URBANA — Sophomore Eleni Yannelis and English teacher Adele Mazurek-Suslick will have to make a few changes to their summer vacation plans, but they're not complaining.

They found out today that they will spend a week in Europe on a study tour of Brussels, Belgium, and Strasbourg, France.

That's because Yannelis won first prize in the European Union Center's seventh annual Illinois high school essay contest.

The EUC, based at the University of Illinois, asked students to write 500 to 750 words on the topic of "Illinois and the European Union: From Coal to Corn."

Participants addressed such questions as:

• What are the similarities and differences in the policies that the EU and Illinois pursue concerning biofuels, genetically modified organisms (GMOs), and clean-coal technology?
• How do these policies affect trade, farms, and local mining communities?
• What can Illinois and the EU learn from each other?

Each student had to be nominated by a teacher who supervised the writing of the essay. A team of Illinois faculty members and EU specialists judged the entries based on writing quality, persuasiveness, clarity, and overall coherence.

As first-place winner, Yannelis and her supervising teacher, Mazurek-Suslick, will participate in an EU study tour from July 12 to 19. The trip will be funded by a European Commission "Getting to Know Europe" grant.

Except for a few incidentals, the grant will cover all expenses, including air fare and accommodations. Several other K-12 educators will join them on the trip.

Some of the highlights will include:

• visiting the European Commission in Brussels
• visiting the Council of the European Union in Brussels
• attending a presentation at the State of Illinois Office of Trade and Investment in Brussels
• attending a meeting at the American Chamber of the EU or the U.S. Mission to the EU
• touring the European Parliament in Strasbourg

Yannelis and Mazurek-Suslick have also been invited to attend the May 7 Europe Day Symposium in Peoria, where they will be honored by the EUC and the Peoria Area World Affairs Council.

Titled "Illinois, the United States and the European Union: Environmental Cooperation and Challenges," Yannelis' essay pointed out that the U.S. and EU often follow conflicting policies in the areas of genetically modified organisms, biofuels, and coal (although there is more of an agreement in coal regulation than in the other policies).

"It is imperative that the EU and U.S. reach consensus on these areas if true environmental protection is to occur," she wrote. "Multilateral cooperation and technological innovation will be crucial for success."

After documenting the differences and conflicts, she concluded:

The issue, then, is how to achieve consensus between U.S. and EU policies. Global cooperation is essential for effective environmental policy, and is occurring through the United Nations Environment Program and its millennium goals, environmental sustainability and a global partnership for development. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a group of thirty high-income countries, provides another forum for cooperation through its Environmental Policy Committee. Technology also will be crucial, and the University of Illinois is a leader in this regard with research initiatives such as the Energy Biosciences Institute and the Center for Advanced BioEnergy Research. Through cooperation and innovation the EU, U.S. and Illinois can forge new global rules and practices to gain economic strength from an environmental industrial revolution. In this way, we can improve not only our own standard of living, but also the entire world's.