Quel est l'impact de l'Europe sur ma commune ? Babette NIEDER - WikiStage MDE Paris
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0:05 - 0:14Hello, my name is Babette Nieder and my topic is the European impact on municipalities.
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0:15 - 0:21But before I get to that, some words on my personal background. German by birth,
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0:21 - 0:27French by choice, Ive got the dual citizenship while waiting to simply put European
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0:27 - 0:36in my passport. I come from Herten, a city of 60,000 inhabitants, in between
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0:36 - 0:45Paris and Berlin. I was born in 1963 in the region of the Ruhr, during the industrial boom phase
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0:45 - 0:53in Germany, already under the European Coal and Steel Community.
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In 1963, President De Gaulle and Chancellor Adenauer signed the Elysée Treaty. -
1:02 - 1:11This treaty established links between civil society with the creation of the Franco-German Youth Office
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1:11 - 1:19for which I later became Secretary General. But my European adventure
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1:19 - 1:29and my passion for France started later. At 16 I went on a four-week
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1:29 - 1:36adventure thanks to the InterRail European railway pass . My encounters
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1:36 - 1:44on trains, in large cities and small towns showed me
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1:44 - 1:51that learning languages ??is useful. At the time, English had not yet taken over
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1:51 - 2:00linguistic diversity. This trip was an introduction to three key themes
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2:00 - 2:08that accompany my professional life: Europe, Youth exchange and Innovation.
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2:08 - 2:16At the end of my studies, I worked as a language assistant at Châtellrault
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2:16 - 2:24while preparing for the competition to enter the European Commission, when Edith Cresson, at that time
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2:24 - 2:31mayor of Châtellrault and Minister for European Affairs told me "Europe is more
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2:31 - 2:38than Brussels". This is the dimension of Europe I want to talk about now.
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2:38 - 2:48At Herten, I realise European policies on competition and environment,
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2:48 - 2:56as well as the implementation of European funds in the field. Constraints
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2:56 - 3:08and potential of Europe 's legislation in Herten. Competition, everyone says
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3:08 - 3:16that it is a constraint that Europe imposes. Yes, it is a constraint, but I will tell you
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3:16 - 3:27how this constraint has also allowed us to evolve. With the closure of
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3:27 - 3:36the last mine, 150 years of coal mining at Herten ended in 2008.
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3:36 - 3:45The closure as well as the loss of 20,000 jobs are a direct result of this
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3:45 - 3:52competition policy. Extracting coal over 1000 meters deep
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3:52 - 3:59is not profitable. The German government, the state of North Rhine Westphalia and the consumers
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3:59 - 4:07have been subsidising this activity. The European Commission considered that
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4:07 - 4:16this financial aid is incompatible with European law. Therefore Germany
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4:16 - 4:30committed itself to close all coal mines until 2018. Herten once
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4:30 - 4:39did nothing than extracting a raw material that is at the bottom of the value chain.
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4:39 - 4:48Today the city produces energy and has a unique expertise in the storage of renewable energy.
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4:48 - 4:56"Blue sky over the Ruhr", this famous campaign slogan of Willy Brandt,
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4:56 - 5:04became a reality. The coal mines are a memory of brotherhood and cultural mix.
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5:04 - 5:14But the price to pay was very high in terms of pollution, accidents
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5:14 - 5:23and health. Another effect of competition policy, it is the opening up of local
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5:23 - 5:31energy markets, in Germany these are traditionally managed by municipal utilities called:
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5:31 - 5:40Stadtwerke. Nowadays these Stadtwerke are subject to competition.
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5:40 - 5:46But to everyone's surprise, they did not only withstood their competitors but they even
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5:46 - 5:55gained market share on major capitalist groups in the region.
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5:55 - 6:04Finally, as the third well-known area, municipality is obliged to make European tenders
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6:04 - 6:12when it awards contracts. I am speaking to you with full knowledge of the facts. All those saying
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6:12 - 6:19that this leads to always favouring the one who uses price dumping to the detriment of
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6:19 - 6:28quality are wrong! Qualitative criteria such as the carbon footprint or the degree of innovation
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6:28 - 6:35may absolutely be taken into account when it is transparent
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6:35 - 6:45and mentioned in the specifications. Another European policy that has an impact on local life
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6:45 - 6:53is environmental policy. The cost of the remediation of contaminated soil,
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6:53 - 7:01landfill closures or the installation of filters in funnels is important.
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7:01 - 7:12But the climate balance of Herten today is 6.8 tons of CO2 per habitant
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7:12 - 7:19German average is 11 tons. Think about it: a city that for fifty years
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7:19 - 7:27had the largest coal production in Europe is now one of nineteen
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7:27 - 7:36model cities in Germany leading the way to the "zero CO2 emission"-goal supported by
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7:36 - 7:45the Ministry of the Environment in Berlin. Another aspect where we all got angry,
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7:45 - 7:53was the environmental policy: "No more factories in the cities!"
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7:53 - 8:01However, many companies are telling us something else these days. Production is no longer black smoke
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8:01 - 8:11and heavy mechanics. BMW, Volkswagen and Porsche have settled right
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8:11 - 8:20in the city centre of Dresden and Leipzig. The trend is the return to the manufacture. We are
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8:20 - 8:27no longer heading to the city centers as temples of consumption. We go there to
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8:27 - 8:36taste local products. We go there as well for the so-called repair cafés where handymen
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8:36 - 8:47repair bikes or household appliances together instead of buying new products made ??in China.
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8:47 - 8:56Finally, a great project related to European wastewater policy. The outline of
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8:56 - 9:07the Ruhr is formed by three rivers: the Rhine: transport axis; the Ruhr:
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9:07 - 9:15drinking water reservoir; the Emscher: an open sewer that for a hundred years
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9:15 - 9:25carried wastewater. Now we are constructing a huge channel for nearly five million inhabitants
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9:25 - 9:37along the Emscher which finds its natural course. The miners' houses along the Emscher
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9:37 - 9:46regain value. A prohibited area has become a haven for cyclists,
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9:46 - 9:54hikers, and perhaps soon even for fishermen. Ten thousand people
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9:54 - 10:07will be working for twenty years on this project of the century. Everything has its price. The
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10:07 - 10:18are partially paid by the water bill, but also by European funds.
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10:18 - 10:28Europe supports the transformation. As the mayor Uli Paetzel said: "Without EU funding,
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10:28 - 10:37cities like Herten could not invest in their future." Here are some examples.
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10:37 - 10:46First, the renovation of deprived neighborhoods. Secondly, the development
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10:46 - 10:55of the former site of the mines. Thirdly, the rearrangement of the Dewald site that
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10:55 - 11:05nowadays provides 1,300 jobs. Fourthly, the H2 Herten center with its hydrogen production
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11:05 - 11:15from a wind turbine. This system allows the storage of electrical energy and produces
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11:15 - 11:23clean hydrogen for fuel cell vehicles and for industrial usage
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11:23 - 11:33such as the production of ammonia. All this is possible with structural funds
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11:33 - 11:38but also research funds. And with the Horizon 2020 program,
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11:38 - 11:46research funds will support energy and innovation even further. The European Social Fund
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11:46 - 11:55supports the upgrading of educational qualifications and vocational training programs.
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11:55 - 12:02Leonardo has allowed us to create a European platform Cleantech with businesses,
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12:02 - 12:10schools and chambers of commerce and trade. If you want homes
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12:10 - 12:17that meet high environmental standards and electric cars, you have to build an intermediate sector:
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12:17 - 12:27craftsmen, technicians, skilled workers. Vocational training,
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12:27 - 12:35urban planning, technology, all this is very important. But it makes no sense
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12:35 - 12:43if there is not also a change in behavior and civic attitude.
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12:43 - 12:48That is why I was very pleased that the Maison déducation pour tous is
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12:48 - 12:58involved in a project, called Grundtvig, on the reception of applicants for asylum in Germany, Italy
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12:58 - 13:11Greece and Great Britain. In conclusion, Europe is a new horizon and the encounter
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13:11 - 13:22with the other. Europe is present in our communes. It is in our every-day life.
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13:22 - 13:32And if we accept this challenge and understand this new reality,
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13:32 - 13:43it is a great potential for economic, ecological and social renewal, as in Herten.
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13:43 - 13:52The vote in the European elections on May 25, will also be a vote
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13:52 - 13:55on the future of your commune.
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13:55 - 14:02[Applause]
- Title:
- Quel est l'impact de l'Europe sur ma commune ? Babette NIEDER - WikiStage MDE Paris
- Description:
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Babette NIEDER @WikiStage Maison de l'Europe de Paris
www.wikistage.org
Your own WikiStage event? Your own WikiTalk?WikiStage is about curiosity. It is a collaborative non-profit project of people around the world who think it is important to never stop learning and to stay curious. WikiTalks are filmed at WikiStage events that anybody can organise.
- Video Language:
- French
- Duration:
- 14:18
Johannes Bittel edited English subtitles for Quel est l'impact de l'Europe sur ma commune ? Babette NIEDER - WikiStage MDE Paris |