Jean Monnet grants draw criticism over EU advocacy

In an opinion article published by Morgunbladid, Hannes Holmsteinn Gissurarson criticises six university rectors for their response to his comments about Jean Monnet professors and European Union funding.

Gissurarson says the rectors, who published an article in Morgunbladid on September 10, used two familiar rhetorical devices. He argues that they first presented an opposing view in a weak form before attacking it, and then broadened the discussion beyond the issue under debate.

Gissurarson’s criticism

Gissurarson had argued on Morgunbladid’s Spursmal programme that Baldur Thorhallsson and Magnus Skjold Magnusson, whom he describes as two of the most active campaigners for Icelandic membership of the European Union, are Jean Monnet professors funded by the EU.

He says the programme provides them with, or will provide them with, millions in funding for research, travel and meetings. The usual amount is about 60,000 euros, or roughly 10 million Icelandic kronur, he writes. He adds that Baldur received considerably more funding for his interests, but says he will leave that aside.

Gissurarson argues that the two academics should have disclosed that they were Jean Monnet professors when they appeared publicly in support of EU membership. He says they did not do so.

Dispute over the funding

According to Gissurarson, the rectors misrepresented his point by turning it into the claim that the EU had bought the loyalty of academics who received grants from European competitive funds.

He says this is a different and much weaker claim than the one he made. In his view, the EU generally cannot buy loyalty through grants any more than any other organisation can. He notes that he has himself been an Erasmus visiting professor in Italy and a Fulbright scholar in the United States twice, without those experiences changing his political views.

However, Gissurarson says the six rectors have not refuted his original argument that Thorhallsson and Magnusson should have disclosed their status as Jean Monnet professors while campaigning most actively for Icelandic EU membership.

Purpose of Jean Monnet grants

He also accuses the rectors of expanding the debate into a general discussion of whether research grants from abroad are desirable. Such grants can of course be beneficial, he writes, particularly in the natural sciences and in entrepreneurship.

But he argues that this overlooks the specific nature of Jean Monnet grants. According to EU websites, they are expressly intended to support teaching and research in European studies, especially the development of European integration.

Gissurarson says he has asked whether anyone has become a Jean Monnet professor after previously arguing that the EU was unnecessary or undesirable, or after strongly criticising it. He says he has received no answer.

He therefore describes Jean Monnet grants as part of what he calls the EU’s powerful propaganda machine aimed at European integration. He says this should not be surprising given the views of Jean Monnet, after whom the grants are named.

In his memoirs, Monnet described a desired course for the EU in which the sovereignty of member states would not be attacked directly, but the union’s powers would gradually be expanded. Economic integration would facilitate political integration, Gissurarson writes, citing Monnet’s statement that circumstances would themselves create the basis for a federation.