Registrations have now closed.

NZ & EU Free Trade – Driving Progress?   

EUCN in partnership with the NCRE  are excited to bring this fantastic event to Christchurch for another year!

In 2017, the European Union (EU) and New Zealand confirmed their commitment to pursue negotiations for a high quality and comprehensive free trade agreement (FTA). The EU is one of the most significant players on the global trading scene. It is the world’s largest single market, together, the EU’s 28 Member States account for 16% of world imports and exports. In recent years the EU has become Aotearoa/NZ’s second largest trading partner. New Zealand has been highly motivated to conclude an FTA with the EU for a number of years and welcomed the announcement.

The FTA is seen as an important step that may significantly increase bilateral trade and investment between the two partners. The FTA will remove tariffs (import duties), and other trade barriers and in this way make it easier and less expensive for New Zealand and EU businesses to export to each’s other markets. The FTA will lower costs for consumers, making things like food and other products cheaper for Europeans and New Zealanders.

However, the FTA is not just about trade. The FTA will include negotiations in areas such as sustainability and climate change, labour standards, and animal welfare and in doing so will be an opportunity to protect the environment as well as contribute to better living conditions in New Zealand and the EU.

Further, the European Parliament has recently announced an intention to speed up the negotiation process, a move designed to signal to the world that trade liberalism is alive and well (in contrast to global developments such as the election of Donald Trump and the BREXIT referendum).

Learn more about the NZ-EU FTA from the New Zealand perspective

So What is a Model EU?

Such agreements, though of exceeding importance, are very difficult to negotiate. This Model EU will give you the chance to not only experience, but be an integral part of a mock negotiation process.

We invite you to “step into the shoes” of a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) or New Zealand Government and negotiate an agreement for closer collaboration from their perspectives, to pave the way for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA). You will learn about the issues surrounding an FTA and how this impacts on current and future agreements, for instance on trade, migration, human rights, security and defence, and external relations.

Delegates will be assigned a political party and country to represent and then organised into working groups. You will then go through a series of negotiations both within your delegations (EU & NZ) and together in your working groups to find the best outcomes. Working groups will focus of topics such as Environment & Sustainable Development, Market Access/Trade, Security & Defence, and Human Rights/Refugees. Finally at the end of day two everyone will come together to work towards the final agreement.

This year there will also be the opportunity for people interested in journalism to experience this event from a different perspective, if this interests you select Journalism as your preference on your registration form.

2018 Canterbury Model EU Booklet to prepare yourself for the negotiations.

Event Details

Dates: Saturday & Sunday, 5+6 May 2018

Timetable: The event will start at 08.30am on Saturday with registration, programme start at 9.00am. The event finishes on Saturday at around 7.30pm. On Sunday the programme starts at 9.00am and concludes round 3.45pm. 

Please remember that the organisers have a duty of care for you. You MUST therefore sign out at registrations if you have to leave at any time during the event. 

Registrations: Registrations have now closed.

Financial support: A limited number of scholarships are available for students from low-decile schools, Maori, Pacifica or students with special needs and hardships. Mobility subsidies and limited accomodation options are available if you live outside the Christchurch region to assist you with travel and accommodation costs. Please contact Yvonne (email below) for more information.

Parental Consent: For participants under the age of 18 we require consent of your parental or legal guardian. During the registration you will need to indicate that you have their approval to participate – this is legally binding, so be sure that you have their approval before your register.

We also require the details of a parent or legal guardian and their emergency contact details. In the event of an emergency, we will contact them directly.

For more information please contact:

Yvonne Grosch
Phone +64 (0) 3 36 94 395, extension 94395
Yvonne.grosch@canterbury.ac.nz

       
With the support of the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union