The MODEL. WHAT IS THIS ALL ABOUT?
Model European Union (MEU) Madrid is a simulation of how the three main bodies of the European Union (the European Commission, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union) function. Young people from all over Europe are welcomed to come and represent the role of a Commissaire, European MP, a Minister, a journalist or a lobbyist during four days around the debate, negotiation and voting of a European law. The event will simulate the fonctioning of the EU institutions following the real example of how the EU would treat an European Citizens Initiative. MEU will be held in English.
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PURPOSES:
MEU Madrid aims to:
-Promote an active young citizenship: To call attention on the importance on their daily life of the decisions taken in the European institutions. The first step for a citizen who gets involved in politics is a citizen aware of how politics works. Europeans need to understand how the EU works.
-Provide academic knowledge: The best way of understanding how the European laws are made and how its different institutions interact with each other... is to live it from inside!
Besides, MEU is the perfect environment for practicing and improving your formal English skills, both spoken and written.
-Provide non-academic knowledge: MEU will rise skills and attitudes in the participants such as: teamwork in a multinational environment, public speech and debate, constructive negotiation in an institutional context and the ability of understand the reasons of the ones that have a different opinion than you.
-Create a meeting space for young Europeans that care about the World around them.
Our philosophy
We aim to spread the idea of the importance of the European institutions in our lives. We want citizens to become aware of its potential as a tool for improving their lives.
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We want young people from all over Europe to get to know better the role of EU institutions and internal dinamics in an entertaining way. Finally, we seek to show the importance of political democratic debate; where you stand up for your ideas and at the same time you are able to agree with those who do not think the same as you.
A bit of history
The first Model of the European Union was created in Strasbourg in 2007. Its great success made it spread very quickly to many other European cities. In 2012, Granada was the first Spanish city to hold a MEU. In 2014, we held the first MEU in the region of Madrid (and the second of Spain).
MEU Madrid is not legally related with any other MEU or MEU-promoter association But of course, we maintain very friendly relationships with all of them. MEU Madrid is an initiative organized within the planning of activities carried by JEF in Spain and we are happy to count with the support of other Spanish sections to organize it.