assignment

Directive to Combat the Illegal Sex Trade of Women from the CEECs to the European Union

 

BACKGROUND:  

   Trafficking of women and children for prostitution is one of the fastest growing areas of international criminal activity, affecting every member state in the EU.  This business feeds off poverty, despair, war, crisis, and ignorance; and as the ease of moving from one country to the next has increased, so has the illegal trafficking of women in to the EU.                                

                                  

Approximately 75,000 women and children are trafficked out of Eastern Europe each year.  An estimated 70% of Russian and East European women victims are believed to be sent to West European countries (especially Germany, Italy, France, the Netherlands, Greece, Austria, and England).  These countries are weak with poor economies.  East European women, yearning for the opportunity for a better life abroad, are especially vulnerable to entrapment by traffickers, by either kidnapping or “purchasing” fraudulent matchmaking services.  Also, those who assist in the relocation from the CEECs tell their victim that they must repay the debt.  Once removed from their native countries, these women are victims of human rights violations of the worst kind.  Often subjected to cruel mental and physical abuse in order to keep them in servitude, victims are exposed to beating, rape, starvation, forced drug use, confinement, and seclusion.

                          

 These women hardly dare to testify against the traffickers or those who hold them against their will, fearing retribution for themselves and their families since most governments do not offer stays of deportation or adequate protection of witnesses.

 

RATIONALE:         

Current efforts to combat the illegal sex trade in the EU are not working.  Once the victims are illegal trafficked into EU member states, they have no place else to go than to stay with their captors.  Going to the police causes them to be deported back to their homeland, where they usually are swept up again in the sex trade.  In addition, the captives are kept culturally secluded – meaning that they are in a different culture where they speak a different language, and therefore have no one else to turn to for help.

 

CONTENT:             

  A special task force will be created to eradicate the problem of the illegal trafficking of women.  Trafficking victims rescued by the task force will be granted a one-year residency permit immediately.  Permanent residency permits will be issued to the victims upon testifying against their captors.  States must agree to prosecute the traffickers.  To rehabilitate these women, health and social services will be offered to the victims; as well as possible job training and/or jobs.

 

      The DAPHNE Programme will fund this directive.

SAMPLE PROPOSAL 1

Title: Directive on the Promotion of Standardized Recycling at Commercial and Construction Sites.

Background:

All consumer goods end up being waste at some point. According to Europa 49% of EU municipal waste is disposed of through a landfill, 18% is incinerated and only 33% is recycled or composted. The EU adopted the Six Action Programme for the Environment in 2002, but since then has not been able to significantly reduce the amount of waste compiling in European landfills. The EU has announced plans for creating a Forum on Recycling, but this has not yet occurred. The Waste Strategy 2007 targets to recycle/compost 40% of household waste by 2010, but does not address commercial waste.

Rationale:  

According to DEFRA, in the UK household annual waste makes up only 9% of total waste, while commercial waste makes up 12% and construction and demolition makes up a whopping 32%.  The EU has concentrated on household waste but has not focused its efforts on the big offenders. Some member countries are already ahead of the curve, but others lag far behind. For example, Greece landfills over 90% of its municipal waste and Portugal and the UK landfill around three-quarters of theirs.

The EU does not currently offer incentive for companies to participate in recycling or companies who use recyclable materials. This is compounded by the increase in price of consumer goods created with recyclable products because of the additional cost burden on these companies who are working to be environmentally friendly. By creating standardized procedures and qualifications for recyclable materials and providing tax credits to companies who participate in recycling and those who use second generation recycled products, we can reduce the amount of waste in landfills across Europe, provide consumers with similarly priced and environmentally safe products  and continue to be a global leader in environmental protection.

Content:

The proposal will require the Forum on Recycling to complete the set up of the European Recycling Centre with twelve months of the passing of this legislation. The European Recycling Centre (known henceforth as the ERC) will establish clear guidelines to act as standardization across member countries. The ERC will work with current major recycling companies to design large receptacles to be placed on location at commercial business and construction sites with separate containers for different types of recyclable materials to streamline the process. Literature will also be distributed describing the exact qualifications of recycling procedures and explaining tax credits to be awarded to participating companies. This next step should occur within 2 years of the formation of the ERC. Tax credits to companies who use recycled products in manufacturing processes should also be awarded, and literature that is distributed should describe the availability of these as well. The goal will be to reach 2/3 of waste recycled by commercial and construction sites by 2015.

SAMPLE PROPOSAL 2

Title:               Proposal to bring closer ties to the ‘Democratic Deficit’ of the European Union

Background: 

The ‘Democratic Deficit’ simply means that there is a disconnect between                the elites and the citizens of a government.  In the case of the European Union, citizens do not have much say on how decisions are made.  One way that citizens can potentially have a voice is by referendum.  Unfortunately, often times many countries will decide against referendums for fear that laws will not be passed.  Citizens do however get to vote on who will represent there country as a member of the Commission.  They don’t however have a say in who will represent the Commission from other member states.  Therefore, decisions are being made by people who are not known throughout all member states.  The only other people that citizens may vote for is Parliament, which has little or no say over laws and budget concerns.

Rationale:      

The European Union suffers from a ‘Democratic Deficit.’  There is little or no interaction between the elites and the citizens.  In order for a governing body to work under a democratic system, you have to involve the people.  The citizens have not truly bought into the EU, for the simple fact that they feel that the Commission only takes action behind closed doors without giving the citizens a voice nor allowing them to know the issues being decided upon.  The EU has been very successful thus far, but without giving the people a voice, the EU can never fully achieve Legitimacy.

 

Content:       

  The proposal will require that media coverage be allowed in the room while meetings are being held by the Commission, much like CSPAN in the U.S.  This will allow citizens, if they so choose, to see how decisions are made and what issues are being sought after.  Coverage would consist during all meetings of the European Commission.  It would be broadcast on one local network, as well as one cable channel, which will allow coverage to all citizens.  These two networking channels will be standard throughout EU member states television programming.