The simulation game "Young European Parliament" (JEP!) took place for the second time on February 12 in the large conference room of the Ludwigsburg district administration building. The simulation game was organized by the Ludwigsburg district association and the Baden-Württemberg state association of Young Europeans (JEF), with the support of the Ludwigsburg district administration. Around 55 pupils from the Ludwigsburg district took part in the simulation game, demonstrating that the JEP is once again attracting a great deal of interest. For one day, they were able to slip into the role of MEPs and experience what it means to represent different political positions, find compromises and vote on controversial issues at European level in various parliamentary groups and meetings. As a convinced European and the district's European representative, Huber Burkart welcomed the participants in the morning and said: "Fighting for Europe is worthwhile! It is important that you get involved as young people."
The simulation game has been held once a year in the state parliament since 2013 and has now been brought to the district level by the Young Europeans. Alexander Holder, project manager of the JEP! for the second time, on the objectives: "With a view to the European elections, we want to use our projects to give young people in particular an understanding of the importance of a common Europe. Through simulation games such as the Young European Parliament, we want to make the European Union more tangible and understandable for young people." Head of the District Office Hubert Burkart emphasized that the District Office is happy to support the simulation game once again because it is particularly important for young people to engage with Europe. He wished the pupils exciting and fair debates and insightful impressions of how a parliamentary democracy works.
The topic of the simulation game was the European Union's asylum and migration policy, a highly topical subject with which all the young people could already relate. Over the course of the day, the young people worked on a Commission proposal on the topic in their political groups and discussed numerous amendments. It became clear that reaching an opinion between 28 EU member states takes a lot of time and can be very complex. During the lively plenary debate, the participants learned that a great deal of compromise and negotiating skills are required to ultimately pass a joint law.
