How Pitt Got to Be an EU University

University of Pittsburgh

1974:
Pitt’s University Library System designated an EU Depository Library, which receives one copy of most EU periodical and monograph publications.

1984:
Pitt’s Program for West European Studies (WES), later designated a center, is established.

1991:
WES is awarded its first Foreign Language Area Studies Fellowship Title VI-funded grant by the U.S. Department of Education.

1992:
Pitt Professor Alberta Sbragia’s Euro-Politics: Politics and Policymaking in the “New” European Community (edited book, Brookings Institution) is published. The book is largely credited with initiating a new wave of scholarly work in the United States on European integration.

1993:
Sbragia becomes chair of the European Community Studies Association (later renamed the European Union Studies Association) for a two-year term; the association moves to the University Center for International Studies at Pitt.

1994:
Pitt’s WES is first designated as a U.S. Department of Education Title VI-funded National Resource Center. Sbragia becomes vice president of European Community Studies Association-World for a two-year term.

1998:
Pitt wins a national competition to host a European Union Center (EUC).

1999:
The EUC organizes its first policy conference, bringing together policymakers from both sides of the Atlantic to investigate a public issue of mutual interest.

2001:
Pitt’s EUC is rededicated by Guenter Burghardt, ambassador and head of the delegation of the European Commission to the United States, as one of 15 such centers in the United States. The EUC organizes at Pitt its first Model EU simulation for college students.

2005:
Pitt’s EUC is chosen to be one of only 10 European Union Centers of Excellence, gaining substantial support for center activities from the European Commission; the center later organizes its first Model EU simulation for high school students. Sbragia is designated a Jean Monnet Chair ad personam, a recognition given by the European Union to American academicians whose careers exemplify excellence in EU-related teaching and research.

Feb. 10, 2006:
European Commission President José Manuel Barroso visits Pitt, accompanied by John Bruton, ambassador and head of the delegation of the European Commission to the United States, and other Commission officials.

June 2006:
In recognition of her scholarship on the EU, her leadership in EU studies, and direction of Pitt’s European Union Center of Excellence, Sbragia is named the inaugural holder of Pitt’s Mark A. Nordenberg University Chair.

May 2007:
Pitt’s University Library System receives the entire European Union depository collection—the most extensive collection of public European Community/European Union documents and publications in North America—from the Delegation of the European Commission to the USA.

Summer 2007:
Chancellor Nordenberg, accompanied by Sbragia and other Pitt faculty members, visits European Commission President Barroso and European Parliament members in Brussels. The Pitt delegation also meets with Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker; Aindrias Ó Caoimh, a judge on the European Court of Justice; and officials of the European Court of Auditors.
European Union

May 9, 1950:
French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman proposes a plan for closer cooperation between Western European nations. Since then, May 9 has been celebrated as “Europe Day.”

April 18, 1951:
Based on Schuman’s plan, six countries—Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg—sign a treaty to run their coal and steel industries under common management.

March 25, 1957:
The six countries sign the Treaty of Rome, creating the European Economic Community (EEC), or common market.

Jan. 1, 1973:
Denmark, Ireland, and the United Kingdom enter what is now known as the European Union (EU).

June 7-10, 1979:
Citizens of EU-member countries directly elect the members of the European Parliament for the first time.

Jan. 1, 1981:
Membership in the EU reaches double figures when Greece joins.

Jan. 1, 1986: Spain and Portugal enter the EU, bringing membership to 12.

Feb. 7, 1992:
The Treaty on European Union is signed in Maastricht. It sets clear rules for the future single currency in Europe as well as for foreign and security policy and closer cooperation in justice and home affairs. The new structure set up by the treaty is named the European Union (EU).

Jan. 1, 1993:
The EU single market and its four freedoms are established: The free movement of goods, services, people, and money throughout the EU becomes a reality.

Jan. 1, 1995:
Austria, Finland, and Sweden join the EU, increasing membership to 15 countries.

Jan. 1, 2002:
Euro notes and coins are introduced in 12 countries.

May 1, 2004:
Eight countries in central and eastern Europe—the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia—join the EU, ending the division of Europe agreed to by the Allies 60 years earlier during the Yalta Conference. Cyprus and Malta also become EU members.

Jan. 1, 2007:
Bulgaria and Romania join the EU, increasing the number of member countries to 27.