EST Monthly Newsletter!

The EST will inform you on (1) must read articles, (2) the past and coming activities, and a humorous writers note called (3)“Nothing serious” with this newsletter. But first, why does the EST exist and what does the EST do?

‘One hears everywhere today that the European Union suffers from a “democratic deficit”’, says Moravcsik in 2008. In this light the EU is often seen as an unaccountable super state, which is run by distant technocrats. In the paper The Myth of Europe’s “Democratic Deficit” Moravscik overthrows this statement. However, this statement certainly grabbed the attention of a small group of students in Amsterdam. This group of students later founded the European Student Think Tank (EST) in 2010 to get other students involved in the EU policy-making process. Also it is based on the belief that students, by applying their academic skills and knowledge, can meaningfully contribute to this process.

The European Student Think Tank

• Keeps you updated via our blogs and articles;

• Organizes international relations events all around Europe;

• Publishes the academic journal, the European Policy Review.

(1) Must reads

• Our top EST articles of the past month:

-Q&A: EST interviews MEP Jan Huitema: http://europeanstudentthinktank.com/2016/02/03/q-a-with-member-of-european-parliament-jan-huitema-alde/

-EST article: By Christopher Starke and Marco Lünich: “Corruption perception and media freedom from a European perspective” http://europeanstudentthinktank.com/2016/02/05/corruption-perception-and-media-freedom-from-a-european-perspective/

-EST Ambassador piece, by EST Ambassador Kinga Jaromin: “Euroscepticism taking over Europe: will Poland spearhead it?” http://europeanstudentthinktank.com/2016/01/21/euroscepticism-taking-over-europe-will-poland-spearhead-it/

(2) Activities

– Est visit to the “Europagebouw” in Amsterdam. The EST took a group of lucky students to visit the Europagebouw! The Europagebouw has been constructed for the Dutch Presidency of the Council of Ministers of the European Union’s high-level meetings organised by all ministries. During our visit the EST was accompanied by the director of the #EU2016 project, Han Maurits Schaapveld.

Read about our experience here: http://europeanstudentthinktank.com/2016/03/12/visit-to-the-europagebouw/

-The EST was at the European Planning Meeting of AEGEE in Leiden. There we had a stand to promote the work of the EST, find new contributors and inform them about our work and upcoming events and plans. A lot of interested people from all over Europe were drawn to our table and we found a broad scale of students willing to participate. Afterwards we spoke with AEGEE and Your vision for Europe to discuss future cooperation projects!

 
(3) EST Ambassador of the Month

Daniel Rubio – Ambassador of the European Student Think Tank to Spain – joined the EST in late October right after he had the incredible experience of attending Clinton Global Initiative, where he represented over 1.000.000 students, and met President Clinton. It was this adventure in the USA and understanding that you can learn more from experience that drove him to join our organization and learn more about Europe while working with other passionate students. Currently, his is pursuing a Double honours Degree in International Business and International Relations at the European University of Madrid.

 
(4) Nothing serious, the EST can’t spell ESTT!

So why is there only one T in EST? The abbreviation of the European Student Think Tank is EST. Some argue that is must be ESTT, because of the two T’s in Think and Tank. This has been a topic of great discussion and has led to much chaos in the European community. Some say that the last T was removed because the abbreviation was too difficult to pronounce – leaving you with double T at the end. Others argue that the mistake lies in the translation of the Dutch word for Think Tank. This Dutch word: “denktank” is one word for think tank, which trickled down in the representation for think tank in the abbreviation – only marked by one T. This makes a plausible case, however, new evidence was discovered recently. The styled logo of the EST contained the solution. Year on year the most obvious reason was there all along. The vertical placement of the text starting with European, then Student, followed by Think Tank is the answer to the question. Take every first letter of the lines together and just watch how it spells out EST. If you think this is not the correct answer to the question, please let us know. We might have overlooked something.

Join us, always fresh in- and output.
The EST does not like old news. We consider old news as spam – clogging the sharp mind. We want to feed you fresh solutions to rotting problems. We can always use your help. If you want to improve your writing skills and thinking about problems that are playing out in Europe, then join us! If you find it important to form an opinion on European topics, you are wise to follow us. Signing up for this newsletter then is the best thing you could have done, because we will inform you in depth on the topics that we find relevant.

Follow our latest news via Europeanstudentthinktank.com, like us on Facebook, and follow the EST via Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

Yours truly,

Swiss Juriens
Treasurer of the European Student Think Tank