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MEP Salzburg 2014

13. Nationale Sitzung des
Model European Parliament Austria
Salzburg 23.–26.1.2014

Preparation work and meetings

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Presidents and Committee Presidents in Salzburg

Letter from the presidents

Honourable Delegates,
venerable Committee Presidents and
distinguished Student Media Officers,

It is a great pleasure to welcome you to the 13th national session of the Model European Parliament. We are delighted to be hosting this session in Salzburg from 23rd to 26th January.

Salzburg is a great place for an MEP session: It has always been a cultural centre. Being known as the city of Mozart it attracts tourists, famous artists and guests from all over the world. There are many reasons to come: Sound of Music, skiing, the picturesque city centre, the ‘Salzburger Festspiele’ in summer, Pfingst-and Osterfestspiele and, just when you will be here, the Salzburger Mozartwoche, the celebration of Mozart’s 258th birthday! A visit to Salzburg would not be complete without some music; therefore we will be seeing a performance on Saturday evening.

We have prepared a packed programme at Salzburg’s most interesting venues, ‘Altes Rathaus’ and the assembly hall of the federal government at Chiemseehof. The culinary and cultural highlights will be our visit to a traditional ‘Wirtshaus’ and the famous Balkangrill where Bosna was invented. The committee meetings will be held at the two participating schools, the Bundesgymnasium Nonntal and the Akademisches Gymnasium Salzburg.

However, the most important part of the MEP is you, the participants. You will meet intelligent and like-minded students representing their federal state, you will work on current topics and you will discuss different opinions and suggestions before agreeing on resolutions that will be presented in the General Assembly on Sunday. You will have the opportunity to build friendships and make contacts with people from all over Austria that can last the rest of your lives.

How successful the weekend is for you also depends on how much effort you are willing to put into it. Do not hesitate to try new things, prepare your topic and voice your opinion. Participating actively might involve things that you have never done before, like holding a speech in front of many people in English or answering a question without having much time to prepare. This can be intimidating but the MEP is a chance to try what you have never done before and find out skills that you were not aware of before. Be confident and you will notice that you can take an active part in shaping the results of this weekend’s discussion. You will experience first-hand how the decision-making process of the ‘real’ European Parliament works.

In May 2014 this ‘real’ European Parliament will be elected and as the minimum age to cast your vote is 16 in Austria (the only country in the EU) most of you will have the opportunity to vote and decide Europe’s future.

Therefore we have invited Dr. Paul Rübig, an Austrian Member of the European Parliament and Dr. Wolfgang Wolte, former Austrian ambassador to Brussels and Peking as well as influential people from Salzburg to give us their views on the European Union. 

We are looking forward to an interesting and productive session and a lot of fun. If you have any questions your Committee Presidents and we are happy to help.

Your presidents,

Mengfan Böhm (Bundesgymnasium Salzburg-Nonntal), Alexander Brenn, Lukas Joura and Sebastian Saxinger (Theresianische Akademie Wien), Hannah Niese (Akademisches Gymn. Salzburg ’13, King’s College London/LSE)