A recap of the past 35 years of Jean Monnet Actions shows that the initiative has become more popular, but also more competitive.
This year, the European Commission (EC) is celebrating the 35th anniversary of Jean Monnet (JM) Actions. JM Actions, which are funded as part of Erasmus+, aim at promoting active European citizenship and values through education. The 35-year milestone has been marked by a celebratory conference in Brussels as well as the publication of two brief reports which analyse trends of JM Actions in the field of Higher Education between 2014 and 2020, as well as the evolution of JM Chairs from 1990 to 2022.
The first report presents a case study of JM Actions in the Higher Education field, including Modules, Chairs, and Centres of Excellence. Between 2014 and 2020, these three JM Actions have seen a growth in total budget, while individual grant sizes remained unchanged. Despite this, the EC reports a drop in success rates for proposals from an initial 42% in 2014 to nearly half (24%) in 2020. This decrease is primarily attributed to higher competition through a larger number of submitted proposals. Most grants were awarded to EU Member States (MS), with Russia and the Eastern Neighbouring States as the most active participants outside the EU. Modules, which are short teaching programmes or courses in the field of European Union studies, make up half of all grant proposals and are generally seen as a ‘gateway for Jean Monnet Actions for new participants’. In light of this, the drop of success rate to 18% in 2020 is particularly worrisome. Centres of Excellence, which are focal points of competence and knowledge on European Union subjects, on the other hand are less popular among applicants and mostly attract submissions by organisations from EU MS.
In the second report, similar figures are presented for JM Chairs, which are teaching posts with a specialisation in European Union studies for university professors with a duration of three years. The EC notes a general upward trend in the number of JM Chairs awarded per multiannual financial framework, with 2022 marking the largest number of 81 funded Chairs. Generally, 1’565 Chairs have been granted since 1990 across 73 countries and 698 universities. As JM Chairs were exclusive to EU MS until 2000, most JM Chairs have been awarded to applicants from Spain, Italy, and France, with Turkey, the United States, and Ukraine hosting the most JM Chairs outside the EU. In terms of subjects taught, EU Legal Studies, EU Political and Administrative Studies, as well as EU Economic Studies, are most popular. The EC further notes a general gender imbalance, as 66% of JM Chairs have been awarded to men between 1990 and 2022.
During the anniversary conference in Brussels, which took place on 9 and 10 October in Brussels and hosted stakeholders from the Jean Monnet community, participants discussed the EU’s role in the changing global political landscape and how JM Actions can serve as tools to strengthen European values and cohesion against current challenges. In a closing panel discussion, several prominent JM Chairholders from five continents discussed their views on JM Actions as a public diplomacy tool towards third countries. As a future outlook, they jointly stressed the need for Jean Monnet Actions to continue as a means to strengthen internal cohesion as well as engage with like-minded third countries outside the EU against external challenges.
Against this backdrop, JM Actions are of interest for countries outside the European Union. Despite Switzerland currently not being associated to Erasmus+, Swiss Higher Education institutions may apply to JM Actions, as these are open to applicants worldwide. Despite this, there has been low engagement of Swiss organisations, with only four JM Chairs, three Modules, two Centres of Excellence awarded to Swiss organisations between 1998 and 2017. Most Actions are carried out by the University of Geneva, with single Modules having been funded at University of Zurich and University of Luzern.