Prizes for UM in EU simulation game

A delegation of third year European Studies students from Maastricht University has been victorious at EUROSIM, the world's oldest and largest European Union simulation game, which was held this year in Antwerp from 6-9 January. The delegation of 11 students won six individual prizes. This meant that Maastricht University won almost half of the total awarded prizes at the conference. In EUROSIM more than 20 leading American and European universities (including Cornell, New York University, Antwerpen, Maastricht, Twente, Saarbrucken, Bremen and Trier) and over 225 students participate.

The students of Maastricht were representing Italy at this year's EUROSIM, which addressed the mandate for future negotiations with Russia. This ranged from energy security to human rights and Russia's WTO accession. Over four days they met in the European Council, various other Council formations and the European Parliament to negotiate with the other students various pieces of this mandate.

The head of the Maastricht delegation, Sören Gurock, represented Silvio Berlusconi and received an award for his contribution to the European Council. Nikias Wagner as the Italian foreign minister, Jan Beyer as the economics minister and Jasper Ronda as the education minister also won prizes. Wassa Camara and Maarten de Haan furthermore won prizes representating Members of the European Parliament in the Committee on Foreign Affairs.

EUROSIM is an annual international, intercollegiate simulation of the European Union. This conference brings together over 225 students from more than 20 colleges and universities in the United States and Europe, offering participants a unique opportunity to work and learn in an exciting multicultural environment. In addition, by bringing American and European students together, EUROSIM provides students with first-hand experience in transatlantic relations. EUROSIM 2011 will be hosted in Philadelphia. More information can be found at
http://www.eusimulations.org


The student delegation of Maastricht went through an extensive preparatory process and was supervised in Antwerp by Hylke Dijkstra and Anke Schmidt-Felzmann, who are lecturers at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences of Maastricht University.

Source: Maastricht University