On 9 May the radio program "O Estado da União" (a Europe Direct Minho partnership, Antena Minho, Correio do Minho) celebrated Europe Day with a special edition on "The European Union and higher education". In addition to Alessandra Silveira, a resident commentator of the program and holder of the Jean Monnet Chair in EU Law at UMinho, the commemorative edition was attended by Maria José Fernandes, IPCA President, and Paula Tavares, Director of the Superior School of Design.

The consolidation of the European Higher Education Area - launched in 2010 following the Bologna Process - and the creation of the European Education Area - was launched as part of the 30th anniversary commemorations of the Erasmus program in 2017. The European Union has shared competences with Member States in research and technological development - and although national authorities continue to be responsible for the way education is organized in each Member State, the European Union's role has been relevant in creating networks for the exchange of good practices, as well as for increasing the competitiveness and internationalization of higher education institutions.

Europe Day in 2019 was special for the minhotos (people from the Minho Region) because the European institutions decided that the celebrations in Portugal should take place in Braga. The date of 9 May marks the anniversary of the historic Schuman Declaration - delivered in Paris in 1950 by Robert Schuman, the then French Foreign Minister. On that precise day, Robert Schuman set out his vision for a new form of organization of political power in Europe, making unthinkable the return to war, hunger and misery that overshadowed the European continent in the first half of the XX century. It is therefore a date of celebration of peace, prosperity and European unity.

The program "The State of the Union" is transmitted by radio Antena Minho (106.0 FM) and can be followed through the Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/antenaminho/videos/358148778151920/UzpfSTE1Nzk4MTU4MTA3MzkzOTo5ODE5NjY2MTIwMDg3NjE/).

It's  available on iTunes (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1450272823?mt=2) and on Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/show/607yQ6huSsNFHH1IyM2CVm).

For more information go to CEDU's Facebook  (https://www.facebook.com/Centro-de-Estudos-em-Direito-da-Uni%C3%A3o-EuropeiaCentre-of-Studies-in-EU-Law-245612225455625).