Council simulation event takes students behind the scenes of EU policy making
In the beginning of February, students from all EU Member States gathered at the Council of the European Union to take part in ConSIMium – a simulation exercise giving them a crash course in European policy making.
This first-ever edition of the event was a collaboration between the Council and the Swedish EU Presidency, with the participation of Swedish experts.
Six students from each Member State – 27 teams and 162 students in total – assumed the role of EU leaders, ambassadors, ministers, national experts and journalists. During the two-day event, they worked on authentic files in the transport and environment areas through simulated working parties, Coreper, and meetings of the European Council and the Council of the EU.
Students from Stockholm
The Swedish delegation comprised students from Stockholm University. Since Sweden is the current holder of the Presidency of the Council of the EU, their role – just like Sweden’s at the moment – was to chair the meetings. Hannah Bischoff, who studies European economic law, was assigned the role of national expert and led one of the working parties.
“It was a great experience, and also challenging. Representing the Presidency was a really interesting position, because with that our aim for the working party changed. Normally the Member States try to represent their own ideas, but we had to have more of an overview, identify the concerns and think of solutions.”
The second working party was led by Jenny Hedberg, who studies political science.
“I’ve learnt so much about what is needed to draft a proposal. You have to make sure it aligns with previous proposals, legislation, funding frameworks – all the requirements for good policy. The general atmosphere at the event has been that this is a cooperative project – that I and my country have a certain position, but still want to accommodate and understand others, and reach this higher goal that we have.”
The student journalists covered ConSIMium through doorsteps, a press conference and background reading. Sara Hadfy Högström, a journalism student at Stockholm University, was one of them.
“It was a lot of fun, but stressful! We had to write an article on a very technical topic based on limited contact with sources. I gathered so much experience and understanding of the complexity of the EU. It’s politics at its most complex and highest level.”
During the meetings, experts from the Swedish Presidency provided the students with support. Johan Krabb, Mertens – the coordinator for Coreper I working alongside the Ambassador – assisted the students at the simulated Coreper and ministerial meetings.
“I think that many of the students gained a good understanding of how things work – European cooperation in practice. We used authentic legislative proposals, which made it feel very realistic. I learned a lot too, and it was a bit of an aha moment, seeing what we do from an outside perspective. We have a responsibility to spread knowledge about the EU and the work we do at the Permanent Representation of Sweden to the EU, so an event like this is important. It also gives a broader view of what working for the EU can be like.”