The European Commission has awarded the University of Cadiz for the period 2022-2025 the Jean Monnet Module “IDENTITY AND EUROPEAN VALUES IN THE EXTERNAL BORDERS: RUSSIA AND THE EU NEIGHBOURHOOD. FROM THE BALTIC TO THE MEDITERRANEAN (EUBALMED)”, coordinated by Prof. Dr. Alejandro del Valle Gálvez, Professor of International Public Law and Director of the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence “Migration and Human Rights in Europe’s External Borders” and Ms. Lorena Calvo Mariscal, Assistant Lecturer and Academic Coordinator of the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence.

Given the current international crisis, academic cooperation to promote European values and respect for fundamental rights is more necessary than ever. This is why the Jean Monnet Module “IDENTITY AND EUROPEAN VALUES IN THE EXTERNAL BORDERS” aims to constitute a common training and research space to promote the comparative and common perspective of identity and values in Europe and beyond, in the framework of the European Neighbourhood Policy with Eastern and Southern Europe.

The main objectives of this European Project are:

1. To contribute to the education of both the University of Cadiz and the participating Universities’ students, as well as other partner Universities and civil society in general, in European Union studies. Specifically, deepening in the Identity and Values of Europe both inside and outside Europe, with an overall perspective of the European Neighbourhood in the East and South of the EU.
2. Promoting dialogue, research and joint dissemination on the comparative and common perspective on European Identity and Values inside and outside the European Union, in the European Neighbourhood Policy, Russia and the Mediterranean. Analysis and understanding of the Union’s Interaction with the European Neighbourhood, Russia and the Mediterranean, in the aspect of Values promoted by the EU.
3. Establish permanent connections with Centres of Excellence, Jean Monnet Chairs and European Studies Units in Spain, Russia, Turkey and Morocco.
4. Continue with the activities of the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence “Migration and Human Rights in Europe’s External Borders” (2017-2021) (https://centreofexcellencejeanmonnet.uca.es/ )

This Jean Monnet Module on European identity and values at Europe’s external borders aims to integrate Professors and students from Universities linked to territories in the Eastern and Southern European neighbourhood, bringing together in a geographical arc the sensitivities of the peoples in the seas that unite us: the Baltic Sea, the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea.

In order to achieve the objectives of the project, the following activities are proposed:

1.- The implementation of an annual course in English of 6 ECTS, 40 hours of on-site teaching during two weeks in the afternoon plus 14 hours of individual work of the student and other online activities. The course will be held at the Jerez Campus (Cadiz) and will be retransmitted online synchronously to encourage the participation of students from the partner universities. The specialised teaching staff who will participate in the teaching of the Jean Monnet Module are distinguished experts from the following collaborating universities: — St. Petersburg State University, Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence (https://e.euactive.ru/ ); — Southern Federal University (Rostov-on-Don), International Institute of Interdisciplinary Education and Ibero-American Studies, (http://www.inter-edu-centr.sfedu.ru/index.php?lang=esp  ); — Istanbul Bilgi University – European Institute- Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence https://eu.bilgi.edu.tr/en/ ; — Abdelmalek-Essaadi University of Tangier-Tetouan. Faculté Des Sciences Juridiques, Economiques Et Sociales De Tanger – Observatoire d’études méditerranéennes.

As complementary activities:

2.- The celebration of an annual Professors’ Conference designed for the academic organisation of the course, as well as to debate and contrast common training and research topics shared by the specialists of the University of Cadiz and the partner Universities.

3.- The publication of research results carried out by the specialists of the University of Cadiz and the participating Universities on the subject matter of the Module in the international electronic journal of the Editorial UCA Peace & Security – Paix et Sécurité internationales (EuroMediterranean Journal of International Law and International Relations) https://revistas.uca.es/index.php/paetsei ; and, eventually, it is proposed the elaboration of a monograph on some of the topics addressed by the Jean Monnet Module.

4.- The creation of a European Studies Website, based on the activities of the International University Centre for Eastern Europe and Central Asia-CUNEAC and the former Spanish-Russian Foundation of the University of Cadiz. Along with the creation of an International Chair of European Studies, approved by the University of Cadiz, in accordance with the need to promote the identification of common EU-Eastern Europe cultural spaces.