European Neighbourhood Policy Chair

Rooted in an initiative by the European Parliament, the Natolin campus of the College of Europe created the European Neighbourhood Policy Chair which became operational on 1 July 2012.

Mission

The mission of the Chair is to teach and encourage reflection on EU and EU member states' foreign policies towards the EU’s eastern and southern neighbourhood and to familiarize students with the multi-facetted security-related, political and socio-economic developments and structures in both neighbourhoods.

The Chair is at the heart of the new major in EU Neighbours and the European Neighbourhood Policy, shaped by the Chairholder Professor Tobias SCHUMACHER, who is teaching numerous courses throughout the academic year and supervising Master's theses. Several ENP scholarships are offered each academic year to graduates coming from EU member states as well as from ENP partner countries, who are interested in studying the ENP and the EU’s neighbourhood in the framework of the MA in European Interdisciplinary Studies. Learn how to apply for a scholarship.

From its inception, the Chair has been organizing high-profile guest lectures, international conferences and round-tables, as well as the Natolin Neighbourhood Days – a cycle of debates focusing on topical, ENP- and EU neighbourhood-related issues, bringing together eminent academics, decision-makers, think tankers and other opinion shapers. The Chair directs also the Natolin Neighbourhood Ambassadorial Talks, and its flagship initiatives are the ENP PhD Summer School, that takes place every year with the support of distinguished partner institutions, and the Horizon 2020 project MEDRESET, in which Prof. Tobias SCHUMACHER and Prof. Münevver CEBECI direct one work package.

The Chair acquires books and other publications concerning EU and EU member states' foreign policy towards the EU's neighbourhood and concerning Eastern Europe, the South Caucasus, the Middle East and North Africa; they form part of the extensive collections of the Natolin campus library. The Chair hosts research fellows, as well as several post-doctoral research fellows for a period of either six or twelve months.

Throughout the years, the ENP Chair has become a centre of academic excellence. This is reflected in the many books, research articles, book chapters and policy papers that it has published in prominent outlets. Currently, the Chair hosts the secretariat of the Routledge Handbook on the European Neighbourhood Policy project. This authoritative handbook, co-edited by Prof. Tobias SCHUMACHER and due in 2017, gathers the most respected and insightful voices world-wide to address key issues related to conceptual, methodological, theoretical and empirical aspects in the EU’s neighbourhood policy framework.