On Wednesday, 4th of December 2019, the first negotiations of individual sections of 2020 Model Conference took place in the Assembly Hall of the University of Economics. Students have had an opportunity to negotiate as a part of their preparation for the final conference that is to be held in April under the auspices of the President of the Slovak Republic.
The Economic Section discussed the fulfilment and evaluation of success of the European integration in the last decade in relation to the Europe 2020 Strategy, as well as the strategy for the European Union for 2030. During the first negotiations the Section concentrated on finalization of European Monetary Union and resolving of the debt crisis. Then the Section talked about research and development with regard to multilingualism in Europe, digitalization, automatization, migration, enlargement of the European Union and energy. The most discussed issue has been the finalization of EMU and the delegates mostly turned to the delegation of Sweden.
The Environmental Section dealt with countries‘ attitude related to climate changes, application of obligations by the international community in the context of the Paris Agreement. The Section concentrated on two fundamental problems – air pollution and deforestation, with the first problem being the most discussed one. The objections and comments were raised by delegations of China and the USA, as well as their withdrawal from the Paris Agreement. The Section wanted to make a compromise but it was impossible due to the USA’s unwillingness to cooperate. As a result of fiery debate the Section did not manage to talk about the second problem.
As a part of cooperation with the Faculty of Arts of the Comenius University students of translation and interpreting have had an opportunity to come and experience interpreting in real life. The students interpreted from English language into Slovak and consequently from Slovak into German.
The first negotiations of 2020 Model Conference has been a great success without any complications, thanks to pleasing work atmosphere not only in the Assembly Hall, but in the interpreter’s cabins and meeting rooms as well. We’ve had a chance to negotiate at representative level for the first time and we are looking forward to applying the skills and knowledge acquired into our next negotiations.
