Description
Precisely 30 years ago, in 1985, in a Europe that was wrapping up its economic union and beginning to put its political integration into perspective, Franck Biancheri contributed significantly to the challenge of forming new generations of Euro-citizens by creating AEGEE-Europe. And two years later, to prove that Europe indeed had a huge need of Euro-Citizens, AEGEE, still under Franck’s leadership, enabled the adoption of the ERASMUS program, today’s undisputed flagship of the European construction… at the time blocked by national administrations. Keeping that in mind, Franck Biancheri then on relentlessly fought for the democratization of the EU… not for moral reasons, but for very practical ones: just like Erasmus would never have seen the light of day without AEGEE students, Europe would get nowhere without the European citizens. Today, with the European project engaged in a process of reinvention of its meaning, efficiency and connection to its citizens, it was logical to reprint this “Little Blue Book”, written in 1996 by Franck Biancheri with a view to clarify the initial ambition of the project of AEGEE. Europe, partly devastated by the global systemic crisis, needs more than ever these AEGEE-Europe Euro-Citizens. Franck, who passed away in 2012 at the age of 51, is no longer there to convince us about this point, but he left us such a heritage … Let’s read his words again … now!
SUMMARY
Summary
Preface (Edition 2015). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13
Preface (Edition 1996). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16
EGEE I
(January ’84-June’85) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22
From a project for a student “mega-rave” in Paris to the
launching of the first “Etats Généraux des Etudiants Européens . . .24
How a Prime Minister almost nipped EGEE I in the bud. . . . . . . . . .28
How to survive a 500,000-FF deficit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31
Never did so many (European students) owe so much to so few . . .32
Creating the statues
(July – November ’85). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Making Europe on the 14th of July in Paris. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
A European organisation with no national level. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37
Bringing Europeans into contact, rather than
talking about Europe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37
Non-translated French-English EGEE-speak . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39
A new organisation founded on three innovations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40
EGEE takes off
(December ’85 – April’86) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43
EGEE confronted with the three plagues of Europe. . . . . . . . . . . . . .43
Existing – in the eyes of European students,
institutions and media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43
Developing – or: when modern technology
needs innocence to be useful . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46
Taking care not to implode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
First experiences of European democracy
in a Bavarian tavern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49
Discovering an organisation amnesic from birth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51
An essential lesson in European politics
and democracy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52
The arrival of a providential man. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .54
Rapid growth and the Erasmus Affair
(May’86 – May’87) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57
A movement spreading everywhere without anyone (except the
students) really knowing what it is…. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57
… but a movement to which everyone is starting to give their support . 58
The unexpected charms of the Netherlands
or the pitfalls of Europe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60
European students to the rescue of Erasmus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62
The President, the European students and
the EC programme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64
A European paradox: The higher you rise, the
harder you fall… even on flat ground. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68
Discovering a word that does not exist in
French… but is so useful to democracy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69
Having only just arrived, we must already
think of leaving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .70
AEGEE in a power upheaval
(May’87 – November ’87) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .73
The arrival of the “arrivistes”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .73
Localism and tourism, the plagues of AEGEE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .75
III-intentioned infiltration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .78
Prometheus, a disturbing nature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .82
The secret charms of Germany or the pitfalls
of Europe. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .88
The Seville Bullfight-Agora . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .94
The difficulties of preparing
a sensitive succession
(December ’87 – April’88) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .100
The quaint charms of France or the pitfalls of Europe. . . . . . . . . . .100
Stepping down for youth… whilst awaiting retirement. . . . . . . . . .102
From Rome to London via Euromanagers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .105
A Dutch excursion with Mikhail Gorbachev’s
spokesman. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .108
The EGEE IV Agora and the end of my AEGEE years . . . . . . . . . .110
Chronology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .118
The principal AEGEE-Europe events up until 1988
1985
1986
1987
1988
Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .122
THE AUTHOR
Franck Biancheri (1961 – 2012) was the Director of studies at LEAP (Laboratoire Européen d’Anticipation Politique) which foresaw the “global systemic crisis” as early as February 2006, and which has ever since been anticipating its evolution in the Global Europe Anticipation Bulletin (GEAB) whose public announcements are translated in more than 70 different languages and read by more than 10 million people worldwide each month. He was also one of the fathers of the Erasmus programme. Over the last twenty years, his activities have led him to bring his expertise to many governments and institutions of the European Union, as well as to the United States, the Muslim world, Latin America and Asia. He have also created two trans-European political parties : IDE which ran in the 1989 European election (France, Spain, Netherlands) and Newropeans which ran in the 2009 European elections (Germany, France, Netherlands).
