The
College of Europe (Collège
d'Europe in French) is
an independent university institute of postgraduate European studies, with two
campuses, one in Bruges
, Belgium
, and since
1992 one in Natolin
, Poland
. It
was founded in 1949 by
Hendrik
Brugmans and
Karel Verleye, making
it the world's oldest institution of studies and training in
European affairs.
Working languages are
English and
French.
Each year about 400
postgraduates from some 50 countries are awarded the qualifications
of Master in European Studies
(Bruges) or Master
of Arts in European Interdisciplinary Studies (Natolin).
Traditionally, students at the College of
Europe in Bruges did not get a degree (similar to French elite
schools like ENA
) but received the postgraduate Certificate of Advanced
European Studies. Since the early 1990s, however,
the College of Europe has awarded its students master's degrees
upon completion of its 1-year programme. The
Certificate of
Advanced European Studies and the newer Master's degrees are
considered equivalent.
History
The
origins of the College date back to the Hague Congress in 1948 when Salvador de Madariaga, a Spanish
statesman,
thinker and writer in exile, proposed the
establishment of a College where university graduates from many
different countries, some only a short while before at war with each other, could study and live
together.
A group of
citizens from Bruges led by the
Reverend Father Karel Verleye were
successful in attracting the College to Bruges. Professor
Hendrik Brugmans, one of the
intellectual leaders of the
European
Movement at the time, became the first
Rector of the College of
Europe (1950-1972), decisively shaping its development and
nurturing what is still known as the "esprit du Collège".
At the
invitation of the Polish government,
a second campus was opened in 1992, based at the Natolin Palace in
the southern part of the city of in Warsaw
.
In 1998, former students of the College set up the
Madariaga European
Foundation.
Campuses
Bruges
Dijver in Bruges
The
College campus in Bruges is situated
in the historic centre and consists of following campus
buildings:
- Dijver
The College's main administrative building on the Bruges Campus,
with the reception, offices, class rooms and the library.
- Ridderstraat
This building was a College residence until the early 1990s. The
College has completely renovated the building for use as an
administrative building in the late 1990s and now holds a 30-year
long lease on the property. The building is classified as monument
and houses the College's Development Office.
- Garenmarkt
The Hotel Portinari in Garenmarkt 15 is a bridge to the glorious
past of Bruges, not so much because of its classical facade, but
because
Tommaso Portinari was the
administrator of the Florentine "Loggia de Medici" in the 15th
century in Bruges. It contains eleven spatious apartments for
professors and forty student rooms, two "salons" in fine 19th
century style, the "salon du Recteur" with remarkable 18th century
wall paintings and a big modern "Mensa" for students.
- Verversdijk
Since 2007 the Verversdijk buildings of the College of Europe
provide additional auditoria, teaching rooms and offices for
academics, research fellows and staff and will allow the College to
extend its activities.
- Residences
There are also seven well-appointed residences spread through the
city centre.
Natolin (Warsaw)
Potocki Palace in Natolin
The
Warsaw campus is housed in the historic 1.2 square
kilometre nature reserve of Natolin on the
southern edge of the city, about 30 minutes by metro from the city
centre. The Natolin European Centre Foundation takes care of
the complex and has conducted restoration of the former Potocki
palace, making it available for the College. Several new buildings
have also been built, including student dormitories and lecture
halls.
Study programmes
The academic programme lasts one academic year from September to
the end of June and is taught in
English and
French. It includes lectures, research
seminars, workshops and meetings with external specialists. It can
also comprise language lessons of different European
languages.
To be awarded the
Master's degree,
students must take oral and written examinations at the end of each
semester, and submit a Master's
Thesis in
English or French. TheBruges students enroll in one of the four
programmes: European Economic Studies (including specialisations in
European Economic Integration and Business and in European Law and
Economic Analysis), European Legal Studies, European Political and
Administrative Studies, and European International Relations and
Diplomacy.
The
Natolin campus
(Warsaw) of the
College of Europe offers a programme in European Interdisciplinary
Studies,
Selection
Annual intakes are highly selective and student selection takes
place in the Spring, usually in association with the
Foreign affairs ministries of their
respective countries of origin. The Bruges programmes typically
require a University degree in economics, law, political science or
international relations plus advanced knowledge of the working
languages of the College.
The Warsaw programme accepts university graduates whose background
may be from a wider range of disciplines such as law, economics,
political science, sociology and philosophy, history, geography,
linguistics, journalism and similar, as long as a high academic
level has been attained, and a keen interest in European affairs is
shown.
Degrees awarded
- Master of Arts in
European Political and Administrative Studies (Diplôme d'études
approfondies en politique et administration Européennes)
- Master of Arts in European Economic Studies (Diplôme
d'études approfondies en économie Européenne)
- Master of Arts in EU International Relations and Diplomacy
Studies (Diplôme d'études approfondies en relations
internationales et diplomatiques de l'Union européenne)
- Master in European Law (LL M) (Diplôme d'études
approfondies en droit Européen)
- Master of Arts in European Interdisciplinary Studies
(Diplôme d'études Européennes interdisciplinaires
approfondies)
Alumni
Many former students of the College have gone on to serve as
government ministers, members of various
parliaments and
diplomats.
Alumni of note include:
- Louise Fréchette, Deputy
Secretary-General of the United
Nations
- Ursula Plassnik, Foreign Minister of Austria
- Alexander Stubb, Finnish
Minister for
Foreign Affairs
- Manuel
Marín, former president of the European Commission
- David O'Sullivan , Director
General for Trade of the European Commission
- Poul Skytte Christoffersen, Danish Permanent Representative to
the European Institutions; Former Head of Cabinet for the European
Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Mariann Fischer Boel
- Iwo Byczewski, former Polish Ambassador to Belgium and
Luxembourg
- Josef Joffe,
German editor and publisher of Die
Zeit and adjunct professor of political science at
Stanford
University
- Ledi
Bianku, judge at the European Court of Human
Rights
- Jo Leinen, German
member of the European
Parliament
, former president of the Union of European
Federalists
- Alyn Smith,
Scottish member of the European Parliament
- György
Schöpflin, Hungarian member of the European
Parliament
- Simon Hughes, British politician
and Liberal Democrat Member of
Parliament
- Nick Clegg,
British politician and leader of the Liberal Democrats, former member of the
European
Parliament
- Helle Thorning-Schmidt,
leader of the Social
Democrats
- Jim Oberstar, member of the
United States
House of Representatives
- Stephen
Kinnock, managing director of the British Council in St Petersburg
, Russia
- Valerie Plame,
former United
States
CIA Operations
Officer
- Chris
Hoornaert, Permanent Representative of Belgium to the
OECD
- Niels Egelund, Danish diplomat, former Ambassador to
France
- Luc Coene, Vice-Governor of the National Bank of Belgium
- Per Wimmer, owner of Wimmer
Financial, former Executive Director Goldman Sachs and Associate at McKinsey & Company.
- Nigel Forman, British MP and
Minister of Higher Education (1992)
Promotions
Academic years at the College are known as
promotions.
Each
promotion is named
after an outstanding European. Recent promotions were:
The 2009-2010 promotion is named after
Charles Darwin.
Organisation
The
College of Europe is principally funded by the European Union and the Belgian and Polish authorities,
and to a lesser extent by a number of other European
governments. The College of Europe also benefits from a
certain amount of private funding.
The
Administrative Council, presided over by
Jean-Luc Dehaene, Minister of State and Former Prime Minister of
Belgium, includes representatives of the European
Commission, of the countries hosting the two campuses in
Bruges and Natolin (Warsaw) and of
European governments. It is the highest decision-making
authority, and is responsible for the implementation of the
College’s objectives. The
Executive Committee,
reporting to the Administrative Council, ensures the sound
financial and administrative working of the College.
The
Academic Council ensures that College-wide
education and training standards are kept at a high level.
Rector
Paul Demaret directs and
coordinates all the College’s activities.
In close cooperation
with him, Prof. Robert Picht,
Pro-Rector, represents the Rector and is responsible for overseeing
the College of Europe’s academic activities on the Natolin (Warsaw)
campus. Academic Sub-Committees on each
campus report to the Academic Council.
Research and development
The College devotes important attention to academic research, and
it houses several academic chairs (covering European civilization,
economics and foreign policy among others) as well as the Global
Competition Law Centre. It publishes several books every year, four
series of
working papers and an
academic journal called
Collegium, devoted to the European
integration process.
Conferences
Important
international conferences have been held
at the College since it was founded. These events have become fora
for informed discussion on topics that are complementary to the
academic expertise of the College, like the annual conference on
Humanitarian Law, organised in cooperation with the
International Committee
of the Red Cross. It is also common to have several European
prime ministers deliver a speech during the academic year.
Cooperation
Also, since the early 1980s the College has developed a relevant
consultancy activity, especially in the field of
analysis of
EC law. Based on the
College's first experiences with service contracts, notably in the
field of codification of European Law and related to the
implementation of the Internal Market, the
Development
Office was created to participate in tender procedures and
to manage the teams of researchers working under these service
contracts.
Over the past 10 years, the College of Europe has been organising
numerous
cooperation projects funded by a panoply
of EU programmes, either in consortia with academic partners,
companies and law firms, or on its own account. Under
TEMPUS programmes, projects for curriculum building
in European Studies were set up.
With the EU’s PHARE,
TACIS and CARDS funding
the College provided professional training and consultancy in EU
affairs in nearly all applicant countries, in Russia and in the
CIS. In
addition the Office has also involved the College in similar
co-operation projects in the framework of the
MED-CAMPUS Programme and more recently with
EuropeAid funding in
Latin America and
Asia.
The Development Office is now actively involved in professional
training projects and European Studies programmes worldwide.
Taking into account the increasing need for continuous training,
the College has started to organise
professional training
courses and seminars on
European integration issues with
partners such as professional, trade and other associations,
private companies and administrations. Officials from the European
institutions and national administrations have benefited from
tailor-made training programmes.
See also
References
- The College of Europe. Fifty years of service to
Europe, College of Europe publications. Bruges, 2001.
External links
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