Luxemburg

Capital: Luxembourg
Population: 0.48 mill.
GDP per capita: 71 600 Euros (2006)
Schengen zone: yes
Eurozone: yes
EU-accession: Founding member of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) 1951
Cities with European institutions or agencies: European Court of Justice, European Court of Auditors, European Investment Bank, Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union, Public Health Executive Agency (all in Luxembourg)

EU-relations: Small, yet powerful. Luxembourg has always been a motor of European integration, not least because of its location amid former European battlefields. The government's traditionally high willingness to integrate and focus on supranationality, is generally shared in the population. Luxembourg-city is one of the three official capitals of the European Union. Being the smallest member-state, up to the 2005 enlargement, Luxembourg has traditionally refused to accept the larger states' preeminence. Generally, Luxembourg is very successful in making itself heard even among the larger members, because it is highly respected by the other member states. Therefore, it is often the case that Luxembourg politicians act as mediators in conflicts. Famous Europeans from Luxembourg are Jean-Claude Juncker, recipient of the International Karlspreis of Aachen in 2006, the current Commissioner Viviane Reding and Jaques Santer, President of the European Commission from 1995 to 1999.

The Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence of the University of Roma Tor Vergata, in partnership with Eurosduvillage group, is organizing the eighth edition of the Jean Monnet Summer Seminar a high level seminar on the functioning of the European Union addressed to graduate and Phd students as well as young civil servants. The seminar include two teaching modules lasting one week. The first module (4-8 July) will analyze the decision making process of the European Union while the second one (11-15 July) the foreign policy of the European Union. For more information and registration go to: http://www.eusummerseminar.uniroma2.it/