Posted on 10 January 2018
The Specque, founded in 1998, is the most important francophone simulation of the European Parliament. It gives the opportunity to students from different backgrounds to be immersed into a concrete European policy-making process and to apprehend it from both a legal and a political perspective. After this one week of simulation, participants gain a better understanding of the EU political scene, develop their drafting skills but above all learn a lot about themselves and the art of compromising.
During one week, each delegate slipped into the skin of an member of European Parliament or another actor of the political scene such as lobbyist or journalists. Each delegate is part of committee dedicated to the negotiation of a text. The texts chosen by the Specque administration and sent a couple of months before the simulation, reflect really topical European issues. During the XXe edition, delegates had to debate on the protection of whistle-blowers, the creation of a European budget for the defence, the regulation of civil drones and the regulation of cosmetic products.
The EUI environment allows the best preparation possible for the SPECQUE. On an academic level, EUI delegates generally master key European hot-topics by evolving in a European community and by being in permanent contact with European academics. This awareness and comprehensive approach to European issues is without a doubt a clear advantage compared to the other teams. Nevertheless, the participation of the EUI would not be possible without the financial support over the years of the presidency and the heads of department. Overall, the EUI administration has always been receptive and supportive of the project. This help takes away a lot of stress from the delegates and allow them to easily combine the Specque and their doctoral work.
Thanks to this constant support and the motivation of the researchers, the EUI has participated in the last three editions of the SPECQUE. Since its first participation in 2015 to the last one in 2017, the EUI team has always managed to gather around the project native and non-native French speakers. The EUI team is then often acknowledged for its diversity and multicultural origins, qualities which are the core of the EUI PhD program.
Composition of the 2017 EUI team
For the 2017 edition, the team was composed with:
Théo Fournier, France – Law Department
- Political party: GUE (Gauche Unie Européenne)
- Commission: JURI (Protection of the Interests of Whistle-Blowers)
Martin Weinrich, Germany – SPS Department
- Political Party: ELDD (Europe de la Liberté et de la Démocratie Directe)
- Commission : TRAN (Regulation of the Using of Civil Drones)
"Last year was my first participation in the Specque and I must say that I am glad I took the lead as head of delegation. The Specque has this something unique which is a duplication of the political interests and battles taking place in the every-day life of the European Parliament. Most of the delegates take their role seriously and then contribute to high-level academic and political exchanges. I learned a lot about myself and my capacity to compromise and go beyond my legal knowledge. With this kind of exercise, we, lawyers, realize how law and politics are intertwined. I was also struck about the notoriety of the EUI abroad and I took a genuine pleasure to discuss the PhD program and how our expertise could contribute to policy-making". (Théo Fournier)