February 10, 2009

CFACT-Presentation at Paneuropa Youth Conference in Vienna

On 6 February, an audience of 80 assembled in the Miller Aicholz Conference Center in Vienna, Austria, to discuss the upcoming European Elections, and to listen to various prominent speakers addressing this year’s key event of EU politics. Most of the attendees so called PanAlp09 conference were students and young academics from 12 European countries, many of them activists of their own national branches of the Paneuropean youth movement.

Among the speakers were Austrian Science and Research Minister Dr. Johannes Hahn, Bulgarian Minister for EU Affairs Ms. Gergana Grancharova, Dr. Paul Ruebig MEP (Austria), Ms. Walburga Habsburg Douglas MP (Sweden), Mr. Karl von Habsburg, president of the Austrian Paneuropa movement, and Mr. Alain Terrenoire (France), international president of the Paneuropa movement.

Rainhard Kloucek, Secretary General of the Austrian Paneuropa movement, emphasized the importance of such gatherings. "Young Europeans from the whole continent should have an opportunity to discuss the meaning of the upcoming elections to the EU-Parliament and issues such as freedom of travel, economics, or ecology." He also emphasized that for "Europe is built in three hills: Golgatha, the Akropolis and the Capitol – the Christian faith, the Greek wisdom and the Roman law." Therefore the conference would also focus on values a united Europe has to be built on.

CFACT Europe’s Executive Director Dr. Holger Thuss was invited to present his views on the future European energy and climate policy in an experts panel. His remarks reflected his skepticism towards the climate agenda of the IPCC and other "green" organizations. He reminded the audience that the independent review of the 4th Assessment Report of the IPCC itself by the NIPCC (see www.sepp.org) shows no evidence for a significant human contribution to global warming. Therefore, he pointed out, most of the current EU-energy policy is based on false assumptions and therefore harms economy and prosperity. "We need to think first of our own children and today’s poor, and not so much about hypothetical future generations with unknown demands!" he concluded. His presentation was followed by a very lively debate.

As Walburga Habsburg Douglas, a Swedish MP and vice-president of the international Paneuropa movement, wrote in her blog: "A fantastic and fruitful conference of the Paneuropean Youth on the future demands on our continent. It is great to be able to discuss with young persons on enlargement, on values, on history and future." Ms. Habsburg Douglas is the daughter of Dr. Otto von Habsburg, head of the imperial house of Habsburg, honorary international president of the Paneuropa movement and former member of the European Parliament, who himself completed the conference with a highly emotional and very personal speech on why there is no alternative to the process of European integration and unification.

The event was hosted by the Austrian branch of the youth wing of the international Paneuropa movement and cosponsored by the Austrian federal government and the Austrian Chamber of Commerce. The Paneuropa movement was established in 1923 by Austrian Count Richard Coudenhove Kalergy. It is Europe’s oldest federalist organization. Main objectives for Europe are a free and united Europe with free citizens, a joint foreign policy, subsidiarity, institutional reforms, focus on the family, and strong property rights.