MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION BY COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC AND MONETARY AFFAIRS

Home is where the slum landlord is: with urban property prices on the increase, some citizens are left unable to access housing, therefore unable to fully enjoy the socioeconomic opportunities offered by European cities. What measures can governments take in ensuring all citizens access to affordable housing in urban areas?

Submitted by: Luiza Greundling, Damir Ismailow, Jurgen Pels, Olaf Scheeper, Teun Slokker, Ties de Winter, Carla-Elena Sava (Chairperson, RO)

The European Youth Parliament,

1. Alarmed by the fact that housing prices increased by 19% across the European Union (EU) in the past decade,
2. Bearing in mind that the low interest rates set by the European Central Bank (ECB) create additional demand in the property sector,
3. Acknowledging that 27 Member States have ratified the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights where the right to adequate housing is stipulated,
4. Nothing with regret that the Member State’s response to the EU’s housing crisis is unsatisfactory,
5. Further noting with deep concern that the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the EU housing systems, affecting:
   • the homeless population and low-income citizens,
   • people in insecure employment,
   • young people,
6. Gravely concerned by the increasing economic and social segregation between high-income and low-income households across the EU, in the form of:
   • unequal access to medical services and the labour market,
   • negative effects on young people’s educational attainment and career prospects,
7. Fully alarmed that 96.5 million Europeans are at risk of poverty or social exclusion, and are either homeless or overburdened by housing costs,
8. Deploring that 17% of the EU population live in overcrowded accommodation, hindering the need to self-isolate and protect from COVID-19 and contributing to higher infection and death rates during the pandemic,
9. Expressing its satisfaction with the implementation of the Urban Agenda for the EU;

1. Encourages Member States to increase property tax for home owners with multiple properties;
2. Proposes the Member States to increase the amount of public housing;
3. Requests the Member States to implement a mortgage interest tax deduction;[mfn]A mortgage interest tax deduction is a fiscal device where the interest of a mortgage is deductible from home owners’ other taxes.[/mfn]
4. Recommends the European Commission to prioritise the need for housing in its homelessness policy, drawing upon the Finnish “Housing first” approach[mfn] The Finnish “Housing First” approach prioritises homeless people’s need for housing before securing employment, budgeting properly, or attending to substance use problems.;[/mfn]
5. Invites Member States to provide housing for people in overcrowded homes during the COVID-19 pandemic by:
   •  reserving public housing spots,
   •  increasing subsidies for public housing spots reserved for this group;
6. Encourages European higher education institutions to provide full-time on campus  accommodation covered by tuition fees;
7. Supports public housing agencies initiatives for inclusionary housing, that grant density bonuses and financing incentives to private developers in exchange for including below-market rate units;
8. Calls upon the EC Directorate-Generals of EAC, EMPL and SANTE to ensure that low-income neighbourhoods include:
   • available and high-quality medical services,
   • mental health and psychosocial support centres,
   • school education and vocational training for disadvantaged students;
9. Calls upon the European Commission to encourage knowledge sharing about the Urban Agenda between urban authorities as well as between different levels of government by:
   • creating an indicator framework that mirrors the format of the Sustainable Development Goals indicators,
   • increase data collection on these indicators, also including country economic and social parameters.

MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION BY THE COMMITTEE ON DEVELOPMENT

Our best shot: with vaccines providing the most promising route out of the pandemic and the threat of new vaccine-resistant variants looming with every new infection, what can the EU do to ensure even access and distribution across the globe?

Submitted by: Izzy van Bemmel, Pien de Boer, Kim de Rjik, Dharmil Salva, Saif Wazir, Lotte Wessels (Chairperson: Lucía Sancho, ES).

The European Youth Parliament,

1. Acknowledging the fact that more than fifty countries have missed the Global Health Organization’s target for vaccination,
2. Underlining the fact that 24 countries report not using their vaccines before they expire,
3. Regretting the current inconsistent distribution of vaccines around the globe,
4. Noting with concern the high prices of the vaccines and the logistic cost of mass vaccination programs, 
5. Pointing out that healthcare workers need instruction about handling requirements, storage protocols, and guidelines for thawing and timing doses for every different vaccine,
6. Taking into consideration that vaccination policy is a competence of national authorities,
7. Aware of the lack of transparency and the increasing corruption regarding vaccines,
8. Deeply concerned by the widely spread fake news concerning side effects of coronavirus vaccine and the anti-vaccination groups,
9. Expressing it’s satisfaction that the European Commission has created a(n):
   • EU Vaccine Strategy ensuring access to vaccines to all Member States,
   • Vaccine sharing mechanism allowing Member States to share EU purchased doses to third countries,
   • Initiative called “Team Europe” enabling local manufacturing of the vaccines in Africa;

1. Invites the Joint Research Center to employ experienced scientists to develop safe and efficient vaccines;
2. Advises the Global Infrastructure Institute to fund the building of laboratories in low-income countries;
3. Suggests the European Commission fund vaccine distribution by air transport;
4. Calls upon the ​​The European Medicines Agency (EMA) to facilitate:
   • training and education of medical students regarding COVID-19 and vaccines against it,
   • internships in lower-income countries after the completion of the training;
5. Expresses its hope for the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations to provide funding for the development of cheaper and more efficient vaccine storage and transportation techniques;
6. Asks the pharmaceutical companies to distribute pamphlets explaining the storage and use of vaccines within their packages specifying the handling requirements, storage protocols and guidelines for thawing and timing doses;
7. Further invites the United Nations to advise its members to revise:
   • their vaccination policies,
   • the handling of vaccine distribution,
   • the necessary amount of vaccines, 
   • the transparency concerning purchases and administrations of vaccines;
8. Asks media platforms to apply stricter fact-checking regulations to confront the increasing misinformation surrounding vaccines;
9. Urges Member States to include workshops and modules concerning vaccination into educational programmes;
10. Calls upon the European Commission to promote initiatives such as Team Europe and the EU strategy on vaccination by creating public infographics on their effectiveness;
11. Further recommends Member States to actively support organisations aiming to reach equal access to vaccination such as COVAX and the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator.

MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION BY COMMITTEE ON CIVIL LIBERTIES, JUSTICE AND HOME AFFAIRS

A Prideful European Union: how should LGBTQIA+ rights be protected in Europe, whilst acknowledging and addressing public hostility and reservations of individual Member States?

Submitted by: Jet van Beekhoff, Alexander Bos, Charlotte Mauritz, Roosmarie Toornstra, Erdiz Tuna Ayata, Irena Schwartz, Sky Williams, Lars van der Ent (Chairperson, NL).

The European Youth Parliament,

1. Alarmed about the rise in anti-LGBTQIA+ violence across the European Union,
2. Deploring the fact that political groups increasingly fuel anti-LGBTQIA+ violence by using sexual and gender minorities as a scapegoat for domestic problems,
3. Aware of homophobic and transphobic social media campaigns in Member States which spread misinformation and promote traditional values on behalf of foreign organisations,
4. Noting with deep concern that little to no progress has been made regarding the lived experiences of LGBTQIA+ people,
5. Concerned with the increase in discrimination in the European Union against LGBTQIA+ people in general, and transgender people in particular,
6. Alarmed that only 10% of LGBTQIA+ people who experience hate-motivated harassment report the incidents to the authorities,
7. Noting that Member States have disparate views on LGBTQIA+ rights and that laws and policies protecting sexual and gender minorities vary greatly per Member State,
8. Conscious that no framework exists at EU-level which includes sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression as a bias motivation for hate crimes,
9. Welcoming the first-ever LGBTIQ Strategy (2020-2025) presented by the European Commission;

1. Invites national public prosecutors offices to take legal action against politicians who promote queerphobic rhetoric;
2. Calls upon the European Commission to condemn queerphobic statements made by political organisations;
3. Asks social media platforms to filter comments spreading queerphobia more strictly; 
4. Demands European Commission to debunk misinformation spread about LGBTQIA+ identities and people, as seen with COVID-19;
5. Requests social media platforms to ban queerphobic accounts and enforce their rules about the elimination of reported comments more strictly;
6. Urges the European Commission to increase the funding of pro-LGBTQIA+ organisations such as ILGA-Europe;
7. Recommends Member States to create special departments within law enforcement authorities which specifically address the discrimination and harassment against LGBTQIA+ individuals;
8. Suggests Member States to oblige law enforcement officers to do an inclusivity training;
9. Encourages Member States to make education about LGBTQIA+ identities and issues mandatory in school;
10. Proposes the European Commission to spread an educational campaign on LGBTQIA+ identities and issues, specifically hate crimes, reaching local authorities and all levels of society, paying special attention to elderly people and their social clubs; 
11. Urges EU institutions and local parliaments to address the issues of LGBTQIA+ people more frequently;
12. Welcomes Member States to adopt legislation protecting LGBTQIA+ people against discrimination and harassment;
13. Urgently reminds the European Commission to execute LGBTIQ Strategy (2020-2025).

MOTION FOR RESOLUTION BY COMMITTEE ON WOMEN’S RIGHTS AND GENDER EQUALITY

From abolitionism to legalisation: The legal landscape of prostitution varies greatly across the EU, with forced prostitution, underage prostitution and unsafe working conditions still occurring across the Union. What stance should Member States adopt in order to safeguard sex workers’ welfare?

Submitted by: Julia la Bastide, Tommy Kramer,  Laura Matias de Campos, Douwe Overtoom,  Kwint Schut, Evita van Vliet, Emma Watson, Foteini Chatzikyriakou (GR, Chairperson)

The European Youth Parliament,

1. Bearing in mind that the stigmatisation of prostitution and stereotypes have led to:
   • The discrimination of sex workers,
   • The sex industry not being sufficiently controlled, monitored or regulated;
2. Alarmed by the fact that pimps, brothel owners and clients continuously take advantage of sex workers, abusing them psychologically and physically,
3. Concerned by the increased likelihood prostitutes have to experience an unwanted pregnancy, contract an STI or various other illnesses due to their unhealthy work environment,
4. Recognising that the lack of professional health care can lead to sex workers developing mental health issues,                                                                                                              
5. Aware of the number of human beings trafficked in the Member States for sexual exploitation,
6. Deeply concerned by the number of children being forced to get involved in the prostitution industry,
7. Emphasising the fact that sex tourism is a multibillion dollar industy, in which minors are involved,
8. Noting with deep concern the lack of harmonisation in the legislative models addressing prostitution among Member States;   

1. Encourages Member States to raise awareness about prostitution as legitimate employment  in order to reduce stereotypes;
2. Proposes Member States improve the communication between local authorities and red light districts and upgrade the warning systems in order to regulate more efficiently and ensure the safety of the sex workers’ environment;
3. Calls upon the European Commission to collaborate  with the European Sex Workers Alliance to help with the regulation of the sex industry;
4. Encourages Member States to use the tax income from legalised prostitution to provide contraceptives for sex workers;
5. Calls upon the EU to fund psychologists’ further education on providing help to sex workers;
6. Recommends Member States introduce educational programs for law enforcement authorities on human trafficking;
7. Asks Director-General of the Department of Children, Youth Justice and Multicultural Affairs (DCYJMA) to ensure youth care and child protection within the EU, mitigating the risk of them being forced into prostitution;
8. Urges the World Tourism Organisation (WTO) to tackle the sex tourism industry by advertising legal brothels;
9. Asks Member States to adopt a common model to legalise prostitution.

Girls just wanna have fun-damental rights: Women are chronically underrepresented and under-researched in medicine, which often leads to misdiagnosis and dismissal when they seek medical treatment. Given this gender data gap, how can the EU ensure its female population (51%) receives effective treatment?

Submitted by: Shriya Balaji, Max Bonnet, Leia Gilceava, Kiki Gielen, Lusan Haan, Julian Jongbloed, Femke Kappe,  María Cuder (Chairperson, ES).

MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION BY THE COMMITTEE ON THE ENVIRONMENT, PUBLIC HEALTH AND FOOD SAFETY

The European Youth Parliament,

1. Concerned by by the frequent misdiagnosis when women seek medical treatment  in comparison to men,
2. Noting with regret the lack of research in relation to the women bodies as a consequence of using the male bodies in order for these studies as a way to “simplify them”,
3. Bearing in mind that women are underrepresented in higher academic roles, 
4. Aware that women are sometimes given the wrong drug dosage as a consequence of setting the male body as a standard,
5. Fully alarmed by the fact that female health issues are sometimes not given enough importance because of the stigmatisation of women as “complaining”,
6. Acknowledging the fact that women often receive their medical diagnoses later than men;

1. Urges the World Health Organisation (WHO) to support additional research opportunities on issues specific to female bodies;
2. Requests the EU Cohesion Fund not fund organisations which are not inclusive in the research of medications and their side effects; 
3. Invites the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) to keep promoting co-education and a diverse workplace in the medical field to diminish bias in the sector;
4. Instructs the Member States to include female specific illnesses and influential women in the medical field in school curricula;
5. Calls upon the Member States to actively promote career opportunities for skilled female medical professional
6. Directs the European Medicines Agency (EMA) to mandate retrials of medication whose initial trial sample did not contain a balanced sex ratio;
7. Appeals to the Standing Committee of European Doctors (CPME) to focus on combatting stereotypes as part of interpersonal skills in medical trainin
8. Asks the Member States to start an organisation for handling anonymous reports on sexism in the medical field;
9. Petitions the Member States to help make studies and articles on sexism in medicine more relevant and accessible