The European Institute (EI) was created in 1991 to be a primary focus for the inter-disciplinary study of processes of integration and fragmentation within Europe. Its disciplinary range is unrivalled. It currently has 25 academic members of staff drawn from the fields of politics, economics, geography, history, political economy, law, philosophy, and international relations.
It has prioritised three themes in its work that it considers cutting-edge and important, and which could not be fully studied within a Department with a single disciplinary process:
- EU Politics, Law and Policy, in particular EU policy-making and the Europeanisation of domestic processes both within and beyond the EU's borders.
- European Ideas and Identities, notably central tenets of European belief and the boundaries of Europe.
- European Political Economy, in particular the political economy of economic integration and structures and reforms present in contemporary Europe.
The Institute offers six Masters programmes and an extensive doctoral programme. It currently has one of the largest cohorts of European studies students anywhere in the world with over 200 Masters students and 40 doctoral students from around the world.
The Institute is outward looking. It has strong links with other LSE departments, most notably the Government and International Relations Departments. It has also developed a number of collaborative links with international partners, most notably Sciences Po with whom it has a joint degree.
The EI is a Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence.
The final hallmark of the Institute is a strong public profile. It hosts over 50 events a year with a wide range of public and academic speakers. The following have spoken at the Institute since January 2007: nine Commissioners (including the current President); five Prime Ministers; seven Presidents; the President and Vice President of the European Parliament; five Foreign Ministers; three Finance Ministers; five MPs; one Employment Minister and one Economics Minister.
