Model European Union

April 18 is the anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1951, the agreement between Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and West Germany that created the European Coal and Steel Community, the earliest forerunner of the modern 27-nation European Union.

To help students learn more about the European Union, have them participate in a model EU to debate issues facing the organization. Briefly introduce students to the history and purpose of the European Union. You may want to access information from the European Union website.

With roots of the organization dating back to the 1950s, the multinational umbrella government sets policies on everything from the economy to health. The organization has grown from six countries in the 1950s to 27 countries by 2005. They can also access background information on Europe in its regional introduction.

On an EU map, show the students the member countries (including the candidate countries Croatia, Macedonia, and Turkey.)

Organize students into a model EU, with most of the class representing the member countries and a few representing the candidate countries. Assign each student to represent a specific country, either an EU country or a candidate country. In order to participate in this activity, students should read the CultureGrams report of the country they represent (and that of at least one of the candidate countries), so that they can support their country's interests in a debate.

Have the students each bring in at least one news article about an issue facing the EU. The article should deal with new member states, economic policy, or how to govern the EU. Then pick three main topics to debate, with at least one topic being the admission of new member countries.

Have students representing the member countries and candidate countries debate the pros and cons of admitting the new nations. Presentations should focus on the positive aspects of the countries and on what they can contribute to the European Union as a whole. Then have presentations on the other issues.

After all the presentations are given, have the students vote on the topics. They should be able to explain the rationale for their decisions to the class. Lead a follow-up discussion about what the students learned from the Model EU.