Model European Union 2013

Some participants in Model European Union (MEU) Strasbourg 2008 were enthusiastic to make it possible for more young people to experience an MEU simulation. To keep the acquired organising knowledge for future generations and to spread the idea to other European towns, they founded the Bringing Europeans Together Association (BETA) e.V. in Mainz, Germany, in mid-August 2008. Even though the organisation was based in Germany, the team became more and more international with time. That did not make preparation and communication easier, but modern means of communication helped and are being used to a great extent within BETA and MEU organisation team.

Thus, 25 young people from all over Europe tackled the challenge and were glad to invite 120 participants from 25 European countries to come to the European Parliament in Strasbourg for the 3^rd edition of MEU, which took place from 25^th April until 1^st May 2009.

Philipp Obenauer
MEU 2009 Director-General

Again, lively debate arose about the two proposals on the table:

- the “Direct Elections Act - Decision and Act concerning the election of the representatives of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage” and

- the Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council “Setting emission performance standards for new passenger cars as part of the Community's integrated approach to reduce CO2 emissions from light-duty vehicles”.

Participants were given much information about the elections for the European Parliament both during the debate and beforehand and we are sure many of them actively participated in the elections a couple of weeks later. The environmental policy proposal was the other cutting-edge topic of the simulation in the year of the Copenhagen Summit.

Given the fact that Europe can only live on with the spirit of young people and their engagement, we provided participants the chance to attend diverse workshops, where they got to know different youth associations, such as JEF, AEGEE, plus additional information about the Youth in Action programme, funded by the European Commission.

Last but not least, beyond technical and formal procedures, participants made experiences in this unique setting with many different people. They discussed about non-political issues, got an image of the language diversity that Europe has, and learnt about national food traditions at the European come-together – they simply experienced Europe! Finally, participants enjoyed a boat tour in Strasbourg and, on the very last day, tasted a part of the local tradition: the wonderful Alsatian Tarte Flambée!