The Module, “Mobility, Migrations and European Integration” (EUMOMI), coordinated by Prof. Simone Paoli (Department of Political Science of the University of Pisa) aims at improving understanding of concepts, theories, processes and facts concerning the complex relationship between free movement of persons, migrations from outside the EC/EU and European integration. This interplay is today at the heart of many, intertwined dynamics affecting Europe and its process of integration; a deeper knowledge of its origins and development, therefore, is crucial to grasping the main challenges and opportunities facing the European Union and the complexities of mobility and migration processes within it. 

First, EUMOMI aims at stimulating, enriching and connecting European and migration studies in literature. The Module, in particular, focuses on the role that the EC/EU has played in shaping a European mobility and migration regime and, in turn, the ways in which the gradual establishment of this regime has influenced the process of integration in Europe. This will help to raise academic awareness at both national and international level of three distinct but intertwined aspects: the close link between EC/EU internal mobility and migration policies; the important part played by the EC/EU in these fields; and the decisive impact of these issues on the internal dynamics and external relations of the EC/EU.  

Second, EUMOMI aims at contributing to the current public debate connecting academic and non-academic actors. The Module comes up at a time when the issues of mobility and migrations are at the centre of European public concerns. It also comes up at a time when these issues are relevant in shaping peoples’ attitudes towards the EU; according to Eurobarometer surveys, the EU’s alleged inability to deal with the recent migrant and refugee crisis is one of the main factors behind the rise in populist parties and Eurosceptical sentiments in many Member States, especially those in the South. The Module will give both the academic and the public debate more solid and accurate foundations.  

Third, EUMOMI aims at strengthening the role of European and migration studies in the curricula of the University of Pisa and, in so doing, raising the national and international profile of this University in the these fields of research and teaching studies. 

EUMOMI has four major components: teaching for graduate and Ph.D. students; training courses for high school professors, professionals and representatives from the civil society; public roundtables directed at the public at large; international conference.

Teaching, in particular, includes a completely new graduate course on Mobility, Migrations and European Integration at the Department of Political Science, entirely taught in English, which aims at providing students with the instruments to grasp, interpret and discuss the historical evolution of people movements in post-war Europe and the policies developed at national and international level to deal with them.

This website, created with the help of Dr. Dario Besseghini, Dr. Patrizia Corsi and in collaboration with Dr. Arianna Del Monte, will be used to inform all interested peoples, organisations and institutions of the activities developed within the context of the project and to illustrate their results. It will be also used to keep all users up to date on national and international researches and initiatives in the project’s subjects. It will be used, finally, as a forum devoted to stimulate debates and establishing and maintaining active interaction between all those who are interested in the Module’s issues.