On November 7, the 2014 Model European Council was held in Alumni Hall on the Sinchon Campus.  Sponsored by the Yonsei-SERI EU Center of the Institute of East and West Studies, the theme of this year’s Council was “Reevaluation of the Eastern Partnership.”   More than sixty undergraduate and graduate students from throughout Korea participated, representing the following institutions of higher learning:  Yonsei University, Korea University, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Busan University, Yeungnam University, Kyung Hee University, Sungkyunkwan University, Chung-Ang University, Hanyang University, Bukyoung University, and Seoul City University.

The student delegates, who represented different EU nations, spent the morning formulating their positions and submitting resolutions. These resolutions fell under such categories as: Political Section, Visa Liberalization, Economic Section, Civil Society, and Relations with Russia. In the afternoon, the delegates convened to discuss and debate the resolutions.

The Eastern Partnership (EP) is a joint initiative between the EU and Eastern European partner countries, and its aim is to establish stronger political, economic, and cultural links between EU nations and these partner countries who are interested in moving towards the EU. The EP is driven by a firm commitment to international law, good governance, human rights, and sustainable economic and social development.  Discussions at the Council largely focused on the effectiveness of the EP, with some delegates voicing strong support for the initiative, while others, especially those representing countries in Russia’s sphere of influence, expressed significant skepticism about the EP’s intentions. The results of these discussions were delivered to the representative committees of the EU.

The Model European Council is designed to promote greater understanding of the decision-making process within the EU, while promoting the EU’s top priority policies. 

Each student participant at this year’s Council was given an official commendation. The top seven teams received awards and were invited to take part in the EU-ROK Youth Forum, which was held November 26-28 in Brussels.