College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

WELCOME TO SUNY MODEL EUROPEAN UNION!

The oldest continuously running transatlantic collegiate simulation of the European Union in the US!

Thanks to everyone who helped make the April 2011 SUNY Model EU at SUNY New Paltz such a big success! We look forward to seeing YOU, again or for the first time, in January 2012 in Exeter, UK!

SUNY Model European Union from BEA Submitter on Vimeo.

We had nearly 150 participants from 15 different schools from across New York, the EU and candidate countries in 2011, from places as far apart as Jamestown, New York and the island state of Malta, from Ithaca to İzmir, Turkey. Join us!

SUNY Model EU is a project funded by the Institute of European Union Studies at SUNY (IEUSS), through the Office of Global Affairs, SUNY System Administration. Like many international simulations, students and universities represent country delegations in preparing to attend a European Council Summit. Usually, these delegations are comprised of four person teams, with each student playing an actual political figure from that country’s government. These roles are generally the Head of Government (Prime Minister or President), the Foreign Minister, the country’s ambassador to the EU (COREPER II), and a Finance Minister. Larger teams can also bring an additional deputy minister for Europe or deputy Prime Minister. Host teams will generally Chair the Head of Government and Foreign Minister meetings, playing the roles of Council President and High Representative for Foreign Affairs. Additional delegation assignments also play the role of the European Commission and Secretariat, as well as the SUNY Model EU Press corps.

Once assigned “roles” country teams work to prepare a single page proposal for an item to be discussed at the summit, and submit it to the presidency team a little over a month prior to the simulation and the presidency team works with the secretariat to generate an initial agenda of items to be debated in each functional group setting. We try to debate the most important and timely issues confronting Europe, from the crisis in the Eurozone, to the military action in Libya, and problems integrating recent immigrants into European society. Students debate the issues and come to common positions on items before them, working first in small groups (of just their partner ministers) before putting the final conclusions of the presidency to a vote of the whole.

Model EU has proven to be an enormously rewarding experience for our past participants, and a visit to our SUNY Model EU Facebook page will confirm this. Students from all over the SUNY system and northeast have an opportunity to meet and work with students from all over Europe, to learn about one of the most complex and important actors in the international arena today, and to develop their social capital in learning how to present their views before both a small group and plenary setting. Smaller than most Model UN simulations, it is a more participatory experience for all those that do come, and there are fewer “spectators” given the small size and the importance of each country in EU Council decision-making.

The 2012 SUNY Model EU will be held from the afternoon of January 5 through the evening of January 7, 2012 at the beautiful campus of the University of Exeter in the UK. Registration forms will be posted by September 1, with a November 1 deadline for teams. Triple rooms have been reserved at a special rate at Jury’s Inn in Exeter , from January 4-8, with the per student rate of $48 a night, inclusive of a full-breakfast at the hotel. Exeter is located in the southwest of England, and is easily reachable from London via the Paddington Railway station by Great Western train (a little over 2 hours). Nearby airports accepting international flights include Bristol and Cardiff. The January intersession allows for U.S. student travel before and after Model EU throughout the region.

Registration for the 2012 Model EU at Exeter remains $125 a person (faculty or student) and includes 2 banquets (Thursday and Saturday) at the Thistle Hotel in Exeter, and a student mixer (or faculty dinner)Friday evening, as well as light lunches on campus on Friday and Saturday during sessions. We will be simulating the Danish Presidency European Council Summit, and agenda items (and proposals for additional ones) will be posted to this site in the fall prior to the simulation. The University of Exeter host team will be playing the EU Council Presidency (Von Rompuy and Ashton) and you can meet the student leaders (as well as past participants) on our SUNY Model EU Facebook page this summer! The 2012 Blue Book which lays out the history of the program and provides guidance in preparing for your roles, will also be available by September 1.

Country assignments and rooms at the conference hotel are allocated on a first come, first serve basis, so register early to reserve your place! There is no minimum number of students required to form a campus delegation. Journalism/communication majors are encouraged to join our SUNY Model EU Press Corps, which produces daily newsletters, as well as a conference blog and video of the simulation itself. We can accommodate up to three 4-5 person country delegations, as well as several additional students who may serve in the Model EU Press Corps. We can also help a single student from your school join another delegation from other schools if you do not have enough to field a full team.

We would welcome the opportunity to discuss the possibility of your school sending a delegation of students to SUNYMEU 2012, as part of a course or as a club. The SUNY Model EU Office provides academic support for both students and faculty advisors, including a SUNY Model EU Manual (available for downloading from this site this fall), so there is no requirement that faculty accompany students. Faculty research panels and workshops are organized to parallel student meetings and promote cross SUNY and international collaboration among colleagues participating.

If you would like more information, please contact me at our SUNYMEU office at (845) 257-3558 or at dowleyk@newpaltz.edu . Come back to this site regularly to download study guide materials and registration forms and informational brochures in Fall 2012!

Model EU 2010: Limerick, Ireland at the Opening Ceremony

Delegation from Exeter University, UK

 

The Conclusions of the SUNY MEU Presidency 2011

 

Best regards,
Kathleen M. Dowley
Associate Professor of Political Science at SUNY New Paltz
Director, SUNY Model EU
(845) 257-3558

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