FGV obtains highest academic title awarded by European Commission

FGV has been recognized as a “Centre of Excellence on EU-South America Global Governance,” the highest academic title granted by the European Union as part of the Erasmus+ program. No other Latin American institution has yet hosted a Jean Monnet Center of Excellence.

Out of more than 1,300 applications for Jean Monnet activities, FGV was selected by the European Commission’s Erasmus+ program to host a Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence, from 2019 to 2022. The highly competitive selection process took into account the quality of the institution, its faculty, and the teaching and research activities proposed for the center.

The center will be coordinated by Paula Wojcikiewicz Almeida, a professor of international law and the coordinator of the Jean Monnet Chair teaching post at FGV´s Rio de Janeiro Law School. FGV will now have an opportunity to further develop its long-standing partnership with the European Union, building on the Jean Monnet Module extension course (2010-2013) and Jean Monnet Chair (2015-2019).

Following the establishment of the FGV Centre of Excellence on EU-South America Global Governance, FGV will have the EU’s support in performing analysis of global governance mechanisms across Europe and South America, structured in three main areas: Global Regulation, Global Litigation, and Human Rights and Democracy.

The project will be aligned with FGV´s Rio de Janeiro Law School’s Master’s on Regulatory Law and it will be composed of the following activities: education, involving the creation of the EU-South American School on Global Governance; high-level collaborative research with national and international partners; international conferences and seminars; training and capacity-building courses; and systematic publications endorsed by the European Commission.

The professionals at FGV´s Rio de Janeiro Law School’s Centre of Excellence will seek not only to guide research on topics related to global governance and encourage new generations of professors and researchers, but also to prepare students to work in a global labor market, which is increasingly demanding people who are able to manage different legal systems in a new world order composed of non-state actors and non-traditional sources.

In addition to Rio de Janeiro Law School professors, high-level academics and experts from partner institutions in Brazil and other countries, including Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands, France and the United Kingdom, will also participate in the new center, as well as European Parliament officials. Other FGV departments are also involved in the project, such as the School of International Relations (FGV RI) and International Intelligence Unit (FGV NPII).

For more information about FGV’s Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence, click here.