Changing trends in study of Europe

Date: 24/10/02

By Anand Menon

THE imminence of enlargement, debates about its implications for both western and eastern Europe, concerns about the stability of the euro and discussion regarding Europe's relationship with the US, have put the EU high on both the political and academic agendas.

The increasing topicality of Europe is reflected in the recent proliferation of academic centres and degree courses, both undergraduate and postgraduate, concentrating on European issues.

Students have been flocking to the subject area, partly because of the public debate about European issues, but also because of the growing realisation that a working knowledge of EU institutions and current developments are a prerequisite for many jobs in both the public and private sectors. Until recently, 'European Studies' implied a focus upon the institutions, policies and historical background of the EU. Recent developments, however, have altered the focus substantially.

The enlargement of the Union and NATO, as well as the various conflicts in the Balkans during the past ten years, have shifted the emphasis. Two recent academic developments are particularly worthy of note.

The first is a tendency to study Europe as a whole rather than its western arm and to compare the states of central and eastern Europe with those of the West. The second is an increasing proclivity to study the EU in comparison with other institutions rather than - as was the case in the past - to looking at it as a unique system.

A striking illustration of such trends is the European Research Institute (ERI) at the University of Birmingham. Despite its reputation as a laggard on European issues, the British government contributed £4.5 million (7.2m euro) to the construction of a state-of-the-art facility devoted to bringing together scholars and hosting conferences on many different facets of current European political, societal and legal issues.

The ERI has access to one of the largest concentrations of academics specialising in contemporary Europe and its relations with the rest of the world. Moreover, it has recently embarked, along with five partner institutions, on the construction of a EU-funded postgraduate course which focuses on EU and US political systems. The institute also reflects increasingly close links between the fields of academia and policy making, quite apart from postgraduate teaching and research related activity. In the near future, the ERI will host a series of workshops on the accession process, its execution, expected outcomes and implications for the future.

Beyond that, the institute attracts a regular stream of high profile visitors, which have included in the past year Tony Blair, Jack Straw, Peter Hain, Chris

Patten and Michaele Schreyer. As European studies flourish - even in Britain - it is to be hoped that its new-found popularity will lead to greater public knowledge and awareness of the issues involved.

As debates in Europe about the EU are generally characterised by striking levels of ignorance, it is not before time.

• Professor Anand Menon is director of the European Research Institute and professor of European Politics at the UK's University

of Birmingham.

Feature on the increasing popularity of European Studies.