INTEGRATION OF EUROPE AS THE FIELD OF INTEREST OF JEAN MONNET PROJECT

Abstract

Following the historical perspectives of European integration it is clear that rising global changes and challenges infl uence European society’s development for evermore. And as one of the aspects of the development the phenomena of Integration appears under the basis of values. As the response to society’s development and the process of Integration the idea of the Unique Europe rises in early ages of Roman Empire, continued in the Middle Ages and passed several historical stages of various forms of Integration till nowadays.
The paper analyses the theoretical approach on Integration as well as follows the main stages of European integration in the historical point of view highlighting main European values under which basis the Integration process lasts. The paper stresses the legal, political, economic and social aspects of Integration as the refl ection of European values rising in parallel with the historical movement of European integration.
To strengthen the integration process the Europe Union implements a big variety of instruments. One of the instruments – Jean Monnet Action - was launched in 1990’s by European Commission under the request of Universities. The most important feature of this instrument is that to this Action is directly oriented towards the European citizens and European integration studies as well as understanding through teaching, through refl ection and debate, and through the far reaching infl uence of the activities of the European Centres of Excellence and the Jean Monnet professors.
The paper emphasises the expediency of the Action as it is focused towards the same social disciplines refl ecting the legal, political, economic and social aspects of European Integration. With reference to this the big correlation stands. After 2001 Jean Monnet Action is open through all over the world. Lithuania attends this Action through the activity of universities.
The paper represents the genesis and types of the activities of Jean Monnet Action as well as the development of this Action in Lithuania. The specifi c attention was stressed on the case study of Jean Monnet Action in Kaunas University of Technology Institute of Europe refl ecting the political, legal, economic and social aspects of European Integration.