In 2018, the Institute successfully applied for a European Commission tender, entitled Selection of Host Structures for the Information Centres of The Europe Direct Network in Malta 2018-2020, to host a Europe Direct Information Centre under Grant Agreement Ref: 301-14/02/2-18-9140-2236-1. The contract involved the Institute answering EU-related queries, providing information to students and the general public on the EU and organising events.
EDIC University is managed by the Director, Dr Harwood, who attended organisational meetings in Brussels as well as answered any queries received by the EDIC (which number an average of 10 per month). While placing the Institute in a better position to deliver on its objectives, the EDIC enables the Institute to raise its profile across University and beyond. In conjunction with the other EDICs in Malta (hosted by MEUSAC and the Gozo Chamber of Commerce) a joint website was launched.
Due to the challenges raised by the COVID-19 pandemic, the contract was extended beyond December 2020 and was finally concluded in April 2021. During the duration of the project, a large number of events were held, including the upgrading of the Institute entrance and the European Documentation Centre, and various events including public talks, exhibitions and seminars. In the spirit of collaboration, most of the events were organised in conjunction with other departments and faculties on campus, especially the Faculty of Social Wellbeing, the Department of International Relations, the Faculty of Education and the Faculty of Law. Several events were also organised in conjunction with student bodies, such as the European Studies Organisation, JEF and the Law Students' organisation.
The University of Iceland was the lead partner, with nine other universities participating in the project: The University of Copenhagen, Vilnius University, Tallinn University of Technology, University of St. Andrews, the University of Malta, Queen Mary University of London, University of Ljubljana, Lund University and Comenius University in Bratislava.
The primary objective of this partnership was to create a pan-European consortium of experts in small state studies that would train young teachers and researchers from International Relations and Political Science as well as other disciplines, such as Economics, Business, Public Administration and Law, in applying insights from small state studies to their research and teaching.
The kick-off meeting for the project was held at the Queen Mary University of London on February 7. As part of this project the partners organised two summer academies in Reykjavík, and intensive study programs in Ljubljana and Vilnius. At the end of the project the consortium aimed to have developed four new and innovative interdisciplinary curricula in small state studies based on four teaching and research themes (TRT’s). TRT 1: Small states: Foreign policy and economic security; TRT 2: Small states addressing the migration crisis; TRT 3: Small states in international law; TRT 4: Small states and the challenges of good governance. As part of this project, the Institute for European Studies organized a workshop on 28 September 2018 as part of the requirements of this project.
The University of Iceland was the lead partner, with nine other universities participating in the project: The University of Copenhagen, Vilnius University, Tallinn University of Technology, University of St. Andrews, the University of Malta, University of Ljubljana, Lund University, University of Zagreb, and the University of the Aegean in Rhodes.
The aim of the project was that, during the three years of the project, the ten higher education institutions would develop close cooperation in the field of small state studies. The central objectives of this project was:
A workshop entitled 'Small States and the Political Upheavals Related to Immigration' was organised by the Institute for European Studies on 27 September 2018. The workshop will focus on small states and migration.
The University of Malta was the technical coordinator of the SMSHealth.eu Project. This was an EU-funded project under the Erasmus+ programme. The consortium was composed of university departments with a small state and (European) public health expertise, a public health institute and an independent non-profit think-tank from Malta, Estonia, Slovenia, Iceland and The Netherlands. The University of Malta was represented on this project by the Institute for European Studies, with the support of the Department of Health Services Management and the Islands & Small States Institute. Professor Roderick Pace (Institute for European Studies), Dr Natasha Azzopardi Muscat (Department of Health Services Management) and Professor Lino Briguglio (Islands & Small States Institute) were the project coordinators.
To date, there have been no comparative studies on small states and health systems. The SMSHealth.eu Project aimed to fill this gap by a deep understanding of small states’ challenges and opportunities of European integration in health. This was achieved through comparative research across four health policy issues (cancer, health professionals’ mobility, access to medicines, rare diseases) in Estonia, Iceland, Malta and Slovenia. The research study entailed reviews of the domestic literature (particularly in the national language which may be otherwise inaccessible) as well as interviews with the main stakeholders across the identified health policy domains in the partner countries.
The TEPSA pre-Presidency Conference which took place at the University Campus, Valletta, came at a very important cross-road in the life of the EU. Just before the start of the Maltese presidency of the Council of the EU two important events in world politics cast their shadow on the future of Europe, namely the election of Donald Trump by a minority of votes as the next President of the US and the June referendum in Britain where a small majority voted to pull Britain out of the Union. The Trans-European Policy Studies Association (TEPSA) was founded in 1974 with the help of the London-based Federal Trust. Prior to the start of every new presidency of the Council of the EU, it organizes a pre-presidency conference in the country concerned and presents its recommendations to the incoming presidency.
The conference in Malta was held on the 10 and 11 November 2017 and the main theme was 'Restoring Faith in the EU: Strengthen Solidarity, Unity and Determination'. It was inaugurated by the Hon Louis Grech MP, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for European Affairs and Implementation of the Electoral Manifesto who spoke about the Priorities of Malta’s Presidency of the Council of the EU. Around 50 representatives from the member institutes of TEPSA in the 28 member states attended the conference together with more than 60 locally based participants who included students, civil servants, members of the public and of the diplomatic corps. The Hon Dr Ian Borg, Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry for European Affairs and Implementation of the Electoral Manifesto responsible for the EU Presidency 2017 and EU Funds, later participated in a discussion on the Minister’s presentation and the TEPSA recommendations.
At this conference, there were three panel discussions. The first on the “EU’s Neighbourhood Policy and the Mediterranean Region: Facing up to the Economic, Environmental and Energy as well as the Security and Stability challenges”, was chaired by Ms Moira Catania, Resident Academic Staff Member, Institute for European Studies, University of Malta and included as panel members Mr Stefano Mallia, Member of the European Economic and Social Committee, Prof Manfred Weissenbacher of the University of Malta and Prof Dr Hanna Ojanen from the University of Tampere.
The second panel which took place on Friday was entitled “The Migration Challenge and Strengthening Internal Solidarity in the Union”. It was chaired by Professor Jaap de Zwaan, Secretary General, TEPSA and the panel members were the Hon Carmelo Abela, Minister for Home Affairs and National Security, Ms Marlene Mizzi, MEP, Dr Roberta Metsola, MEP and Mrs Joanna Darmanin, of the European Asylum Support Office (EASO).
The third panel was on The European Union and Brexit. It was chaired by Dr Mark Harwood, Director, Institute for European Studies, University of Malta and panel members were Mr Brendan Donnelly, Director, The Federal Trust for Education & Research, UK; Professor Wolfgang Wessels, Jean Monnet Chair ad personam University of Cologne, former Chairperson of the TEPSA Board; Mr Andrew Duff, European Policy Centre (EPC), former MEP and Dr Alfred Sant, MEP.
The Institute in collaboration with the Institute of International Affairs and Centre for Small Studies at the University of Iceland joined the project Small States in Europe: Challenges and Opportunities funded by the Erasmus+ programme via the National Agency in Iceland under project no.: 2014-1-IS01-KA203-000177. The rationale of the project is to establish a dynamic higher education consortium with the objective of developing the field of small state studies in Europe.
The Institute for European Studies, in collaboration with the Centre for Small States Studies at the University of Iceland, organised a seminar entitled 'Small States in the EU: Passive Policy Takers or Industrious Agenda-Setters?'. The seminar focussed on small states within the EU context and the opportunities and challenges they face in maximising their influence within this context.
The speakers included both local and foreign academics and practitioners were the following: Prof. Roderick Pace (Jean Monnet Chair and Professor, University of Malta), Prof. Godfrey Baldacchino (University of Malta), Professor Anders Wivel (University of Copenhagen), Prof. Lino Briguglio (University of Malta), Dr Mark Harwood (University of Malta), Prof. Baldur Thorhallsson (Jean Monnet Chair and Professor of Political Science, University of Iceland), Pia Hannson (Director, Centre for Small States Studies), Prof Stelios Stavridis (University of Zaragoza), Prof. Guido Lessing (Professor of History, Centre d´études et de recherches européennes Robert Schuman), Kulli Sarapuu (Ragnar Nurkse School of Innovation and Governance, Tallinn University of Technology) and Dr Peter Agius (Head of Office, European Parliament Information Office in Malta).
Professor Pace was awarded a Jean Monnet Chair under Key Activity 1, entitled “An Evolving EU engaging a changing Mediterranean region”. The estimated project costs amount to EUR 68,904.00 of which EUR 45,000 are granted by the European Union. The duration of the project was of three years.
The research project aimed to link two processes of change: (a) a changing EU (euro crisis, enlargement and the implementation of the Lisbon Treaty) and (b) the Mediterranean Region after the Arab Spring. The research and discussion/dialogue focused on some fundamental areas of Euro-Mediterranean cooperation, but mainly the following: state-building, democratic change and economic transition in a select number of Mediterranean countries (Egypt, Libya and Tunisia); the impact of the “Arab Spring” on them and EU-Mediterranean states’ relations; analysis of horizontal issues: energy, climate change and migration; the region’s institutional dynamics within the UfM (Union for the Mediterranean) Secretariat; FEMIP (Facility for Euro-Mediterranean Investment and Partnership) Financial initiatives; and inter-regional parliamentary cooperation.
Eleven occasional papers were published: ‘Iceland's contested European Policy: The Footprint of the Past - A Small and Insular Society’ (authored by Baldur Thorhallsson); ‘Migration in the Central Mediterranean’ (authored by Roderick Pace); ‘Taking its place in Europe – Iceland's long road to its EU application’ (authored by Magnús Árni Magnússon); ‘The Challenges of Irregular Maritime Migration’ (authored by Patricia Mallia); ‘Government failure, opposition success? Electoral performance in Portugal and Italy at the time of the crisis’ (authored by Enrico Borghetto, Elisabetta De Giorgi and Marco Lisi); ‘The future of human rights protection in the new Libya: prospects and challenges’ (authored by Nasser Algheitta); ‘The 2011 constitutional reform in Morocco: more flaws than merits’ (authored by Francesco Biagi); ‘Adapting to climate change from a regional perspective: in search of a requisite policy and legal framework for the Mediterranean’ (authored by Simone Borg); ‘The roots of economic challenges facing Egypt in the aftermath of the 25th January revolution’ (authored by Ahmed Ghoneim); ‘Model Countries in Political Analysis: Is Turkey a Model for State-Building in the Arab World?’ (authored by Aylin Gϋney and Hasret Dikici Bilgin); ‘Migration and asylum: The movement of people in the Mediterranean Region - Future scenarios and the EU response’ (authored by Berta Fernandez Alfaro).
This was a five-year Jean Monnet European Centre of Excellence Project. In its first year, (Oct 2004-Sep 2005) the Project focused on Anti-Discrimination, Inclusion and Equality in Malta. The focus of the second year was on The Family, Law, Religion and Society in the European Union and Malta. In its third year the theme was Business Ethics in the EU and Malta while in its fourth year the focus was on The Fight Against Poverty. The fifth and final year of the project, marked the fifth anniversary of Malta's Membership of the EU. The theme was Malta's Membership of the EU: Five Years On and Looking to the Future.
Following the successful completion of the first two Malta European Studies Association (MESA) Projects, the MESA was awarded another Project grant by the Jean Monnet Programme in 2006. In its first year (Dec 2006-Sep 2007), the lecture series focused on the Debate on the Constitution for Europe. The Second Jean Monnet Seminar Series focused on The Reform Treaty and its Implications. The MESA project is now in its third year and the Seminar series will focus on The New Social Policy Agenda and the Lisbon Treaty.
Under the first MESA programme, the MESA organised six seminars a year on current issues. These were always very well attended by the MESA members. The seminar papers have been published, and the list is available online. Copies are available from the Institute for European Studies.
The Institute for European Studies has always organised an annual Conference. The Conference was usually held around April in conjunction with MESA and the Jean Monnet Chair and the proceedings published. Access the full list of publications.
The history of the annual conference can be summarised as concentrating on the following topical issues:
The conferences have in recent years been held in September. Maltese and international experts are invited each year to address the theme of the conference. The conferences are aimed at a national audience.
Recent Conferences (since 2005) have been held within the framework of the Civil Society Project. Following the publication of a Civil Society Project Report in June/July. The Conferences organised so far were as follows:
The full title of this two-year Project was The Role of Intercultural Dialogue for the Development of a New (Plural, Democratic) Citizenship.
The Institute for European Studies is participating as one of four partner institutions. Professor Antonio Papisca of the University of Padova co-ordinated the Project. Following a number of group meetings, a Conference in March 2006, and a Final Conference in 2007, the papers of all Working Groups were published in book form. The Malta team was composed of several of the Institute's long-term academic collaborators from across the Mediterranean, under the coordination of Professor Xuereb.
The EU-MED Project, which has recently been finalised was a two-year project based on a research network. The network discussed particular problems faced by the Mediterranean such as security, terrorism, economic inclusion, human rights, democracy and gender equality. The researchers, who came from Mediterranean and European countries, met at a Conference annually in September, and the proceedings of each Conference have been published.