European Union Center at UW–Madison Wins Major Grant to Become Center of Excellence

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE SEPTEMBER 9, 2005 CONTACT: Elizabeth Covington, Associate Director, European Union Center of Excellence, eecovington@wisc.edu EUROPEAN UNION CENTER AT UW-MADISON WINS MAJOR GRANT TO BECOME CENTER OF EXCELLENCE Madison, WI – UW–Madison’s European Union Center has successfully vied for a renewal grant from the European Commission, an award of 300,000 euros (approx. $365,000) creating the UW–Madison European Union Center of Excellence. One of only ten such centers in the U.S., UW–Madison EUCE will expand and strengthen its programming and research for three years beginning this month. “This is an enormous success,” says Gilles Bousquet, Dean of International Studies. “This is the strongest testimony that we have a unique capability in education, research, and outreach on Europe nationally, which puts us in a very special position in the transatlantic dialogue.” “The new name says it all,” agrees Gregory Shaffer, Director of the UW–Madison EUCE and Professor of Law. “Competition to receive the grant was fierce, and our new EUCE not only has three years of assured funding, but the possibility to renew for a total of nine. We have planned an ambitious program of research and outreach on European affairs, building upon the previous seven years of our Center’s study of the European Union.” Faculty, staff and students in the UW–Madison EUCE carry out interdisciplinary educational, research and outreach work, which improves understanding of the European Union, raises awareness of the growing importance and widening scope of EU-U.S. relations, and promotes “people-to-people” links between European and American citizens. Established in 1998 under Directors David Trubek and Jonathan Zeitlin, respectively Professors of Law, and History/Sociology, EU Center affiliates studied the construction and expansion of the EU, including the completion of a single European market, the launching of a common currency and the emergence of the EU as an increasingly important global political and economic player. The UW–Madison EUCE will continue with this mission offering unique talks, conferences and seminars for UW–Madison students, K-16 teachers and students, business and political leaders, and regional communities, on various developments within the European Union and its transatlantic relationship with the U.S. The Center has over a dozen affiliated faculty members who teach interdisciplinary courses on transatlantic economic relations, new approaches to governance in Europe, and consumerism and environmentalism in Europe, among other topics. Over the next three years, UW–Madison EUCE affiliates will focus their research and outreach mission on three themes: Transatlantic Governance in the New Global Order, Europe’s Expanding Social Dimension, and the New Architecture of EU Governance. The first event of note this fall is the EUCE Roundtable where UW–Madison faculty will discuss “The French and Dutch ‘NO’ to the Constitution: the Future of Europe?” The conference will be held on Wednesday, September 28 at 12:00 noon in Lubar Commons, 7200 Law Building, on the U-W campus. The talk is free and open to the public. The UW–Madison EUCE is a key component of the European Studies Alliance, which contains four internationally recognized programs in European studies—each of which was established through a competitive award process – making the alliance a feat unmatched by any other university in the U.S. The four centers (including the Center for European Studies, the Center for German and European Studies, and the Center for Interdisciplinary French Studies) partner with their fellow ESA members. The UW–Madison EUCE maintains a distinct profile but it collaborates with various campus units including its host institution, the International Institute (founded in 1996 as a joint initiative of the Division of International Studies and the College of Letters and Science), the professional schools and colleges, the nine other EU Centers of Excellence around the U.S., as well as a spectrum of universities in Europe. For more information on the EUCE, http://eucenter.wisc.edu/