Jean Monnet network EUCON: Between Conflict and Competition, Convergence and Cooperation

Researchers at the University of Passau are taking part in the Jean Monnet network EUCON. Five universities from the EU and the Eurasian Economic Union will be analysing relations between their two regions in the next three years. 

During that period, the European Union (EU) will be funding the new Jean Monnet network. Alongside the University of Passau, the Armenian State University of Economics in Yerevan (Armenia), the University of Economics, Management and Finance in Vienna (Austria), the Corvinus University in Budapest (Hungary) and the Southern Federal University in Rostov on Don (Russian Federation) will be participating. Under the title "The EU and the EEU: Between Conflict and Competition, Convergence and Cooperation", researchers from the areas of economic, historical and political science at all five participating universities will be analysing relations between the EU and the EEU.

What is special about this project is that universities from both the EU and the EEU are taking part. This will not only make it possible for them to ensure that their respective inside perspectives are given consideration in the research work, but also to focus on the respective ways they and the other participants perceive themselves and one another, and the impacts of those perceptions on future collaboration. As well as the conflicts between the EU and the EEU that currently exist in the public debates, the future development of the EEU and areas of cooperation that might possibly be derived from it are also being observed.

'For the University of Passau, this research project provides an opportunity to bring together existing expertise in the field of European integration research and Eastern European research and, thanks to EU funding, to continue to develop these two areas of emphasis which endow our university with an identity', says Professor Daniel Göler (Jean Monnet Chair of European Politics), who is leading the project at the University of Passau together with Professor Thomas Wünsch (Chair of Modern and Contemporary History of Eastern Europe and its Cultures). 

Apart from the research work, and in accordance with the underlying philosophy of the Jean Monnet networks, the project will also promote the development of new courses, lectures and seminars which enable the students to benefit directly from the insights gained in the research. 'The project will thus also make a valuable contribution to the better combination of research and teaching and reinforce the range of courses at the University of Passau in the area of European integration and Eastern European research', says Professor Wünsch. 

Within the framework of the "Jean Monnet" scheme in the Erasmus+ programme, the project is being funded to support teaching, studies and political debate on EU topics.