Presentation of the Network

The International Research Group Sustainable Development and Adjustment in the MEDA Countries Following the European Union Enlargement (Commission Agreement 2004 – 3236 / 001 – 001) was created in the frame of the Jean Monnet Action – a European Commission initiative aimed at promoting knowledge on European integration – legally based on Action 3A of Decision No 791/2004/EC of the EP and of the Council of 21 April 2004 establishing a Community action programme (Official Journal of the European Union L 138/31 of 30.4.2004).

The Project has been initialised by the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence at the Department of Economic and Financial Sciences of the University of Genoa. The main objective of the International Research Group lies in setting up an Euro-Mediterranean Research Network with an emphasis on a research work organisation and involvement of young researchers (junior university teachers and researchers, post graduate and graduate students). The project’s activity aims at fostering the dialogue between the EU and MEDA courtiers in the new international environment following 2004 EU enlargement and recent conflicts in Mid Eastern area in order to contribute to the political and social stabilisation of the Mediterranean area and modernisation of the MEDA economies. In particular, the research is aimed at the highlighting the adjustment costs of the partnership agreement for the MEDA countries that they have to bear in order to adjust to the partnership constraints and to relaunch their economies considering both social and economic constraints and the sustainable development conditions.

The activities within the project cover the following actions:

• Establishment of strong and fruitful contacts between senior and junior university staff and young researchers from EU and South and East Mediterranean institutions.

• Collective achievements of research works performed by young researchers including international supervision.

• Dissemination of the research results among the junior and senior university staff, young researchers, students and general public by means of international seminars and conference, publishing of the best research results and the interactive communication and on-line reports on the action through the web-site.

• Establishment of a Euro-Mediterranean observatory on Sustainable Development with a specific view at improving the quality of the European Studies in the MEDA universities.

The collective research work is organized in two stages. The first one deals with the examination of the present state of affairs in the EU-MEDA relationships (the Euro-Mediterranean agreements and their juridical and economic outcomes). The second stage is dedicated to the particular economic and juridical aspects and specific analysis in order to evaluate the impact of the EU – Mediterranean co-operation and give some prognostic proposals concerning the sustainable development of the MEDA countries.

That collective scientific achievements performed by the international research team will considerably contribute to the process of EU – Mediterranean cooperation and to the regional integration efforts of the Southern and Eastern MEDA countries.

Project Coordinator,

Head of the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence at the University of Genoa,

Prof. Franco Praussello