Following the launch of the EU Centre initiative in the US and Canada in 1998, 29 European Union Centres exist now in universities in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan (List of EU Centres as of 27 March 2012 [59 KB] ). Since 2011, 6 new EU Centres have opened in Russia increasing the number to 35 Centres throughout the world. And new calls have been published for the opening of 2 additional Centres by mid-2012 in Hong-Kong and Macao. Other countries may be interested in the initiative and could follow.

Please click on this link to view the Google Map showing the current EU Centres financed by the EU.

The objectives of the EU Centres are threefold:

1. To promote greater understanding of the EU, its institutions and its policies by establishing a network of EU centres in universities providing information and education activities about the EU;
2. To disseminate information and EU views on issues of interest within regional communities;
3. To increase awareness about the political, economic and cultural importance of the relationship between the EU and the specific country.

The EU Centres are involved in a broad range of activities to fulfil their objectives, ranging from curricular activities (teaching programmes) to research on EU-related topics, as well as outreach activities related to EU and its policies. Networking between EU Centres [10 MB] has also been enhanced with the creation of national network websites.

Other education and research opportunities in EU programmes of interest to professors, researchers and students from third countries, as well as indications on how to access them, can be found in this presentation [115 KB] .

New Brochure 2010 [10 MB]