From ideas to results: read about the conceptual framework, partnerships, activities and conclusions of the CVCE’s projects.

R&E news

The CVCE has recently published the proceedings of the round table ‘Pierre Werner: accounts of a European vocation’. The book provides a record of the public event that the CVCE and its partners — the Pierre Werner Institute, the European Merit Foundation, the Cercle Pierre Werner and SES — held on 27 November 2013 at the Cultural Exchange Centre of the Abbaye de Neumünster to mark the centenary of Pierre Werner’s birth.

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The CVCE, in cooperation with ‘Notre Europe – Institut Jacques Delors’ and the National Foundation for Political Science (FNSP-Sciences Po), has developed a file on Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa (1940–2010) with the aim of providing new insight into his personality, his approach and his contribution to European and international economic and monetary affairs over the past 40 years.

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Project list

Pierre Werner and Europe

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This research project is dedicated to the European vocation and achievements of Pierre Werner, former Luxembourg Prime Minister, Finance Minister and Foreign Minister, unanimously recognised as one of the architects of Economic and Monetary Union.

Spain and the European integration process: converging pathways

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This research project looks at the historical relationship between Spain and Europe from a long-term perspective and in the light of the current political and socio-economic situation. It particularly analyses the vectors of convergence, cohesion factors and shifting paradigms of this relationship..

Treaty of Lisbon

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Since December 2009, the EU has had a new constitutional charter, the Treaty of Lisbon, the result of 12 years of revisions. This research project aims to analyse these changes to the treaties and to the procedures for revising treaties from 1950 to the present day by addressing the following three questions: Why revise a treaty? How was each treaty negotiated and ratified? Why this treaty?

S.M.I.L.E. — Sharing Messina Ideal a Lesson for all Europe

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The S.M.I.L.E. cooperation project — Sharing Messina Ideal a Lesson for all Europe — launched by the Italian Council of the European Movement (CIME) involves the Jean Monnet Association (France), the Centre Virtuel de la Connaissance sur l’Europe (Luxembourg), the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (Germany) and the town of Messina (Italy). The main aim of the project is to help raise awareness among the young people of the importance of the Messina Conference in the light of current European issues so that we can draw lessons about the revival of the European Union. This project is supported by the European Commission’s ‘Europe for Citizens’ Programme.

Initiative and constraint in the mapping of evolving European borders

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Funded by the European Commission's Jean Monnet Action, this project is devoted to the analysis of voluntarism v. determinism as key factors in border creation and evolution and as parameters in prospective border studies, focusing on the specific case of contemporary Europe. Is the history of European integration mainly the history of a willingness to change reality or just a series of successive adaptations to the constraints inherited from the past?

The ‘Franco-German duo' and Europe as seen in cartoons (1945–2013)

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Marking the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Élysée Treaty, this project focuses on the history of the relationship between France and Germany, and particularly the driving role this ‘duo' has played in the European integration process, by analysing French and German press illustrations. These cartoons offer a quirky, often ironic look at the key historical periods that have marked the building of a united Europe.

Economic and Monetary Union: origins, workings and future prospects

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EMU was originally set up in 1999, but since the beginning of the sovereign debt crisis it has undergone many changes. This project adopts an institutional, long-term approach to inform the debate. It looks at the various attempts at monetary cooperation and union before the euro, the discussions surrounding the creation of the single currency and its institutions, its current operation and the questions that still need to be addressed.

The Robert Schuman Declaration

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Developed to mark the 60th anniversary of Robert Schuman's famous declaration, this project, aimed at secondary school classes in Luxembourg, France and Poland, focuses on European integration history. The project ran in partnership with subject specialists and political figures and was followed by a study visit for the winning classes. It particularly highlights the values of solidarity and respect between nations that are at the heart of European integration..

REPERES

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This project is an educational partnership in the framework of the European programme GRUNDTVIG, which aims to provide adults with the resources to improve their knowledge and skills. REPERES offers access to a series of innovative modules in European citizenship training, based on situating the family and personal history of the adult learner in the context of European integration history..

Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa

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This project, conducted in partnership with the ‘Notre Europe' think tank and Sciences Po Paris, focuses on the personality and achievements of Italian economist Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa (1940–2010). The project results are particularly based on oral sources drawn from interviews with around a dozen international figures.

ECSC

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This project, based around a seminar for students from Germany, France and Luxembourg, sheds light on the issues surrounding the ECSC and the legacy it left, with the aim of raising awareness among younger generations of the challenges involved in the European integration process.

Diplomacy within WEU

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This project is closely linked to the CVCE's task of exploring the archives of Western European Union (WEU) for research purposes. It specifically looks at relations between France and the United Kingdom within WEU, highlighting the organisation's role in their diplomatic strategy and its powers and responsibilities in the area of defence and foreign policy. The project will also look at connections with the EU's common security and defence policy.

European model: past, present and future

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This Jean Monnet Action project aims to investigate the origins and evolution of the ‘European model' in the international system from a multidisciplinary and diachronic perspective, and to offer a critical review of its past and more recent successes and shortcomings.