« Antidemocratic and xenophobic forces of Europe have always been attracted by the European unity dream, the mystic of the imperial Rome»
(FB - 1998)
" Being a citizen is a voluntary act "
(FB - 2009)
"Thinking about the future only makes sense if it is aimed at improving one’s thinking about the present and about the trends at work"
(FB - 1998)
"The European project is not a dream, but a hope. It is rooted in rationality, which is not the case with dreams. We Europeans have seen our dreams end in nightmares too often not to be suspicious."
(FB - 2005)
"The strength of a network is judged at the information level of the weakest link, or more precisely the link furthest from the centre of the network."
(FB - 2004)
"Europe's destiny is escaping the two "Greats" and it will come knocking on the door of the Europeans."
(FB - 1989)
"The history of Europe is a bit like a multifaceted diamond. Everyone sees the same diamond... but no one sees exactly the same facets."
(FB - E-storia project, 2004)
"Let us dare the future as the founding fathers of Europe did"
(FB - "From EU to Euroland", 2001)
"The European citizenship can not be decreed. The European citizen can only be born..."
(FB - 1992)
"Every state is a minority in the EU. In any case, let’s not forget that if all our states went into building the EU it is because they all felt too small to face alone both their future and the rest of the world."
(FB - 2003)
"From a single (EU) Currency to a single (EU) Citizenship. The euro is only an instrument."
(FB - 1997)
"An empire is always providing platforms where conflicts and wars prolife­rate... an empire needs enemies, whilst a Community requires partners."
(FB - 1992)
"Europe’s history has taught us that dreams and nightmares are the two faces of the same coin"
(FB - “Europe is Peace” 2006)
"Everybody wants to have a successful enlargement whereas it is a successful enlarged EU which is important."
(FB - 2002)
"It is clear that the existing national political parties can not serve two masters: national and European."
(FB - IDE, 1989)
"It takes teamwork to make Europe move forward."
(FB - 2005)
"There is nothing like one European. The European is a team of Europeans... the only way we can imagine a European, it is a team of people from different countries, not a single man or woman."
(FB - Enschede (NL) 2012)
"On the horizon with a heaven of freedom and a land of responsibility, this is perhaps the soul of Europe."
(FB - 1992)
"The future challenge for the European project is not about Europe anymore, it is about the Europeans."
(FB - 2005)
"The more Brussels speaks English, the less Brussels understands the Europeans"
(FB - 2004)
"Occupy the Future of Europe!"
("What do YOU want as a future for AEGEE?" Franck Biancheri at the 2012 Agora in Enschede)
"To combine new technologies and democratic principles to succeed in the entry of European integration in the 21st century or e-democracy at the service of Euro-democracy"
(FB - EUSV, 2001)
"In the years 00 of the 21st century, democratization can only take place in the perspective of the democratic election of a European executive that remains to be invented."
(FB - EUSV, 2001)
"We must build the European Community, otherwise Europe will soon be culturally Americanised, politically Finlandised and technologically Japanised"
EGEE I, 1984

Tanja Masson-Zwaan, Secretary General of the first AEGEE Comité Directeur, President Emerita of IISL, nominated as Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau (2020)

In the name of the members of the association des Amis de Franck Biancheri, and on my behalf, our heartiest congratulations to one of the oldest friends of Franck Biancheri, for the nomination as Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau – a civil and military Dutch order of chivalry recognizing people who deserve appreciation and recognition from society for the special way in which they have carried out their activities.

 

We are both proud and honored, and thank her for her loyal support to the association des Amis de Franck Biancheri, and faith to Franck’s memory.

 

Marie-Hélène Caillol, President of the AAFB

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From the Secretary General of the first AEGEE Comité Directeur (CD), under the presidency of Franck Biancheri, to the nomination as Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau, 35 years of eurocitizens commitment.

 

Tanja Masson-Zwaan, met Franck Biancheri, end 1984, when he was preparing the organisation of the huge EGEE1 congress in Paris in April 1985. She agreed to organise a small group of students from Leiden to go to Paris and also joined the association. After that she was strongly involved in the further development of the organisation, became Secretary General of the first CD of (A)EGEE, under Franck Biancheri presidency (founder of AEGEE), for a 3-year period (April 1985/April 1988).

 

 

 

She was part of the team of AEGEE students selected to meet French President François Mitterrand in the spring of 1987 and sat next to him at the famous “Erasmus” lunch at the Elysée Palace in Paris. (click on the photo to enlarge it)

 

Subsequently she devoted her career to research on air and space law, both international and European. She is the leading specialist in this field and for 9 years she was President of the International Institute of Space Law (IISL), of which she is now President Emeritus. She was a member of the founding boards of the European Centre for Space Law (ECSL) and Women in Aerospace-Europe. She is currently Deputy Director/Assistant Professor of the International Institute of Air and Space Law at the University of Leiden (Netherlands) – (See her profile here: University of Leiden).

 

In May 2013 she organized together with LEAP2020 the BRICS-Europe-space cooperation symposium in Leiden, an event that had been prepared by Franck Biancheri, who died prematurely.

 

Ten years ago, she shared with us a memory of this unique student adventure, which we publish again in this issue: EGEE1: a brilliant and visionary decision… Interview with Tanja Masson-Zwaan (April 2010)

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