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European Governance, Identity and Public Policy

Mission

The mission of the Research Unit on European Governance, Identities and Public Policies (EGIPP) is to examine and compare continuity and change in the institutions, politics, policies and societies of leading European states. Particular emphasis is placed on 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 on topics that draw 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 are monitored by benchmarking research excellence through an international expert advisory group. It comprises Professor Michael Keating (formerly European University Institute, Florence); Professor Patrick Le Gales (Sciences Po, Paris); Professor Mick Moran (Manchester University); and Professor Wolfgang Wessels (Cologne University). Recent Visiting Research Professors include Patrick Le Gales, Professor Tony Mughan (Ohio State) and Professor Jean-Michel Eymeri-Douzens (Sciences Po, Paris). 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 and strength in language-based area studies. It possesses a concentration of expertise on Britain (Wyn Jones, Dorey, Thornton), France (Cole, Cumming and Parsons), Germany (Dyson and Feldner), 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.

Honorary Visiting Professors include Rhodri Morgan (former First Minister, Wales Assembly Government) and Honorary Distinguished Professors include Eluned Morgan (former Welsh MEP).

Recent and Forthcoming Events

27 May 2010: Professor Andrew Gamble (Cambridge University): ‘The End of Euro? The Financial Crisis and the Euro Area’.

12/13 October 2010: Roundtable on ‘Whither the Left in Europe’.

20 October 2010: Professor Kevin Featherstone (LSE): ‘Greece and the EU in the Crisis’.

2 February 2011: Professor Mick Moran FBA (Manchester University): ‘Politics, Power and the Financial Crisis in Britain

May 2011: series of lectures and seminars by Professor Jean-Michel Eymeri-Douzens (Sciences Po, Paris)

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:

EGIPP Research Seminars, 2010-2011

EGIPP research seminars will be held in Room 2.22 of the EUROS building, 12.30 - 14.00.

27 October: Kenneth Dyson - 'Norman's Lament: Lessons from the 1930s - Do We Have a 'New Europe'?'

3 November: Paul Furlong – ‘Informal Governance in the EU: the Bologna Process’

24 November: Peter Dorey – ‘David Cameron’s Modernisation of the Conservative Party: Only a Partial Success?’

1 December: Rosanne Palmer – ‘Closer to the Citizen? The Scottish Parliament, National Assembly and EU governance'

23 February: Andrew Dowling – ‘The End of Spain? The Rise of Catalan Independence’

2 March: Stephen Thornton – ‘Wilson, ‘White Heat’ and Redeveloping Whitehall’

9 March: Edwin Egede – ‘Are there Commonalities between the EU and the African Union Approaches to the Definition of Terrorism?’

All staff and postgraduate students are most welcome.

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. Globalization, Europeanization and their domestic impacts on European states and sub-national governance.
  2. National and territorial identity formation at different levels of governance.
  3. Contemporary policy and political challenges to European states, the integration process and sub-national governance

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

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 included 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, MSc Welsh Government and Politics, MSc in Politics and Public Policy 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, the National Assembly for Wales and the Welsh Assembly Government. Recent speakers have included Professor Vivien Schmidt (Boston University) and Professor Jolyon Howarth (Yale University). As leader of a thematic area within the FP6 EU-CONSENT Network of Excellence, Kenneth Dyson organised a series of recent research workshops that brought together EGIPP staff with international experts and policy practitioners. Each led to an edited volume.

Contact

Clerical officer (research)

Telephone: +44(0)29 2087 4885