The College of Europe (; ; ; Albanian: Kolegji i Evropës) is a post-graduate institute of European studies with three campuses in Bruges, Belgium; Warsaw, Poland; and Tirana, Albania.
The College of Europe in Bruges was founded in 1949 as a result of the 1948 Congress of Europe in The Hague by leading historical European figures and founding fathers of the European Union, including Salvador de Madariaga, Winston Churchill, Paul-Henri Spaak and Alcide De Gasperi, to promote "a spirit of solidarity and mutual understanding between all the nations of Western Europe and to provide elite training to individuals who will uphold these values""Le rôle du Collège d'Europe " [The role of the College of Europe], Journal de Bruges et de la Province, 7 October 1950, Vol. 114, No. 78, p. 1 and "to train an elite of young executives for Europe".Henri Brugmans, "Former des cadres pour l'Europe " [Training executives for Europe], Fédération, January 1950, No. 60, pp. 42–44 After the fall of communism, the College opened an additional campus in Natolin, Poland, that was donated to the institution by the Polish government in 1992. A campus in the Albanian capital Tirana opened in 2024.
The College of Europe is historically linked to the establishment of the European Union and its predecessors, and to the creation of the European Movement International, of which the College is a supporting member. João Gomes Cravinho, former Foreign Minister of Portugal, was appointed as the Rector in 2026; former President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, is chair of the board.
The Financial Times writes that "the elite College of Europe in Bruges" is "an institution geared to producing crop after crop of graduates with a lifelong enthusiasm for EU integration", while the BBC called it "the EU's very own Oxbridge", and The New York Times described it as "school of the EU elite". Each academic year, referred to as promotion, is named after a patron, and opened by a leading European politician.
It has the status of Institution of Public Interest, operating according to Belgian law.
History Hague Congress initiative to create a College of Europe The College of Europe was the world's first university institute of postgraduate studies and training in European affairs. It was founded in 1949 by leading European figures, such as Salvador de Madariaga, Winston Churchill, Paul-Henri Spaak and Alcide De Gasperi, in the wake of the Hague Congress of 1948, that led to the creation of the European Movement. At the Congress, the Spanish statesman Salvador de Madariaga strongly advocated for the creation of a College of Europe, where graduates from different European states could study together as a way to heal the wounds of the World War II. Although the cultural resolution adopted at the end of the Congress did not include explicit references to the establishment of a College of Europe and only advocated for the creation of a "European Cultural Centre and a European Institute for Childhood and Youth Questions", the idea of establishing a European University was put forward by Congress attendees immediately after the Congress.
A group of Bruges citizens led by the Reverend Karel Verleye succeeded in attracting the College to Bruges. Professor Hendrik Brugmans, one of the intellectual leaders of the European Movement and the president of the Union of European Federalists, became its first Rector (1950–1972). John Bowie, Professor of Modern History at Oxford University, was appointed director of the first session held by the College, in 1949. Henri van Effenterre, who was a Professor of Ancient History at Caen University and Alphonse de Vreese, International Law professor at the University of Ghent, also contributed to that first session. The topic of that first session taught to the first promotion of the College (frequently called , for it is the only promotion not named after any prominent figure) was "Teaching history and the development of a European spirit in universities".
In 1978, Guy Spitaels, at that time Belgian Minister for the Employment, was the first College alumnus to be invited as the Orateur of the opening ceremony of an academic year.
In the decades that followed the establishment of the institution, students were hosted at the Navarra Hotel in the historic centre of Bruges until 1981. The College consolidated itself as an institution specialized in studies focused on the newly established European Communities (the College was founded in 1949, before the communities were established).
Bruges speech by Margaret Thatcher
In 1988, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher delivered a speech that became known as the Bruges speech at the College of Europe as part of the opening ceremony for that academic year. The Bruges speech is considered by observers as the cornerstone of the Eurosceptic movement that eventually led to Brexit. Thatcher laid down her vision for Europe, claiming that the European Community should remain an economic union, refusing the claims for a closer political integration made by Commission President Jacques Delors. Thatcher outlined her opposition to any attempts to create "a European superstate exercising a new dominance from Brussels."
Post-Cold War history After the fall of communism and changes in Central and Eastern Europe, the College of Europe campus at Natolin (Warsaw, Poland), was founded in 1992 with the support of the European Commission and the Polish government. According to former president of the European Commission Jacques Delors, "this College of Europe at Natolin is more than the symbol of Europe found once again, it is the hope represented in this beautiful historic place. The hope that exchanges can multiply for greater mutual understanding and fraternity". The establishment of a second campus in eastern has been frequently regarded as part of an effort aiming to train young students from eastern countries under the auspices of eastern enlargement. Since the establishment of that second campus in Poland, the College operates as "one College – two campuses," and what was once referred to as the "", is now known as the "".
In 2012, the College of Europe became a supporting member of the European Movement International. In 2015, former Finnish Prime Minister Alexander Stubb was the second College alumnus to be invited as the Orateur of the opening ceremony of an academic year. The academic year 2018–2019 marked the first time in which a promotion was named after a College alumnus, Manuel Marín, Spanish statesman, European Commissioner and acting President of the Commission (known as "Father of the Erasmus Programme"), who had died early that year.
Campuses
Bruges campus
The Bruges campus is situated in the centre of Bruges since its establishment in 1949. Bruges is located in the Flemish Region of Belgium, a Dutch-speaking area, although the College does not use Dutch as one of its working languages.
The College has a system of residences in the centre of Bruges and not far from the Dijver, where the main administrative and academic building and the library are situated. None of the residences lodges more than 60 students so that each residence in fact has its own small multinational and multicultural environment.
It consists of the following campus buildings:
Dijver
The Paul Henri Spaak Building (named after the Belgian socialist prime minister and pioneer of European integration, nicknamed "Mr. Europe"), popularly known as Dijver, is the College's main administrative building on the Bruges campus. It hosts the College's main reception, some of its offices, classrooms and the library. It is located on the Dijver Canal. A white classic façade stands at the front of the main building (where the European, Belgian, Flemish and Brugeois flags hang together), while there is a garden in its back side. The garden is used by the students, who frequently spare their break time there due to its proximity to the library (which is connected to the main building by a corridor). Signed portraits of all the orateurs hang in the walls of the main corridor of the building.
The library building was built in 1965. Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands (later Queen Beatrix) laid the first stone of the library in a special commemorative event. Almost three decades after its completion, the library was reformed and enlarged (the works were completed in 1992). Most of the library funds are devoted to European Studies, together with law, economics, and political and administrative sciences. Access to the library is restricted to College students and academic staff. A bust of Salvador de Madariaga presides over the library main reading hall.
Verversdijk
Following the increase in the number of students attending the College each year, the College of Europe (with the support of different entities and institutions, including the Flemish Government and the City of Bruges) reformed the 17th century protected monument of Verversdijk to provide additional lecture theatres (auditoria), teaching rooms and offices for academics, research fellows and staff; and to extend its activities. The reform was led by the office of Xaveer De Geyter Architects (XDGA), and the project was nominated for the Mies van de Rohe award in 2009. The Verversdijk premises began to be used by College students in 2007. Besides its academic and administrative use throughout the course, a cocktail is served in its garden to each promotion, following their graduation ceremony.
The historical site of Verversdijk owes its name to fact that the owners of the houses standing there at medieval times were dyers who used wool traded with Scotland, as the area was populated by several Englishmen during the Middle Ages. During the Spanish rule, it hosted the schooling houses and the monastery established by the Jesuits in the 17th century. In 1792, the monastery auditorium was used as a meeting place by the Jacobin Club. The main monastery wing (dating back to 1701, and whose façade was plastered in 1865) was built along the canal, and was used as an athenaeum since 1851. its long inner corridor is an outstanding example of the rococo style in Bruges, whereas, the ashlar staircase is also an element of artistic relevance. The attic of the building, with a total length of 45 meters and a surprisingly well-preserved oak canopy, is currently used as a study room. During the First World War occupation of Belgium, the attic was used as a sleeping room for soldiers of the German Marine.
The monastery wing was also home to the Museum of Modern Painting from 1898 to 1931 (when they were transferred to the newly established Groeninge Museum). Since 2008, following and agreement between the College and the Groeninge Museum, the College hosts the 'Extraordinary Groeninghe Art Collection', an installation of contemporary works of art featuring international artists at Verversdijk's hallways. Members of the Groeninghe Art Collection meet every two months at the College to discuss art, attend lectures by art experts and consider possible purchases.
In March 2014, the so-called China Library was established at the Verversdijk compound. A project sponsored by the Information Office of the State Council of the Chinese Government, the library (decorated in Chinese style) is home to ten thousand books and documents in more than six languages, as frequently hosts events related with Sino-European relations or the Chinese culture.
Garenmarkt