EUSA Ninth Biennial International Conference
March 31 - April 2, 2005, Austin, Texas
PAPER
PANEL 08H - Friday April 1st, 4:15 - 6:00 p.m.
The State of Teaching the European Union: Challenges and Opportunities



Teaching the EU to Europeans - 
How can “old” and “new” Europe be brought together?
by Eileen Fuchs and Robin van der Hout
Institute of European Studies, University of Saarland, Germany





Mister Chairman, dear Roy, 
Ladies and Gentlemen,


let me first of all thank you and all those who contributed to this wonderful event for 
the great opportunity to speak to you today and to add some remarks to the overall 
topic of the state and future of European Union Studies.


Not long ago European Leaders celebrated the unification of our continent beneath the 
Athens Acropolis. The signing of the Constitution for Europe is a milestone of a de-
velopment which started more than fifteen years ago with the unexpected fall of the 
Berlin Wall and the German reunification. All European countries - but especially those 
in the East of the continent - have hence been going through exciting and sometimes 
troubling times. After the recent events in the Ukraine we know that these times are 
not over yet. Although EU-politicians do not stop to proclaim a finally “Unified 
Europe” - and thereby meaning the enlarged European Union, which is not quite the 
same - it seems that only few European citizens feel yet ready to fully consent to this 
notion. Polls clearly show that only a marginal minority feels themselves as just Euro-
peans, the greater part would rather agree to be European next to their “true” national-
ity, meaning for example German, Dutch or Irish.

Considering European students in this regard - are they more inspired by the integration process? 

The students entering Universities this year were born in 1986 or 1987. For them the 
division of the continent into “East” and “West” is already a part of history and far less 
formative than for people even our age. Especially students from the new member 
states are very familiar with the sermon of the new and unparalleled chances supposed 
to be open to them. However, most of them also experienced new insecurity and the 
loss of the well-known. Still, the vast majority of them - especially those accepting the 
challenge and going abroad - follow a sober and unprejudiced approach. They want to 
achieve something in life - better today than tomorrow. Students coming from the old 
member states often have different priorities. Many of them grew up in social and fi-
nancial security and still presume that opportunities will be open to them in future. 
Due to their “Western” lifestyle, they - and I could say we at this point - still know very 
little about our new neighbors in the “East” which suddenly emerged after the wall was 
gone. Who really is familiar with the specific features of Slovenia and Slovakia or of 
Lithuania and Latvia?
To our experience it seems that students from the “West” far less appreciate the op-
portunities of an enlarged European Union. Their colleagues from the “East”, however, 
are often more resolute and energetic and sometimes one can get the impression they 
just overroll us. Speaking more generally, the new member states all in all give new im-
petus to the old EU-15 and might even help the old and somewhat too self-contented 
countries to rediscover their enterprising spirit.


What can the EU do to overcome those differences in mentality and culture as far as they hinder fur-
ther integration?

The institutions of the European Union and also national bodies do a lot to bring 
young Europeans together - for example, more than 1.4 million students participated in 
the well known ERASMUS-Program since 1987. And nobody so far counted the cou-
ples and also the young Europeans that emanated from these stays abroad. All the 
same, offering funds is not always sufficient - people must have the desire to under-
stand each other better and must be given the opportunity to meet. Up to now it seems 
that people from the new member states are eager to spend time in the old member 
states but vice versa this is not so much the case. What is more, students from the Brit-
ish Isles are - naturally? - not interested in going to Germany or Austria, but everyone 
seems to head for Spain and Italy.
So what the European Union needs in this aspect are more institutions designed to 
teach the European project and to form a generation with a “European spirit”. One of 
the already existing melting pots is our Institute of European Studies in Saarbrücken. 
Oldest of its kind in Germany and second oldest in Europe, it celebrated its 50th birth-
day in 2001. All started only six years after the end of World War II, when students and 
lecturers from France and Germany began to work, study and live together on the Uni-
versity Campus. Another, but not less important European Unification. 

What lessons did we learn and what do we do at our institute in bringing together stu-
dents from “old” and “new” Europe? Let me present you some of the conclusions my 
colleagues and me arrived at over the recent years.


The first one is that Europe only will be unified if its citizens learn about it - together.

Starting point is to create a common basis of learning - and here the problems already 
begin. Educational systems and learning methods vary greatly among Member States 
and the lines not simply divide along East and West. The so called “Bologna Process” 
launched by the European Union aims mainly at the harmonization of university de-
grees but affects the diverse methods of teaching only indirectly. This is why any Euro-
pean Union studies have to take into account the major existing distinctions.
Speaking very generally about the different approaches, the “Southern” educational 
system as it can be found for example in France or Italy and even more so in the new 
member states is rather scholastic, as it allows little flexibility and independence to stu-
dents: Attendance of most lectures is obligatory and students carefully follow and take 
note of the lecturers’ words. Learning by heart and thereby acquiring a vast factual 
knowledge is deemed to be a priority, personal contributions by students are not very 
common. Therefore, written exams sometimes mainly consist of what was said in the 
lecture - word by word. 
In the “Northern” educational system, as you may find it in the Scandinavian Coun-
tries, the UK or Germany, students are supposed to work much more autonomously. 
Attendance of most lectures is expected but not compulsory, students more “listen” 
than write and often raise questions. This independence-encouraging approach of 
course includes the risk of people getting stuck at university for years without real ad-
vancement and without the need to face reality. Often students feel left alone and law 
students in Germany for example very often take private tuition to help them prepare 
for their final exams.

The only way this described clash of systems can be resolved is to create a well-
balanced mixture of the two systems allowing students to profit of each of its strengths 
and learning from each other. From our experience we can say that students from vari-
ous backgrounds start very differently into a one year master program but manage by 
majority to adapt increasingly. Let me give you an example: During the first days of 
lecture every year class is truly divided. Some students literally stenograph of what is 
said - others just sit and listen. When people are called on to ask questions or give their 
own opinions on a certain topic, some do and some wonder why they should. By the 
end of the year, however, the “writers” become more relaxed and participate in discus-
sions and the “speakers” found out that it can be helpful to take some notes, too. 
The need to combine methods applies to exams, too. Most written tests consist of two 
kinds of tasks. First, questions are given which can be answered only by detailed 
knowledge presented in the lecture. Second, students have to judge and resolve un-
known cases applying the general system of analysis they were taught. Students from 
the “Southern” system are especially apprehensive to these cases and experience to find 
them very difficult. People from the “North”, on the other hand, complain about the 
unacceptable amount of detailed knowledge they are expected to learn. But in the end 
good marks can be reached by students from both groups, without one having an ad-
vantage over the other. 

As a summary: Teaching the European Union to a mixed group of students from all 
member states requires taking into account different educational systems and ap-
proaches to academic learning. Only if the basic methods are combined both in the 
system of teaching and in the design of exams, the majority of students will be able to 
meet the demands of a common program and will not get the impression that col-
leagues from certain countries are given a competitive edge. Comprehensive European 
Union Studies also must consist of a workable mix of theory and practice, which in-
cludes a mixture of teaching forms which address different skills of students. Seminars 
and written examinations focus on research and autonomous writing, while case studies 
and moot courts encourage students to test their practical and verbal skills. In the end, 
students acquire a recognized and comparable Master degree what allows them to com-
pete with graduates from other postgraduate programs in Europe or abroad on a level 
playing field.


Our second point is that Europe only will be unified if its people understand each other better.

In addition to the comparable academic skills just described, students also have to learn 
how to communicate with one another. This is not only valid when speaking of the 
relations between “East” and “West” but of all Member States.
First of all, communication means of course linguistic skills. The enlarged European 
Union of 25 counts 20 official languages. But only 45% of European citizens can con-
verse in a language other than their mother tongue. There are, however, large variations 
among Member States and groups of population: While the aforementioned is true for 
more than 80% of the people living in the Netherlands, Denmark or Sweden, it applies 
to less than 30% of the Portuguese or the British. The main reason for the poor British 
result, of course, is the fact that the lingua franca of the EU has become English - 
whether the French may like it or not. When asked which foreign language the Europe-
ans find most useful, nearly 70% of them answered English and only 37% French, not 
to mention German with 26%. Talking about European students, almost 80% have for-
eign language skills. This is promising but still not enough. It is not sufficient any more 
to have command of only one foreign language if one wants to successfully work and 
live in a cross-border environment. 
For this reason, language training has to be an integral part of any European Union 
Studies. Students should be offered the opportunity to follow lectures in other lan-
guages and courses to learn and improve their language skills. Thereby, the focus 
should not only lie on English. A good knowledge of the English language is widely 
expected in the Europe of today and can not be considered as a real asset anymore. On 
the contrary, its absence must be justified and generally is a real career obstacle. This is 
why only the sound knowledge of another European language gives students a distinct 
advantage.

It goes without saying, of course, that communication does not consist of language 
only. Equally important are intercultural skills. One has to know more than the words 
of another person to understand him or her. Adjusting to other cultures is a complex 
task and cannot effectively be taught in seminars. A learning by doing approach is best 
suited - meaning spending time abroad and with people from other cultures. How 
vastly mentalities of students differ can be seen for example in their attitude towards 
teachers. Generally speaking, students coming from the before mentioned “Northern” 
educational system behave in a more self-confident way towards lecturers and are often 
quite critical as well. This is less true for students from the “Southern” system which is 
much more hierarchical and allows not much of an equal dialogue. The latter is espe-
cially true for most students coming from the new member states which formerly be-
longed to the Eastern block. From their educational systems, especially since many of 
their teachers grew up and were even taught in communist times, they are used to dis-
cipline and compliance in a way that was widely abandoned in Western Europe after 
the so-called cultural and political revolution of 1968. 
I personally remember well the day when I was giving a lecture to Polish Students dur-
ing a summer-course. When I came into class everyone at once rose and said good 
morning - something I did myself for the last time maybe at the age of 10. If I imagined 
to ask regular German students to do this, they would probably call me fascist. Obvi-
ously, also in this respect, the US re-education program has yielded fruit!

Going back to the students from the new member states our experience is that most of 
them appreciate a liberal atmosphere of studying and some of them leave with new self-
confidence. However, we observed significant differences in behavior between students 
coming from new member states such as Poland or Hungary and those few students 
coming from more distant countries. Students from the Ukraine, the Southern-
Caucasus or even Kazakhstan or Turkmenistan usually arrive with a distinctive asser-
tiveness which sometimes causes trouble with integration. The fact that they make their 
way to Germany to study already gives them an elite feeling and often very demanding 
attitude. In such cases we offer intercultural competence by calming them down a bit. 

In fact, intercultural differences are fascinating and learning about them is for sure 
firmly connected to studying the European Union. Intercultural competence is neces-
sary, especially as differences can easily create real conflicts. One incident we remember 
well is a Turkish student getting very upset after he and his girl-friend were invited to a 
carnival party bearing the motto “red-light district”, because of the little choices this 
especially left her for an appropriate costume. Another even more serious example was 
a Romanian and a Hungarian student getting into a proper fistfight over the long stand-
ing geographic dispute between their two countries. This demonstrates that even if the 
EU helps to settle conflicts between states formally, this does not mean at all that its 
citizens are yet ready to follow.

To sum up and draw the next conclusion: Inherent part of teaching the European Un-
ion is teaching communication. This includes language skills as well as intercultural 
competence. Only if European students learn to understand each others’ mentalities 
there is a good chance that not only member states but their citizen as well “form an 
ever closer Union”.


The third point we would like to make is that Europe can only be united while maintaining its diver-
sity. 

The diversity of Europe becomes apparent not only in its different cultures and lan-
guages, but also in the wide range of topics European Union Studies generally cover, 
namely the historical and political background of the Union as well as its legal founda-
tions. All in all an overwhelming range of subjects for a single student. This means he 
or she has to make choices and teaching means helping to make these decisions. In 
doing so, it needs to be borne in mind that the complexity and coherence of EU mat-
ters does neither allow to focus on all of the subjects nor to leave real gaps. 
Therefore, a distinction needs to be drawn between basic knowledge obligatory for all 
students and specialized knowledge which builds on that base and from which students 
may choose. The basics certainly consist of the main features of European History of 
the last century and the evolvement of the integration process after World War II. Fur-
ther, it is necessary to give an overview over the most important policies of the Union 
today and its position in the World.

As fields for specialization we offer five main topics. All of them are of relevance to 
students from old and new member states. However, it seems that not all topics enjoy 
comparable popularity within those two groups of students. 
The first topic is “Foreign Trade” and deals with economic globalization, international 
trade relations and foreign investment. Especially students from the new member states 
literally jump on it. All of them come from smaller and economically weak states which 
still explore the potentials of good trade relations. Therefore, these countries have a 
special need for well trained experts in this field. More or less the same goes for the 
study units “European Management” and “European Economic Law”, which focus on 
the economic activities of the European Union, and are of special interest for all those 
students aiming at a career in the European or International business sector. Of course, 
students from the old member states are interested in this subjects as well, but it is 
striking that nearly all students coming from the new member states choose to special-
ize in these areas.

The opposite is true for the study units “European Media Law” and especially “Euro-
pean Protection of Human Rights”. Here students from the old member states domi-
nate. What might be the reasons for this noticeable allocation? Initially, we mentioned 
the sober and unprejudiced approach of students from the East we observed. We are 
convinced that there is a close relation between students’ origin and their choice of 
specialization. To most of them it seems that concentrating on Human Rights and 
Fundamental Freedoms is a luxury they just cannot afford yet. On the contrary, “West-
erners”, especially from the northern countries, strongly believe in the importance of 
the political and moral implications of the integration process. Maybe it is true after all 
what Bertolt Brecht wrote in his Three Penny Opera: First comes the feeding then come the 
morals.

To draw a last conclusion: European Union studies should allow students to make their 
own choices and this is certainly one of the main attracting features of the subject. This 
diversity leads to different approaches towards EU-Studies by people from East and 
West. As long as they start from a common basis this should be fostered. At the same 
time, all students should have the opportunity and be encouraged to look into other 
areas of study that might not seem of importance to them at first glance.


Teaching the European Union to students from “old” and “new” member states is 
therefore not as easy as it may seem. However, by taking into account the differences 
and how to resolve them, it can be an inspiring adventure for all involved.


Thank you very much for your attention.


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