The European Union Centre of Excellence (EUCE) was established at Dalhousie University in the Fall of 2006 with a grant from the European Commission in Brussels. The EU Centre has a new 3-year agreement from the beginning of December 2009.

The dual aim of the Dalhousie EU studies Initiative, which was taken a few years ago, is to integrate existing research and teaching activities on the European Union at Dalhousie University and to establish a framework through which these and other activities related to the EU can be facilitated and promoted. The initiative is designated to build on and strengthen the foundational work that led to the creation of the BA Honours Program in European Studies in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences in 2003-2006 and recruitment of internationally recognized scholars as Canada Research Chairs in European and EU Studies.

The plans for 2009-2012 include 12 research projects by individual faculty members covering various aspects of EU external policies and EU-Canada relations, developments in the EU, comparative EU  and Canada public policy issues.

The programme includes various speaker series, conferences and support for teaching. The latter category includes some support for the EU Study Tour and graduate student participation with papers at academic conferences.

New EU-related classes have been offered in the Law, Economics and Political Science Departments, and several coordinated and interconnected series of visiting speakers have been aimed at fostering the maximum academic and wider public interest in EU matters.

The EUCE conducts  annual research workshops. The following three have taken  place: the EU Constitutional Treaty (Spring 2007), the EU in the global political and economic system (Spring 2008) and the EU in a comparative perspective (Spring 2009). The 4th Annual Conference on The EU’s Lisbon Treaty: Negotiation, Ratification and Implementation has taken place in summer 2010.

First Jean Monnet Conference on "From Paris to Lisbon: EU Treaties and their Reforms” has been held at Dalhousie University on 22-23 March 2010.

Books published in 2009 - 2011 under the auspices of EUCE at Dalhousie University

•  The EU as a Foreign and Security Policy Actor. Edited by Finn Laursen. Republic of Letters Publishing. Dalhousie University, 2009. 382 pp. ISBN 978-90-8979-007-1 
• The EU in the Global Political Economy. Edited by Finn Laursen. Peter Lang Publishing Group. Bruxelles, Bern, Berlin, Frankfurt am Main, New York, Oxford, Wien, 2009. 352 pp., 6 fig.
  ISBN 978-90-5201-554-5 
• Comparative Regional Integration: Europe and Beyond. Edited by Finn Laursen. Ashgate Publishing Ltd., Surrey, UK The International Political Economy of New Regionalism Series. May 2010,  306 pp. ISBN 978-1-4094-0181-0.  Reviewed by Martyn de Bruyn, Ph.D., Assistant Professor at the Department of Political Science of Northeastern Illinois University
• The EU and Federalism: Polities and Policies Compared. Edited by Finn Laursen. Ashgate Publishing Ltd., Surrey, UK. Federalism Studies Series. January 2011, 304 pages, ISBN: 978-1-4094-1216-8

News and Events

• 6th Annual Research Conference of the EU Centre of Excellence (EUCE)-Widening and Deepening of European Integration: Challenges and strategic choices facing the European Union. (April 11-13, 2012) Call for Papers

• 5th Annual Research Conference of the EU Centre of Excellence (EUCE) - The EU and Transatlantic Relations: Security and Political Economy Issues (April 10-12, 2011) (Programme) (Poster).