Name: MEPS are Too Old - Euromyth No. 9
Uploaded: 2019-04-08T15:00:00.000+02:00
Duration: 95 s
Description: A common misconception in Europe: Our representatives in the European Parliament are too old to understand younger generations and to launch ambitious political projects. In reality MEPs are hardly bedridden!

Die EU-Abgeordneten sind veraltet

Los eurodiputados están anticuados

MEPS are Too Old

Gli eurodeputati sono troppo vecchi?

Les eurodéputés sont périmés

Europosłowie są zbyt starzy

A common misconception in Europe: Our representatives in the European Parliament are too old to understand younger generations and to launch ambitious political projects. In reality MEPs are hardly bedridden!

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<p>A common misconception in Europe: Our representatives in the European Parliament are too old to understand younger generations and to launch ambitious political projects. In reality MEPs are hardly bedridden!</p>

Euromyth No. 9

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Since 2015 hundreds or thousands of migrants have arrived on Europe’s shores from sub-Saharan Africa, Syria and Afghanistan. Many have criticised the EU’s lack of response to the crisis. But an EU system controlling migration and asylum seekers is in place, and is working.  

Euromyths

Europe is Swamped with Migrants

Some see Angela Merkel as a dominant figure in Europe with Germany imposing its will over other EU member states. If it is true that many Germans hold key roles in EU institutions, Germany has just one vote in the Council, the same as any other member state.

Euromyth No. 2

Some see Angela Merkel as a dominant figure in Europe with Germany imposing its will over other EU member states.

Germany Controls Europe

Many European citizens and heads of state accuse the European Union of imposing too many directives and regulations, especially in social affairs. In reality it is national governments that hold most power in this domain.

Euromyth No.3

Too Much Regulation

For many European citizens and some heads of state the EU Commission is an overbearing bloated bureaucracy that has too much unaccountable power. But the reality is much more nuanced.

Euromyth No.4

The Tyrannical EU Commission

Laws made at EU level override laws at a national level. But the power of member states in shaping these laws are considerable.

Euromyth No. 5

EU Law Trumps National Law

MEPS have decent pay and pensions but do not get a salary for life.

Euromyth No. 6

MEPs Get a Salary for Life

When the euro finally arrived in January 2002, many in the Eurozone felt that prices rose sharply. In reality price inflation  was minimal.

Euromyth No. 7

The Euro Made Everything Expensive

Since the Euro was introduced, economic inequality between member states has risen. Some EU citizens believe that the single currency and the Stability and Growth Pact are entirely responsible. As ever, the reality is more nuanced.

Euromyth No. 8

Since the Euro was introduced, economic inequality between member states has risen with many blaming this on the single currency. 

The Euro Only Benefits Rich Countries

So this euromyth is arguably true: Working as an MP is a good career move. Transport and office expenses allocated to MEPs are generous and although payments are capped there is no transparency on how the money is spent.

Euromyth No. 10

MEPs Have Lots of Privileges

Many think that the European Union is not doing enough about green issues. But the EU is beginning to implement concrete measures to counter-act climate change.

Euromyth No 11

Many think that the European Union is not doing enough about green issues.

Europe is Letting Our Planet Die

This is no myth! All across the EU populist parties are on the rise with the far-right making significant gains by exploiting the migrant crisis. It’s up to European citizens in European elections to decide what kind of Europe they want.

Euromyth No 12

A Populist Future

True or False: Challenging Euromyths

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A German journalist travels through Italy, a country where usually busy cities are empty due to the coronavirus lockdown.

A German journalist travels through Italy, a country where usually busy cities seem empty due to the coronavirus lockdown.

Italy: Like a Theatre Without Actors

The European Union has broken down barriers between member states with the free movement of people, goods, services and capital. Border posts were taken down across the continent after the signing of the Schengen agreement.

Tops of the EU

Free Movement

German journalist Gustav Hofer travels through Italy in lockdown. Arriving in Bolgogna, the city is as deserted as Roma and Florence.

Journey through Italy in Lockdown (3/4)

Bologna: Isolation Shows What's Really Important

The NATO presence in Poland and the Baltic states has increased since Russia annexed the Crimea in 2014. Warsaw believes in the alliance and wants Washington to place a permanent base in Poland.

Poland Puts its Trust in NATO

Nearly 100,000 Kosovans have left the country since 2014. Filmmaker Ilir Hasanaj went in the opposite direction. Having let Kosovo with his family in the 1990s for Switzerland, he has now come back to Pristina to help rebuild cultural life in the city.

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Rome is in lockdown due to the coronavirus. But what is life in quarantine like the eternal city? A report from a German correspondant and resident.

Coronavirus in the Italian Capital

Rome: La Dolce Vita in Quarantine

Last stop in Gustav Hofer’s tour of Italy in lockdown: Milan, where solidarity is winning the day.

Milan: Solidarity in the Time of Coronavirus

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Lena is a 17-year-old girl from a middle-class family who is experiencing her first love: secret night adventures and magical morning walks along the Danube. However, her dream world is shattered when she is raped.

A Film by Tereza Nvotová

Lena is a 17-year-old girl from a middle-class family who is experiencng her first love: secret night adventures and magical morning walks along the Danube. However, her dream world is shattered when she is raped.

Filthy

In 1974, the French erotic film Emmanuelle broke audience records: almost 350 million viewers worldwide and a twelve-year run on the Champs Elysées in Paris. After the success of the sexually explicit Last Tango in Paris, Emmanuelle appeared at a turning point in French society: The sexual emancipation following May '68 in France. 

Queen of French Erotic Cinema

In 1974, the French erotic film Emmanuelle broke audience records: almost 350 million viewers worldwide and a twelve-year run on the Champs Elysées in Paris

Emmanuelle

Behind his polite exterior lies a formidable leader with a ruthless character, ready to do anything to make China the world's leading power by the People’s Republic’s centenary in 2049. This well-documented portrait of the Chinese president gives an unprecedented insight into his politics and shows how Xi Jinping's personal journey has shaped his choices as he steers China towards world domination.

A portrait of the Chinese president giving an unprecedented insight into his politics and showing how Xi Jinping's personal journey has shaped his choices as he steers China towards world domination.

The New World of Xi Jinping

Darío Aguirre is from Ecuador, living in Germany with his wife. When the city of Hamburg unexpectedly invited him to become a German citizen, Darío revisits his rocky path to building a life for himself in Europe and wonders about who he has become. This film is about arriving and living abroad in a time when xenophobia is suddenly acceptable again in Germany, and society is struggling to find the right way to integrate new citizens.

 What it's like to live in Germany as a foreigner when xenophobia is suddenly socially acceptable again

How I Became German

In France, the bungalow evokes holidays in the sun. In the UK, they are humble everyday dwellings for grandparents. But in Germany or the United States, they take on a very different form: they are a bourgeois luxury, a single-storey villa with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking nature. Inspired by the "bangalo", a traditional one-storey Bengal house open to the outside, this style was also a staple of colonial architecture. 

In the US and Germany, bungalows are a bourgeois luxury: a single-storey villa with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking nature

The Beauty of Bungalows

Fasciae, hidden connective tissues, are largely unstudied parts of our anatomy. What role do they play in the organism? And could a better understanding of them help in finding a cure for back pain?

The Hidden World Under Our Skin

Fasciae, hidden connective tissues are largely unstudied. What role do they play in the human body?

Fascinating Fasciae

 French swimmer Florent Manaudou, German pentathlete Marvin Dogue and French sabre fencer Cécilia Berder all trained hard for the Tokyo Olympics, but the most important part of their training they say is in the mind. Mental conditioning is a growing science designed to get the best out of sports champions at a time when they could crumble under the pressure. At the beginning of World War Two, American airforce pilots struggled to face off against the Japanese fleet. Cue Bud Winter: in peace time, a sports coach, and in war, a mental conditioner who taught the pilots how to keep their head in the game even in life-or-death situations. Gradually, the idea that sportsmen and women were as much mind as they were muscle took hold. 

 For Olympic French swimmer Florent Manaudou, his greatest challenge is mental, not physical

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Cesaria Evora made the music of the Cape Verde islands famous throughout the world in the early 1990s. This film is an introduction to the culture, music and zest for life of the Cape Verdean people.

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The pole vault is a discipline is based on the transformation of kinetic energy into elastic energy and then into gravitational energy. Athletes must play with energy, optimise it, transform it, and conserve it.

The Strongest of Them All

Athletes must play with energy, optimise it, transform it, and conserve it

Pole Vaulting: Overcoming Gravity

Since antiquity, scientists have tracked down the principles behind the movements of moving things, from planets to athletes. Running champions make sure of basic principles of physics developed by Newton to improve their performance. We take a look at the maths behind the movement. 

The Mechanics of Strength

Since antiquity, scientists have tracked down the principles behind the movements of moving things, from planets to athletes

Sprinting and Newton's Law

The Chachapoyas of Peru fascinate archaeologists and historians. Between the 8th and the 16th centuries this reputedly fierce warrior people practiced an unusual mortuary ritual.

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The Chachapoyas of Peru fascinate archaeologists and historians with their unusual mortuary rituals.

Chachapoyas: Living with the Dead

Two sets of gay parents discover that their children are related via their biological father. This sensitive and humourous documentary follows the two families as they navigate how best to involve the siblings in each other's lives.

Two sets of gay parents discover that their children are related via their biological father

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From Chur, Switzerland’s oldest city, to Tirano in Northern Italy, the Bernina Express winds its way through deep valleys and wild gorges, crossing some 196 bridges and going through 55 tunnels in its journey through the Graubünden Alps. A journey to discover one of the most spectacular railway lines in the world and an audacious feat of engineering.

A Train through the Alps

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The Bernina Express

Star violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter and composer JohnWilliams have long been something of a dream team. The 89-year-old American has composed a new violin concerto especially for the German violin virtuoso. Together with works by Jessie Montgomery, Aaron Copland and Igor Stravinsky, this world premiere is the highlight of the Tanglewood Festival 2021. The Boston Symphony Orchestra is conducted by BSO Music Director Andris Nelsons and John Williams.

Programme
Jessie Montgomery: Starburst
John Williams: Violin concerto No. 2 (World Premiere)
John Williams: New arrangements of film themes “Across the Stars“
Aaron Copland: Quiet City
Igor Stravinsky: Suite from “The Firebird“ (1919 Edition)

Tanglewood Festival 2021

Anne-Sophie Mutter performs the world premiere of John Williams new violin concerto with the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

Anne-Sophie Mutter - John Williams

From the Théâtre de l’Archevêché, Mozart’s opera – directed by Lotte de Beer – opens the festivities at the Aix-en-Provence opera festival. Conductor Thomas Hengelbrock leads a fine vocal ensemble that includes soprano Julie Fuchs, baritone Andrè Schuen and mezzo-soprano Lea Desandre.

Aix-en-Provence Festival 2021

Mozart’s opera – directed by Lotte de Beer – opens the festivities of the festival of lyric art in Aix-en-Provence.

Mozart: Le Nozze di Figaro

Peaches, M.I.A., Dorian Electra and King Krule: this Tracks special highlights the most impressive vocalists to have featured on the show. Gender fluid, subversive, and challenging, these are the artists that break boundaries across genres.

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Peaches, M.I.A., Dorian Electra and King Krule: this Tracks special highlights the most impressive vocalists to have featured on the show

The Best Vocalists of Tracks

Berlin-based label Ostgut Ton is a powerhouse of techno and electro. As the label turns 16, ARTE celebrates with an exclusive livestream recorded at the Halle am Berghain. On the third and final evening of live music, enjoy seven back-to-back DJ sets that blend house, techno, electro and breakbeat.

On the third and final evening of live music, enjoy seven back-to-back DJ sets that blend house, techno, electro and breakbeat

Live From the Halle am Berghain: Day Three

38 million Japanese live together in the most populated urban area in the world. No wonder that the people of Tokyo have taken over the roofs to have extra space. A traditional Japanese garden and tea house, along with a martial arts class, take to the skies in search of  tranquility.

A traditional Japanese garden and tea house, along with a martial arts class, take to the skies in search of  tranquility

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After four years of waiting London Grammar have finally released a new album. To celebrate ,the British trio are invited onto the Ground Control set and ,as usual with London Grammar, the result is beautiful.

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After four years of waiting London Grammar have finally released a new album. To celebrate ,the British trio are invited onto the Ground Control set to perform.

London Grammar

One Country, Two Systems? No Way! say the youth of Taiwan. But China under President Xi Jinping wants more than ever to bring the island of Taiwan back into the fold, just like Hong Kong. Can the burgeoning democracy on China’s doorstep, driven by digital technology, resist the Middle Kingdom’s advances?  