There is no sit-down on the international debate circuit: On 23 February, registration for the European Universities Debating Championships (EUDC or Euros) will open. This year’s EUDC will be held in Galway on Ireland’s west coast. Set your clocks for 12 a.m. GMT (that is 1 p.m. in Germany) that day when registration phase one starts, since in previous years the team cap of 200 has been filled quickly.

In that first phase you only have to submit five points: institution name, country, delegate leader’s name, contact e-mail and number of teams and judges registering. Please keep in mind that the number of teams is limited to three per institution. Those willing to send more are asked to announce that via e-mail by 9 March. That will be decided upon after the waiting list is exhausted. The order in which institutions register will be the basis for allocating teams. Nota bene: One spot will be reserved per eligible country, the registration team promises in a newsletter to the European debating community.

The further procedure includes the payment of a deposit of 50 Euros per person. This money has to be transferred until 23 March, in no case will it be refunded. On the contrary: Failure to pay will lead to removal from the registration list. The full transfer of the fees (265 Euros per person) has to be done by 27 April.

The registration may be found on the homepage of Galway Euros. More detailed information is available from registration [at] galwayeudc2011 [dot] ie.

The European Universities Debating Championships (EUDC or Euros) have been held annually since 1999. It was started in Rotterdam where 32 teams of two competed for the title. For the records: In Amsterdam, 192 teams competed for the very same title in 2010. Format has ever since been British Parliamentary Style (BPS), language of debate is English. Debaters from all over Europe and Israel take part in Euros and compete with each other in two categories: the open break (for native speakers) and “English as a Second Language” (ESL). Current champions are Eoghan Casey and Patrick Rooney (Kings Inn), ESL champions are Maja Cimerman and Filip Dobranic from Ljubljana. This year’s Euros will be held in Galway, Ireland, from 7 to 13 August. Chief adjudicator is Ruth Faller (Ireland), her deputies are Shengwu Li (Singapore), Simone van Elk (The Netherlands), Steven Nolan (Ireland) and Yoni Cohen Idov (Israel). Isabelle Loewe from Debattierclub will be Equity Officer. During the Euros, the EUDC Council will sit and for instance decide about the host of next year’s championship. Currently, Belgrade (Serbia) and Leeds (Britain) are both bidding for staging the European Universities Debating Championships 2012.

apf / glx