Výroční zpráva 2007 - Evropské hodnoty o.s.

4.4 Educational Programme
Summer School 2007: Ways towards an eff ective
European Union
The Summer School belongs to the list of permanent
programmes of European Values. The intention is to
enrich and deepen the knowledge and understanding of
university students of the European Union, especially in
fi elds which are not commonly dealt with at universities.
Students have a unique opportunity to attend interactive
workshops and lectures delivered by leading scholars, and
experts with political experience, such as diplomats and
politicians. The programme is interactive and consists of
diverse workshops and simulations.
The second year of the Summer School programme
focused on “Ways towards an eff ective European Union”.
During the workshops twentyfour motivated university
students identifi ed the most urgent challenges which the
EU faces today. The students discussed these issues with
experts in the fi eld and also proposed recommendations
how should these challenges be addressed.
The Summer School 2007 also opened a panel discussion,
and among the speakers were Jana Hybášková, MEP, Ondřej
Liška, the Chairman of the Committee on European Aff airs
of the Parliament of the Czech Republic, and Marek More,
Deputy Vice Prime Minister for European Aff airs. The
20 Annual Report 2007
panel discussion was followed by lectures focusing on
defi ning problematic fi elds with the EU. Single lectures
also analyzed current EU policies and refl ected possible
solutions and challenges for the Czech Republic and
Europe in the 21st century.
The main speaker and academic guarantor was Vice
Dean Marketa Pitrová (Masaryk University, Brno). Professor
Pitrová analyzed the democratic defi cit and unconcern
of European Citizens in EU functioning. Member of the
European Parliament Josef Zieleniec spoke about the
politicization of European Institutions. Luděk Urban, Jean
Monet Professor at Charles University, introduced the
economical threats of European integration, and Tomáš
Karásek (Charles University) closed the event with a paper
analyzing the eff ectivness of EU external relations policy.
The academic lectures followed interactive workshops,
simulating the procedures of the European Parliament.
Students obtained practical knowledge of the European
Parliament, experienced how collaboration within factions,
committees and plenum works, and received a certain idea
of what it takes to be an MEP. The aim of the workshop was
to answer in a resolution the question: “What challenges
will the EU face in ten years time and how to get ready
now?”