European Parliament Financial Transaction Tax simulation

NEGOTIATING THE FINANCIAL TRANSACTION TAX IN THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

I. Simulating Reality?
The rules of the game are devised to simulate a real life policy debate as thoroughly as possible, while keeping the game exciting and playable. Players must learn to speak and argue as politicians, while researching and understanding a complex taxation debate on whether and how to tax financial transactions. Participants will receive instant feedback on their performance by a jury of experts. The European Commission's proposal for a Financial Transaction Tax (FTT) forms the basis of the debate in the European Parliament. The proposal was unveiled on the 28th of September 2011 as part of President Barroso's State of the Union speech at the European Parliament in Strasbourg. Thus the players will get a chance to try their political skills in a debate, which is currently in the focus of media and public interest, many stakeholders arguing for or against the proposal.

The objective for the Members of the European Parliament (Members) is to adopt a report amending the Commission's proposal and highlighting the priorities of the European Parliament. (Due to time constraints in the game, the report cannot contain more than 3 amendments to the Commission proposal.) Both the European Commission and the Presidency of the Council will be present at the negotiations, arguing their position and answering Members questions.

II. Teams
The following teams participate in the game:
 * The 7 European Parliament political groups, non-attached members,
 * The Commission of the European Union
 * The Presidency of the Council of the European Union (The size of the teams will depend on the exact number of participants.)

All Members of the European Parliament will be attributed a nationality in addition to their political group identity.

The composition of the political groups will be selected by random draw. In November 2012, as in real life, the Presidency is held by the Republic of Cyprus. The composition of the Presidency and the European Commission team will be decided by the organizers as their performance is critical to a balanced and enjoyable game. The performance of these teams will be assessed separately by the jury focusing on their efforts to reach a compromise.

For an up-to-date book of rules and additional information, please contact Gergely Polner, the European Parliament's UK Information Office in London: gergely.polner@europarl.europa.eu