Carmen Crozier, PhD researcher at Lausanne University and ADG Fellow at the EUI, will discuss her dissertation project on Jean Monnet. Eike Klages, PhD researcher in History at the EUI, will discuss his research on how the UK discussed and negotiated the issue of refugees at the level of the European Community, in the late 1970s.
Early career career scholars Carmen Crozier (Lausanne, ADG - EUI) and Eike Klages (History - EUI) will each present their work in this first Alcide De Gasperi Centre seminar of 2025/26. PhD candidate Aurora Hamm (History - EUI), will discuss.
Carmen Crozier, PhD candidate at Lausanne and ADG fellow at the EUI will present 'Archiving Europe: Jean Monnet, Switzerland, and the Shaping of European Memory (1955-1992)'. In 1978, Jean Monnet, a French politician and economic advisor often described as one of the early architects of European integration, transferred his personal archives to Lausanne, Switzerland. How did the Jean Monnet Foundation for Europe, created alongside this transfer, come to hold such a major collection in a country traditionally cautious toward European integration? This study explores the networks and relationships that made this possible, focusing on the pro-European circles active in Switzerland from the mid-1950s onward. It offers new insights into how European projects were received in Switzerland. It also shows how local institutions, scholars, and networks helped promote both the study and the construction of European institutions. When Monnet established his Foundation in Lausanne, he conceived it as a living memory of reconciliation and unity among Europeans. This underscores Monnet’s personal role in shaping his legacy, a role also evident in his memoirs, which helped consolidate his status as a founding father of Europe. More broadly, the research examines how the preservation and valorisation of personal archives have influenced the ways in which the history and myths of European integration have been written.
Eike Klages, PhD candidate in History at the EUI, will present 'The role of the European Community in British Reactions to the 'Boat People' Crisis 1978/1979'. When a growing number of refugees from Vietnam arrived in Hong Kong over the course of 1978 and 1979, the United Kingdom’s government got increasingly involved through its colonial ties as well as British shipping companies operating in the area. The restrictionst attitudes of the key decision makers in London and Hong Kong led to a search for avenues through which the 'burden' of refugees could be decreased. Most prominent among them was the 'Meeting on Refugees and Displaced Persons in South-East Asia', held under the Auspices of the UNHCR in Geneva in July 1979. This was, however, not the only venue which decision-makers in London engaged. In addition to a plethora of bilateral negotiations, measures to reduce the number of refugees were also discussed at the European Community level on which I will focus in my presentation which is mainly based on documents found at the British National Archives. Even though this latter venue does not represent the main thrust of British efforts, it nevertheless provides valuable insights into the British perception of the European Community regarding refugee policy at the time and can therefore help contextualising the British attitudes towards a European refugee policy and asylum system in the mid-1980s and 1990s.
The Alcide De Gasperi Centre supports researchers working in areas related to the history of European integration and cooperation. It coordinates networks of historians, facilitates the use of primary sources and increases public interest in the history of European integration.
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