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There are going to be 2 topics that are going to be debated at MEU 2013. The first one will be a legislative proposal, which will be simulated with the Ordinary Legislative Procedure. The second however is entirely new, since we are going to be simulating the negotiations prior to the accession of Croatia to the European Union. Since accession is a decision-making process, the negotiations will be simulated with the consent procedure, like in reality.
Legislative proposal on Music Copyright (OLP)
Music copyright has been a very controversial topic over the past 5 years, and particularly the question of how the internet has changed the ways in which we consume media in today’s digital world. The economic opportunity for selling content through the internet, the ability to share that content, and the spread of online piracy has led to competing claims on how we should embrace this new digital age. On one hand, copyright holders deserve to benefit from their creativity and ensuring that they can encourages people to compose, write and make art and entertainment. Yet on the other hand, copyright law can conflict with free speech and potentially hamper creativity. How should the EU’s single market reflect this new digital world? This is the overarching question that this proposal tries to answer.
This proposal is not only exceptionally recent (it was presented by the Commission in July 2012), but it is very easy to relate to, regardless of the participants’ field of academic study. These are the two main reasons why the proposal was chosen, and why we are expecting excellent debates in this new edition of MEU.
Full name of the proposal: “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.”
Simulation of Croatia’s EU membership accession negotiations (consent)
The second topic will be on the Croatian EU accession negotiations, which has never been simulated at an international conference before. Since the negotiations lasted for over 5 years, will not be simulated them in their entirety. The MEU 2013 participants will be discussing and negotiating with the Croatian Government 3 chapters of the Copenhagen Criteria.
These chapters will be:
- Chapter 8: Competition Policy
- Chapter 23: Judiciary and fundamental rights
- Chapter 27: Environment
These three chapters proved to be controversial during the real negotiations, and are also not too technical which will allow participants from all academic backgrounds to engage with them fully. Each of the 3 chapters covering very different fields means that participants will gain a broad and varied insight into how accession negotiations work on different aspects of the Copenhagen criteria.