The EUC as European Union Center of Excellence

The European Union Center (EUC) at the University of Illinois is excited to be recognized as a “European Union Center of Excellence” (EUCE) by the European Commission. Originally established in 1998 with a grant from the EU, the Center is proud to continue its strong partnership with the EU Delegation in Washington D.C. through a 2011-2014 European Union Center of Excellence grant.  This grant will greatly contribute to research, teaching, and public engagement activities on EU studies among EUC staff and Center faculty affiliates, both at the U of I and beyond, over a three-year period. In addition to strengthening Center ties with the nine other EU Centers of Excellence in the United States, the EUC will focus on the following three theme areas:

1. Adapting Policy to Environmental Challenges.

This theme approaches environmental policy challenges from three perspectives:

1. the Nordic region’s experience with global climate change;
2. the Mediterranean region’s urban sustainability challenges, specifically with respect to water resources, alternative energy and green building standards; and
3. the EU’s general experience with (a) reforming the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) to fulfill societal objectives and (b) implementing the Water Framework Directive.

            Participating Faculty:

• John Abelson
• David Bullock
• Julie Cidell
• George Czapar
• Harry Dankowicz

2. Embracing Change: Languages, Cultures and Identities

This theme features a series of examinations of regional influences on EU culture as well as exploration of broader policy initiatives. By partnering with the School of Literatures, Cultures and Linguistics, as well as the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the Graduate School of Library and Information Science, and the Russian, East European and Eurasian Center, this theme seeks to understand educational and cultural issues of the EU better through the lens of three distinct regions:

1. the new member states of the east,
2. the Mediterranean region (including Turkey and North Africa), and
3. the Nordic and Baltic regions with particular focus on Sweden and Estonia.

            Participating Faculty:

• Elizabeth Lowe
• Anna Stenport
• Richard Tempest
• Yasemin Yildiz

3. The Practice of Politics and Policy in the EU

This interdisciplinary theme will examine political and economic policy issues of the EU that are both established and developing within the dynamics of the EU’s unique institutions. Topics addressed include political party behaviors at European and national levels; political marketing practices in Eastern Europe; policy coordination mechanisms through administrative and foreign policy networks; labor and employment public policy; corporate governance; and the impact of Europe’s peripheral economies on the EU.

            Participating Faculty:

• Ruth Aguilera
• William Bernhard
• John Dencker
• Kostas Kourtikakis
• Richard Tempest