairs or on festivals, making videos and interviews.

➢ One day events – just to mention Voting Action Days or voting simulations

➢ Debates with MEPs and other similar discussion panels, i.e. Oxford debates or online discussions with stakeholders.

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Training for Trainers and MultipliersThe Training for Multipliers aims at empowering young people and providing them with tools and skills necessary to lead local actions and workshops in their home towns. We would like to increase their understanding of the European Union and the importance of EP elections, as well as to improve their performing and leadership skills.

Bus Tours around EuropeAnother initiative that we are willing to undertake is the organisation of bus tours in several EU member states, namely Croatia, the United Kingdom and Spain. The aim of these tours will be to reach young people first-time voters and encourage them to take responsibility for the future of Europe by using their right to vote.

The countries, where the bus tours are going to have place, have not been chosen accidentally. A bus tour in Croatia will be a way of celebrating the recent accession of this country to the EU and addressing first-time voters in the regular European Parlia-ment elections, who the country is full of. In the United Kingdom there has been observed a severe rise of Euroscepticism and therefore we would like to reach as many British youngsters as possible to discuss with them the impact of the EU on their lives. Spain, on the other hand, is one of the countries mostly hit by the current crisis, with the shockingly high rate of youth unemployment. That is why we believe one of our tours should take place in this country as well.

Online – a space for discussionApart from the above-mentioned initiatives, we are planning to carry on an online and video campaign. As the Internet is nowadays the leading source of information, we would like to spread the word about European Parliament elections through short videos emphasising the importance of voting and encouraging young people to parti-cipate. Also, we will provide a space for discussion and sharing views on the upcoming European elections.

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Y Vote 2009 activities – Did it work at the last elections?Before the previous European Parliament elections AEGEE organised a similar project. It was the Y Vote 2009 project, which was running from 2008 until the EP elec-tions in 2009. The project was a success for the following reasons:

➢ Y Vote 2009 was the national winner of European Charlemagne Youth Prize in Greece 2010

➢ The Y Vote 2009 project organised 10 conferences around Europe on different youth-related topics.

➢ Y Vote 2009 was widely recognized among Members of European Parliament.

➢ More than 100 European and local activities took place between October 2008 and June 2009.

➢ The Youth Agenda created in 2009 covered such vital topics as: citizenship, EU and the World, jobs and mobility, creativity, multiculturalism, education, EU social model and migration.

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The TeamLéa CharletAEGEE-ParisProject Manager

I joined AEGEE one and a half year ago and I heard about Y Vote at the very beginning of my AEGEE life, so when I heard about the new edition, I asked to join immediately. I’m currently living in France where Euroscepticism is a common opinion, and where the absten-tion rate is one of the highest in Europe, and even if we could reach just a small minority of Youth, climate will change.I will be in charge, during this project, mainly to coordinate the general work of the project, to keep motivation high. My studies may lead me to Brussels next year, like this I will be able to have an active part in the external representation and in the communica-tion with the Comité Directeur of AEGEE Europe.

Javier Mendoza JiménezAEGEE-TenerifeContent Manager, responsible for the Voting GuideI’m really looking forward to work in this project. Youth people have to decide what the future should be about before it will be decided for us. I’m member of AEGEE Tenerife but I live in Riga (yes, the first questions is always why?) and I want to became again active at EuroUntitled1pean level. On the project, I’m in the core team and I will be mainly in charge of the voting guide that should be ready in December 2013. It´s a challenge that I really like, try to express all the complexity of the EP elections in a few pages but I know we will manage for sure.

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Aleksandra KluczkaAEGEE-KrakówContent Manager, responsible for the Youth Agenda

I have felt like a citizen of Europe since I remember and I want the European Union to develop. The first moment I heard about the Y Vote project, I knew I want to be a part of it. I believe that young people have heads full of ideas and their voice should be heard. That is why within the project I am the Content Manager respons-ible for creating the Youth Agenda, which will be a set of recom-mendations for the MEPs, addressing topics important for youth. My work will include preparing the content for Youth Conventions taking place across Europe and gathering the guidelines for the Youth Agenda.

Katarzyna BiałożytAEGEE-PoznańContent Manager, responsible for local activities

Just after I found out about this project I knew I want to be a part of it. Yvote has a great potential and we can really make a difference. The idea behind this project is not only to change the percentage of voters but is much bigger. I am responsible for local activities and in my point of view local level is the crucial one to reach youth all around Europe. Without good cooperation with motivated antennae, based on creative and innovative ideas for activities we' re not able to make an actual impact and bring first time voters to poll boxes.

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Roald van der ValkAEGEE-UtrechtCommunication Manager

To me, AEGEE is a chance go beyond the borders of your own country and look at what Europe has to offer. This is not simply about the politics, but about the people you meet throughout our continent. I am glad to be the communication coordinator of our project, because it will be my task to look at how best to reach our target audience and to make sure we make a difference.

Esperanza RodríguezAEGEE-Las Palmas Financial Manager

I believe that the aim of this project perfectly reflects the aims of AEGEE in its deep sense, so I hope to contribute as much as I can from the distance (not only for financial management, but also for content/organization). I’ve heard about the project in 2009: it was a success in terms of impact, but a mess financially, so I’m here with my whip to prevent this from happening again! :P

Szabolcs KerekesAEGEE-BudapestQuality Assessment Manager

I believe that election is the most prominent tool of modern demo-cracies. The lack of interest that I have seen on my generation inspired me to join the campaign, and to do my best to change the situation. My task will focus on impact measurement and interim evaluation of the project phases.

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Alma MozgovajaAEGEE-RigaQuality Assessment Manager

Democracy is complicated, but this is our right not just enjoy it, but also our duty to participate in it actively. First time voters can seem the easiest target group to engage however it is the most respons-ible and complicated task to do. That’s why I have joined this team where I will be working on measuring the impact of different activ-ities and stages of the project and doing quality assessment.

Lucille RieuxCapacity Building ManagerSecretary General of AEGEE-Europe

I strongly believe a project by young people for young people is one of the key tool to communicate on the upcoming EP elections 2014. Thus, I am very excited to be part of this project and to support the work of the team, in making sure that our this project gets to the MEP and relevant stakeholders in Brussels, and also insure a local impact by coordinating the Training for Multipliers.

Miguel GallardoEU Political ManagerProjects Director of AEGEE-Europe

The elections for the European Parliament will be a great challenge for the whole EU. I believe AEGEE has the potential to help society understand the importance of participation in the European demo-cracy, specially addressing young people in their language and focusing in their needs. It will be a great adventure where we will all learn and have a real impact if we work as a team!

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Luis Alvarado MartínezEU Political ManagerPresident of AEGEE-Europe

In times where the euroscepticism levels are higher than ever due to this financial, social and political crisis we are currently facing in the EU, it is the turn of the younger generation, the one which has never know what war is, who can study abroad, who can work abroad, and who have benefited from all the advantages of this European dream, to re-inspire, re-convince and re-launch the concept of the European Union. Its up to the young generation to take the spotlight, raise their voice and take a stand on the Europe they want to start living from May 2014 without forgetting the roots and dreams of Schumann and Monnet. Y Vote 2014 is the platform which will allow students all over Europe to be empowered to make informed choices for the Europe they want and use their right of vote at the European parliamentary Elections 2014.

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ContactY Vote 2014

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/YVote2014

E-mail yvote2014@aegee.org

Twitter https://twitter.com/YVote14

AEGEE-Europe http://www.aegee.org/

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