Model European Union Strasbourg

Model European Union Strasbourg
Type NGO – Simulation
Purpose Education
Location
Official language
English
Director General
 Anna Nauschnigg
Deputy Director General
 Tomas Dvorak
Website Official Website

Model European Union Strasbourg (commonly known as MEUS) is the original simulation of the European Union’s legislative process organised by BETA e.V.. It was initiated in the spring of 2007 by a group of university students and has since developed to be the World’s largest and most authentic simulation of the EU’s decision-making process.[1] The conference annually gathers around 180 young people from across Europe in the Seat of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France.

Conference

Model European Union Strasbourg is a simulation of European Union Politics and legislative procedures. It usually features two legislative proposals for a Directive or a Regulation, which are selected by each year's organising team on basis of importance and currency of the topics.

Participants are divided into Members of Parliament(MEPs), Ministers of the Council of the European Union, Interpreters, Journalists and Lobbyists in order to negotiate the directive or regulation according to their interests.

Throughout the course of the week, participants discuss, debate, negotiate and try to reach a compromise on the given proposals. This is achieved by following exactly the same procedures that actual MEPs follow in the exact setting and location of the European Parliament. Thus, the conference takes place in the European Parliament building in Strasbourg, France.

Additionally, Model European Union Strasbourg has its own newspaper which covers not only the legal procedure, but also provides interviews with stakeholders and background information. The journalist team of each edition chooses the name for the newspaper and the whole team contributes to a daily issue of the newspaper. Additionally, there is a press conference taking place on a daily basis in which journalists can ask questions. Not only is this helpful for the journalists, but it makes it easier for all stakeholders to keep up with the development of the negotiations in both chambers.

Organising team

MEUS 2016 organising team

Each year the conference is organised by a different group of young people with different nationalities and backgrounds which voluntarily contribute to the conference in teams with a certain field of tasks.

The organising team is selected primarily by the Director General and the Deputy Director General of each year's MEUS which are appointed by BETA e.V. (Bringing Europeans Together Association),[2] the main organiser of Model European Union Strasbourg. The organising team for the 2017 version consist of 65 volunteers from 25 countries.[3]

BETA e.V.

Bringing Europeans Together Association e.V. is a European, politically independent, non-profit association which articulates and promotes European integration and international understanding. BETA consists of more than 150 politically active young Europeans who are in favour of European integration and believe in the fundamental principles and values upon which the European Union is founded.[4]

History

The first conference successfully took place between the 4th and 10 March 2007 and has grown ever since.

Organisers No of applications No of Participants Countries Present Topic A Topic B
2007 AEGEE N/A 150 N/A Regulation of a Funding Instrument for the Western Balkans (incl.: Kosovo Listed Among Recipient Countries) Regulation on the Recognition of "Non-Formal Education"
2008 Informal group of young people 250 100 25 Regulation for Compulsory Licensing of Patents Relating to the Manufacture of Pharmaceutical Products Directive on the Laws, Regulations and Administrative Provisions Relating to the Advertisement and Sponsorship of Alcoholic Products
2009 BETA e.V. 400 120 26 Act Concerning the Election of the Members of the European Parliament by Direct Universal Suffrage Regulation on Setting Emission Performance Standards for New Passenger Cars to Reduce CO2 Emissions from Light-Duty Vehicles
2010 BETA e.V. 800 180 27 Regulation on Genetically Modified Food and Feed Directive on Common Standards and Procedures for Returning Illegally Staying Third-Country Nationals
2011 BETA e.V. 1076 180 27 Directive on the Application of Patient's Rights in Cross-Border Healthcare[5][6][7] Directive on Working Conditions of Temporary Workers
2012 BETA e.V. 998 193 29 Directive on the use of Passenger Name Record data for the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of terrorist offences and serious crime Regulation establishing a European Agency for the Management of Operational Co-operation at the External Borders
2013 BETA e.V. 750 182 27 Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on collective management of copyright and related rights and multi-territorial licensing of rights in musical works for online uses in the internal market[8] Simulation of Croatia’s EU membership accession negotiations
2014 BETA e.V. 745 173 30 Negotiations towards a European Social Fund Regulation Negotiating Mandate for a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP)
2015 BETA e.V. 527 146 31 The Creation of a European Banking Union The General Data Protection Regulation
2016 BETA e.V. 485 176 41 Refugee Crisis [9] Biofuels and Indirect Land Use Change (ILUC)[10]

Participation criteria

MEUS 2016 DG Morten Munch Jespersen at the Charlemagne Youth Prize award ceremony with Martin Schulz

Residents of any of the 28 Member States of the European Union, EFTA , EEA countries and Turkey, Macedonia and the Erasmus + Partner countries (Western Balkans, Eastern Partnership Countries, South-Mediterranean Countries, and the Russian Federation)[11] between the age of 18 and 26 are eligible to apply to take part in Model European Union Strasbourg. Such criteria are to maintain the project's goal of youth inter-European learning and networking. All applications are done online via the website.

Partners

Model European Union partners up with other (youth) organisations which among others include different universities, student organisations, NGOs, various student simulations of the United Nations and the EU, but also major youth organisations as AEGEE or Erasmus Student Network (ESN).[12]

Furthermore, the conference was supported by high-range EU politicians such as Martin Schulz, José Manuel Barroso, and Herman van Rompuy.

European Charlemagne Youth Prize

Model European Union Strasbourg was one of the National winners of the European Charlemagne Youth Prize 2016.

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 9/26/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.