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Tuesday, 11 December 2007

What is a position paper?


A position paper is a written statement with general information containing your national position on a specific subject matter. Here you write the general view of your country on certain issues and show a general direction which your country might take during negotiations. It is to serve the other delegates and you to facilitate negotiations.

However, a position paper is not intended to present your opinion in a great detail and show your negotiating position to the widest possible extent. Bear in mind that you should avoid showing your strengths and weaknesses, as well as your fallback position. It is crucial that you preserve a critical amount of information for yourself in order to have enough room for negotiations.

How will it benefit my preparation?


Writing a position paper on your own on the view of your country on a specific subject helps you much better understand your standing and grasp the complexity of defining your national position.

A position paper makes you critically assess your position and, while writing, identify potential strengths and weaknesses of the course of action you intend to take. Remember that, when writing yourself, you are also in a much better situation to memorize the most crucial arguments you want to use during negotiations.

It also helps you define your standing within an international surrounding by which you can identify your potential allies and/or states that are not positively inclined towards your view. It is an important part of your preparation and will definitely help you in conducting negotiations on your subject – when it matters most.

A position paper at EuroMUN


At EuroMUN we do not require you to submit a position paper and do not pose deadlines in this respect. The emphasis of the advantage of a position paper is for your own benefit and learning effectiveness.

In order for us to work properly and other delegates to assess your position in time we do encourage you to submit a position paper of your country not later than two weeks before the beginning of the conference. The position papers will be subsequently distributed to the respective committees.

Every delegate should submit its own position paper individually. In the case of organized delegations the head of the delegation – ambassador – should submit the compilation of the position papers of his delegation as a whole.