Johan Adriaensen awarded a Jean Monnet Chair

Johan Adriaensen has been awarded a Jean Monnet Chair by the European Commission for the project ‘"The Member State as an EU institution" EUMEMBER. 

About the project

In 1999, the EU embarked on a quest to formulate an official motto. It was to be decided through a competition in which secondary schools across the EU could submit a proposal. In varietate concordia – or United in Diversity- became the winning submission. The motto highlights that a common purpose can be attained while embracing the diversity of the member states and their peoples. In EU studies, knowledge about the institutions, the laws and politics that binds us together has developed extensively. Any course on the EU will educate students on the process by which the union was created or the institutions through which such joint decisions continue to be made. The “United” part of the motto takes centre stage in both the teaching and research on the EU. By contrast, far less attention is devoted to explore and foster our understanding of the diversity of the current and future member states. This Jean Monnet chair aims to address this omission by developing and promoting an alternative didactic to teach EU integration. An approach that gives due attention to how member states fit within the EU’s socio-political fabric. This requires the pursuit of comprehensive comparative research into the member states, extensive educational experimentation, and a broader discussion in society about what it means to be a member state.

About the grant 

The Jean Monnet programme is part of Erasmus+ and supports teaching posts in the field of EU studies. Jean Monnet Chairs are designed to deepen teaching in EU studies embodied in the official curriculum of a higher education institution, and to provide in-depth teaching on EU matters in areas increasingly in demand in the labour market.