25 Years & New Initiatives
Press Release, 2 Oct 2017
Celebrating the 25th Anniversary & Creating New Initiatives
Press Release: embargoed until 12 noon on 2nd October 2017
The Europaeum, an association of the leading universities in Europe is celebrating its 25th Anniversary. Recognising what we have achieved, we have been assessing where we are and looking ahead.
At the time of the Europaeum’s foundation, European idealism was at its height. Today, Europe and European idealism are fragmenting and we observe everywhere the rise of a new populist nationalism and the rejection of empirical, liberal, rational, tolerant thought. In short, the ideas of the Enlightenment that emerged primarily from within Europe and which the Europaeum has sought to foster are in retreat. All members of the Europaeum are strongly of the view that, within this new context, we need the Europaeum more than ever. We need more not less international collaboration, more not less drawing together of the disciplines, more not less awareness of ethical and moral standards, and more not less emphasis on universities engaging with the wider society.
To achieve this, all the members of the Europaeum, assisted by generous donations from, amongst others, the Templeton World Charity Foundation, have agreed:
• To create a new two-year Europaeum Scholars Programme, which will be taken alongside an existing doctoral degree, with an emphasis on multi-disciplinary team work, and a focus on policy. It will be open to any doctoral student at a member university whose work engages with European Studies, broadly understood. The programme will commence at Oxford University in January 2018 and continue at Leiden, Geneva and Prague.
• To build an alumni network of Europaeum Scholars committed to interacting with the wider community and across nations and shaping the future of Europe.
• To buttress the Scholars Programme with a substantially enhanced further programme of faculty and student exchanges, aimed especially at engaging the universities with broader society.
• To widen the membership of the Europaeum and so enable the participation of a broader spread of European faculty and students. We have recently added St Andrews University and we are delighted to announce that the University of Luxembourg will be joining us in 2018.
The overall goal is to create a morally aware cadre of young people who have developed the qualities of leadership, learned how to work collaboratively and who are committed to shaping the future of Europe for the better. Investing in the young is what Europe now needs more than ever.
Speaking at Balliol College, Oxford, on 29th September, Lord Patten, Chancellor of Oxford, Chair-elect of the Trustees of the Europaeum, said:
“Does anyone doubt that Europe faces huge difficulties? Does anyone doubt that the future of Europe must lie with the young? Does anyone doubt that the UK will be a better and more stimulating place if it continues to be fully contributing to, and engaging with, the intellectual mainstream of Europe rather than retreating into English Nationalism? My predecessor as Chancellor, Roy Jenkins, was proud to have initiated the Europaeum and I am equally proud to be part of these new initiatives.”
Dr Andrew Graham, former Master of Balliol, Executive Chair of the Europaeum, and Chair of the Academic Council, commented:
“The structure of the new Europaeum Scholarship Programme is a major innovation designed to meet contemporary challenges. Each of the key features of the new programme – its use of teams, its pulling together of the disciplines, its cross-university, cross-country, and cross-cultural mix, its engagement with the governed as well as the governing, and its concern with moral and ethical considerations – make it ready to contribute from the start to the problems currently facing Europe.”
The Europaeum is also delighted to announce the appointment of the former European commissioner for trade and director-general of the WTO, Pascal Lamy, as a Trustee of the Europaeum. Speaking of the new work of the Europaeum, he said:
“My views on the EU and the damage of Brexit are well known. What appeals to me about the Europaeum is that it transcends Brexit by working right across Europe. In particular, the teaching venues of the new programme will offer students radically different perspectives: from the UK leaving the EU, to the Netherlands as a full founder member, to the Czech Republic, a relatively new EU entrant, but not in the Eurozone, to Switzerland which occupies a position all of its own.”
Notes to Editors
The Europaeum was created in 1992 on the initiative of Lord (George) Weidenfeld, Sir Ronald Grierson and Lord (Roy) Jenkins, who was then Chancellor of the University of Oxford and formerly the first President of the European Commission. It promotes extensive academic collaboration across its member universities and brings together, within an educational context, exceptionally talented young people who will help shape the future of Europe. As from 1 October 2017, it will have a new Chair of the Trustees, Lord Patten; a new Trustee, Pascal Lamy; and a new Director, Dr Hartmut Mayer.
Members
Members of the Europaeum: The universities of Oxford, Leiden, Helsinki, Paris I (Pantheon-Sorbonne), Prague (Charles), Krakow (Jagiellonian), Geneva (Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies), Barcelona (Universitat Pompeu Fabra), Madrid (Complutense), Munich (Ludwig-Maximilian) and St Andrews (Scotland). The Institute of Political Studies, Lisbon is an associate member. The Central European University in Budapest has been made a ‘Special Member’ for one year in recognition of the threats to academic freedom that it is currently experiencing. In 2018, the University of Luxembourg will be a full member.
The University of Luxembourg (UL): UL is a public research university with a student body of some 6,200. Founded as recently as 2003, UL is already ranked 14th of the best 100 young universities founded during the last 50 years (Times Higher Education, THE). THE also found it to be the most international of all European universities.
Trustees
Dr Pierre Keller (retiring Chair); Lord (Christopher) Patten (incoming Chair), José Manuel Barroso (former President of the European Commission), Philippe Burrin (Director of the Graduate Institute of International Studies, Geneva), Dr Erhard Busek (former Vice Chancellor of Austria), Pascal Lamy (former Director of the WTO), Professor Carel Stolker (Rector of the University of Leiden), H.E. Karel Schwarzenberg (former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic), Professor Ngaire Woods (Dean of the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford) and Professor Tomáš Zima (Rector of Charles University, Prague).
Lord Patten of Barnes, CH PC
Chris Patten is Chancellor of the University of Oxford. He was formerly Minister for Overseas Development, Secretary of State for the Environment, Chairman of the Conservative Party, the last Governor of Hong Kong, European Commissioner for External Relations and Governor of the BBC. He is a Commander of the Legion of Honour.
Dr Andrew Graham
Andrew Graham is a political economist, and a former Master and Honorary Fellow of Balliol College, a Trustee of Reprieve and Senior Fellow of the Oxford Internet Institute, which he founded. He was also formerly a Rhodes Trustee and a Director of the Scott Trust (owner of the Guardian and the Observer). He has been the Chair of the Academic Council of the Europaeum for some years and
earlier this year he was appointed Executive Chair of the Europaeum overseeing and leading the new initiatives.
Pascal Lamy
Pascal Lamy is Président Emeritus of the Paris-based, Jacques Delors Institute. He was the Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) until 1 September 2013 serving for two full four year terms. From 1999 to 2004 he was European Commissioner for Trade. He is a Trustee with Thomson Reuters and is also a member of the Advisory Boards for the Centre for European Reform and a member of the European Council on Foreign Relations. He is a graduate of HEC School of Management, “Science-Po” (The Institute of Political Studies, Paris) and Ecole Nationale d’Administration (ENA) in Paris.
New Acting Director of the Europaeum – Dr Hartmut Mayer
Dr Hartmut Mayer takes up his new post on 1 October, 2017. He is an Official Fellow and Tutor in Politics and International Relations at St. Peter`s College, Oxford, and Adjunct Professor in European and Eurasian Studies at Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies, Bologna. He studied History, Politics and Drama at the Free University of Berlin before undertaking graduate studies in International Relations at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy (Tufts University), at Harvard University and the University of Cambridge (Gonville and Caius College). He received his doctorate in International Relations from St. Antony’s College, University of Oxford.
Further enquiries should be addressed to Andrew Graham (andrew.graham@balliol.ox.ac.uk)
