European Parliament (Parlamentum Europaeum)Since its first direct election in 1979, the European Parliament (EP) is the parliamentary component of the European Union and represents the voice of the European citizens. Ever since its creation, it has gradually extended its competences. From the Lisbon Treaty onwards, it forms the bicameral legislative branch of the Union together with the Council of Ministers and can therefore directly influence legislation. Consisting of 736 members representing more than 375 million eligible European voters, this powerful institution truly embodies the diversity of the EU. The Members of Parliament from all 27 Member States are organized in seven political groupings according to their national political orientation..
Topic Studyguide
Studyguide European Parliament
EuroMUN will handle the ordinary legislative procedure (formerly known as Codecsion procedure) where Council of the EU and European Parliament are dealing with the same topics, respectively a proposal prepared by the European Commission.
Topic Overview
Topic A: The revision of the EU return policy The Returns Directive was adopted by the co-legislators in 2008 and the directive has become in a very short time one of the most debated laws of the European Union. The directive’s primary aim was to implement a uniform system of treatment of illegal immigrant in every Member State. Although 2 years of implemention period was provided for the Member States, many of them failed to align with the newly adopted community rule in the given time-period. The preparation and the debate of the draft legislation already received a notable amount and definitely negative media attention in 2008, however, the the immense amount of criticism by political leaders from South-America and from the United States was addressed to the EU Intitutions only after the adoption of this particular piece of legislation. The EU was labelled to be xenophobic and the directive itself became famous in the media as the „Directive of Shame". Taking into consideration the afore-mentioned criticism the task of the co-legislators at EuroMUN will be the revision of the Return’s Directive and its possible reform.
Topic B: The revision of the EU data protection directive Europe has a long history of data protection standards and legislation. Some of these have been amended over time while others will be reviewed in 2012. Legislation always follows technological and societal advances and it is a challenge for data protection authorities to keep pace with these advances and apply legislation and develop policy in rapidly changing circumstances. Therefore it is the task of you honourable delegates to revise and update the EU data protection directive 46/95 from the year 1995. During the last 17 years, many new technologies have advanced, which are nowadays in conflict with data protection issues, such as the rapid development of social networks and e-commerce. Nowadays, the privacy of individuals is affected by a number of intersecting drivers, including the need to process personal information for social and economic reasons, technological developments and trends. New possibilities such as e-Commerce and e-Government are becoming more centred on personal information. Hence, it is of major importance to develop new proposals that will strengthen individual rights and tackle the challenges of globalisation and new technologies.