EU Studies Integrative Seminar

About the course structure: The course is divided into four main parts. The first is an intensive introductory phase during which you will be learning about the history of the EU and look at two member states, Germany and Czech Republic, in more detail. You will visit these two member states on the first field trip. There will be a test about the material covered at the end of this phase.

          The second part begins with the twice weekly regular classes and is devoted to the institutional architecture of the EU as well as the four major EU decision-making institutions: the Council of the European Union, the European Commission, the European Parliament and the European Court of Justice. 

The third section of the course covers some of the major policy fields of the EU. First the background and historical development of these policies is discussed, before these are placed into context with current policies and politics in the EU. These policies are the four major topics of the third part of the class, a 2 1/2 day Model EU simulation of a European Council meeting to be held in the IES EU Center. The Model EU will be the capstone of the class.

The Model EU

The Model EU is a simulation of a summit meeting of the European Council (Heads of Government/State and Foreign Ministers). Students will take on different roles at this simulation representing countries or institutions in the negotiations about a pre-set agenda. The basic agenda topics are: 1) Enlargement and the Neighborhood Policy, 2) Reforming CAP in light of the new financial framework, 3) Reforming Cohesion Policy in light of the new financial framework, and 4) The Area of Freedom Security and Justice. This agenda will be narrowed down and focused by the Permanent President, the High Representative for Foreign Affairs in cooperation with the Secretariat of the Council. In addition, the rotating presidency will cooperate in setting the agenda. Moreover, you will receive draft proposals by the Presidency and the Secretariat of the Council on the agenda items. Both, the agenda and the draft proposals, will be distributed about two weeks prior to the due date of the policy statements. All delegations may write or prepare proposals of their own or in cooperation with other delegations to be introduced at the summit meeting. The agenda is in part discussed in separate councils, one featuring Heads of Government/State (Reforming CAP and Cohesion Policy, Financial Framework) and another Foreign Ministers (Freedom Security and Justice, Enlargement and Neighborhood Policy).

          The Model EU is prepared in class both in terms of procedure and in terms of content. However, it is imperative that all students prepare for the simulation independently. All participants need to be well versed in the Rules of Procedure as well as the topics being discussed in their forum. Moreover, all students need to have a clear concept of their role (e.g. the position of their government on the topics) to be able to play this role effectively, adjust to unforeseen developments and to generally stay in character. Faculty will be present at the summit meeting. However, they will interfere as little as possible with the proceedings. The effective running of the simulation is the responsibility of the Presidency / High Representative and all other participants.

          At the end of the Model EU you will have to present your Presidency Conclusions. This is a document consisting of all decisions you were able to reach during the summit meeting. These will be based on the draft proposals prepared by the Presidency / Secretariat, but will necessarily reflect the national and ideological positions brought to the bargaining table. Moreover, some proposals may have been successfully introduced or broadened during the summit. Yet others may have failed to receive sufficient backing from all member states and there for will not make it into the Presidency Conclusions.

          Students need to apply for a particular position, either a country delegate position or an institutional role (Permanent President, High Representative of CFSP, Council Secretariat and Commissioner). All students must hand in written applications stating their motivation, qualification and expectations for the hoped for position(s) and/or country (please provide alternative choices). You can also apply in a more general manner, e.g. “I would like to represent a smaller country as Foreign Minister because …”. For the chair positions (Permanent President and High Representative) experience in similar simulations or student government will be helpful. Applications should be 0.5 to 1 page long.

Policy Statement and Draft Proposals

If you are representing a country at the Model-EU you will have to prepare a policy statement which presents the basic stances of your country delegation on the issues on the agenda. The Permanent President, the High Representative of CFSP and the members of the Council Secretariat (organizing committee) will write draft proposals on the agenda topics instead.

Policy Statements

Except for a 1 page cover letter policy statements are written separately by each member of the delegation (Heads of Government/State and Finance Ministers) on the topics on the respective agendas (each participant has to write 3-4 pages). However, the policy statements are handed in collectively as one document. Moreover, the delegation has to write an introductory note together. The statements should have one common format. Students are graded separately for their respective parts of the policy statement.

There are various ways to write your policy statement. The essential aspect is that you have to provide your delegation’s basic stance on the issues at hand. Depending on your strategy and your interest in a given topic you can be more or less open about your positions and intentions. You might for example want to hint at possible compromises to show your conciliatory attitude. In contrast, you might find it advantages on another issue to take a strong bargaining position.

Policy statements are written in “high style.” You are writing as the highest representatives of your country and these are official documents. This does not mean that you should write meaningless statements in inflated prose. The policy statements need to have substance as they are the basis for discussion at the summit meeting.

Draft Proposals

Draft proposals are written by the Permanent President, the High Representative and the members of the Council Secretariat (each member is assigned a topic from the main agenda). These proposals are extremely important for the success of the summit since they serve as the basis for discussion in the council meetings. Proposals should make clear statements of proposed actions and should be formulated in a way that they may be translated into the Presidency Conclusions. Each member of the organizing committee may choose to write more than one proposal on a given topic (e.g. on an issue of enlargement there probably should be a proposal on more than one country/region). Each participant should write proposals of a total length of 3-4 pages.

DELEGATION AGENDA PROPOSALS

Each country representative will have to work on at least one proposal from the draft agenda. You will have to revise, extend and/or cut the draft proposals created by the presidency or introduce a new, related agenda item. For the most part revisions should be done in groups. Therefore, students will have to identify potential allies and arrange group meetings, work on wikis (on moodle) and continuously redraft the proposals. You can join a group at any time. If the interests on certain proposals are clearly contrary, multiple groups should be formed. These should draft alternative proposals. As soon as you put the first draft version of your proposal on moodle it will be visible to all students. If a delegate wants to join a group belatedly to help edit the proposals they need to contact the group chair (to be determined by the groups). Using moodle will be essential for this group activity. A wiki with a draft version of the group proposals should be made available by Wednesday, November 21 (additional proposals may be introduced thereafter, but you need to have taken part in a proposal published on this day at the latest). Proposals need to be finalized by December 12th.

Bibliographic Essay

The bibliographic essay is written and handed in separately by each member of the delegation. It serves two main purposes: it should document your research and it should provide hints and tips for future students on how to find information on the topics and especially on the positions of your country. This means that you will have to provide the exact references for your sources, an assessment of their value for your research (What part of your preparation were they most useful for?) and tips on how to find this and similar information. To effectively do this it is useful to structure your essay either according to sources (i.e. books, journal articles, press articles, internet) or according to the individual parts and needs of your research (i.e. these sources are especially useful for finding background information on the countries; these are particularly useful for finding up to date information on the topics discussed). Your essay should be 1-3 pages long.

STRATEGY PAPER

This paper will detail your strategy for the Model EU. In other words you need to think about and write down how you plan to achieve your goals (e.g. “I will be seeking to actively influence developments in this area by providing a proposal …”; “I will be taking a more passive stance on this issue, since I see a potential for trading concessions here for other things I want”). You should go into details in this respect. Moreover, you need to react to the draft proposals from the secretariat, i.e. you need to demonstrate that you have researched the agenda items and have been thinking about things you want to change, delete, add or retain as regards the agenda. You should also consider whether there are any proposals you would like to introduce yourself and possibly prepare in advance, which will be more effective than simply drafting proposals on the spot. In this respect you should also think about and seek out possible partners for coalitions and for making or blocking proposals. Besides potential partners you should also be aware of possible ‘adversaries’ during negotiations, as well as possible compromises which could (or must) be made. Members of the organizing committee will explain how they plan to have their proposals accepted without major changes (e.g. working as a team, running the meeting effectively, speaking to the delegations during recesses, presenting the proposal at the summit, making it acceptable to all participants etc.) and how they plan to make the summit a success. The strategy paper should be 4-5 pages long.