EuroSim 2024 at the SUNY Brockport, NY

From 10 April 2024 to 14 April 2024, the Europa-Institut participated in EuroSim, organized by the State University of New York, College of Brockport. This year's simulation of an EU legislative process involved adapting a real-life draft for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the comprehensive regulation of artificial intelligence (also known as the AI Act). The Europa-Institut students took on the role of the Commission, among others, and were responsible for drafting the Commission proposal for the regulation, which formed the basis for the legislative process. The following is an experience report from this year's competition trip to the United States.

 

11 April 2024 

Like every EuroSim event, the first day began with an excursion. This year, it was a trip to Niagara Falls on the border between Canada and the USA. The excursion served as the first networking event for the participants. 

The simulation itself began with the first plenary session in the afternoon. There, the program of the simulation was presented by the European and American student directors. This was followed by organizational sessions. The students were divided into groups according to their assigned roles. Together with the student directors, the Council Secretariat, the President of the European Council, the President of the European Parliament, the Council Presidency and the Commission, played by students from the Europa-Institut, took part in a coordination meeting for the simulation. Students playing Member States, Members of Parliament and other political group leaders exchanged views on the Commission's draft, coordinated their positions on the issue and formed coalitions with relevant actors.  

12 April 2024 

The discussions on the following day were held in the so-called standard format with three committees and their respective members. The Commission was divided between the committees. Commissioners took part in the Committee of the European Parliament and in the meetings of the European Council and the Council of the EU. Students playing Heads of Government and Members of the European Parliament were also divided between the committees and the European Council. 

Anticipating that the committees would be particularly political, students prepared to play technocrats in the hope that a rigorous assessment of what is and is not permissible under EU law would invalidate impending amendments. In particular, the legal expertise of the Europa-Institut students was used to play out arguments in their favor.

This not only led to interesting discussions, but also gave the other participants an insight into the law of the European Union and its strengths and weaknesses from a comparative law perspective. 

These discussions continued throughout the day and were concluded with a second plenary session in which the Presidents of the European Council, the Commission and the European Parliament reported on the day.

Journalists were allowed to speak and ask critical questions. After a day full of discussions, the participants had some free time.  

13 April 2024 

The discussions from the previous day were continued on the third day. The students met in both standard and non-standard sessions. While the Heads of Government and MEPs defended their positions and formed coalitions on this basis, the Commission defended the Union's position. The Commission held short meetings during the ongoing committees to discuss progress and strategies. Journalists were able to move back and forth between the committees and had the opportunity to hear and interview members of the delegations.  

A third plenary session took place in the afternoon, after which the regular sessions continued.  

By the end of the day, the Council and Parliament had finalized their proposed amendments and the rapporteurs produced a compiled version of the draft Artificial Intelligence Regulation. 

This was followed by an evening banquet as a celebratory closing event. 

 

14 April 2024

In the morning of the last day of the simulation, the delegates of the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission prepared for the trilogue negotiations. These were led by the Commission. The vote by raise of hands resulted in a clear majority in favor of adopting the regulation.  

The final plenary session concluded the simulation. In this session, the regulation was formally adopted by Parliament and the Council. The organizers' closing speeches were accompanied by an award ceremony. The team from the Europa-Institut received two prizes from the EuroSim organizers. Firstly, the participant playing Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was honored for her constructive and dedicated work before and during the simulation. Secondly, the team from the Europa-Institut received the most votes overall in the individual categories and was therefore the most successful team. 

This marked the end of EuroSim and three and a half days full of new experiences for the participants of the program. The preparation for the simulation and the simulation itself was a very valuable didactic experience for the students. The learning ranged from the legal understanding they needed to develop to the interpersonal skills they needed to foster to ensure they could fulfill their role effectively and benefit the team and the simulation as a whole. The opportunity to learn more aspects of European law in relation to European politics is one of the many benefits students can take away from the simulation. 

 

14 April – 17 April 2024 

After the simulation, the excursion team traveled to New York City to spend the remaining three days in this dynamic global metropolis before flying back to Frankfurt. This part of the trip was, and should have been, seen by the participants as a reward for their efforts of the previous days, but above all included exciting excursions to the United Nations and the German Permanent Representation to the United Nations. At both institutions, the students gained an insight into the workings of the UN. Firstly, from the side of the international organization itself. The team was able to attend a session of the General Assembly and once from the perspective of the German Diplomatic Representation. The visits were rounded off with specialist presentations by staff members. In each case, an exciting discussion evolved with the experts on current topics such as the Middle East conflict and international efforts to combat climate change.