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European Governance, Identity and Public Policy

Mission

The mission of the Research Unit on European Governance, Identity and Public Policy (EGIPP) is to examine and compare continuity and change in the institutions, politics, policies and societies of leading European states, with particular reference to the role of cross-national networks of expert and political elites in processes of European integration and Europeanization. Four conceptual foci predominate: Europeanization, convergence, multi-level governance, and identity formation.

Consistent with this mission, EGIPP seeks to promote world-class standards in 'leading-edge' research that draws together comparative European political and policy research and detailed expertise in European area studies with the study of processes of European integration and Europeanization. Though its primary disciplinary axis is political science, EGIPP offers an environment within which interdisciplinary research can flourish.

International standards of research excellence are monitored by benchmarking excellence through an international expert advisory group, which comprises: Professor Patrick Le Gales (Sciences Po, Paris), Professor Wolfgang Wessels (Cologne University, and head of the EU-CONSENT Network of Excellence), and Professor Michael Keating (European University Institute, Florence). Professor Le Gales was Visiting Research Professor in 2006-7. In the same year Professor Klaus Goetz (Potsdam University) was Visiting EU CONSENT Professor.

EGIPP’s comparative advantage lies in the in-depth expertise that we possess on the leading EU states. EGIPP possesses a concentration of expertise on Britain (Wyn Jones, Dorey, Thornton), France (Cole, Cumming, Hanley, Loughlin and Parsons), Germany (Broughton, Dyson and Palmer), Italy (Donovan and Furlong) and Spain (Dowling) that is arguably unrivalled within the UK university system. This expertise provides the basic building block of its activities.

Forthcoming Events

27th May: the end of Euro? The financial crisis and the eurozone.

7th July: The left in Europe.

All staff and postgraduate students, as well as interested undergraduates, are invited to attend.

Roles

EGIPP cultivates an active research culture and supports high quality research through four main roles:

Organization of Research Activities

EGIPP’s research activities are organized around:

It has three thematic priorities around which its various research clusters are integrated:

  1. The links between the shorter-term changes in governance, public policies and identities and long-term structural developments, in particular processes of globalization, Europeanization, and domestic constitutional reforms like devolution
  2. The nature and significance of national and trans-national identity formation, especially through elite network building in Europe at both political and expert levels, and its domestic effects.
  3. The evolution of complex forms of ‘differentiated’ integration in Europe in response to ‘deepening’ and ‘widening’ of the EU.

The three broad thematic priorities integrate work within and across the seven main specialized research clusters:

Many staff members work in more than one cluster.

EGIPP acts as an umbrella for the Wales Governance Centre based in EUROS and Cardiff Law School through a shared interest in comparative territorial governance.

It also acts as a bridge within EUROS between the Political Theory Unit (shared interests in normative ideas of governance and in legitimacy) and the Histories, Memories and Fiction Unit (shared interests in identity formation and cross-cultural communication).

Within the University EGIPP has particularly close links to Cardiff Business School (on European territorial governance), Cardiff Law School (on Europeanization and devolution), and ENCAP and JOMEC (on European communication studies).

Research income

EGIPP had its inaugural meeting on 10 December 2004. It is, however, a successor to a previous unit, and during the 2001-07 RAE period the following research income can be attributed to its members: £390,105. EGIPP research income represented a 300% increase on the baseline of total EUROS research income for 1996-2000 inclusive (compared to a target of 25% in the RA5 of 2001). The sources include AHRC, Anglo-German Foundation, The British Academy, ESRC, European Commission, German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), Leverhulme Trust, Nuffield Foundation, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, and STICERD-LSE. This income has been used to fund a diverse range of national and international research projects on EGIPP-related themes.

Masters' schemes

EGIPP staff are engaged in PhD supervision and teach on or coordinate the following Masters' programmes: MA European Studies, MSc in European Governance and Public Policy, MscEcon Welsh Government and Politics, and MScEcon International Relations.

PhD supervision

EGIPP had 17 PhD students in 2008-9, compared to 9 in 2000-1. The unit requires postgraduate research students to present papers in its research seminar series. The students also organise a bi-annual postgraduate conference, with participation of doctoral students from across south Wales and south-west England. These activities provide generic training, for instance in communication and presentation skills, as well as subject-related skills. They offer appropriate training for students to give papers in such forums as PSA and ECPR. Members of the unit supervise doctoral students working on a range of EGIPP-related themes.

Modes of operation

EGIPP organizes regular international conferences and research workshops, as well as research seminars at which staff, PhD students and visiting speakers present papers, and ‘roundtables’ at which staff debate topical European issues and developments and engage with research users. It also runs two PhD student training sessions each year at which students present their research. EGIPP enjoys close links to the European Commission Office in Wales, the British Council in Wales, and the Welsh Assembly Government. Speakers in academic year 2008-9 included Professor Vivien Schmidt, (on Bringing the State Back In Once Again), Professor Jolyon Howarth (on European Security and Defense Policy). As part of the EU-Consent network, Kenneth Dyson, Nick Parsons and Marc Pollentine organised a successful workshop on Non-Euro states And the Euro in April 2009.

Contact

Clerical officer (research)

Telephone: +44(0)29 2087 4885