European Values under Pressure – European University Viadrina leads international Research Network on EU Foreign Policy
Medieninformation Nr. 7 vom 10. Januar 2024
What challenges is the European Union currently facing and what are possible counter-strategies? These questions are the focus of a research network led by European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder), which will receive 1.2 million euros in funding from the EU Commission for three years from January 2024 as part of a Jean Monnet Policy Network (JMPN). The project entitled "ValEUs. Research & Education Network on Contestations to EU Foreign Policy" involves 20 partner institutions from 17 countries on five continents.
The "ValEUs" research network focuses on analysing the European Union's foreign policy and attacks on its values. In researching potential and successful counter-strategies, the role of universities as laboratories for democracy and partners will also be discussed. "It's not just about the violation of European values from outside. We are also particularly interested in whether and how the EU deviates in its behaviour from values that it has prescribed for itself and others. One example is the enlargement process, in which the EU often demands more from potential members than it can implement within the EU," says Prof Dr Timm Beichelt, Viadrina Professor of European Studies and head of the network.
The partners include Université Paris 8 (France), Roskilde Universitet (Denmark) and the University of the Aegean (Greece), three universities from the European Union of Universities and Associations (ERUA). Two Ukrainian partner universities of the Viadrina – Karazin University Kharkiv and the Kyiv School of Economics – are also represented. The European perspective is complemented by partners in the USA, Latin America, Kazakhstan, Morocco and Japan.
The planned activities of the "ValEUs" network include joint, interdisciplinary research projects of the 53 participating scientists; teaching formats and collegial exchange at conferences, summer schools and as part of a large-scale online course, as well as the stimulation of social debates and the development of recommendations for politics and civil society.
