The College of Europe (French: Collège d’Europe) is an independent university institute of postgraduate European studies with the main campus in Bruges in Belgium. It was founded in 1949 by such leading European figures and founding fathers of the European Union as Salvador de Madariaga, Winston Churchill, Paul-Henri Spaak and Alcide De Gasperi in the wake of the Hague Congress of 1948 to promote “a spirit of solidarity and mutual understanding between all the nations of Western Europe and to provide elite training to individuals who will uphold these values” and “to train an elite of young executives for Europe.” It has the status of “Institution of Public Interest”, operating according to Belgian law. Since 1993 the college has also had an additional smaller campus in Natolin in Poland. Students are usually selected in cooperation with their countries’ ministries of foreign affairs, and admission is highly competitive. The number of students each year used to be very low—for several decades less than 100—but has increased since the early 1990s. The College of Europe is bilingual, and students must be proficient in English and French. Students receive a master’s degree (formerly called Diploma and Certificat) following a one-year programme. Traditionally, students specialise in either European law, international economics (i.e., European economic studies), or European political and administrative studies; in recent years, additional programmes have been created.
According to The Times, the “College of Europe, in the medieval Belgian city of Bruges, is to the European political elite what the Harvard Business School is to American corporate life. It is a hothouse where the ambitious and talented go to make contacts”. The Economist describes it as “an elite finishing school for aspiring Eurocrats.” The Financial Times writes that “the elite College of Europe in Bruges” is “an institution geared to producing crop after crop of graduates with a lifelong enthusiasm for EU integration.” European Commissioner for Education Ján Figeľ described the college as “one of the most emblematic centres of European studies in the European Union”. The BBC has referred to it as “the EU’s very own Oxbridge“. The college has also been described as “the leading place to study European affairs” and as “the elite training center for the European Union’s political class”. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty has referred to the college as “a Euro-federalist hot-spot.” The Global Mail has described its students as “Europe’s leaders-in-waiting.” Each academic year is named for a patron and referred to as a promotion. The academic year is opened by a leading European politician. The College of Europe in Belgium shares several traditions with, and is often compared to, the École nationale d’administration (ENA) of France, but has a vastly more international profile. Its anciens include the former Prime Minister of Denmark Helle Thorning-Schmidt, the former Prime Minister of Finland Alexander Stubb, the former British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg as well as Minister for Europe of Italy Enzo Moavero Milanesi, several of whom have also been professors at the college. Many of its anciens go on to serve as diplomats and senior civil servants in European institutions.
The one-year programme lasts from September until the end of June and is taught in English and French. It includes lectures, research seminars, workshops and meetings with external specialists and various language courses. To be awarded the degree, students must take oral and written examinations at the end of each semester, and submit a 15 ECTS master’s thesis in English or French. The thesis gives students the opportunity to undertake individual research, conducted primarily in the second semester, under the supervision of a faculty member. The programmes are enriched by study trips to the European institutions and, for students at Natolin (Warsaw), also to neighbouring countries. Due to the college’s extensive network of contacts, students have the opportunity to meet and discuss with policy-makers, practitioners and representatives of the business community throughout their year at the college.
At Natolin (Warsaw) campus, the study programme European Interdisciplinary Studies offers four majors: European Public Affairs and Policies, The EU as a Global Actor, European History and Civilisation, and The European Neighbourhood Policy and the EU’s Neighbours. The academic programmes of the College of Europe are accredited by the Dutch-Flemish Accreditation Organisation (NVAO). Each study programme corresponds to a total of 66 credits (ECTS). Annual intakes are highly selective and student selection takes place in the Spring, usually in association with the foreign affairs ministries of their respective countries of origin. The Bruges programmes typically require a university degree in economics, law, political science or international relations plus advanced knowledge of the working languages of the college.
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