A new podcast of the Understanding Europe series is published.

Europe day! Europe day?  What does it even mean? In this episode Brendan and Charelle talk about the significance of Europe Day and the difficulties of forming a Common European Identity. In doing so they are joined by Dr. Aline Sierp, an expert in memory studies, who outlines what studying memory entails and the difficulties that are faced when trying to create a common European memory, and in the process a common European Identity. So if this intrigues you, give it a listen!

Listen to the newest podcast episode here.

On May 9^th 2023, CERiM will host its second Jean Monnet lecture of this academic delivered by Philomena Apiko, head of AU-EU relations at The European Centre for Development Policy Management. 

“The Future of Africa-EU relations” lecture will take place on the 9^th of May, from 18.30 till 20.00, at the Turnzaal, GG90-92, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Maastricht university. You can register here.

As the world is facing crisis after crisis; i.e Covid 19, wars, energy and food shortages, etc. Philomena’s lecture will focus on the relations between AU and EU. She will highlight the potential that lies in this partnership, its limitations, and the tensions that arose in light of continuous crises. 

About the Speaker: Philomena specialises in AU-EU relations, AU reforms, trade and regional integration, gender, governance, democracy and human rights, and international law and justice.

She obtained her LL.B. and LL.M. in human rights law from the University of Cape Town in South Africa. As well as a master’s degree in international law and economics from the World Trade Institute in Bern.

Her work experience has predominantly been in non-governmental organisations (NGOs). In South Africa, she worked as a legal researcher at the Tshwaranang Legal Advocacy Centre in Johannesburg from 2011-2012 where she co-wrote submissions to parliament with the in-house attorney. Submissions she worked on include: the Muslims Marriages Bill, Traditional Courts Bill, and Protection from Harassment Regulations.

She also worked on other issues in connection with domestic violence, especially the use of protection orders.  In addition, she worked as a consultant for other NGOs like the Amanitare Sexual Rights Network. Prior to joining ECDPM, Philomena worked as a legal researcher at Ditshwanelo – The Botswana Centre for Human Rights.

CERiM will have the pleasure of welcoming Margrethe Vestager to deliver the 1st Jean Monnet Lecture of the academic year.

Margrethe Vestager is the European Commission executive vice-president for A Europe Fit for the Digital Age since 2019 and European Commissioner for Competition since 2014.

When: 8 November, from 18.30 – 20.00
Where: Aula, Tongersestraat 53, SBE

Click here to register.

Vestager was minister for Economic Affairs and the Interior in her home country, Denmark, from 2011 to 2014, as well as Minister for Education from 2000 to 2001.

She also served as member of the Danish Parliament from 2011 till 2014. Vestager was also the political leader of the Danish Social Liberal Party from 2007 to 2014.

As Russia’s geopolitical isolation deepens and economic sanctions begin to bite hard, one wonders what possessed Vladimir Putin to start his war in Ukraine? Will international sanctions help end the violence? And is there still a way to deescalate? 

Jean Monnet Chair, Giselle Bosse, spoke to Florian Raith about the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

You can read the article here.

On Tuesday, 22nd of March 2022, CERiM had the pleasure of welcoming Dr. Massouda Jalal to deliver a Jean Monnet Lecture in Maastricht. The lecture, The Current Situation of Afghanistan and Its Impact on Women happened at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.

Dr. Massouda Jalal has been an active independent politician in Afghanistan for the last 26 years, who served as Minister of Women’s Affairs and head of Commission for Elimination of Violence against Women from October 2004 to 2006. In 2004, she became the first and only woman candidate in 5000 years of Afghanistan history to run in the Afghan presidential elections. She is titled in recent Afghan history as the mother of Afghan democracy.

Dr. Jalal left the cabinet in 2006 and has since vocally criticized the Karzai and Ghani governments for not significantly advancing the social position of women. She founded the Jalal Foundation as a leading civil society organization and network for the promotion of peace, human rights, women’s rights and democracy from 2006 up to now.

She also has an academic background as a professor at Kabul Medical University and served in leadership positions in the UN World Food Programme and UNHCR offices in Afghanistan, leading women and health programmes during the nineties.

Dr. Jalal has received numerous awards nationally and internationally, and has published books and articles on mainly rights, democracy, peace and security. An example is her book Hanging by a Thread. After the Taliban took over Kabul in August 2021, Dr. Jalal was forced to go into exile to the Netherlands.

The Centre for European Research in Maastricht (CERiM) has approved the proposal presented by Dr. Aline Sierp and will offer financial support through its Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence for the organisation of the international symposium “Critical Theories of History and Memory” that will take place on May 19-20, 2022.

Having as a keynote speaker Dr. Markus Prutsch (Senior Researcher and Administrator at the European Parliament), the symposium addresses the problem of how to produce a European history and a collective memory of past events whose meaning is contested and often subject to political disputes.

The event will be advertised to a broad audience of scholars and students across countries and fields, so as raise awareness of the issue across the humanities and social sciences. It will also serve as a platform to create an international network of scholars working on history and memory, which can produce knowledge that has an impact on educational and cultural policies across Europe and beyond.

More details about the symposium will be announced soon at CERiM’s social networks.

The Centre for European Research in Maastricht (CERiM) is happy to announce that awarded a special prize of €1000 to Clara Weinhardt (Politics Department, UM), Karsten Mau (SBE, UM) and Jens Hillebrand Pohl (Law, UM/CELIS Institute) for their contribution to outstanding interdisciplinary research in European Studies.

The book chapter on “The EU as a geoeconomic actor? A review of recent European trade and investment policies” combines expertise and methods from three disciplines (political science, economics, and law) and is forthcoming in “Geoeconomics in a Changing Global Order”, edited by Milan Babic, Adam D. Dixon, Imogen T. Liu (Palgrave IPE Series).

More information about the winners’ research can be found here.

On Thursday, 2nd of December, the former European Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighbourhood Policy, Mr. Štefan Füle delivered the 2nd Jean Monnet Lecture of this academic year. The lecture, “The European Union’s Foreign Actorness in its Neighbourhood: Perceptions and Reality”, was organized in partnership with the Manchester Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence and the Jean Monnet CHANCE Chair at Maastricht University. Due to the coronavirus measures, this was an online lecture.

Mr. Štefan Füle served as the Minister for European Affairs during the Czech Presidency of the European Union in 2009. Subsequently, he served as the European Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighbourhood Policy from February 2010 to October 2014.

After his mandate at the European Commission expired, he returned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs where he served as Special Envoy for the OSCE and the Western Balkans until October 2017.

Mr. Füle has also worked in the private sector as a Member of the Supervisory Board at the CEFC Group and as Advisor to CITIC Europe Holdings. After a period as Chairman of the Administrative Board of the Czech China Chamber for Cooperation, he is currently an Advisor to the President of Uzbekistan.

The lecture was recorded and you can find the video here.

On Tuesday, 9th of November, the current Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries at the European Commission, Mr. Virginijus Sinkevičius delivered the 1st Jean Monnet Lecture of this academic year. The lecture, The Economic Logic behind the European Green Deal: benefits of the green transition for the society of tomorrow, happened at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.

Mr. Sinkevičius is a Lithuanian politician who, in 2016, was elected to the Parliament and later in 2017, was appointed Minister of Economy and Innovation of the Republic of Lithuania. As a Minister, Mr. Sinkevičius worked towards many innovative projects, such as Artificial Intelligence Strategy – which placed Lithuania amongst the first EU countries to develop a national AI strategy – as well as The Women Go Tech initiative, the goal of which was to increase the participation of women in IT and engineering in Lithuania.