Serving as the political executive of the European Union, the European Council is composed of the heads of state or government of each member-state, the President of the European Commission, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, and the President of the European Council itself. Although the body has no formal legislative powers, the collective direction of the national leaders of each member-state often provide a set of supranational political priorities and policy directives through the semi-annual summits which this committee will seek to simulate. The topic of this committee is “Preparing the Common Foreign and Security Policy for new geopolitical realities.” In the beginning of 2022, the European Council introduced “A Strategic Compass for Security and Defense,” a plan which seeks to streamline European defense policy in light of an evolving world order which challenges the prevailing rules-based international order, as evidenced by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In order to complement this new defense plan, delegates will provide an updated direction concerning the European diplomatic capacity, including possibly: revising the European Council’s decision-making process on foreign affairs concerning introducing qualified majority voting, streamlining the various European institutions tasked with foreign policy, and strenghtening the European Council’s own foreign policy capabilities.
*Position Paper Required*
About your director:
Cole is a second-year at the University of Florida studying International Studies as well as Foreign Languages and Literatures. Having participated in MUN for several years, Cole is very excited to have the honor of serving as Committee Director at the first ever SunMUN. Outside of MUN, Cole enjoys conducting research at UF’s Center for European Studies, annoying his friends with language fun-facts, and attempting (albeit poorly) at being funny with dad jokes and puns.