Rules and Roles Description of the Role-Play Simulation 2018

General rules: Preparing participants
Attendance at meetings
Authority of the Chair and his deputies
Types of procedural issues
Violation and interpretation of the rule
Issuance of certificates and diplomas
Download Full Rules Book and individual role description.

General rules

Familiarization and compliance with rules of procedure are the most important responsibilities of any participant of the Model. All participants of the Model are equal when it comes to the rules, regardless of the role and the institution.

The Secretariat reserves the right to change the roles of participants and posts in the Presidium by virtue of the game necessity.

Preparing participants

One of the most important tasks of the Model is to give participants the opportunity to learn about the specifics of diplomatic activity from their experience. It depends on the participants themselves how interesting and useful the Game will turn out to be. In view of this, the modelers are obliged to prepare appropriately for the Model by becoming familiar:

• with the Model's rules and any information circulated by the secretariat relevant to the Model and the preparation of participants;
• with the amount of information on agendas that are sufficient for successful work on these topics. Search for materials is carried out independently as well;
• with the activities of the EU, the EAEU, their institutions, the activities of other modeled actors, with the particularities of the institution in which the modeler will play, the specifics of the assigned role, its function and scope of responsibility.

For the most successful and interesting modeling, the position of the Modelist:

• representing a Member State of the EU or EAEU should not contradict or depart from the foundations of the current position of the state, contradict the generally accepted values and interests of the EU or EAEU;
• participating in the European Commission or the Eurasian Economic Commission, should not contradict the EU or EAEU policy framework, their values and interests;
• representing a deputy of the European Parliament or a deputy of the Parliament of the EAEU Member States, should not contradict the interests of the represented population group and the State concerned;
• representing the third state, must not contradict the basis of the position of the State concerned;
• representing business structures or non-profit organizations, should not contradict the position of the relevant structures and lobbyists’ standards of conduct;
• representing journalists, must comply with the generally accepted professional standards of media workers.

Attendance at meetings

Participants should not miss meetings, as absence can negatively affect the consideration of the position that the participant defended earlier on the general course of the Game, as well as the successful completion of the Model by the participant and the obtaining a participant's diploma.

A roll call takes place at the beginning of each meeting, and if a participant is late for it, he/she must send a written notification to the head of the institute about his/her arrival. Representatives of the media notify the head of the Department of Public Information about the arrival at the site. Lobbyists notify the Organizing Committee.

Each necessity to leave the session for more than 10 minutes should be accompanied by an information letter to the head of the institution, in which this necessity and the time for which the participant is absent are reported. When leaving or returning to the room, the participant must wait for a pause in the speeches and must not disturb other participants.

General provisions for all meetings of all institutions:

- working language of the Model - English;
- all participants in the Model are distinguished representatives of various groups and structures. Participants should address one another at meetings no other than "Dear (Mr./Ms.) Minister / Permanent Representative", etc. Other addresses are not allowed;
- politeness and correctness are the first and basic requirements to any statement;
- for any performance, it is necessary to stand up, thereby showing respect to the audience, unless otherwise permitted by the state of health;
- at all meetings participants must have a nameplate with their role name and personal badge that are included in the participant's package. The nameplate and the badge are your working tools; with their help you vote, you are recognized by name and people understand how to address you;
- in order to make your comment, proposal or ask a question, you need to raise the placard and wait until the Chairman of the meeting gives you the floor. If the Presidium does not give the floor to the participant, comments from the participants will not be taken into account;
- asking questions is possible only when it is permitted by the procedure; otherwise they will be ignored;
- all meetings of the Model are official events, the appearance of the participants should correspond to the responsibility assigned to them by the groups that delegated them;
- participants must respond appropriately to the Presidium's call for silence and order. If individual participants break the silence in the hall, ignoring the presidium's call for order, it may require seating of participants;
- the main goal of the participant's work is the development of a viable draft document that would help to resolve specific problems, which international organizations and their members are facing. Any actions of the participant, polemics, criticism, etc. should be constructive and have as their goal the improvement of the document being developed;
- participants’ comments, questions, suggestions and, in particular, the texts developed should be specific.

Authority of the Chair and his deputies

Despite the difference in the names of the Chairmen of the various institutions, their basic authority is similar in most cases:

To monitor compliance with the rules of procedure;
To open and close each meeting of its institution;
To take a roll call to establish a quorum;
To manage the debate in meetings;
To accord the right to speak;
To put questions to the vote;
To announce decisions.

Types of procedural issues

Participants should ask questions, guided by the institute regulations, as well as the type of question.

1. The question of personal privilege

Protection of the gaming rights or personal rights is considered by the presidium of all institutions in the first place.

The issue of personal rights and freedoms of participants can be excluded from the rules of addressing the Chairman. In this case, a written appeal may be sent to the presidium with a note - "the issue of personal rights" or "the issue of protection of gaming rights". The Chair is obliged to give the floor, if it is requested, at the earliest opportunity. The Chairman may also give a written response to the participant who asked the question. Issues of personal rights concern the organizational aspects of the meetings: temperature, ventilation, interruptions, poor audibility, permits to leave the premises and so on. The issues of personal rights can not concern the substantive issues under discussion.

When absolutely necessary participants who have issues of protection of gaming rights can approach the presidium and address the Chairman and Co-Chairman.

When absolutely necessary, the participants can leave the meeting, but this should be done between the performances and so as not to disturb other participants. The participant should go back, having waited a pause in statements and so that to not disturb others. For example: if you go into the audience and see that someone is performing, you need to sit on the first empty seat, wait for a pause in the speeches, and then go back to your seat.

2. Procedural issue

The issue can relate to everything that concerns the form, but not the content. Such a question can not interrupt the speaker and is not taken into account with a limited number of questions to the speaker. Speech can both contain a question about the compliance of an action with the rules of procedure, as well as a proposal to change them. A participant may put forward any procedural proposal provided for by the rules. In the event that his proposal is supported by at least one other participant and if after the speech none of the participants objects to the acceptance of the proposal, it is considered to be a consensus. If there is an objection, then the Institution move to a vote. Questions to speakers are not allowed.

3. Question to the Chairman

It can be a type of procedural issue or be aimed at getting expert advice from the Chairman.

4. Information question

It is always asked in the form of a phrase beginning with the words "Is the dear Ms. / dear Mr. Representative of the country / institution aware of..." In fact, such a question is a historical background pointing to a fact that the assessor considers important for the discussion of the problem. The information question should never be answered.

5. Right of reply

In the event that a participant believes that a complaint is made against him personally or against the institution that he represents, or if incorrect information is disseminated, he may demand the right of reply. The law applies only if the complaint or incorrect information is obvious. The Chairman has the right to refuse this right in case of limited time or obviousness of the inaccuracy / subject of the claim. In order to save time, the Chairman is also entitled to determine the form of granting the right to reply only in writing.

In the case of granting the right of reply, the participant shall have the opportunity to use this immediately after the consideration of the issues on the item under consideration. The best practice is the statement of formal objection. Questions to the speaker with the right of reply are not asked.

Violation and interpretation of the rule

Violation of the Model Rules implies a warning or sanction from the Presidium. The participant should familiarize with the rules, as ignorance of rules does not exempt a person from responsibility. In case of violation of the rules by the participant, the member of the Presidium is obliged to indicate which specific paragraphs of the rules are violated.

After two warnings a participant may be deprived of the right to vote until the end of the day, if such a decision is supported by a simple majority of votes. In case of repeated violation of the rules, such violation will be considered as intentional, and the leader is entitled to deprive the player of the right to vote until the end of the Model or remove him/her from the meeting in case of particularly serious violations if his decision is also supported by a simple majority.

In case of misinterpretation of the rule, unlawful imposition of sanctions, distortion of facts or unfair performance of the duties by the Presidium or its individual members, this fact shall be recorded in writing and brought to the attention of the Head of the Organizing Committee. The Head has the right to ask the opinion of the public majority or the press to make a decision on the incompetence of the head and his/her removal from office. A member of the Presidium is suspended from his duties, if 2/3 of those attending this institute speak for it.

Interpretation of the rules is carried out by any member of the Presidium, but the interpretation can not contradict the rules. In case of disagreement with the interpretation of rules by a member of the Presidium, the participant has the right to address with an explanation to the Head of the Organizing Committee or any person to whom the Head delegates the authority. Such interpretation is considered final and is not subject to challenge.

Issuance of certificates and diplomas

Participants may request the Secretariat to provide a certificate to the educational institution confirming that the modeler participated in the Model in the days of its holding. The head of any gaming institute accepts requests. Certificates are issued by the head of the institute as soon as it is ready, but no later than the first meeting of the next day or the last one on the final day. It is highly recommended to take care of the issuance of the certificate in the first days of the Model.

The diplomas of the participants of the Model are issued only if the participant attends at least 75% of the meetings or spends at least 75% of the playing time on the playground. The Head has the right to request the Secretariat to issue a diploma to the participant if he/she attended more than half, but less than 75% of the meetings, and made a special contribution to the work of the modeled entity. The most active participants of the Model are awarded with a special diploma for an active participation. The Secretariat does not issue diplomas before the official award ceremony.

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The project “Simulating EU-Eurasian Economic Union Negotiations to Encourage Transnational Active Learning and Civil Dialogue” addresses all three challenges above. Its goal is to set up a students’ role-play simulation game of negotiations between the EU and the EAEU on a deep and comprehensive free trade area. This game will involve both Russian and EU students, some EU students will be brought to St. Petersburg, where role-play simulation game will take place, others will be fully involved via online means.

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