University of Limerick has long been noted in Ireland and internationally as a centre for excellence in teaching and research in European Studies.

The University pioneered the development of European Studies at the undergraduate level in Ireland and launched the first MA in European Integration. It is a mark of the high regard in which the University is held by the European Union that it has received funding for four Jean Monnet Chairs in the area of European integration.

The Centre for European Studies functions as the key facilitator of UL’s European Studies activities. It was designated a Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence in 1999. It now incorporates the Euro-Asia Research Group headed by Prof. Bernadette Andréosso-O'Callaghan.