What is Model EU?

Model European Union (MEU)

Model European Union (MEU) is a non-formal educational program developed by the Europe Young Participation Romania Foundation which aims to educate the future generation of European politicians who will carry forward the ideal of the European Union, the education of the future generation of politicians on a national level, the preservation and promotion of cultural-identity values, according to the "unity in diversity" principle.

The complexity of the program lies in organising diverse activities: educational, cultural, scientific and social, all in accordance with the latest organizational and educative techniques.

By simulating the decisional process of the EU,the program allows young people to know the principles of European democracy, the cultures and traditions of other nations or regions. Youngsters will learn to respect cultural diversity, to work in a team. Further on they learn how to deliver an impactful public speech, to master several foreign languages ​​and how to become leaders or mediators, regardless of the professional field chosen at the end of their studies.

The program develops the spirit of constructive initiative among young people through concrete tasks that offer participants experiences of being responsible for others, roles of organizer-mediator, ambassador-mediator, journalist, trainer, etc.

The trainers of the Model EU program for high school students are:

MEU events are using technics and nonformal educative methods in organising teambuilding activities, debates in working committees on actual European topics, but also in the Plenary Session. Additionally, the program also includes cultural-educative activities such as Concert (performed by the musician participants at the forum), Village (presentation of the folklore of the participating counties, areas or countries through torganising an exhibition and culinary stand), Panel Session (round tables on an actual topic with the participation of experts, local and European politicians), meetings with young people from local community, etc.

Model EU events can be organised as local, national, regional or international forums, conferences, seminars, trainings, etc. The number of participants in these events is variable (between 40-200 participants), the most important being the Model EU International Forums.

Participants at EU Model educational program have different roles: student politician candidates, student musician candidates (they have an artistic performance at MEUconcert/MEUvillage but also participate the work in the legislative committees), student ambassador-mediators (mediators in the legislative committee), organizers-mediators, journalists, trainers. In addition to young people, the program also includes adult trainers and teachers. They have a special educational-recreational program. Teachers will observe the activity of young people during the non-formal extracurricular project.

Recently, the Europe Young Participation Romania Foundation has organized events simulating the EU decision-making process, last one being the Sim4All Conference in May-June 2024 in Oradea city, involving over 90 young people. To observe the educative activities of youngsters during an MEU event, please check our social media profiles, watch the after movies in the Video Gallery section or on our YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@euROparticip/videos

Purpose and impact of the MEU program:

• Learning about European institutions and policies, being informed about current European issues, encouraging active European citizenship and involving young people in the decision-making process at local and European level.
• The promotion of European values, tolerance and intercultural dialogue, respect for the diversity of ideas and cultures, unity of action in the promotion of European democratic principles.
• The development of personal skills and abilities, the constructive communication of own opinions in compliance with the law and the democratic principles of debate and dialogue.

Stages of a MEU event:

In the first stage, the participants are divided into legislative commissions composed of 10-15 candidates who participate in the communication/"Teambuilding" activity.
In the next stage, candidates will debate in legislative committees (committee work) the proposed topic (for example: environmental issues, European security issues, education, research, youth issues). Youngsters debate a current topic of European or national politics and propose concrete solutions. The elaborated document takes the form of a legislative proposal (directive or regulation accordingly to the EU legislative procedure).

The proposals of all committees are debated in Plenary Session, simulating the decision-making procedure of the European Union, the model and rules of debate in the European Parliament and the Council of the EU. The ambassador-mediators will simulate the role of the ministers in the Council of the EU and will represent the interests of the EU member states. The candidates will play the role of MEPs. Legislative proposals that pass the vote of the European Parliament and the Council of the EU are considered adopted. The working language is Englishand occasionally are used other European languages ​​(French, German, Spanish).

Program includes also intercultural activities, such as MEUconcert and MEUvillage (culinary and folklore presentation), thematic presentation of the participating countries/regions, sports competitions, thematic workshops, informal visits to tourist attractions in the area, meetings with local, national or European officials and experts in round tables (Panel Sessions ). Through role playing and original artistic interpretation, the participants express their creativity through music, dance or theatrical art.

During MEU events, specialized trainers are organising non-formal trainings of public speaking, logic, photo-media, journalism, law, graphic art, etc. In their application, the participants choose the trainings they want to attend and can propose various types of workshops, which the organizers strive to organize. Young people can also be trainers of various workshops, according to an educational plan agreed with the organizers of the conference, being applied the non-formal peer-to-peer educational method.

At the end of the MEU event, the young people's progress is evaluated by an independent jury. Information related to the evaluation criteria, the publication of the ranking and the grants offered, are included in the Info Kit prepared for each MEU event.

Depending on the performance and position of each participant within the MEU conference, we issue certificates internationally valid and useful for college applications or other international NGO programs, for justifying extracurricular volunteering activities and so on.

Accompanying teachers have a special program that allows them to develop new skills in the area of ​​non-formal and informal education. The teachers assist the young people in preparing for the forum and observe them during the event. Teachers receive a certificate of participation in the program and attend various trainings on how to use of non-formal educational methods in classical (formal) education. For additional information related to the program, conditions and costs, please consult the Info Kit of each event, uploaded in the "Application forms" section.