Writing an academic paper - Progress

As I am, as probably most of the other students as well, currently preparing for my remaining exams and presentations, I have not had a lot of time to continue working on my academic paper. Even so I have spent some time on reading through my sources in order to inform myself about the content I am going to write about. I have already finished summarizing the history of ASEM two weeks ago, which leaves me with a finished introduction and first paragraph. As soon as my last exams are over, on Tuesday, I will continue to work on my paper and step by step finish every paragraph during the upcoming winter vacation.

I think, and hope, that as long as I am interested in my topic I will be able to finish the first draft shortly after Christmas, which should give me enough time to improve my text afterwards.

Throughout the last few weeks I have also become more aware of the things I will have to be careful about when I finally start to write my paper. I will have to clearly mark the sources I used for each few phrases or paragraphs, check the proper format of my bibliography and inform myself on how to quote from another text. 

Final Draft of "The European Year of Reconciling Work and Family Life"

A recent, sharp increase in the number of dual-career families and a simultaneous drop in birth rate have led to the question of how to improve the current situation of families living in Europe. In response to this question the EU has taken action and designated 2014 the Year of Reconciling Work and Family Life.  Throughout the next year special attention will be given to the organization of the labor market and to the modification of company-specific policies. Regarding these policies more flexibility of the working cycle should be given to female employees and childcare provided by companies is planned to be expanded. Another main aim of the EU’s European Year 2014 is to promote family-friendly policies and their implementation as well as to respond to familial challenges. Inequality, social exclusion, and lack of economic efficiency are among the conflicts that affect the situation of dual-career families in Europe, a situation that the EU is planning to change quintessentially. In conclusion, a great number of the goals the European Union has set to achieve in the upcoming year are related to the improvement of the living standard of families living inside the EU borders.

[194 words]

Final Version II

A recent, sharp increase in the number of dual-career families and a simultaneous drop in birth rate have led to the question of whether the current situation of families living in Europe needs to be improved. In response to this question the EU has taken action and designated 2014 the Year of Reconciling Work and Family Life.  Throughout the next year special attention will be given to the organization of the labor market and to the modification of company-specific policies. These policies should be made more family-friendly, for example in providing more flexible working hours for female employees and in expanding childcare. Another main aim of the EU’s European Year 2014 is the implementation of these family-friendly policies, as well as to respond to familial challenges. Inequality, social exclusion, and lack of economic efficiency are among the conflicts that affect the situation of dual-career families in Europe, a situation that the EU is planning to change drastically. The upcoming year will prove whether or not the European Union can achieve the goals it set and bring about great changes in terms of the well-being of families in Europe. Until then the fight to reconcile family and work will continue.

European Year 2014

After receiving some feedback from my group members, I started writing a second draft of my original paragraph.

A recent, sharp increase in the number of dual-career families and a simultaneous drop in birth rate have led to the question of how to improve the current situation of families living in Europe. In response to this question the EU has taken action and designated 2014 the Year of Reconciling Work and Family Life.  Throughout the next year special attention will be given to the organization of the labor market and to the modification of company-specific policies. Regarding these policies more flexibility of the working cycle should, in the future, be given to female employees and childcare provided by companies is planned to be expanded. Another main aim of the EU’s European Year 2014 is to promote family-friendly policies and their implementation as well as to respond to familial challenges. Inequality, social exclusion, and lack of economic efficiency are among the conflicts that affect the situation of dual-career families in Europe , a situation that the EU is planning to change quintessentially. In conclusion, a great proportion of the goals the European Union has set to achieve in the upcoming year are related to the improvement of the living standard of families living inside the EU borders.

Feedback
- move "in the future"
- exchange "proportion" with "number"

European Year of Reconciling Work and Family Life

The past image of women staying at home, doing the house chores and raising children has in recent years turned into an expectation of women being able to lead a double life, one as a mother and wife and one as a career woman. This expectation has, however, led to an increasing number of families suffering from the conflict between their working and family life and in a decreasing birth rate. In order to raise awareness of this conflict and to improve the living and working situation of families in Europe, the EU has designated 2014 the year of reconciling work and family life. Throughout the next year special attention will be given to the organization of the labor market and to the modification of company-specific policies. The main aim of 2014’s European year is to promote family-friendly policies and their implementation as well as to address the challenges families in Europe have to face and to discuss methods for solving these. The focus will be on several of these challenges, including gender equality, childcare and on more flexibility of the working cycle regarding pregnancy.
[183 words]

Feedback
- Topic sentence is too long, a bit less formal than the rest of the paragraph
- Concluding sentence is not a perfect conclusion

EU Topics

                                       EU TOPICS

As Hendrik asked us to, this post will be on several of my ideas for an academic paper on the EU.
After having a talk with two of my best friends on the EU, its functions as well as on its advantages and drawbacks, there were several questions that I asked myself and that I became curious about. Here a list of some topics that developed from these questions.

Prerequisites for EU membership
Even after Croatia has finally joined the EU in 2013, there is still a waiting list for countries wanting to join the European Union. Even though I know of several reasons as to why e.g. Turkey could, up to now, not join the EU, I would be interested in getting to know the exact requirements a county has to fulfill in order to become a member state.

Policy on asylum
My initial shock about the results of the last election was followed by immediate interest in the EU’s policy on asylum. Who exactly can ask seek asylum? Which countries accept the largest number of immigrants/refugees? Are there any common law and policies on asylum? And why?

Requirements for becoming an official EU language
So there are 28 official languages in the EU and all official documents have to be translated and interpreted in each of these languages. Gaelic is one of those previously mentioned official languages but other languages, even if spoken by a larger group of people, have not become official EU languages. What exactly are the requirements a language needs to fulfill in order to become an official language in the EU? I asked myself that question while talking to my friends about working as a translator for the EU.

Weird EU Laws
The EU is worldwide known for some of its strange laws, including the banning of curved cucumbers. As I was reading through some of these strange laws I suddenly though "Hey, that does not only seem interesting, but also funny". So this would probably be one of the topics I am interested in. Not only knowing what laws exist but also why the EU thinks of them as useful or even necessary.

Reason for monetary unification in the EU
When asked about fast facts on the EU most students answered that a characteristic of the EU is its monetary unification. Most EU countries use the euro, but there are several exceptions. Why do some of the member states refuse to use the euro? And what is the use of monetary unification anyways? We no longer need to exchange money when we travel inside the EU (except for certain countries and even in those the euro is accepted in many places) but at the same time everybody complains about the euro causing our goods to become more expensive.