Enlargement of the EU: Dutch and German pupils were discussing

Pupils from Lüdinghausen/Germany and Zwolle/the Netherlands slipped in roles of European protagonists in the framework of the simulation “Fokus Balkan” which took place in the Academy Klausenhof from 24th to 26^th of October 2015. They debated if Albania, Macedonia, Montenegro and Turkey should be welcomed as new member states of the EU. The participants from the Richard-von-Weizsäcker-Berufskolleg in Lüdinghausen and from the Deltion College in Zwolle had been discussing intensively for three days the pros and cons of enlargement. At the end, they opened only for one of the three countries the EU´s gates for membership. Previously, critical interviews took place with the applicant countries in the Council, the Parliament and the Commission in order to decide about the candidate status. Only Turkey could act convincingly, so that it reached the candidate status and could accomplish the accession negotiations successfully. Subsequently, a comparison was made with reality in which the participants could discuss questions about enlargement and could reflect on the simulation.