Centre for European and Transnational Studies

The Centre for European and Transnational Studies brings together researchers interested in the study of the European Union and European integration as well as the study of transnational law, policy and society within and beyond the European Union. CETS research will be based on thorough understanding of European and transnational integration from legal, political, sociological and economic perspectives, with a focus on the socio-economic and civic consequences of such integration. Its research encompasses the EU and Europe beyond the EU, border regions and other transnational regions as well as global economic law and policy. It strives to achieve critical and interdisciplinary approaches.

Its members’ expertise comprises environmental and sustainability studies, economic integration and competition law within the EU and the EU’s external trade policy, EU economic and social constitutionalism, theoretical and comparative aspects of harmonisation and regulation at EU and global levels, studies in European Courts, the EU’s human rights law and policy (including anti-discrimination law and policy), jurisprudential perspectives on EU and global administrative law, internet law and sports law, the EU’s contribution to global justice and trans-nationalisation processes beyond the EU. The Centre also comprises a Jean Monnet ad personam Chair in EU Law and Policy (Dagmar Schiek), whose initial award ensued from a research programme on interdisciplinary perspectives on the EU’s contribution to European and global economic and social integration. It further comprises two Jean Monnet Professors in EU Politics (Lee McGowan and David Phinnemore).

The centre members’ diverse research interests convene in a critical approach to the European Union from global, regional and local perspectives as a theme for interdisciplinary inquiry. The centre invites visiting researchers and cooperation from law, political sciences, sociology, social policy, economics, business administration and labour relation studies. It is also linked to the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence “Tensions at the Fringes of the European Union” (TREUP), in which legal scholars and political scientists cooperate.