Students and staff

European Studies on the Periphery: The Idea of Europe and the Impact of EU Policies on Latvia’s Region

Project title in Latvian: Eiropas izpēte perifērijā: Eiropas ideja un ES politikas ietekme uz Latvijas reģioniem

Project title in English: Examining Europe at the Periphery: The Idea of Europe and the Impact of EU policies on Latvia's regions

Funding: Jean Monnet Chair, co-funded by the European Union

Project leader: prof. Daunis Auers

Project aims:

  1. To promote debate, discussion, and comparison of different conceptions of “Europe” with regional Baltic ideas and thinkers being linked, compared and contrasted with the better-known, largely West-European, thoughts on the construction of “Europe” from William Penn’s appeal for a “European Diet” in the seventeenth century to “Pan Europa”, the “Briand plan” and contemporary theories of European integration;
  2. To develop and promote a dialogue between students and scholars of the European Union and key policymakers and civil society actors, at both the municipal and national level on the impact of the EU “on the ground” in the peripheral regions of the EU. A workshop held in the 2024-2025 academic year brought together scholars and practitioners to examine the impact of the EU on Latvia's regional municipalities.

On Wednesday, January 8, an educational event on Latvian municipalities took place in the European Union house, which was implemented within the framework of the European Union II policy science course of the Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences (ESZF) of the University of Latvia (LU). The event brought together political science students, specialists of the European Union fund system, experts on EU issues, as well as deputies of the Latvian municipal Council.

During the event, both students and invited guests spoke about the interaction between Latvia and the European Union, focusing on the implementation of European Union funds in Latvian municipalities.

Students of the “European Union II” course visited the municipalities of Ligatne, Daugavpils, Cesis, Kuldiga, Ogre, Jelgava, Liepaja, Valmiera, Tukuma and Sigulda during the autumn semester, created documentaries and analysed the data obtained on the use of EU funds in these municipalities.

In the first part of the event, political science student WS presented the presentation '' imprint of EU funds - 20 years of stories' ', which looked at the results and conclusions of the creation of the documentary.

In the second part, a panel discussion '' was held together, forming the future - negotiations on challenges and opportunities', during which the moderator, political science student VR, addressed several participants in the panel discussion - Martin Brencis, Deputy Director for Development of the European Union Funds system, University of Latvia student AL, as well as Marta Ribele, an expert in policy communication and European Union issues. Participants of the discussion shared their experience, discussed how European Union funds changed Latvian municipalities, as well as discussed how and to what extent Latvian municipalities will be able to learn EU funds in the future. During the event, those present had the opportunity to ask questions of interest to the invited experts.

Link to the news report on the “Europeanization on the Ground” (reported on the University of Latvia web site on 20 January 2025).

*Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.