The East Midlands Eurocentre was established in 2000, on the basis of funding from the European Commission’s Jean Monnet Programme. It was originally designed to be a regionally-based centre for the promotion and dissemination of European Union Studies; as such, it extended to Derby, Leicester, Lincoln and Nottingham Universities, and drew an Advisory Board from across both those universities and other public bodies in the East Midlands. The centre has been co-directed since its establishment by Professor David Allen and Professor Michael Smith, in the Department of Politics, History and International Relations (PHIR) at Loughborough University, and draws on the administrative resources of the Department.
The Eurocentre mounted a series of public and more ‘academic’ events in its first three years of existence, but evolved thereafter to become a centre primarily for the coordination of research activities and events in the region, centred at Loughborough. In this context, the Eurocentre has organised a series of workshops and colloquia, which in several cases have led to well-received publications. It has also engaged postgraduate research students in its activities, and has contributed funding towards the organisation of postgraduate training events and research workshops. The centre has also become increasingly engaged with partner institutions in other EU Member States, using the resulting contacts and networks as a means of promoting researcher mobility and joint research activities. Members of the Eurocentre have also played an active role in such EU-centred networks as the Santander Group and the Compostela Group.
In 2007, the Eurocentre came under the ‘umbrella’ of the Centre for the Study of International Governance (CSIG) established in the Department of PHIR. As a component of the broader Centre, it maintains its autonomy but is integrated with CSIG in terms of its activities and funding. The Eurocentre is now predominantly linked with a key strand of CSIG research, dealing with the international relations of the European Union, and aims to pursue research networking and researcher training activities particularly focused on EU external relations and ‘European foreign policy’. It continues to foster links with a range of EU partners, and to seek out means by which joint research activities can be funded and organised.
From 2001-2007, the Eurocentre produced a series of annual reports covering its activities and development. It now reports under the general CSIG banner, and its activities are covered in the CSIG newsletter. Plans for the next three years include an application for EU funding for networking activities linked to the development of diplomacy and negotiation in the EU, and efforts to further develop postgraduate researcher training in a regional context. The Eurocentre is also linked to a current application for Marie Curie funding from the European Commission, which focuses on inter-institutional relations in EU external relations.
