Summer Semester 2021

Shortly before taking office as President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen proposed to set up a Conference on the Future of Europe to be launched in May 2020. Her idea was endorsed by the European Parliament and the European Council. According to the Position of the European Council adopted on 24 June 2020, the topics of the Conference on the Future of Europe shall encompass sustainability, societal challenges, innovation, competiveness and digital transformation, fundamental values, rights and freedoms, as well as Europe’s role in the world. The official launch of the Conference, however, was delayed by the COVID-19 Pandemic so far.

We invited students of all faculties to represent one of the Member States of the European Union, the President of the European Council or the President of the Commission and take part in online meetings of the European Council to deal with these and other questions relating to the future of the European Union. We especially invited European students to represent their home countries since we envisioned this meeting to be much more than "just" a simulation.

For preparation, we provided for a comprehensive Background Guide with information on the European Union as well as negotiation techniques and the Rules of Procedure.

The seminar was structured in two parts with sessions held weekly on Fridays, 12-14 hrs. The first part gave an introduction to the European Union as well as specific topics relevant to the debate prepared by participants. Starting in May, the European Council met in online meetings discussing the various topics (Schedule SoSe 2021).

Participants were expected to research their respective country’s position independently and take over the presentation of a topic by preparing a 6-8 page summary on the subject and present it to the class (up to 2 presenters per topic = team work!). Delegations were also asked to prepare a two-page Position Paper. Each Delegation consisted of 1-2 persons. The Conference language was be English.

For more information please contact
Dr. Peggy Wittke
EMail: peg@zedat.fu-berlin.de
Tel.: (030) 838 547 05

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