Mock Council of the European Union 2009 - Cardiff, Wales

In September 2009, students from across Wales gained an insight into the corridors of power when the Welsh Assembly Government, in partnership with the European Commission Office in Wales, staged a Mock Council of the European Union. The event, in its second year, took place in the National Assembly for Wales youth debating chamber, Siambr Hywel, in Cardiff Bay.

Organised by the European and External Affairs Division, the event saw 16 18 year olds from twenty-seven schools and colleges from across Wales debate and vote two topical issues affecting the EU the Euro and the use of Referenda. Each of the participating schools represented one of the twenty-seven Member States of the EU and the European Commission, with a team of two students per school taking on the role of government ministers. It was a very lively, and at times, often heated debate! The students had clearly researched well. The UK was represented by two students from a school in Barcelona, as Wales has a long standing bilateral relationship with Catalonia.

The event was opened by Jane Hutt, then Minister for Children, Education, Lifelong Learning and Skills, and chaired by Sandy Mewies AM, then Chair of the National Assemblys European and External Affairs Committee. Another key speaker was Andy Klom, Head of the European Commission Office in Wales.

The event was hugely successful, with excellent feedback from teachers. Invitations for the Mock Council 2010 will be sent to every secondary school and college in Wales in April/May 2010.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• www.wales.gov.uk/international