Simulation of the Council of Ministers in Paris

Simulation of the EU Council of Ministers in the framework of the Pretty Europe Month 2022

On June 6 and 7, 2022, Johanne, from the Eurocircle European Citizenship Team, accompanied a group of high school students to Paris to carry out a simulation of a Council of Ministers of the European Union.

In the framework of the Pretty Month of Europe, the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union (PFUE) and the European Year of Youth, the National Agency for Territorial Cohesion organized a simulation of a Council of Ministers of the European Union with high school students on June 6 and 7, 2022 in Paris. This project is supported and labeled by the Secretariat General of the PFUE and was developed by the Maison de l’Europe in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté.

The selection of high school students and their roles

The regional partners, EUROPE DIRECT and the regional fund management authorities, were given the task of selecting two high school students from the first or last year of high school specializing in political science to participate in this exercise. In total, 31 roles were proposed to them: 27 Member States, one person representing the European Commission, one person representing the European Parliament and two journalists.

Preparing high school students for the exercise

Before meeting and starting the negotiations on climate and cohesion policy, the selected students had to prepare for the exercise. They informed themselves about the functioning of the European institutions, in particular the Council of the EU. Then they familiarized themselves with their role, their “country” and the political-institutional context thanks to a role-play sheet sent to them 20 days before the simulation.

The course of the simulation

Once this preparation was completed, the students set about simulating a meeting of the Council of Ministers of the European Union for nearly three hours on June 6 and 7. After a 15-minute briefing by the participants, the exercise began. It opened with a welcome speech given by several representatives of the organizing structures, including the head of the European Commission Representation in France, Valérie Drezet-Humez.

Ensuite, des échanges ont eu lieu entre les Ministres sur le projet de résolution. Avant de débattre sur les articles et propositions d’amendements, les apprenti.es ministres ont préparé les recommandations du Conseil. Finalement, la simulation s’est achevée sur le vote du texte final amendé.

Félicitations à nos ministres en herbe !