What would you do as a Member of the European Commission?

This semester, the School of Public Affairs introduced a new teaching tool for the students of its Master in European Affairs: “The EU Simulation”.

180 students learned about the decision-making process within the European institutions through a simulation class that covered different challenges and represented all involved stakeholders (MEPs, European Council and European Commission representatives, journalists, lobbyists, and experts). This module was supervised by Martin Krizik, the Master's academic advisor, and a team of teachers who have been running it for several years at the College of Europe in Belgium.

The programme started in February 2024 with four-hour classes every two weeks and ended in May with an intense one-week negotiation phase that led to a split into two teams: the MEPs joined the Emile Boutmy lecture hall, turned into the European Parliament, and the diplomats from the Member States were gathered in the Albert Sorel/Leroy-Beaulieu lecture hall, turned into the Council of the EU.

This brand new innovative tool launched by the School of Public Affairs enabled students to apply what they had learnt to fairly technical subjects (such as the protection of animals during transport) in a very practical way, while at the same time developing their soft skills (team spirit, real time analysis, stress management, public speaking).