West Coast MEU Blog Post
Trevor Weinstock
Last March, I had the great privilege and opportunity of representing Pitt at the West Coast Model EU at the University of Washington’s campus in Seattle. This was the first large-scale Model EU that I had participated in, and although I was nervous, I came prepared. Before heading out to Seattle, I had taken a Politics of the Model EU course at Pitt, where I was able to enhance my knowledge of European politics and be able to participate in a Model EU simulation. Through this, I had a good idea of what to expect going forward.
I represented the small and proud state of Slovenia and acted as their Prime Minister. For the convention, we were discussing proposals to create a European Sky Shield initiative (in response to the Russo-Ukrainian War) and to establish a new Energy Resilience Fund. When coming into the Model EU, I had created a proposal paper that thoroughly detailed Slovenia’s stances on both of these issues based on Prime Minister Golob’s beliefs, as well as the Freedom Movement Party’s beliefs. Overall, we supported both initiatives, with plans to make some minor changes to the Energy Resilience Fund proposal.
The convention began with a nice dinner on the University of Washington’s campus. It was wonderful meeting students from all across the country who shared similar interests to me in international relations. There were students from the University of Wyoming, the University of British Columbia, the University of California-Berkeley, the University of Idaho, and so many other colleges. It’s always a pleasure meeting people from all over and learning about their love for EU politics. During the negotiating sessions, it was interesting and unique hearing different country’s discuss their opinions on the issues at hand. I made sure to take notes on every country’s stance in order to know which countries I should try to work with over the course of the convention. During the negotiation sessions, I made sure to work with other students to pass through legislation and continue improving upon the proposals shown to us.
Overall, It was a great learning experience working with other member states to try to move proposals through the EU and advance both causes. Overall, participating in this Model EU allowed me to enhance my knowledge on European politics and improve my negotiating skills. I was able to work with countries throughout the EU to push through policies that may have helped people. This experience has helped me gain a better understanding of foreign relations and policy-making. I hope to continue improving upon these skills and use this knowledge in my future career.
This publication was produced with the financial support of the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of UNC, Pitt, and FIU, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.
