The European Union: past, present, future

Seminar in tribute to Professor Pierre du Bois, 8 February 2008


On 8 February last, a multidisciplinary seminar paid tribute to Professor Pierre du Bois who died suddenly on 23 June 2007. The theme of the seminar, Europe, and in particular the European Union (EU), was one of his main fields of research and teachings. He thus left us a legacy of plentiful literature on this subject, in particular concerning relations between Switzerland and the EU, European identify, security issues in Europe and monetary questions. His last work, "History of Monetary Europe 1945-2005", was published posthumously by the Presses Universitaires de France this spring.

Thus, the colleagues, friends and former PhD students of Pierre du Bois took a day to debate around five themes relating to the European Union: the origins of the idea of Europe, Europe and its builders, the EU and the world, the EU and its institutions, and the enlargement of the EU. This was a unique occasion to shed light on the relevance of a multidisciplinary approach to the European question, where history, political science, economy, law and philosophy are completely inseparable, a method put forward by Pierre du Bois in his teachings as well as his research.

The publication of the papers from this seminar, enriched by several supplementary contributions, as well as a biobibliographical chapter on Pierre du Bois, will be published under the guidance of André Liebich and Basil Germond. The book is due to appear in June 2008. It will be published by the Presses Universitaires de France to commemorate the death of our late lamented friend and colleague.

 

Basil Germond

PhD, International Relations
invited researcher, Oxford University
Globe, La revue de l'Institut de hautes études internationales 
et du développement, No. 1, spring 2008

 

 

List of contributors at the seminar:

  • Prof. Bruno Arcidiacono
  • Prof. Jean-François Bergier
  • Prof. Marie-Thérèse Bitsch
  • Amb. Franz Blankart
  • Prof. Philippe Burrin
  • Prof. Mohammad-Réza Djalili
  • Prof. Victor-Yves Ghebali
  • Dr. Basil Germond
  • Dr. Gilles Grin
  • Prof. Jussi Hanhimäki
  • Prof. Adrian Ivan
  • Prof. François Jequier
  • Dr. Thierry Kellner
  • Prof. André Liebich
  • Prof. Alfonso Mattera
  • Prof. André Reszler
  • Dr. Benedikt Schoenborn
  • Prof. Georges-Henri Soutou