Achtung, the Germans! The teams from the German speaking regions make up one of the largest groups here at Galway Euros, the European Universities Debating Championships (EUDC and Euros) held in Ireland this year. 17 teams from Germany and Austria are competing for the title at the western coast of the Emerald Isle. To make sure you keep your fingers crossed for the right teams, we are presenting you with the names: ...

... Manos Moschopoulos and Art Ward. Besides live tweeting from the rounds and rooms, we've gone completely, no, not insane, but multimedia. You don't know who Manos and Art are? Then meet them in our video taken Monday night at Galway Euros. They are both involved in the Belgrade bid for Euros next year, Art is chief adjudicator and Manos one of the forces behind this bid from Serbia. The European Universities Debating Championships (EUDC or Euros) have been held annually since 1999. It was started in Rotterdam where 32 ...

“This house would bring back death penalty.“ Thus read the motion of round one. Easy starting for the first round of a major competition. Everybody would have discussed that topic before, be it as a debater or in an essay back at secondary school. On the other side, that made it quite difficult for the lower half of the tables to find good extension – opening fractions wouldn’t leave any arguments. In our room it ended up being a bit too much about psychopaths we’d say. But valid arguments on both sides helped ...

First things first: If you don't like Irish weather - just wait 15 minutes. It'll be better after that. And then again, after 15 minutes, it'll be worse than ever. And so on. That is only made up to by the people. They are amazingly friendly. You cannot get lost even if you are drunk as hell... there are people everywhere to help you. Only obstacle: The Irish accent. As soon as you get used to it, you're fine. It doesn't matter if you're booked for the finals at Euros or if you're ...

Leprechauns and a pot of gold - those of our appreciated readers who are travelling to Ireland this weekend are most probably not after goblins and treasures, but want one thing: the title as winners of the European Universities Debating Championships (EUDC or Euros). From Sunday to Friday, Galway at the West coast of Ireland will be stage to Europe’s greatest debate tournament. 200 teams of two are going to compete; they are from all over Europe and as far as from Israel and Qatar. And, of course, from Germany. Language of debate is English, the format is called British ...

A message from Fred Cowell, prospective chief adjudicator of the Leeds bid, reached Achte Minute just now. There he is very sorry that in Leeds they have concluded to withdraw their bid for the European Universities Debating Championships (EUDC or Euros) 2012 and not present it to the EUDC Council in Galway next week. His message reads as follows: ...

Somewhere around Newcastle Euros, I was sitting with Kimon Ioannides, Milan Vignjevic and Marko Cirovic when we came up with the idea of a Belgrade Euros. At the time, we had no idea what it took to run the tournament; it just seemed like a genuinely good idea. Our instincts, two years later, are probably proven right as the University of Belgrade and the Open Communication Debating Network have put together a very strong bid to host the next round of the European University Debating Championships. We ...

Wanting to go to the Galway Euros as an independent judge? Then remember to register for the European Universities Debating Championships (EUDC or Euros) until April 6. Write an e-mail to judges@galwayeudc2011.ie containing your contact details, a CV and any institution you have previously attended. Taking part at Galway Euros will cost you 265 Euros – the same the debaters pay for competing. More information on the registration as an independent judge is available from the Galway Euros homepage. The European Universities Debating Championships (EUDC or Euros) have been held annually since 1999. It was started in Rotterdam where 32 teams ...

No joke: You all have to re-register for Galway Euros, as convenor Nollaig O'Scannlainn revealed in a mail to the international debating community. During yesterday's registration process the system failed, hence not everybody could register for this year's European Universities Debating Championships. The order of registration cannot be guaranteed as of now. So in the interest of fairness, the registration will be repeated for all institutions on 2 March at 12 a.m. GMT, that is 1 p.m. in Berlin, 2 p.m. in Jerusalem and 3 p.m. in Moscow. Until then, the org comm ensure that problems like those of yesterday ...

Don’t miss it: Register today for European Universities Debating Championships (EUDC or Euros) in Galway! Please use the online registration form on the homepage of Galway Euros. Notice that there is a time shift: From Germany, register at 1 p.m., from Jerusalem, register at 2 p.m. and from Moscow, register at 3 p.m. Standard is 12 a.m. Greenwich Mean Time. Experience teaches that the team cap of 200 will be filled quickly (i.e. within seconds) so try to be quicker than the others! In that first phase you only have to submit five points: institution name, country, delegate leader’s name, contact ...

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 ...

The Leeds Debating Union (LDS) is bidding for hosting the European Universities Debating Championships (EUDC or Euros) 2012. Since we have already introduced the Belgrade bid to you, Achte Minute now talked to James Wood, the prospective convenor of the Leeds bid, who revealed his excitement for organising events and projects, seven good reasons to chose Leeds over Belgrade and the adjudication team. Achte Minute: When and how did you come up with the idea of hosting next year’s Euros? James Wood: The idea of making a Euros bid was something I'd thought of before I joined the committee of the Leeds ...

Let the competition begin: Two cities bid for hosting the European Universities Debating Championships (EUDC or Euros) 2012. The bidders are Leeds from the English county West Yorkshire and the Serbian captial Belgrade. In addition to that, there's an alleged bid from London's BPP Debating Society - rumour has it that this a hoax. Belgrade composed a prominent team. Convenor is Milan Vignjević. His bid is backed-up by the University of Belgrade. But he himself has gained a lot of experience as both debater and convenor: He broke to ESL qurters at Amsterdam Euros 2010 and is co-convenor of the Belgrade ...

The current president of the EUDC Council, Jens Henning Fischer, has been elected president of the WUDC Council in Botswana tonight. He succeeds Sam Greenland from Sydney, Australia in office. It was in July this year when Jens had been re-elected EUDC president at Euros in Amsterdam. Two offices at the same time? No, Jens revealed to Achte Minute, he will resign from his office as EUDC president and announce a successor after consulting the committee. On board of his WUDC team are Steven Johnson (Alaska, USA) and Simone van Elk from The Netherlands. Steven is the new registrar, Simone functions ...

Even old stagers among those debating in the German speaking scene do very often not know what the EUDC Council really is. First things first: EUDC stands for European Universities Debating Championships a.k.a. Euros. But what is it that hides behind the “Council”? The one who knows about it in detail is Jens Fischer from Berlin Debating Union. He has been re-elected president of EUDC Council at this year’s Euros in Amsterdam. When Achte Minute asked him about his being voted, he laughed – his old and new office comes with a great workload rather than fame. [caption id="attachment_4895" align="alignright" width="180" caption="Jens ...

Photos and reports of the EUDC 2010 – here you get the links and insights into the tournament! ...

There is an official version of the tab, by now you can find the ESL Final online, and so on… Here comes a bunch of links that recall the European Universities Debating Championship (EUDC)! ...

Achte Minute interviewed participants of Amsterdam EUDC 2010 and now proudly presents the official Achte Minute video on EUDC 2010. Have fun! Achte Minute is the German and German-speaking debaters' online magazine.

Achte Minute scanned the tab distributed after the grand final. You can now find the EUDC 2010 Team Tab and the EUDC 2010 Speaker Tab online. Surely the tabs will be published officially soon. Top Ten Speaker: 1. Fred Cowell, ULU B (London) 2. Sam Block, Manchester A 3. Jack Watson, Cambridge A 4. Thomas Hosking, Oxford A 5. Harish Natarajan, Cambridge A 6. Gregg O'Neill, TCD Phil A (Dublin) 7. Rosie Unwin, ULU B (London) 8. Ben Woolgar, Oxford A 9. Daniel Swain, Team Australia (no break permission) 10. Kelly Butler, Team Australia (no break permission) Top Ten Speaker ESL: 1. Jeroen Heun, Erasmus A (Rotterdam) 2. Daniel Springer, Erasmus A (Rotterdam) 3. David ...

In the interview series “EUDC talk” we met David Lamouroux and Gabor Stefan of Debattierclub Georgia Augusta Göttingen. They told us about the EUDC break, teamplay and debating addiction. Achte Minute: Hello David, hello Gabor! You've broken to ESL quarter finals. Congratulations for that, first of all. Gabor: Thank you! I was totally surprised that it worked out so well. Achte Minute: Gabor, this was your first EUDC participation. You're already well known on the German circuit. What was it that surprised you the most on the international circuit? Gabor: I've already been to the Durham Open three weeks ago and last weekend ...

The European Champions 2010 are Ljubljana (Maja Cimerman, Filip Muki Dobranic) and King's Inn, Dublin (Eoghan Casey, Patrick Rooney). Congratulations! The Motions were: ESL: This House believes that even in response to the most serious crimes a just penal system should have no consideration for society's desire for retribution. Open:  This House believes that after a humanitarian intervention has halted human rights abuses the occupation forces should leave if the population clearly establishes this as their wish. Stay tuned - EUDC reports to follow soon!

With the Amsterdam Euros still going on - final rounds (ESL and main break) are still to be held in the Dutch capital on Friday - next year’s host is fixed: the National University of Ireland (NUI) at Galway, sited on the Emerald Isle’s west coast. The Law Society and the Literary and Debating Society of NUI at Galway cooperated in bidding for staging the Euros in 2011. Being the only bidders, the council being in session at Amsterdam European Universities Debating Championship Thursday night accepted their bid. Those wanting to take part in next year’s Euros may want to allocate the ...

The EUDC finalists are (ESL) Athens A (Manos Moschopoulos, Kimon Ioannides) Galatasaray A (Istanbul, Leyla Orak, Engin Arikan) Kalliope A (Groningen, Steffy Roos du Maine, Floor de Koning) Ljubljana A (Maja Cimerman, Filip Muki Dobranic) (Open) Cambridge A (Harish Natarajan, Jack Watson) Kings Inn A (Dublin, Eoghan Casey, Patrick Rooney) Oxford A (Ben Woolgar, Thomas Hosking) Oxford B (Hugh Burns, Neil Dewar) The European Universities Debating Championships (EUDC) 2010 are held in Amsterdam from July 12 to July 17. The tournament's slogan is “Spread the love”. The motions and more infos around the tournament can be seen on Twitter, look for hashtag #EUDC.

At a glance: Quarters' and Semis' Motions of Amsterdam EUDC 2010! Open Quarters: This House would prohibit gay pride parades in countries or areas where there is a risk of violent backlash against those involved. ESL Quarters: This House would extend the full protections of international law to guerilla fighters, insurgents and terrorists. Open Semis: This House believes that the state should determine the wages to be payed (in both private and public sectors) for jobs deemed of moral value or societal importance. ESL Semis: This House would grant higher primates rights equivalent ...

In the interview series “EUDC talk” we met EUDC's convenor Anne Valkering. She told us about preperations for and the execution of the tournament and her own plans for the time after the EUDC. ...

At a glance: Open and ESL Break to Semis of Amsterdam EUDC 2010! Sarah Jaglitz and Rafael Heinisch of Greifswald A made it to Semis!!! ESL Break to Semis: Athens A (Manos Moschopoulos, Kimon Ioannides) Babes-Bolyai A (Cluj-Napoca, Radu Cotarcea, Bianca Dragomir) Erasmus A (Rotterdam, Jeroen Heun, Daniel Springer) Galatasaray A (Istanbul, Leyla Orak, Engin Arikan) Greifswald A (Sarah Jaglitz, Rafael Heinisch) Haifa B (Michael Shapira, Meir Yarom) Kalliope A (Groningen, Steffy Roos du Maine, Floor de Koning) Ljubljana A (Maja Cimerman, Filip Muki Dobranic) Open Break to Semis: Cambridge A (Harish Natarajan, Jack Watson) Kings Inn A (Dublin, Eoghan Casey, Patrick Rooney) TCD Hist B (Dublin, Ruth Fallner, Catherine Murphy) TCD Phil B (Dublin, ...

At a glance: Main Break and ESL Break of Amsterdam EUDC 2010! Teams from Greifswald, Göttingen and Köln are going to compete the quaters of Amsterdam EUDC 2010: Sarah Jaglitz and Rafael Heinisch (DC Greifswald), David Lamouroux and Gabor Stefan (DC Göttingen) and Bianca Sterly and Sebastian Hagemann (Tilbury House Köln). As adjudicator of "VDCH country" broke Alena Asyamova, Jens Fischer and Isabelle Loewe. Congrats! Full ESL Break: Erasmus A (Rotterdam, Jeroen Heun, Daniel Springer) Kalliope A (Groningen, Steffy Roos du Maine, Floor de Koning) Babes-Bolyai A (Cluj-Napoca/Klausenburg, Radu Cotarcea, Bianca Dragomir) Ljubljana A (Maja Cimerman, Filip Muki Dobranic) Greifswald A (Sarah ...

In the interview series “EUDC talk” we met Daniel Schut of Amsterdam's famous debating society Bonaparte. He told us of his speaker job at Amsterdam EUDC and his loss to a German team four years ago. ...

On Wednesday, Amsterdam saw the second four of eight preliminaries of the EUDC. Tonight, participants eagerly expect the announcement of the break: Which teams are going to make it into the final rounds? Motions of the preliminaries five to eight: ...

In the interview series  “EUDC talk” we met Lukas Haffert of the Swiss DebatingClub St. Gallen who told us about his first EUDC debate where he spoke twice. ...