Council of Esquarium [IC, Closed]

[Lyonsland]

"Yea"

[Ainin]

"Order. With seven votes in favour and one against, the Question carries. The House hereby refers the Climate Change Act to the Esquarian Parliament. We will now be discussing the issue of the integration of the Greenwich Area into the Common Market."

[Montecara]

"Mr. President, the delegation of Montecara fully supports the commitments made on behalf of the Esquarian Community in the Xiangmen Declaration, including the potential enlargement of the Common Market to encompass the states of the Greenwich Area, which as we all know is less than two weeks away from expiring. However, let us examine the facts of this particular case. The remaining members of the Esquarian Union, and therefore the members of the Greenwich Area, were at the time of its dissolution Aucuria, Toksan, Luziyca, Xiaodong, Katranjiev, and Kraq. Of these, only Xiaodong and Kraq have not joined us as member states in the Community.

I ask my fellow delegates: is it necessary for us to heavily amend the basic workings of the Common Market to allow for the inclusion of only two states? The combined economies of these states are worth only 17.9 billion NSD, hardly a significant sum in the context of the overall EC economy.

And let us not forget that the EC is, first and always, a community of liberal democracies. Xiaodong's record on political freedoms and civil rights is spotty at best, and Kraq's is one of the worst in the world. Are these nations that we wish to have more fully integrated into the Esquarian system? Even if one's answer is that freer markets will lead to freer peoples, the best course of action of the EC would be to create a system for developing nations to enjoy lowered tariffs in exchange for meeting benchmarks in terms of improving democratic practice and respect for human rights.

Admitting these states will only lead to a flood of sweatshop-made goods that were produced with no regard for the environment or workers' rights. Even worse, as the proposal stands, it would create an instant migrant crisis as Kraqi refugees take advantage of their newfound ability to travel in the EC and make a mass exodus.

We wish to stress that we greatly respect the achievements of the Christian Republic and warmly welcome them to the EC, along with their former colleagues from the Esquarian Union. But we cannot in good conscience join in this proposal. I yield the floor to the President."

[Luziyca]

"Mr. President," Taras Pashkov explained, "I would like to address the concerns put forth by the honorable delegate from Montecara."

"For their first statement, that the economies of Kraq and Xiaodong combined is so miniscule that it is not worth the effort to include them into the Common Market of the Esquarian Community," he said, "while it may be true in the absolute numbers, we must point out that Kraq and Xiaodong were the only full members of the Esquarian Union to not have joined the Esquarian Community."

"Olinda and West Cedarbrook participated in the Greenwich Area as well, in spite of them only being observers within the Esquarian Union," Pashkov said. "If we include these two observer states that also participated in the Greenwich Area, we'd find that the economies of the remaining Greenwich Area states would be about 6.311 trillion USD, if we include the economies of Olinda and West Cedarbrook, not the 17.9 billion USD as claimed by the delegate of Montecara."

He had a sip of water, before resuming his speech.

"In regards to the second point raised by the delegation of Montecara, they have a reasonable point: if we were to let Kraq, Xiaodong, Olinda, and West Cedarbrook into the Common Market, we need to make sure that they follow the rules of the EC Common Market so they won't have an unfair advantage over EC members. To this end, I will include a clause that mandates all Greenwich Area members who wish to join the EC must implement EC regulations in regards to worker's rights, environmental laws, and human rights legislation."

"And onto the third point that was raised concerning the potential for a migrant crisis, section 4, subsection b takes care of that. It says that 'border controls may continue for a maximum period of eighteen months, after which border controls are to be lifted, unless the internal situation in the EC member state poses a threat to other EC member states.' Theoretically, the EC itself can impose border controls on a nation if the EC feels that the organization would be in danger if they were to remain unchecked."

"The situation in Kraq would certainly fit that description, Mr. President," he explained. "That being said, I shall add a clause to that effect, in order to make it a bit more explicit."

He then sat down and made some changes to the bill, in order to incorporate the suggestions:

Integration of the Greenwich Area into the Common Market

---

Preamble
Whereas the Esquarian Community is party to the Third Esquarian Summit in October 2016,
Whereas the Xiangmen Declaration was adopted as the final act of the Third Esquarian Summit,
Notes that the section on trade includes a clause supporting "the greater integration of the Greenwich Area members into the EC Common Market,"
Therefore, the Esquarian Community enacts the following protocol:

Integration of the Greenwich Area

1. Declares that the Esquarian Community shall take over the responsibility of managing the Greenwich Area from the Esquarian Union
2. The Esquarian Community shall implement the following policies as had been agreed, specifically:
   
   1. The right to travel to and from any EC member state without border control checks if one is a citizen of the EC member state
   2. The right to reside in any EC member state if one is an EC citizen
      
      1. After six months of residence, any EC citizen who is living in an EC member state outside the one where he or she has citizenship shall be allowed to vote for municipal representatives and members of the Esquarian Parliament
      2. Each member state can decide whether to permit EC citizens to vote in other national elections
   3. The right to work in any EC member state if one is a citizen of an EC member state
3. Also obliges member states to strengthen border control with any non-EC member state, with the exception of:
   
   1. Any nation who was a member of the Greenwich Area on March 11th, 2016 shall be permitted to continue their participation within the EC Common Market without having to join the EC
      
      1. If an EC citizen moves to a non-EC member state that participates in the Common Market, it is up to the participating state to decide whether said citizen may vote in national elections or not
   2. Existing free-travel agreements between EC member states and non-EC member states, with the following caveats:
      
      1. Only citizens of the states participating in these existing agreements can travel freely to each other
      2. EC citizens who aren't citizens of the EC member states that participate in these free travel areas will require to follow the appropriate border control procedures
      3. Citizens of the non-EC member state(s) participating in these free-travel arrangements cannot travel to other EC member states unless they have acquired a visa
4. Notes that in the case of serious crises, border controls may be imposed on EC citizens travelling to a specific EC member state for a maximum period of 180 days
   
   1. Once the 180 days has been elapsed, border controls must be lifted unless the EC member state can prove that the very survival of the country is at stake if border controls are lifted
   2. If the request is granted, border controls may continue for a maximum period of eighteen months, after which border controls are to be lifted, unless the internal situation in the EC member state poses a threat to other EC member states
   3. If in the event that open borders between an EC member and the rest of the EC threaten the very stability of the Esquarian Community, the EC can impose border controls on the affected nations for a period of up to ten years, before it can be renewed
   Application
5. All members of the Greenwich Area, must, as soon as possible, harmonize their regulations concerning worker rights, labor rights, environmental rights to fit EC law, to prevent them from obtaining an unfair advantage
   
   1. States which fail to harmonize these regulations with EC law shall not be permitted to benefit from the Common Market of the Esquarian Community
   2. If EC law regarding these areas changes, all non-EC members of the Common Market must implement these changes as soon as the changes take effect
6. All participants of the Common Market of the Esquarian Community shall be given a one-year period following the passage of the protocol to implement the principles outlined in the Greenwich Agreement of 1985

[Ainin]

"Mr. President," began Aininian delegate Michel Cazeneuve as he rose from his seat, "while we have no qualms with the fundamentals of this proposal, we remain unconvinced that several details within its provisions are necessary or productive."

"Ainin is in strong opposition to section 4 of this act. The freedom of movement is a fundamental right guaranteed to every citizen of the Esquarian Community, and it is a right that must remain unconditional and without caveat, lest we set the precedent that the fundamental freedoms of the Community can be whisked away by legislative fiat. In brief, Ainin will never accept derogation of the freedom of movement throughout the Community."

"Furthermore, we would like clarification as to what constitutes the principles of tue Greenwich Agreement."

[Luziyca]

"Mr. President," Taras Pashkov replied, "to answer the Aininian delegate's first question, if we are to extend the rights for the Greenwich Area to participate in our Common Market, and for their residents to travel to and from other countries, we also need to make sure that we can protect ourselves from threats. For example, if an EC member were to descend into civil war, it would be in the EC's best interests to contain said member's conflict to its own borders, than to have it spill over and engulf the EC in the flames of strife and war."

"As much as I agree with their sentiment that 'the freedom of movement is a fundamental right guaranteed to every citizen of the Esquarian Community,'" he stated, "I feel that there should be some restrictions under certain circumstances."

He had a sip of water, before continuing.

"To answer the second question from the Aininian delegate, the principles of the Greenwich Area are simple: free movement of labor, goods, services, and people," he added.

[United Provinces of Atlantica]

After hearing Tomas Pashkov's statement on the principles of the Greenwich Area, Friðrik Heimirsson's face quite visibly turned to a deep red. He had long prided himself on his meticulous research, knowledge and caution, but had thrown all of that to the wind after reading Tomas Pashkov's proposal. In his rage and his faulty assumptions that the principles of the Greenwich Area included something more than merely more economic integration, he ranted against an imaginary enemy that was nonexistent. Still visibly red, he rose from his seat and made another statement.

"Mr. President, I must dearly apologize for my rant earlier this week. I had overlooked the principles of the Greenwich Area and let my premature rage take a hold of me, and I must dearly apologize for that. The Borealian delegation has no objections to free movement of goods, services, labor and people, but still questions the need for inserting Article 6 when it seems evidently clear that free movement of those things are already provided for by this proposed bill and the EC Common Market. However, Article 6 will not affect the decision of yours truly on whether or not to support the proposed bill at hand.

Mr. President, the Borealian delegation is also moved by the concerns of both the Montecaran and Aininian delegations. As such, I must state my firm support for a compromise between the revised proposal of the honourable member from Luziyca and the concerns of the honourable member from Ainin. I would suggest that more specific conditions be made to allow for restrictions on the freedom of movement; for example, I would consider war or an epidemic to be sufficient reasons for restricting the freedom of movement within the Esquarian Community so as to provide for the common good. This would both allow for reasonable restrictions when needed as well as preventing restrictions on the freedom of movement to be arbitrarily imposed on various nations. Furthermore, I urge the honourable member from Luziyca to make it clear that restrictions will be imposed by, say, the Esquarian Court of Justice rather than the Esquarian Parliament and the Council of Esquarium so as to allow for a more politically-independent placement of border restrictions rather than arbitrary restrictions based on political biases. Furthermore, I would consider the vagueness of Article 4c to be potentially damaging to the EC Common Market. Obviously there can be certain circumstances where border controls must be stopped for reasons of political stability, but could Article 4c be construed as allowing for countries with strong anti-immigrant, xenophobic sentiment against immigrants from members of the Common Market to close their borders so the people will have less reasons to support leaving the EC? Surely there needs to be some clarification of Article 4c so that it may only be used in extreme circumstances where movement of people from one Common Market member to another would make a nation completely unstable.

In regards to the human rights concerns from the Montecaran delegation, Mr. President, I suggest that at least some parts of the Esquarian Charter of Human Rights be held to apply to Greenwich Area member states and that EC election observers be required to observe elections held in areas where the results are often disputed; i.e., in Xiaodong and Kraq, although the latter's elections are obviously suspended until the end of the horrific civil war that has plagued Kraq since 2011."

[Luziyca]

"Mr. President," Taras Pashkov replied, "I would like to accept the apology made by the delegate from Ultima Borealia."

"As for section 4c," he said, "it says that 'If in the event that open borders between an EC member and the rest of the EC threaten the very stability of the Esquarian Community, the EC can impose border controls on the affected nations for a period of up to ten years, before it can be renewed.' It does not say that any individual government can do this."

"Rather," Pashkov continued, "it requires the whole of the EC to institute these restrictions. However, I shall make it a bit more clearer to ensure that such ambiguities shall be removed."

"In regards to the second point raised by the delegation from Ultima Borealia, it would be a more reasonable provision."

He sat down, and made a few more changes:

Integration of the Greenwich Area into the Common Market

---

Preamble
Whereas the Esquarian Community is party to the Third Esquarian Summit in October 2016,
Whereas the Xiangmen Declaration was adopted as the final act of the Third Esquarian Summit,
Notes that the section on trade includes a clause supporting "the greater integration of the Greenwich Area members into the EC Common Market,"
Therefore, the Esquarian Community enacts the following protocol:

Integration of the Greenwich Area

1. Declares that the Esquarian Community shall take over the responsibility of managing the Greenwich Area from the Esquarian Union
2. The Esquarian Community shall implement the following policies as had been agreed, specifically:
   
   1. The right to travel to and from any EC member state without border control checks if one is a citizen of the EC member state
   2. The right to reside in any EC member state if one is an EC citizen
      
      1. After six months of residence, any EC citizen who is living in an EC member state outside the one where he or she has citizenship shall be allowed to vote for municipal representatives and members of the Esquarian Parliament
      2. Each member state can decide whether to permit EC citizens to vote in other national elections
   3. The right to work in any EC member state if one is a citizen of an EC member state
3. Also obliges member states to strengthen border control with any non-EC member state, with the exception of:
   
   1. Any nation who was a member of the Greenwich Area on March 11th, 2016 shall be permitted to continue their participation within the EC Common Market without having to join the EC
      
      1. If an EC citizen moves to a non-EC member state that participates in the Common Market, it is up to the participating state to decide whether said citizen may vote in national elections or not
   2. Existing free-travel agreements between EC member states and non-EC member states, with the following caveats:
      
      1. Only citizens of the states participating in these existing agreements can travel freely to each other
      2. EC citizens who aren't citizens of the EC member states that participate in these free travel areas will require to follow the appropriate border control procedures
      3. Citizens of the non-EC member state(s) participating in these free-travel arrangements cannot travel to other EC member states unless they have acquired a visa
4. Notes that in the case of serious crises, border controls may be imposed on EC citizens travelling to a specific EC member state for a maximum period of 180 days
   
   1. Once the 180 days has been elapsed, border controls must be lifted unless the EC member state can prove that the very survival of the country is at stake if border controls are lifted
   2. If the request is granted, border controls may continue for a maximum period of eighteen months, after which border controls are to be lifted, unless the internal situation in the EC member state poses a threat to other EC member states
   3. If in the event that open borders between an EC member and the rest of the EC threaten the very stability of the Esquarian Community, the EC can impose border controls on the affected nations for a period of up to ten years, before it can be renewed
      
      1. The Council of Esquarium must have 2/3rds of its members approve said proposal
      2. If it meets the first requirement, 2/3rds of all MEPs must approve the resolution to implement border controls
      3. The state has the right to appeal to the Esquarian Court of Justice if they feel that said border intrusions are unjustified: the opinion of the Court of Justice shall be binding
   Application
5. All members of the Greenwich Area must implement the Esquarian Charter of Human Rights, and all of its protections should they desire to benefit from the Common Market
   
   1. The first and second optional protocols shall remain optional, and states that don't acede to these protocols may still benefit from the Common Market if they adopt the charter itself
6. All members of the Greenwich Area, must, as soon as possible, harmonize their regulations concerning worker rights, labor rights, environmental rights to fit EC law, to prevent them from obtaining an unfair advantage over existing EC members
   
   1. States which fail to harmonize these regulations with EC law shall not be permitted to benefit from the Common Market of the Esquarian Community
   2. If EC law regarding these areas changes, all non-EC members of the Common Market must implement these changes as soon as the changes take effect
7. All participants of the Common Market of the Esquarian Community shall be given a one-year period following the passage of the protocol to implement the principles outlined in the Greenwich Agreement of 1985

[United Provinces of Atlantica]

Friðrik Heimirsson nodded in satisfaction at the changes Toras Pashkov had made. He did not consider it to be a serious likelihood that Kraq, perhaps the most brutal recognised dictatorship in Esquarium outside of the Triumvirate, or, quite embarrassingly for Ultima Borealia, Tuthina, would enforce the Esquarian Charter of Human Rights. Either the Secretariat, damn them all, would simply allow for Kraq's human rights violations to continue without reprisal, or perhaps the Kraqis would leave the Common Market altogether. In truth, it did not matter to Friðrik; his primary area of concern was not the Kraqis but rather the Xiaodongese, who were a 'democracy' 'respecting' human rights, even though it wras patently obvious that that claim was highly dubious. However, the Xiaodongese were still unlikely to leave the Common Market considering its economic ties to former Greenwich Area nations and Xiaodong was not strategically important the same way Kraq was (this strategic importance allowing for democratic regimes to ignore Kraq's status as a totalitarian dictatorship, simply glad that the Kraqis were there instead of a group allied with the Ankorenis or worse, the Caliphate), this lack of strategic importance perhaps allowing for the Secretariat to not be bothered to coverup Kraq's human rights violations. Perhaps with the ECHR enforced in Xiaodong it could be pulled closer towards the Esquarian Community. Satisfied with the changes by Toras Pashkov, Friðrik stood up to speak.

"Mr. President, I am delighted to state my full and unconditional support for the proposal made by the honourable delegate from Luziyca. The changes made to the proposal currently being debated by this august body both remove the ambiguities in Section 4c that worried me, and ensure increased human rights in the former Greenwich Area states. The proposed bill at hand will strengthen international cooperation and advance human rights in numerous Esquarian nations. I am delighted to support it."

[Luziyca]

Taras Pashkov breathed a sigh of relief. He had managed to sway one of his opponents to his plan to integrate the Greenwich Area into the Common Market of the Esquarian Community from opposing said legislation to supporting it.

Even if the bill gets defeated, he'd at least get some kudos for managing to sway a staunch opponent of the bill into supporting the bill at hand.

[Katranjiev]

"Mr. President," the Katranjian representative declared, "I feel that Article 7 on the proposal currently tabled is unneeded, and is completely and utterly redundant considering how we have enumerated these principles on the bill. Thus, I suggest that Article 7 be removed."

[Luziyca]

Seeing that the seventh article urging EC members to apply the principles of the Greenwich Area were rejected by the Katranjian and Ultima Borealian delegations, he decided to remove the clause.

He rose.

"Mr. President," Pashkov explained, "considering that the seventh article seems to be redundant since this bill has basically restated the principles of the Greenwich Area, I shall delete the clause."

He sat down, and saw a few spelling mistakes and ambiguities. "Might wanna fix those," he thought, as he made yet another revision to the bill.

Integration of the Greenwich Area into the Common Market

---

Preamble
Whereas the Esquarian Community is party to the Third Esquarian Summit in October 2016,
Whereas the Xiangmen Declaration was adopted as the final act of the Third Esquarian Summit,
Notes that the section on trade includes a clause supporting "the greater integration of the Greenwich Area members into the EC Common Market,"
Therefore, the Esquarian Community enacts the following protocol:

Integration of the Greenwich Area

1. Declares that the Esquarian Community shall take over the responsibility of managing the Greenwich Area from the Esquarian Union
2. The Esquarian Community shall implement the following policies as had been agreed, specifically:
   
   1. The right to travel to and from any EC member state without border control checks if one is a citizen of the EC member state
   2. The right to reside in any EC member state if one is an EC citizen
      
      1. After six months of residence, any EC citizen who is living in an EC member state outside the one where he or she has citizenship shall be allowed to vote for municipal representatives of their place of residence, in addition to members of the Esquarian Parliament from the constituency where they reside
      2. Each member state can decide whether to permit EC citizens to vote in other national elections
   3. The right to work in any EC member state if one is a citizen of an EC member state
3. Also obliges member states to strengthen border control with any non-EC member state, with the exception of:
   
   1. Any nation who was a member of the Greenwich Area as of the eleventh of March, 2016 shall be permitted to continue their participation within the EC Common Market without having to join the EC
      
      1. If an EC citizen moves to a non-EC member state that participates in the Common Market, it is up to the participating state to decide whether said citizen may vote in national elections or not
   2. Existing free-travel agreements between EC member states and non-EC member states, with the following caveats:
      
      1. Only citizens of the states participating in these existing agreements can travel freely to each other
      2. EC citizens who aren't citizens of the EC member states that participate in these free travel areas will require to follow the appropriate border control procedures
      3. Citizens of the non-EC member state(s) participating in these free-travel arrangements cannot travel to other EC member states unless they have acquired a visa
4. Notes that in the case of serious crises, border controls may be imposed on EC citizens travelling to a specific EC member state for a maximum period of 180 days
   
   1. Once the 180 days has been elapsed, border controls must be lifted unless the EC member state can prove that the very survival of the country is at stake if border controls are lifted
   2. If the request is granted, border controls may continue for a maximum period of eighteen months, after which border controls are to be lifted, unless the internal situation in the EC member state poses a threat to other EC member states
   3. If in the event that open borders between an EC member and the rest of the EC threaten the very stability of the Esquarian Community, the EC can impose border controls on the affected nations for a period of up to ten years, before it can be renewed
      
      1. The Council of Esquarium must have two-thirds of its members approve said proposal
      2. If the legislation passes the Council of Esquarium above the threshold needed, two-thirds of all members of the Esquarian Parliament must approve the resolution to implement border controls
      3. The state has the right to appeal to the Esquarian Court of Justice if they feel that said border intrusions are unjustified: the opinion of the Court of Justice shall be binding
   Application
5. All members of the Greenwich Area must implement the Esquarian Charter of Human Rights, and all of its protections should they desire to benefit from the Common Market
   
   1. The first and second optional protocols shall remain optional, and states that do not accede to these protocols may still benefit from the Common Market if they adopt the charter itself
6. All members of the Greenwich Area, must, as soon as possible, harmonize their regulations concerning worker rights, labor rights, environmental rights to fit EC law, to prevent them from obtaining an unfair advantage over existing EC members
   
   1. States which fail to harmonize these regulations with EC law shall not be permitted to benefit from the Common Market of the Esquarian Community
   2. If EC law regarding these areas changes, all non-EC members of the Common Market must implement these changes as soon as the changes take effect

[Luziyca]

After a lack of discussion, and some Christmas celebrations, Taras Pashkov made his way back to the chamber.

"Mr. President," Taras Pashkov stated, "Since there does not seem to be any more debate concerning the contents of the Integration of the Greenwich Area into the Common Market, I move to end the debate on the question at hand, and to proceed to a direct vote on the same."

[Ainin]

"So ordered. The question is to approve the Act to Integrate the Greenwich Area into the Common Market as enumerated on the order paper and submit it to the Esquarian Parliament. During the next 48 hours, no debate on any topic shall be entertained. Delegations are reminded that they may vote yea or nay, or register an abstention."

[Luziyca]

YEA.

[Katranjiev]

Yea.

[Ainin]

Yea.

[Pavonistade]

Yea.

[United Provinces of Atlantica]

Aye.

[Nevamaa]

Aye

[Qianrong]

Yea.

[FreYhill]

Yea

[Montecara]

Yea

[Luziyca]

"Mr. President," Pashkov said as he rose.

"Considering that the 48 hour period for vote set on the 26th has long since elapsed, I motion that we end the voting period of the bill at hand, and permit the Esquarian Parliament to start their debate on the bill."

[Ainin]

"So ordered. With 10 for and nil against, the Question carries. The House hereby refers the Act to Integrate the Greenwich Area into the Common Market to the Esquarian Parliament. The floor is now open."