Important Information Before Conference
Delegates,
I hope everyone is excited for conference at the end of this week! Please stay on the lookout for emails and blog posts this week containing a bit more information to help you brush up before conference. This year has definitely been challenging as we have had to switch to an online format during the pandemic. And although this year has been hard on everyone, I hope there have been small moments of reflection and gratitude for each of us. One of my small moments of gratitude this year has been the opportunity to head the European Union committee at this year's BMUN conference. My dais and I are very excited to see listen and learn alongside each of you at conference. This post here shall serve as the main logistical post concerning our committee, the European Union.
There are three main websites that will help you prepare for conference this week. The main website (bmun.org) will be your go-to for logistical answers like finding the conference schedule. Huxley (huxley.bmun.org), the site for registration and position papers, will be used to access committee links as they are released following the conference schedule. Finally, BMUN's learn website (learnbmun.squarespace.com) will be your go-to for conference prep concerning procedure, debate flow, resolutions, etc.
Committee Makeup and Details
The European Union is, as I hope many of you know, not a part of the United Nations, therefore at BMUN, we are a specialized committee. Here are some details on the committee that explain its makeup and how it differs from a Bloc A or Bloc B committee. Our committee will be a representation of the European Council, one of the seven core institutions of the European Union formalized in the 2009 Treaty of Lisbon. In the real European Council, heads of state from each EU member state gather at what is informally known as an EU summit, and although the Council has no legislative power (in fact the European Commission remains the only initiator of legislation), the Council works as a crisis-solving body acting much like a collective presidency. Rather than representing the heads of state/government of the various EU member states, delegates will act as representatives of their member state as a whole. The goal of the European Council meeting this week at Berkeley Model United Nations' 69th conference will be to debate, craft, and pass resolutions informing and giving an impetus to guide policy and action for the European Commission. Luckily, standard BMUN procedure will be followed which means that although we will be running a mock European Council of sorts, it will function exactly like any Bloc A or Bloc B committee at BMUN. We will still use the speaker's list, informal and formal caucus, and working papers and resolutions will be written, voted on, passed, and amended the same way.
For a refresher of BMUN procedure check out our BMUN learn website.
Preparation
Additionally, here are some ways you guys can prepare for committee specifically and what we're looking for during committee.
- Delegates should know their member state's history with and accession to the European Union. However, delegates should focus more importantly on having a working understanding of the political scene of their member state (for example: parliamentary makeup, political scandals, etc) and the role that their member state plays in the European Union. We want delegates to display the attitudes and actions of their respective member states as if the current head of state were at this EU summit.
- Delegates should also provide a brief analysis of each topic as it pertains to their member state during debate. Delegates' knowledge of the topic as it pertains to their state should answer the questions:
- How has this topic affected the member state? What events pertaining to this topic have transpired in recent history?
- How has the member state dealt with this topic? What events have transpired recently pertaining to this topic?
- Here is a great chance to again reflect the current political makeup of the member state. For example, a member state might look more favorably upon non-democratic political means if the ruling party or head of that member state has taken non-democratic/authoritarian steps in recent history. Or the member state might look more favorably upon expanding the role of the military in the EU if it has expressed such desires recently. We really just want to see that you all know and can imitate how your member states' heads of state would respond to the idea of finding solutions to these issues. Not all member states in the EU necessarily want to end their authoritarian rule just like many member states in the EU want to create a formal military.
- Resolutions should provide recommendations for the European Commission to adopt. We recommend that delegates come prepared with 2-4 action(s) that they want to be adopted by the European Commission in order to combat/support/defend/deny/repudiate the topic (depending on the attitude reflected by their member state).
- Resolutions, like your time throughout the conference, should again reflect the current political attitude of the member state in regards to the topic and should accurately represent such attitudes in the recommendation. It might be helpful for like-minded countries to band together.
- Here are things resolutions can include:
- They may propose legislation to the European Commission so that the Commission can encourage European Parliament to adopt said legislation.
- They can also propose amending current workings of the executive or legislative branch of the EU.
- They can advise funding changes, create new departments, etc.
- Resolutions here are open to interpretation, and are encouraged to be imaginative yet feasible. Additionally, they should be guided by the governing Treaties of the EU and EU law, but should also accurately reflect the member state’s attitude toward the topic.
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