Junten Junior High School / Senior High School

On Tuesday November 15th, Ambassador Magnus Robach came to Junten to give a special lecture for the European Union’s “EU Comes to Your School” project.  Mr. Robach gave a presentation for the first year high school students. The “EU Comes to Your School” program is an effort made by the EU to inform young learners about the EU, including its history, political role, ongoing projects and public engagement activities.  It is a very popular program and schools throughout Japan apply to the have the lecture at their campuses.  

Ambassador Robach is from Stockholm, Sweden. Stockholm is where the Nobel Prize Award Ceremony takes place. Sweden is as large as Japan, but the population there is about ten million. The country has about 90,000 lakes and has four seasons. Each season is different and Swedish people enjoy the unique beauties that each season offers. Swedish is the official language and 90% of Swedish people speak English.

The Ambassador started with the question, “What is EU?”  The EU was originally established by the Treaty of Paris and started as the European Coal and Steel Community’s effort to achieve peace and prosperity. Six countries were in this original community.  Through the establishment of the community, six countries were able to control the production of coal and steel, which were staple materials for war weapons. It was believed that the community would be able to make war unthinkable and also materially impossible. Currently there are 28 member states.

The EU illustrates unity in diversity, recognizing and respecting the differences of each member state. The Ambassador’s analogy using soccer/football was accurate and easy to understand : “It is like a football team. Each player has a different role, but unites to work as a stronger team.”

The EU flag has 12 yellow stars in a circle on a navy background. This flag symbolizes both “unity” and “identity.”  The 12 star-circle symbolizes “harmony.”  In Europe, the number 12 stands for tradition, perfection, and unity.

There are four basic conditions to be an EU member state :  the country should have a free-market economy, a stable democracy, a fair justice system and established human rights. Member states are required to accept all EU legislation. After joining, members can benefit from free flowing travel, trade, and education among the EU countries.

Freedom of travel is an wonderful idea, however the EU is currently facing the extremely difficult issues of refugees. The EU has not come up with standardized measures that all the members agree upon to deal with the refugees, therefore Ambassador Robach stated,  “Europe is very complicated and the issues surrounding refugee relocation are very difficult.”  

The EU and Japan share similar values, such as democracy and human rights, and they have worked together closely in the past. In the future,  the EU expects Japanese students to take advantage of what the EU has to offer, such as studying and researching in EU member states. In addition, there are high expectations for growing collaboration efforts leading to increased innovation.

At the end of the lecture, there was a fun quiz to check the students’ understanding of the EU. Students did well on the quiz!

Following the lecture, students took Ambassador Robach on the campus tour.

First, students showed the Ambassador the library and the cafeteria. At the cafeteria, students explained the lunch voucher vending machine, explained how to buy a voucher, and what kind of lunch menus are available. At the library, the Ambassador asked, “what will happen if you don’t return a rented book on time?”  One student jokingly answered, “We will receive a red flag.”  

The Ambassador and the students moved to a meeting room. A special Q&A session was scheduled after the tour. Students asked questions such as “How do you think the US presidential election will affect the EU?”, “I learned today that you can move around the EU countries without a passport, but what kind of countermeasures for terrorism exist?” and “When did Sweden join the EU? How will the relationship evolve in the future?” The Ambassador took time to clearly explain his responses to each question until the students’ curiosity was satisfied.

Ambassador Robach flew in from Singapore the day before his lecture, but he did not mind going over time and sincerely answering each student’s question. It was as if he was talking with journalists at a press conference. Students were a little nervous sitting in front of Ambassador Robach, but it was a fruitful experience for them. Thank you very much Ambassador Robach!