This new Jean Monnet Network of seven international partners focuses on EU images in key issue areas of economy, politics, foreign policy, energy, climate change, RS&I, civil society and culture/ education.
The European Commission and the EEAS aim to more effectively engage with 3rd country publics and stakeholders. Ukraine and Israel/Palestine are currently embroiled in conflicts set in differing contexts which threaten the EU’s eastern and southern edges. It is critical that Europe diagnoses and understands EU perceptions in these volatile strategic neighbours and tracks expectations. C3EU traces perceptions towards the EU as well as broader visions of Europe as producers of diplomatic outcomes in conflicted societies.
Under new leadership, the EEAS has prioritized public diplomacy as a foreign policy instrument. In a multipolar world where public diplomacy is actively used by established and emerging powers, coherent EU action is needed. The intensity of the two conflicts makes EU public diplomacy much more critical than in non-conflict situations. C3EU provides empirical information to revise public diplomacy based on an assessment of EU perceptions. C3EU allows for the EU to reconceptualise policy towards Ukraine and Israel/Palestine and re-launch its image.
Led by Associate Professor Natalia Chaban, Jean Monnet Chair (National Centre for Research on Europe, University of Canterbury, New Zealand), C3EU involves leading experts in EU foreign policy and external perceptions studies from seven countries and nine Universities:
University of Canterbury (New Zealand), The National Institute for Strategic Studies, Cherkasy National University and Kharkiv National University (Ukraine); Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (Israel); TU Darmstadt (Germany); Leuven University (Belgium); Vytautas Magnus University (Lithuania) and Royal Holloway and Bedford New College (UK).
C3EU employs an internationally tested methodology to assess which EU messages resonate within divided societies and which target audiences are the most influenced by the EU. C3EU features an innovative comprehensive approach using tested qualitative and quantitative methods to generate an accurate assessment of EU diplomatic engagement with Ukraine and Israel/Palestine under crises and provides a comprehensive avenue to improve EU perceptions. Ultimately, C3EU willprovide EU stakeholders with unique information to elaborate relevant policies and devise outreach initiatives to influence target audiences in the most effective and cost-efficient manner.
The project website is here.