Venerable Committee Chairs, Honourable Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen,

We’d like to extend a warm welcome to all of you here in Graz; we’ve been looking forward to seeing you for so long; the last in person session taking place in Burgenland in February 2022. We are proud to have kept the MEP momentum going also on a national level with two truly remarkable and memorable online conferences in Klagenfurt and Wels.

We are back and delighted it is Graz. We’re really glad the winter weather hasn’t stopped anyone of you from taking extensive, probably exhausting journeys upon yourselves to be here.

You’ve come from all parts of Austria to become a part of Europe – and maybe Graz will turn out just as the perfect place to begin this new and exciting journey called Europe.

As has been a tradition these past five years, we would also like to welcome a German delegation as we also look forward to joining their session in Berlin in March. And a novelty, we are also reaching out to a delegation of Ukrainian students who will be joining our session. Their homeland became a recent EU candidate country so are interested in gaining an operative insight into the workings of European integration.

Twenty years ago, Graz was the cultural capital of Europe, and still two decades later one can feel some of the European spirit in the streets, as no citizen will ever forget this time. So, we hope you, too, will be able to take in some of this feeling this weekend, and let it influence not only your work in the committees, but also the social ties you will make.

During the last few weeks, you were all quite busy, but nevertheless you found time to prepare yourself for this parliamentary session. You have gained a lot of insight already from working through some of the preparation links provided by the team of committee chairs, but now it is about time for the meeting to begin and for you to exchange views and find consensual solutions to four burning European issues with your fellow delegates in the committees.

You are going to be working in the political heart of the city and the federal state of Styria: the Burg, seat of the Styrian government, the Town Hall and the Steirische Landtag, the historic parliament of the province; we have invited a string of interesting speakers and well-known local, national and European politicians.

Above all though meeting, working and socialising with new people we are convinced you will make a lot of friends, maybe for a lifetime. We hope you will enjoy this national session in Graz and stay with the Model European Parliament for a while longer to experience the thrill of euroregional and international MEP meetings, just as we did. It’s really worth it!

Welcome to the Green Heart of Austria welcome to 22 nMEP Graz 23.

Candice Felderer (Theresianische Akademie Wien), Moritz Höfler (HAK1 Klagenfurt)

Anastasia Povolotskaya (Theresianische Akademie Wien), Jana Trattner (WORG Franziskanerinnen Wels)

Presidents of the National Model European Parliament Austria Graz 2023

Vorwort von Landeshauptmann Christopher Drexler für die 22. Nationale Europäische Jugendparlamentssitzung

Liebe Teilnehmerinnen und Teilnehmer der 22. Nationalen Sitzung des Europäischen Jugendparlaments!

Die Europäische Union ist ein einzigartiges, beispielloses Friedensprojekt und ihre Leistung für Stabilität, Wohlstand, Frieden, Demokratie, Meinungsfreiheit und Pluralismus kann gar nicht hoch genug geschätzt werden.  Aber auch als große Europäische Wirtschaftsunion hat sie sich in den vergangenen Jahrzehnten zweifelsohne bewährt und ist, gerade mit den vielen Vorteilen für junge Menschen, heute aus dem Alltag nicht mehr wegzudenken.

Dennoch steht auch die Europäische Union vor großen Herausforderungen. Eine breite Beteiligung unterschiedlichster Gruppen und insbesondere der Jugend ermöglicht es, möglichst viele Meinungen und Ideen in Reformen der Union einzubinden. Deswegen ist es umso wichtiger, gerade junge Menschen für diese Ziele zu gewinnen und sie von einem vereinten Europa zu überzeugen. Gerade in dieser Zeit, in der wir die unfassbaren Bilder und Auswirkungen des russischen Angriffskriegs auf die Ukraine vor Augen haben, müssen wir uns stärker denn je bewusst machen, wie wertvoll unser gemeinsames Europa ist.

Die Nationale Europäische Jugendparlamentssitzung bietet die beste Voraussetzung, mit anderen in einen breiten Dialog über die Zukunft der Europäischen Union zu treten, Vorschläge einzubringen und die unterschiedlichsten Standpunkte abzuwägen. Gerade die Stimme junger Menschen sollte in diesem Zusammenhang gehört werden. Ich freue mich daher, alle Teilnehmerinnen und Teilnehmer zur 22. Nationalen Sitzung des Europäischen Jugendparlaments in Graz willkommen zu heißen. Ich lade alle ein, diesen intensiven Dialog über die Europäische Union mit Leidenschaft zu führen und somit selbst einen Beitrag zur Entwicklung der Europäischen Union zu leisten.

Ein steirisches „Glück auf“!

Landeshauptmann

Christopher Drexler

See Downloads section

1 Committee on Employment (EMPL)

The question of reducing gender bias and modernizing the workspace:

Professionals for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) are in great demand. The number of men working in traditionally male-dominated fields like STEM still greatly surpasses the number of women. As these scientific fields become increasingly more important with regards to digitalization, development, healthcare etc.

What measures should be taken to simultaneously promote gender equality in male dominated fields and modernize the workspace? How can gender bias be reduced in the job market?

2 Committee on Environment and Public Health (ENVI)

The question of rising rates of mental illness especially among digital natives:

The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a toll on people’s mental health. Rates of mental illnesses such as Depression and Anxiety are at an all-time high, which is not only due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, lockdowns, and social isolation but also due to people´s fast paced and often overwhelming lifestyles and social media.

How should the EU address the mental health crisis partially caused by the COVID pandemic? How does the social media usage of digital natives’ factor into the rising mental health issues? What steps should the EU take?

3 Committee on Transport and Tourism (TRAN)

The question of sustainable tourism in the post-pandemic era:

Europe is faced with a massive staff shortage with an estimated 1.2 million job vacancies as of 2022. The hospitality sector and travel agencies are among the most affected by this. This issue has been caused due to the low interest in travel and subsequent layoffs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite this tourism is also a major contributor to the climate crisis and greenhouse gas emissions.

As travel restrictions are now lifted and consumers’ urge to travel is now on the rise, how can these industries deal with the lack of labor and motivate employees who left due to the pandemic to return? How can the EU further ensure and support the practice of sustainable tourism?

4 Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE)

The question of online radicalization:

Aiming at increasing engagement and interactions, recommender algorithms on social media platforms such as YouTube are pushing user towards increasingly radical content and unilateral sources of (mis)information (filter bubbles). As a result, conspiracy theories and fake news have inccreased in popularity.

How can the EU counteract this development and promote media pluralism protecting its democracy and political institutions? What measurements should be taken to prevent online radicalization and the spread of conspiracy theories and misinformation?