EC Meeting - 06/12/2014

ECM Brussels - 6th and 7th of December 2014

Present: Júlia, Marie, Miléna, Krassina, Micha, Joan

Apologies: Josef, Gio, Shenna

Saturday

1. Personal update

2. FYEG GA Applications

• Georgians are OK with considering Ukrainian application

• applications are uploaded here.

• Discussion on important criteria here.

• Conclusions: Difficult decision but people inclined towards Georgian application at this point.  Proposal to encourage cooperation between Ukranian and Georgian YGs on specific sessions and bring extra delegates from Ukraine.

• >> All: Confirm decision on EC list.

• (Once decision is taken) Krassina: Notify Ukranian MO

• Gio: Notify Georgian MO.

3. MOs

• MODOM application (reports here).

Concerns about DOM (mother party) (see comments here) These include:

• Being part of a conservative and totalitarian government coalition. Coalitions seem to have been made with the conservative party before the election (not just when being in Parliament)

• Vote in favour of creating free economic zones within the country

• Supported the definition of marriage as “between one man and one woman”

• Not voting against a restrictive abortion law

• Support of a media law inspired on the Hungarian one

• Support of Project Skopje 2014

• >> Gio - consult with CDN to understand previous experiences with DOM/MODOM.

• >> Prepare email to MODOM explaining formal steps to follow, but also current concerns with DOM, and the fact that we see difficulty in how this can fit in the green family.

4. Evaluation of activities :

See discussion here.

• What are the plans/expectations?

• Where are we now?

• What can we still do

1 Climate campaign

• Next steps

• Ensure google drive structure is all linked together

• Campaign plan

• >> EC to give input together (this weekend)

• >> Consultation with MOs

• Include selection of prepteam for COP21 (must be done before May)

• Look at EGP campaign plan.

• Visual identity - do we want our own?

• EC to provide overall guidance, input and support to campaign team

• 15 December - 70% finished document to go out to MOs, feedback by 15 Jan

• Final decision is from EC

• Establish working method with CT. Key issues:

• Social media + PR relationship

• Fundraising + relationship with MEP

• >> Co-opt Jeune Écolo into campaign team

• Delegation  >> send out call asap (Marie+Joan)

• deadline 15th Jan, extend a few days; decide by 31st January

• >> promote this in the seminar

• MO buy-in during capacity building exercise.

• Incl coordination with EGP

• >> Try to have presence in EGP core group meetings - Shenna

2 TTIP

• Intention to do a Seminar on Common Strategy of MOs

• As Parliament Visits Seminar

• As Study-Visit or other thing

3 Counter the Far-Right/Inclusion activities  (Micha, Josef)

• Update

• Agenda of conference

• EYF application

• syncrhonisation with springcamp.

• GEF?

• Actions:

• >> Find people in our countries who are working against fascism etc.

4 Politicizing Personal - Skip

5 Capacity Building

• 25 people approx + EC

• >> Approach MEPs to get parliamentary visits - this will determine the dates. Proposal week 22-29 March.

• >> Ask EcoloJ/Jong Groen if they want to co-host. Otherwise prepteam.

• 1 day of capacity exchange between MOs (they each present their strengths), 1 day of strategy

• Different EC/WG teams to prepare different inputs

6 Twinning Cities

• TCs meeting

• very positive, a lot of enthusiasm.

• >> Miléna to write report

• Organisations to also work on fundraising

• “kick-off” or big event

• Deadline is beginning of February for Erasmus+ application

• Could be part of a summer event

• >> Miléna to incorporate stuff into calendar

• Online platform >> Miléna to work with Gio

• Infographic - (? - bring up in Office section)

• Can we get some funding from Europe for Citizens program through green councillors? >> Krassina + Miléna

• Tinder branding?

7 Olive Tree branch

• Importance of ensuring people are involved which have some previous context. >> Contact relevant people below

• Peace WG - Milena to contact

• Austria - Micha to talk to Cengiz again

• DWARS - Jola is thinking about it

• France - Marie will contact

• Catalonia - Júlia will contact

• Ukraine - Krassi will contact

• Eng/Wales - Joan will contact

• End of dec/first week of Jan - skype call

------ >> Brainstorm tomorrow of initial direction for EC to provide to steering team, otherwise retreat.

-- Include German seminar - respond with our interest to take part

8 Ecosprinter GEF training

• Positive answer - going forward.

• 3rd partner: think-thank - Bright Green and Green House

• >> decide as soon as possible when it would be convenient to have this.

9 Alter G20 Istanbul

• late August - Turkish Young Greens are really involved → MADA and FYEG should be involved

• We like the idea - Reclaim alter-globalization “speech”

• Summit Strategy on the Retreat → Young Radicalism!!

• International Campaign #Action2015 → International NGOs and other organizations become a global movement related on all the Summits that will take place during 2015.

Calendar to next GA:

→ Activities (Seminars, WG activities)

→ EC meetings

Micha+Krassi to work on ECm (working days 9, 10, 11)

→ EC/EGP/GEF/PartnerMeetings

>> Office- look up deadlines for GA based on the IRPs

Retreat

→ We need to have discussions during Retreat on:

• 3 year strategy plan:

• Eastern Europe Strategy;

• Activities next year;

• New EC;

• Office - EC workflows;

• Fundraising Strategy;

• MO-Relations

• 2015 is “summit year”

• G7 German, G20 in Turkey, COP, Post Millenium Development Goals...

• How should FYEG participate?

• Also “I am 15”

• SecGen election process

• Prepteam culture, how do we facilitate prepteams and their work; evaluation of COP and TCs events

• Important for EC to be educated in their role regarding event organistation

• Discuss Budget for next year.>> Prepare budgetary overview by then.  

5. Finances + Office

• Current state

• >> Miléna + Shenna to ensure full Maggie handover

• Campaign report. Just waiting for feedback from DWARS. On track for the end of 2014.

• Austria - >> Miléna will ask Maggie.

• GEF participation fees for seminar (Terry+Krassi)

• >> Was urgent about 3 weeks ago. Has this been done.

• Operating grant - DL 17 Dec

• Shenna already made draft.

• 10,000EUR less than last year.

• >>Do not include financial assistant, but include EC meetings

• GEF call for proposals

• Application - Climate thru balkan perspective

• >> Micha/Gio/Shenna, with help from Josef

• Accounting

• >> Shenna to provide update (what happened with the accounting system/software etc)

• How did the accountant visit go?

• >> Miléna to produce updated budget report

• Office assistant

• It was in the 3-year strategy plan

• >> In Feb or March, evaluate state of finances and feedback from applications

• Would need tweaking budget at GA.

• Shenna now registered as SecGen (Belgian law and bank account)

• Fundraising plan (link here)

• >> Office to provide update on reimbursements (projects’ and EC ones)

• Alternative fundraising opportunities

• >>Gio + Miléna to work on how we can accept donations e.g. on website.

• EGP funding strategy

• How can we help EGP get more income?

• Survey to MOs to understand what trends are in terms of party contributions to youth

• >> Miléna and Micha to work on first draft.

• Office-EC division of responsibilities

• EC keen to understand workload of the office and help prioritise

• >> EC decision: Office to have a meeting every monday and report back to the EC in time for the tuesday meeting.

• >> Office to spend 2 minutes at the end of the day to fill in what has been done that day.

• >> Open up google doc with passwords to Facebook, Twitter, Office email etc.

• Review of workflows (within office, between EC and office)

• Felix Deist was keen to help out >> Micha to get in touch with Felix and check if he can still do so.

• Intern

• >> Ask Edu if he wants to take charge of  the newsletter

• >> Micha to contact Vula about recruiting the next intern

• Prepteam work

• PT to write evaluation report of how it went to identify lessons learnt

• >> Have this in time for the retreat

• Division of responsibility between prepteam and office - Office and EC need to lead on that

Other financial actions

• >> Micha asks office what to do re GEF Tbilisi  project

• >> Report for 2014 Erasmus + operation grant

• >> Report for EGP by end of the year

>> Miléna to follow up battal case

Sunday

1. Evaluation of EC work so far:

• Round of self-evaluations: what were our expectations, what have we achieved, what we would like to have achieved. What are the challenges, and how can we overcome them.

• What has been started - what do we have the capacities to complete

• How the EC is working, what can be improved

• Political work

• Spokes not doing enough “spokespersons” work; we’re not doing enough political work

• Micha and Krassi to try feel more comfortable delegating tasks

• Press releases

• More visibility of FYEG activities and work of EC members

• Ask Edu if he´d be interested in keeping overview of what EC is up to, asking them for articles to share

• Bring political points/social media outreach further up in online EC meetings

• What are the hot political points

• What have we been doing recnetly that we need to communicate about

• what is coming up that we need to communicate about

Update of task responsibility

Approval + buy-in from EC needed

- Objective is to free up time from spokes so they can do more outreach work

- Remember to CC the people involved in the relevant topic.

Priorities are in orange.

• External communciation

• Krassi + Micha

• TTIP:

• 1 Júlia, 2 Micha

• Right wing conference

• 1 Pepa, 2 Micha, 3 Júlia

• MO, Capacity Exchange

• Gio (practical), Krassi+Micha (political), Shenna

• WG coordination

• Krassi

• European Convention

• Krassi

• EYF Climate

• campaing team, to be coordinated Marie/Joan

• EC Organisation

• 1 Joan, 2 Júlia

• Cop21

• 1 Marie, 2 Joan

• OTB

• 1 Joan, 2 list

• Youth forum

• 1 Júlia, 2 Joan

• CDN

• 1 Gio, 2 Pepa

• Politicising personal

• 1 gio

• Website

• 1 Office, 2 Gio

• Conference + Springcamp (Far right + Inclusion)

• 1 Pepa, 2 Micha (far right conference), 2 Júlia (Inclusion)

• Volunteer management

• 1 Shenna (putting together list of who we have participating

• GYG/GG

• 1 Pepa, 2 Intern

• MADA

• 1 Marie, 2 office

• Ecosprinter Training

• 1 Marie, 2 office, 3 pepa

• Treasury

• 1 Miléna, 2 office

• Twinning cities

• 1 Miléna, 2 external help/Edu

• GEF

• 1 Miléna, 2 Shenna

EDU >> Joan to tell him

• Remind all to write articles of what we did in events; social media outreach

• Press relases/social media (work with Gio)

• Newsletter

-Conference - movements against right wing populism all over Europe - invite movements Antifa from all over Europe

- Springcamp on Inclusion (check the application if we can include one day discussing about youth: unemployment, formation, education, housing, internships…)

Communication actions

• >>Júlia to coordinate PR on YFJ successes and aspirations, what we achieved

• >>Miléna to write article on TCs event - what happened, what the next steps are (coordinate with Edu)

• Newsletter >> Marie and Edu to coordinate

Green Group

• We need to decide for what we want Parliamentary visits in next year and already communicate it to the Green Group in advance

Other actions

• check WG coordinators are up to date

In addition, it would be really good, if people could be there fore the whole time, not arrive late or go early. It is anyway very dense to discuss everything on 1,5 days. Normally we have 2.5 days. I am not sure, if I am the only one, and maybe it is because im german, but as an EC member you should be there the whole time of the EC Meeting. (Krassina and I struggle, with the questions who goes to the EGP Committee meeting, bc we need to be at EC Meeting. I will talk to people and ask them to be present for the whole agenda) It would like to know if you also share this thought?

regards,

M