The IES 2004 Activity Report
2004 was an extremely important year for the IES. After
all, in the autumn the Institute was subjected to the critical quality
assurance provided for in the Management Agreement that was the precondition
for the discussions on its renewal in 2005.
In the extensive and very thorough report a number of significant weaknesses in the policy and management were pointed out that needed remedying. This criticism and encouragement led the Board and the management of the IES to draw the necessary conclusions to guarantee suitable remedies to guarantee new dynamism as from 2005.
There has been a continuing rise in the activities of the IES themselves with the successful series of lectures on the European Constitution and one on Sustainable Development; the first Summer School on European Decision-Making (together with the University of Vienna and the Diplomatische Akademie of Vienna); the partnership in two networks of excellence of the 6th Framework Programme of the European Commission (GARNET and REVGOV); the extension of the research potential; the further consolidation of the PILC.
Strengthened by the constructive evaluation by the visitation team and the increasing interest in our activities within and outside the VUB, the Institute for European Studies is looking forward to its further broadening with confidence.
This means that the IES is still very much an institute
in the making. Thus, a continuous, constructive evaluation of its structure
and operation should lead to an increase in the quality of its work.
I believe that the wealth of initiatives, the quantity and quality of
our research, and the heightened attraction of our education programme
all show that we are on the right track.
Prof. Dr. Bart De Schutter
President IES
In 2004, the IES continued on the chosen course of the past years. The educational programme was consolidated whilst in the area of research the current projects were continued and an additional new project was started up with own resources. In 2004 the IES was also faced by major changes. Three Senior Research Fellows were recruited by mid 2004. They strengthen the research component of the Institute and in time can canvas additional research funds. With regard to the content of the research, a new research strategy was elaborated that further specifies the areas of research of the Institute and places the emphasis on interdisciplinary prospects. The research plan will be presented to the Board of the IES in the spring of 2005. In addition, the Senior Research Fellows collaborated in the organisation of the Summer School and in the preparation of the lecture series.
In the area of education, the IES continued its efforts with regard to the Programme on International Legal Cooperation. As in previous years, the PILC programme was organised under the auspices of the Law Faculty of the VUB, and in accordance with the decision of the Flemish government of 17 May 2002 led to the diploma of Master in International and Comparative Law – a diploma that was awarded to 43 students in 2004. The content of the PILC programme did not change in 2004. The PILC did welcome a new lecturer, but the curriculum remained the same in 2004. The two lecture series organised by the IES were part of the programme in 2004 under the auspices of the PILC director.
The IES also made an effort to organise a summer school for the first time in 2004. The Summer School on the European Decision-Making Process was organised in July for one week in Brussels and one week in Vienna in cooperation with the Universität Wien and the Diplomatische Akademie Wien. With support from the European Commission (Jean Monnet programme, DG Education) the programme could be offered to the students at a very democratic price whilst the majority of the organisational costs were borne by the Commission. Thanks to this financial input, the IES – together with its two partner institutions – can also provide such programmes in the future.
In the area of research, the IES started
one new project (European Policy towards Regional Integration in Sub-Saharan
Africa. A legal analyses of its formulation, implications and implementation)
on its own budget and it approved another two that will start in the
spring of 2005 (more about this in the next annual report). On top of
this, the Institute managed to attract various external projects, so
that two additional researchers were employed at the IES for a minimum
of one year. One project (Individual Rights in European Community Environmental
Law), that normally would have been extended in May 2004, was discontinued
due to the premature departure of the researcher in question.
A few figures:
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In the scientific services area, the IES continued its efforts to organise lecture series every semester. In 2004 both the one on the “European Convention” and the one on “Sustainable Development” were very succesful. The lecture series should give rise to two new books in the IES publication series (to be published in 2005). The latter started in 2004 with the publication of two volumes: “About Globalisation” (De Schutter / Pas eds.) and “De Nieuwe European Unie” (Youri Devuyst).
The IES organised a total of 29 scientific events in 2004. In addition it collaborated in the organisation of three colloquia in cooperation with other institutions and in one Euro-Atlantic Dialogue Conference.
A total of 11 externally financed projects were carried out by the IES, whilst the Institute was successful in obtaining financial support starting from 2005 in the Network of Excellence “GARNET” in the 6th framework programme of DG Research.
Financially speaking, the expenses of the IES remained within budget and the Institute was able to round off the year with a limited surplus. The personnel costs remained under the assumed 70% whilst on the income side the Institute managed to obtain 25% of its resources from income other than government subsidy.
Anthony Antoine
Executive Director
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| report2004.pdf | 1.84 MB |
IES is a Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence at the 