ABSTRACT
The idea of a European institution complementing the construction of Europe in the field of higher education appeared early in the programs of the pro-European movements. The project took shape at the 1955 Messina Conference and it was inserted in the 1957 Euratom Treaty. However, in spite of determined action on the part of the Italian government and the European Commission, as well as the support given by the European Parliament, all attempts to realize the European university failed, due mainly to its rejection by General de Gaulle and the drastic opposition of national academic circles. After a relaunch, motivated by the university crisis in 1968, the project was brought under study again at intergovernmental level at the 1969 Hague Summit. This led to a project more modest than the initial ambitions. The European University Institute (EUI), which eventually opened its doors in 1976, faced some difficulties in defining its academic profile until the revision of its convention in 1992, which conferred on it a major “European” character. To distinguish itself from its competitors and to adapt to successive enlargements and the development of post-doctoral studies, the institute has, since the 2000s, multiplied the number of interdisciplinary centers and post-doctoral schools.
