Kelsey Woodward, Arik Steele and Melinda Kunes
Melrose-Mindoro High School
Ireland
EU Delegation
Position Paper
Counter Terrorism Efforts in Europe
Terrorism is a worldwide issue that obstructs a person’s basic human right “to life, liberty and
security of person” (UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights). There are acts of terrorism in nearly
every country of the world, and that is not acceptable.
Ireland has had domestic terrorism measures in place since the constitution was written in
1937. We are firm believers in keeping our sovereignty, while collaborating with the European Union to
help stop the threat of terrorism. We have a system that uses four broad categories, each of which can
be implemented if deemed necessary. “The four are: (a) Laws which permit internment without trial (b)
laws relating to the use of special courts (c) laws enacted pursuant to the emergency powers in Article
38 of the Constitution and (d) laws which are part of the permanent body of criminal statute-law
directed against terrorism.” We are using this knowledge in combination with the EU to help stop the
“transnational problem” that is terrorism.
Ireland supports the idea of the Eurozone wide mandates because we believe that to prevent
terrorism, we as the EU have to work together to stop this global issue. Terrorism brings forth the
question that is fundamental to all democracies, if you are going to live in a free society, then that
society needs to decide how it is going to balance individual liberty and the security of society as a
whole. Ireland believes that the EU by its very existence is an extension of the European belief in a need
for strong individual liberties at the expense of some security in society as a whole. According to the EU
charter of Fundamental rights, people have the right “to liberty and security.” Terrorism is a threat to
both of these rights, so we must uphold this statement by enforcing the Eurozone wide mandates.
We believe that anti-terror programs could not have prevented the 2011 Norway attacks. The
attacks on Norway were done by Anders Behring Breivik. He is a right wing extremist, who believes that
his government and the camp that he attacked are becoming “an Islamic state”. He attacked them
because the government is not stopping the spread of Islam into Europe. He has been interviewed for
months, and at no point has he shown any remorse, he fully believes he did the right thing. He killed 77
people and injured 151. This type of attack is extremely difficult to prevent, and really the only way to
fully prevent terrorist attacks like this, or in general is to live in a police state. And living in a police state
is not an option. We are a society built on freedoms, so we cannot restrict those freedoms to protect
other rights. We suggest that we try to prevent the terrorist attacks with the plans we have in place.
Specifically, the official EU counter- terrorism strategy (Prevents, Protect, Pursue, Respond). The first
stage is to prevent people from turning to terrorism, and to stop the “roots” of terrorism. The “Protect”
stage is to reduce vulnerability, and improve security measures. Pursue is the investigative portion, and
“respond” is reacting to an attack if it happens.
Terrorism is a world-wide issue that affects us all. Ireland, being a part of the EU, supports the
EU’s plan on preventing and responding to acts of terrorism. But, we also believe that countries are
independent, and should act independently when concerning their specific domestic terrorism plans.
Together is the only we will be able to curb this new terrorism trend.
Sovereign Debt Crisis
The international debt crisis is continually worsening in Europe. Ireland along with many other
countries are deeply concerned about this increasing issue and are trying to find a way to solve the
financial problems of the EU and all countries are experiencing.
Several smaller countries have found themselves in deep financial crisis and are in need
of assistance from the larger European community. If the EU were to remove countries that need help
from the larger EU community, in the end it would cause more trouble for the entire European Union.
By keeping these countries in and assisting them with their financial issues you are strengthening our
bonds as a whole. Some of the same problems would also come if countries were to voluntarily leave
the EU. We as Ireland are not specifically saying the bigger countries need to solve the financial
problems, but as a union we need to work together to help the debtors. Ireland just like Greece, Italy
and other countries know what it is like to have financial issues, but if any of us were to leave the union
we would be more of a financial problem in the end.
Ireland believes that the Euro needs to continue as the currency of the EU. A united
currency only strengthens the Union. By having a few European countries using a different currency it
can eventually cause inflation, and create problems during trade. Trade between Euro and Non-Euro
nations in Europe can create harmful in balances and unnecessary competition base on currency trade
values. We believe that the few countries that use a different currency are using this to maintain a major
power and leadership, but if we were to all use the euro it could make us a stronger and more confident
union.
Ireland believes that to solve this we need to continue on our present course of supporting aid
packages to member states with troubled economies. Once we have this solved the CEU can direct it’s
resources to the rest of the international debt crisis. For now Ireland and the other less fortunate
countries need this economic assistance, and by getting the assistance you are strengthening the Union
as a whole.
Immigration Tensions in Europe
Immigration in Europe has been significant since after WWII. It became a real issue in the 1970’s when
Europe had been issuing guest worker programs. They then realized that the workers were not leaving,
but instead were bringing their families to stay because it was better in Europe than in their home
countries. Europe was upset about this, and started passing anti-immigration laws. These issues have
carried over to today. Today millions of people emigrate from outside Western Europe to it. For
example, in 2010 11.1 million people emigrated from Russia to Western Europe. Ireland is affected by
this because they have the second highest immigration rate according to population size. The European
Union has the “Stockholm Program” which is the basis of how the EU runs the issue of immigration. The
EU “Charter of Fundamental Rights” also secures safety of person, and the right to life. This right allows
for people to try and help themselves, which includes immigrating, but immigration proves in itself
dangerous. With the influx of immigrants, we also see the influx of human trafficking, or forced
prostitution. Ireland supports the EU’s stand of human trafficking being a horrendous crime. The arrival
of the huge number of immigrants also leads to overcrowding, extra burdens on health systems, and
lack of jobs. Ireland supports the idea of limiting immigration, and helping to stop the ever growing
problem of human trafficking.