Junior Campus EU+

During the simulation “Junior Campus EU+” 2018, held on 7-8 February 2018 in Kaub, Rhineland-Palatinate, 43 pupils from two courses of the Elisabeth Langgässer-Highschool slipped into the role of European Council members of the 28 member states of the European Union and its potential future member state Serbia. In preparation of the simulation, the students learned at school about the functioning of European Council and they selected a EU member state which they represented during the simulation as “their” country. The pupils prepared in class for their role as a delegate in the European Council. Staff from the Jean Monnet Centre “EU in Global Dialogue” (CEDI) attended the classes of the two schools and introduced the simulation to the pupils. Each pupil received a paper with detailed information about the selected country, for example, its system of government, national output, rate of unemployment and economic situation. The pupil´s aim was to internalize the interests and opinion of their country towards an accession of Serbia. During this process, they learned a lot about the 28 EU member states and the candidate country. Additionally, they could experience the process of search for consensus in the European Council. Furthermore, they had to cope with the difficulties concerning the process towards formal agreements with other states.

Through the first day of simulation, the pupils were familiarized with the rules of procedure in the Council by the academic staff. Afterwards, the member states representatives gave introductory speeches on the position of their country and Serbia presented its application for accession to the Council. During the following sessions and days, the member states discussed intensively on the conditions for accession and drafted a respective treaty. Meanwhile, they also gave interviews to the media, played by the teachers, and repeatedly had informal conversations within the Council, at lunch or with Serbian representatives. During their stay, the young Europeans learned how specific frameworks of the European Union work, how to find compromises in negotiations involving diverging interests and they had a first-hand experience on EU decision-making. In the European Council, the countries discussed different positions concerning conditions for the accession of Serbia. The allocation of refugees, the constitutionality of Serbia or the future relationship of Serbia and Kosovo were among the issues the 28 member states discussed. Furthermore, the economic and financial sector of Serbia needed to converge with EU conditions.

Finally, Serbia managed to convince the leaders of the EU member states. The Council unanimously voted in favour of an accession of Serbia to the European Union. The member states representatives and Serbia as new 29^th member states of the EU signed the accession treaty, marking a historic moment of the European integration process. During the final official statement, the delegates of EU member states declared the reasons for the positive decision. With regard to the positive outcome of the negotiations, the pupils mentioned that the two-day simulation has improved their understanding of the difficulties concerning the convergence of diverging interests and how to cope with them.

One enormous advantage of “Junior Campus EU+” is that all participants benefit from this experience: Both universities will profit in making their EU studies more attractive and raising the interest of pupils in European integration at an early stage. The teachers will benefit in getting offered an inspiring way of integrating EU topics into their syllabus and at the same time creating a link towards university. All pupils will profit the most from an interactive way of learning and understanding EU governance guided by experts of CEDI. Nonetheless, it also provides an enriching opportunity for academics to teach and exchange outside of the higher education context and share their enthusiasm for EU topics. Additionally, the “Junior Campus EU+” forged new friendships between pupils from different courses and fostered the prospective cooperation between universities and (secondary) schools.

The two day simulation with preliminary meetings at the schools was moderated and guided by academic staff from the University of Mainz and the TU Darmstadt, and further assisted by secondary school teachers. In addition to helping participants understand political procedures, the aim of the event was to introduce high school students to issues related to European politics and to make the general public more aware of the subject of European integration.

“Junior Campus EU+” 2017, held from 7-8 February 2017 in Bacharach, involved 51 pupils from the Römerkastell High School in Alzey and the Frauenlob High School Mainz who slipped into the role of European Council members of the 28 European Union member states and the accession candidate Serbia. After being instructed in the rules of procedure in the Council by academic staff, the member states representatives gave introductory speeches on the position of their state before the accession candidate presented its proposal in the Council. In the following sessions and days the member states discussed intensively on prerequisites for accession and drafted an accession treaty, while they also gave interviews to the media, played by the teachers, and repeatedly had informal conversations within the Council, at the lunch or with Serbian representatives. During the simulation, which included a debriefing of the pupils, the young Europeans learned how the bodies of the European Union work, how to find compromises in negotiations that involve diverging interests and had a first-hand experience on EU decision-making. 

This initiative raised the interest of pupils in European integration, which will in the medium and long term also positively affect the demand for BA/MA programmes and teaching in European Integration Studies. It also fostered the cooperation between universities and (secondary) schools which agreed to continue and intensify cooperation in the following years. The 2017 evaluation of “Junior Campus EU+” clearly indicates that the interest of the pupils towards European integration has been further strengthened and that, in addition, new friendships between pupils from different schools have emerged. In particular, the pupils mentioned that the two-day simulation has increased their understanding of the difficulties of accumulating diverging interests.  

Both universities will benefit in making their EU studies more attractive and raising the interest of pupils in European integration at an early stage. The teachers will benefit in getting offered an inspiring way of integrating EU topics into their syllabus and at the same time creating a link towards university. The pupils will benefit the most from an interactive way of learning and understanding EU governance guided by experts of the universities. However, it also provides an enriching opportunity for academics to teach and exchange outside of the higher education context and share their enthusiasm for EU topics. 

“Junior Campus EU+” is creating a high visibility of EU studies and CEDI within schools of the Rhein-Main Area. Especially these events have attracted the interest of local media.
“Junior Campus EU+” stimulated knowledge in a pre-university stage of young people and hopefully spark their interest for the EU and EU studies.