CIDOB Barcelona Centre for International Affairs

Foro Europa Cuba/ Jean Monnet Network

The Europe-Cuba Forum is an initiative that began in 2017 and involves a consortium of 11 leading institutions with consolidated experience in researching Cuban affairs and relations between Europe and Cuba

Project number: 6000478-EPP1-2018-1ES-EPPJMO-NETWORK Duration: 2018-2022 (Open) Budget: 375.178,07 €

PROJECT'S SITE

@ForoEuropaCuba

Objectives

The creation of the Jean Monnet Network Europe-Cuba Forum will allow the economic, political, social and institutional reform processes underway on the island that are so necessary for increasing its global, regional and interregional integration to be analysed

The project aims to give impetus to the new stage of constructive engagement in relations between Cuba and the European Union (EU) following the signing of the Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement (PDCA) in December 2016. It will engage from an academic perspective, but also provide proposals for action.

Through the PDCA the EU becomes a privileged partner for Cuba that is willing to cooperate in the reform process and to accompany the country in the new phase of opening up and change begun by the Raúl Castro government and continued by his successor, Miguel Díaz-Canel.

The agreement will improve cooperation and permit greater Cuban integration in EU-Caribbean relations and in the regional programmes of the EU-CELAC (Community of Latin American and Caribbean States) strategic partnership.

Common methodology and shared research between Cuban and European academic centres and institutions will promote the exchange of mutual experiences in terms of structural reforms, regional integration, socioeconomic modernisation and interregionalism.

The three-year Work Plan is divided into three thematic clusters that will be developed through joint and multidisciplinary research:

In the first year, cooperation on the economic reforms and sustainable development will be analysed.
The second year will be used to examine cooperation on institutional reform and social policies.
The work in the third year will look more deeply at interregional cooperation and global integration.

An international seminar will be organised for each cluster to be held, in turn, in Havana, Hamburg and Barcelona.

For each theme a set of academic working papers, a Policy Paper and a book on the theme will be produced.

A specific seminar is also planned at each conference for young researchers to present their work and share it with members of the network and other young researchers, with a prize being awarded for the best research.

The project is also linked to the Jean Monnet Chair at the University of Havana, which was inaugurated in 2015 and carries out activities in Havana and other Cuban cities.