Commission Debate, Apr/May 2020

[Fremet]

EUROPEAN COMMISSION ELECTIONS
CANDIDATE DEBATE

Welcome to the European Commission candidates' debate for the elections of April and May 2020!
Nominations are over, and with voting set to start the 31st of April, the candidates now find themselves in the final stretch.

While this debate isn’t mandatory, it is strongly recommended that all candidates participate.

There are five candidates on the ballot running for three offices. With one candidate running for two offices and another running unopposed, in the interest of clarity we have listed the candidates and the offices they are seeking below:

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For the Office of Premier Commissioner,

• Dragan Trympov of Pravoslaviya, Independent
• Eilidh Whiteford of Icholasen, EPA

For the Office of Internal Affairs Commissioner,

• Jean Claude Juncker of Spain, EPA
• Dragan Trympov of Pravolslaviya, Independent
• Edmund Jasper Winston of Reitzmag, ELDR

For the Office of Foreign Affairs Commissioner,

• Antoni Reynels of Inquista, EPA

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My name is Karl Schmidt, and I will be moderating tonight’s debate. If we keep our language clean and adhere to the rules that we have set forth, this is sure to be a great evening.

The structure of tonight’s debate will be as follows:

• Candidates will present with a two minute opening speech ((OOC: 300 Words)) to provide us with a brief introduction and summary of goals for their term in office.
• Candidates will then be asked questions submitted by the European public. All candidates will be given a chance to speak for two minutes ((OOC 300 words)), and there will be a rebuttal period where candidates may respond to the answers of other candidates. Rebuttals will be limited to 90 seconds ((OOC: 200 words)).
• Candidates will be allowed a two minute closing statement ((OOC: 300 Words)).

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((OOC: If you would like to submit questions, please DM me here, on Discord, or send a TG on NS. Do not post them here. Thx))

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And so, candidates, we will now hear your opening statements.

[Fremet]

Karl cleared his throat and spoke, "Please, Begin"

[Spain]

Good night everyone.

My name is Jean-Claude Juncker and I'm the European Progressive Alliance candidate for being the next Europe's Internal Affairs Comissioner. I first want to thank everyone who's watching us live from their TVs and also I would like to wish the best of luck to the others participants on this debate. I'm sure this will make many European to finally take a decision on who are they voting for in this important Comission Elections.

I have been in lots of countries during my campaign, and in every single nation, I've made proposals that will make Europe much better. I want an Equal Europe, where Democracy goes first and we have lots of projects to do in common. We can't tell nations what to do, nations need to agree with us to do it all together. I've said it millions of times, and I'm saying it once again. Together, we do better.

I also want a greener Europe, where we don't let down anyone, where we protect everything nice from every member state and also, we try to help as much as possible to our members. Europe needs to pass trough this dark era and move forward, not backwards. But we need to learn from the past. During the debate I'll answer with much pleasure to your questions.

Thank you very much.

[Icholasen]

Photo

Hello Europe! It’s great to be here. As Premier, I will be working with both EPA and independent colleagues in the Council and with heads of government and state to make European Union membership mean something and to define the powers that this Union has so that there is accountability and the EU cannot just legislate whatever it wants to.

With a common tariff system or something along those lines we can strengthen economic bonds. And make sure that diplomatic meetings are about more than establishing the most basic of trade relations and can be about establishing more advanced trading relations. An EU-wide standardisation of basic trade relations could bring about more tailored deals that fit the two countries more precisely – a bespoke deal for those specific nations’ economies. This could mean that the two countries could decide on a better deal for technology than the EU offers and going beyond the basic trading mechanism that I and other EPA and independent Councillors want to see.

In addition to economic cooperation, it’s also important to me that there are common EU diplomatic processes and that the UDoHR is strengthened. I endorse these reforms wholeheartedly. During the series of crises that Europe has traversed in the last few months, diplomatic standards would have proved very useful. The EU needs to change to be more consequential for its members, with benefits such as common diplomatic standards being a resolute safeguard against aggression, and thus a reason to want to be a close partner of the EU.

These elections will define the raison d’être of the European Union. We need a Premier who endorses a clearer definition of the EU’s role, and who also supports reforms to make membership of the EU consequential and attractive.

[Pravoslaviya]

First of all, Whiteford shouldn’t even be on this stage. Her country doesn’t exist, it’s been replaced with a Communist regime, and we all know that.

As far as why I should be on the Commission, look, I’ve achieved a lot in my life. I’ve been a very successful businessman, a very successful entertainer, and, in Pravoslaviya, a very successful politician. And that’s the kind of temperament we need in Europolis today. We need winners, OK?

And I look at Europolis right now and I don’t see many winners. I don’t see many people who want to put citizens first. I don’t see many people who’ve created jobs. How are we going to fight coups with losers in charge? How are we going to fight Communism with people who’ve never created a job in their lives in charge?

It’s time for us to get rid of the globalists and drain the swamp in Europolis, before they lose so badly that we all end up ruled by Communists and military dictators. Our region has so much potential, but we’re being let down by our leaders.

The first thing we need to do is Make Europe Safe Again. We need to repeal the Refugee Protection Act, which is the worst law of all time, and stand up to the coups. We need to support the governments who put their citizens first against the coups, the fake news, and, of course, the lawsuits.

That’s how we’re going to Make Europe Great Again, folks. Join me, and we’re going to WIN together. Thank you.

[Inquista]

Good evening! I’m Antoni Reynels and I’m running to be your next Foreign Affairs Commissioner.

I’m sure many of you are watching this debate with skepticism and worry. Uprisings, revolutions, coups, condemnations and embargoes have dominated European affairs in recent weeks. European institutions have proven to be too weak and ill-equipped to manage these events. Diplomacy has been discarded in favour of coercion. The European Union is now at a crossroads. Shall we continue with a Union that has proven to be unstable and without authority, or shall we build a Union that promotes peace, stability and community?

With every challenge, comes an opportunity. I believe now is the time to be bold and ambitious. It’s time that we build a brand new Europe. The European Progressive Alliance recognizes this fact, and recognizes that we need to build a better and stronger Union. That’s why it is vital that you lend your support to my campaign, as well as to the campaigns of Mrs. Whiteford and Mr. Juncker.

A robust Foreign Affairs will be vital for a better Europe. I strongly believe in our Union’s motto, ‘United in Diversity’. I treasure the beautiful diversity of our Union, and believe that it should be expanded to include more states. I believe the Union needs to take a broader outlook to the outside world, and that we need to build stronger relationships abroad in order to improve our security and our soft power. I also believe that we need to secure the sovereignty of our territories by establishing a Eurocorps to protect our region.

If we work together, we can achieve anything. If you’re interested in being part of the movement for a ‘Brand New Europe’, I invite you to join my campaign by texting ‘Antoni’ to 42069.

Thank you.

[Kingdom of Reitzmag]

Winston went to the podium and the crowd began to cheer so loudly that the other candidates are covering their ears.

Good evening to my fellow Europeans here and around the world!

I want to thank everyone for showing their support to my campaign as a candidate for Internal Affairs Commissioner. I am Atty. Edmund Jasper Winston IV, PhD, and as you can see is a doctor of education. I have recently moved and found a new Eurogroup called European Liberal Democrats in which welcomes democracy and liberty and is a main opponent of dictatorship and authoritarianism.

I'd like to thank the managers of this debate for being democratic and for aiding our very respectable Europeans on the right persons to vote in this coming European Elections.

Now, I want to explain my main agenda on my candidacy for Internal Affairs Commissioner. I have noticed inactivity with our former Commission and that I criticized it for being useless and unprepared. And that I believe it is time for me to serve Europe after gathering and analyzing the best solutions I can use in my administration. This includes both social and economic development, climate action, diplomatic and democratic solutions, and policies for enhanced cultural and education. This is what lacks Europe. We need leaders with experience, rightful education, and integrity.

And yes, I have proven this when I worked as the special economic adviser to former Reitzmic PM Carl Dewitt, and as a professor at many universities in and out of Europe. My experience in politics was highlighted when I became a co-author of many laws concerning issues that are now faced by the European Union and was faced by the KoR.

What we need is a free market economy, free trade, free political expression, and most especially free European People! Together, we would establish projects and campaigns that would be beneficial to Europeans. An example of this is the discount on all fares for Senior Citizens (ages 60+), Persons With Disabilities, and Students. Economic loans for small scale businesses to help them develop to larger industries. We must work together to do this, we should rise from the ashes of armed conflict like Phoenixes born from the ashes of their parents.

And we would achieve this by voting for Atty. Winston as Internal Affairs Commissioner in this coming 2020 Elections. Europe needs people that would serve with integrity and not liars.

Thank you and God Bless!

[Fremet]

Before we move on to the question period of the debate, I'd like to remind the candidate from Reitzmag that there was a two minute limit to your opening statement. As you ran 30 seconds over ((OOC 106 words)) in your opening statement, we will have to dock 30 seconds ((OOC 106 words)) from your first rebuttal ((OOC Your first rebuttal should be no more than 94 words.)) Should you break the decorum of this debate again we will have no choice but to engage in further disciplinary action. I also find your use of fake applause highly inappropriate. In true Fremetian tradition, there is no audience here for the debate, just those watching us live from across Europe.

Now, on to the quesitons:

Our first question comes from Gallorum, Gerard de Montagne of Escolives asks, "People are taking their destinies into their own hands via coups across the region. How are we as a Union going to address these coups and should we accept certain types of coups over others?"

You may now begin.

[Kingdom of Reitzmag]

Apologies for the overtime, but may I request that the 30 seconds be instead deducted to my closing statement.

[Fremet]

No, the policy deducts time from the next timed portion.

((OOC: Because if you were to go over on your closing speech as well there's nothing I can do about it))

Please, no more interruptions. Continue with your answers candidates.

[Spain]

First of all I would like to say thank you to Gerard de Montagne of Escolives, from Gallorum, for his question.

The coups in the European Union are a tough problem. We are seeing how we had a Communist coup in Icholasen, a coup in Inquista, where they now have their own Caudillo, like Franco when he ruled Spain, and some others. As a candidate for being the new Internal Affairs Commissioner, I would like to say that diplomacy should be used always and we need to avoid wars. We have seen wars just only bring chaos and destruction to our region, apart from hundreds of deaths.

In the Coup of Icholasen case, I think that peace talks would work, in order to restore the legal government of Icholasen. On that peace talks, the Monarchy of Icholasen and the Communist regime would be accompained by the Internal Affairs Comissioner and negotiators coming from some neutral countries that haven't taken part on the conflict, to ensure that the agreedment will be fair for both parts. Once the peace talks starts, we need to listen both sides' proposals and try to find a point in the middle where we can start working on an agreedment.

In Inquista's case, what we do need it's something completely different. Inquista is going trough an election very soon, and my proposals are very clear. We need to send European observers to check that elections are fair and no fixes are made. Inquista needs to get back to normal as soon as possible, and if I reach the Internal Affairs place, my first destination will be Inquista as these observers need to have the authorisation of the current authority in order to supervise the next Inquistan elections.

Finally, all the coups are bad in some way. We shouldn't accept any coup that goes on in the European Union, because it's our responsability to avoid them. That's why we need to work all together to finally end with these dark times. Thank you.

[Kingdom of Reitzmag]

First of all, I want to express that coups are also democratic. They may have both negative and positive effects , but it's still a democratic expression of opinion from the usurpers. Though, our goal is to maintain peace through diplomatic action. In terms of the crisis in Icholasen, I have a theoretically effective solution. I more consider the Inquistan coup to be a revolution rather than a coup. In my administration, I would assign political analysts to study these events to know the possible outcomes so that we can prevent negative effects.

[Fremet]

Mr Juncker you are over time. As such, I will have to dock time ((OOC 35 words)) from your rebuttal ((OOC your rebuttal should not exceed 165 words)). I urge all candidates to follow the guidelines of this debate.
Please continue.

[Pravoslaviya]

Jean, I know you’re a tough guy, but you’ve got to settle down! Let Whiteford speak!

I am the only anti-coup person on this stage, OK?

First of all we’ve got Whiteford, who we all know is for coups so long as they’re not against her. And when they are against her, she loses. So we can’t trust Whiteford, and everybody knows that.

But Mr Winston is so wrong, I can’t believe it. I think he’s a good guy, and his country did a great job stopping the Communist coup there, but he’s pro-coup, and that’s so bad. Coups aren’t democratic, they’re actually the opposite. Democracy is elections, OK? In Pravoslaviya we got rid of a really bad guy, and we did it with democracy. You only do a coup if you can’t win elections. So I think you’re a little muddled there, Winston, but that’s OK, it’s a long evening.

And Jean, give me a break. You can't say coups are bad when you drive around in a great big tank in your campaign! And this guy, let me tell you about this guy – a few days ago, he said he would kill Winston. It's true! Look it up, he said he would throw Winston from a balcony – which, by the way, is what they did to Craticus in that coup – and this guy says he's against coups?

The way to Make Europe Safe Again is so simple, it’s beautiful. If there’s a coup, whether it’s Communist or globalist or whatever, that country gets suspended from the EU for at least six months, and the Council should be able to extend that. We bring other countries together and we do sanctions. If you want the benefits of being in the EU, we don’t want coups. No coups!

[Icholasen]

Thank you for the question. I think that coups against corruption that then hold elections are worse than coups that never go onto have elections and are coups against a legitimate elected government. Inquista is having elections right now, when will the UNSR have elections? Not anytime soon.

But what this also shows is a weakness in leadership at the top of European government. Where was the Premier Commissioner? Nowhere. The other candidates for Premier aren’t going to be there either, not in a meaningful way. We need a Premier who has dedicated her life for the cause of liberal values, of fair capitalism and of anti-communism.

I remember back in my onion farm, back in ‘88, when the communist central-planning Committee ruined our onion crop. I vowed never again would an onion be wasted by a leviathan-like state that doesn’t know its onion from its shallot.

I and other EPA Councillors and members are endorsing a plan to standardise diplomatic relations across Europe. Councillor Falk’s proposal, when complete, will be a cornerstone of diplomatic policy in Europe and will be a way to manage diplomatic disputes. I also commend Kristian Nyuland’s skills in mediating the peace talks in Reitzmag, these skills are the kind of thing I want to encourage during my premiership.

[Inquista]

It's very important that we, as a Union, take a strong stand in favour of democracy across Europe. The European Union can't champion itself as a bastion of democracy without ensuring that the member states themselves adhere to democratic tenants. I believe that the EU needs to be bold in this regard, and I think the resolution passed to condemn Icholasen, for instance, was a right move. The problem is, many member states have since disregarded that resolution, and there's no repercussions against them in doing so. We need a stronger Union, one where member states who disregard the EU's laws are punished, and one where we take strong actions to protect democracy. In terms of Foreign Affairs, we can't advocate for European ideals abroad without making sure our own home is in order first.

[Fremet]

Thank you for your responses. Our next question comes from Ria Levion, an
intern at the Center for Public Policy in the Duxburian Union, specifically for the Internal Affairs Candidates:

"There has been much talk on the campaign trail about new projects in Europe. The European Union only has a 52 billion euro budget, much of which is already allocated to existing programs. How do you plan to go about funding all these new projects?"

[Pravoslaviya]

Folks, it's very simple. I am not proposing a load of crazy spending projects.

We can Make Europe Great Again without wasting a load of money, OK? I'm a businessman, I like saving money. To be honest, we could probably do a lot more with €52 billion, but I don't trust our politicians with it. With spending, we need to be more efficient, first, and then, maybe, we can look at spending a bit more.

The way we Make Europe Great Again isn’t with crazy spending, it’s changing our leadership and changing the way things are done in Europolis which, right now, is a total swamp. We repeal the Refugee Protection Act, we suspend countries after a coup, we pass laws to make sure the system isn't rigged against small businesses in favour of global corporations.

The politicians on this stage want to play at being businessmen without actually being businessmen, OK? They want to build their Trympov Towers but with other people's money. And folks, they wouldn't cut it in the world of business. Crazy spending, and no way to pay. Give me a break.

But these guys, OK, they want to spend billions and billions, but what do they do if a country says ‘we’ve had enough of globalism, we’ve had enough of your crazy laws, we’re not paying any more’? They’ll be like ‘GIVE ME MORE MONEY, MOMMY! GIVE ME MONEY, DADDY! I WANT TRAINS!’ and they’ll make everyone in Europe pay the bill. They're pro-coup because they need the money of the countries that have coups, so they can have their trains that go bing-bing-bing all over Europe.

If the globalists get back in, you will all be giving them so much money, you won’t believe. Europolis needs a businessman, OK, and that’s me.

[Spain]

Thank you Ria for your question.

We've to point out some interesting facts to answer this question. First of all, we haven't actually had an EU budget in years, so it'd be of utmost that we actually first draft a new one before we begin looking at expanding programs.

Secondly, the EU have tended to have pretty big budget surpluses, so there hopefully should be room for these programs. I'd like to add that the EPA is committed to repealing old pieces of legislation and programs that we don't use, like the European Institute of Culture and Education, which should open some extra revenue, which means getting even more funds than we expect.

And last but not least, I only support programmes which are truly beneficial to all member states, especially which are supported by big countries like the Duxburian Union who contributes a large sum of money to the budget and which is a very important member state.

[Fremet]

Karl looked a bit confused
"I knew that we would have to set limits on the lengths of your responses, but not on the time that you'd have to initiate your response. We have alot to get through tonight, and as such, I'm going to get moving."
((OOC: There was a two day response period. We have to move this debate forward.))