The Trans European Policy Studies Association (TEPSA) is a European network of research institutes and think-tanks in the field of European affairs. Founded in 1974, it is an international nonprofit association under Belgian law with 44 member organisations in 37 different European countries, and an office in Brussels.

History

TEPSA was founded in 1974 by four research institutes: the ''Institut für Europaische Politik'' (Germany), the ''

Istituto Affari Internazionali The Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI) is an Italian international relations think tank, and non-profit organisation founded in 1965 by Altiero Spinelli. It is ranked among the global top-20 think tanks in the "Foreign Policy and International ...

'' (Italy), the

Federal Trust for Education and Research Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to: Politics General *Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies *Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...

(UK) and the ''Association Française pour l’Etude de l’Union Européenne'' (France). In 1978, upon the accession of its Belgian member, Prof. Jacques Vandamme, former adviser to Belgian Prime minister

Leo Tindemans Leonard Clemence "Leo" Tindemans (; 16 April 1922 – 26 December 2014) was a Belgian politician. He served as the prime minister of Belgium from 25 April 1974 until he resigned as minister on 20 October 1978. He was a member of the Christian D ...

, was designated president of the association. TEPSA progressively extended its membership to 20 institutes in the year 2000. In 2016, full membership was opened to organizations from all European countries outside the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

, allowing TEPSA to expand to 38 members in 2017. The current Chairman of the TEPSA board is Prof. (University of Duisburg-Essen), succeeding to Prof. Wolfgang Wessels (University of Cologne). In 2016, TEPSA was ranked as 12th best think-tank network by the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

’s Global Go To Think Tank Index Report, an annual ranking of the world’s best think-tanks.

Aims and activities

TEPSA aims at maintaining a stable framework for transnational research cooperation in the field of European affairs, and providing new opportunities for academics and students in the field, mainly through EU-funded research and education projects. With one member in each EU country and members in

EFTA The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) is a regional trade organization and free trade area consisting of four European states: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. The organization operates in parallel with the European Union ...

, Eastern Neighborhood and candidate countries, but also a number of associate members, TEPSA seeks to stimulate discussion on policy options for Europe by bringing together academics and students from across the continent, and connecting them with practitioners and policymakers. Since its founding in 1974, TEPSA organises a conference twice a year with academics and policymakers on the agenda of the upcoming presidency of the

Council of the European Union The Council of the European Union, often referred to in the treaties and other official documents simply as the Council, and less formally known as the Council of Ministers, is the third of the seven institutions of the European Union (EU) a ...

(the Pre-Presidency Conference), where it delivers a set of recommendations to representatives of the presiding member

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

. The conference is jointly organised with and hosted by the member organisation in the concerned country. TEPSA also regularly delivers its members' expertise to the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

History

Aims and activities

TEPSA members

Full members

Associate members

Governance

Board members

Honorary board members

References