During the month of February, 2009, CEDU members applied for a Jean Monnet Action, in partnership with the first and only Jean Monnet Chair existing in Brazil: Professor Karine Souza Silva, from University of Vale do Itajaí. The reason behind the candidacy was fundamentally to deepen the knowledge in the area of European Union Law - and through this route, promote the better application of European Union Law as well as the rights that derive from it. In other words, the main objective of the candidacy was none other than to energize the area of specialization in European Union Law at the University of Minho and its partner. The proponents were convinced that this project would have repercussions at an academic production level and in terms of learning innovation, rendering the improvement of the competences of 2st and 3nd cycle students and as an incentive towards the production of Masters' and Doctorate thesis' in European Union Law.
At the end of the route, it was possible to affirm that the goals were attained. The project activities were especially important towards promoting discussion, reflection and knowledge about transnationality, namely concerning the process of European integration and the Mercosur integration. The synergies created in the domain of - European Union Law and Transnationality post-graduate research and knowledge production led to the institutionalization, during the academic year 2009-2010, of the European Union Law Study Center (CEDU), an organic sub-unit of the School of Law of the University of Minho. Portuguese, Brazilian and Spanish professors and researchers specializing in European Union Law and Transnationality taking part in that Center of Studies - some of them being Jean Monnet Chairs. The Jean Monnet label and the project activities were decisive to attain that goal and to convince the University of Minho's academic community about the opportunity to stimulate excellence in teaching, research and reflection on European Union Law studies within and the Union and outside of it. University of Minho was the only Portuguese university awarded a Jean Monnet Action during the academic year 2009/2010, amongst almost 500 candidacies around the world.
During the first week of the month of September, 2009, CEDU members participated in a conference organized by University of Vale do Itajaí/Brazil about "The transition possible: from the Constitutional Treaty to the Lisbon Treaty (perspectives on the European integration)." They also participated in seminars organized by the University of Vale do Itajaí about topics concerning: 1) European integration, 2) European Union's judicial system and its procedural mechanisms, 3) the judicial protection of fundamental rights in the European Union, 4) European Penal Law.
During the first week of the month of August, 2010, CEDU members participated in a Conference organized by University of Vale do Itajaí/Brazil, entitled "European Union Law and Transnationality", where the results of the research project were presented. They also participated in seminars organized by the University of Vale do Itajaí about topics concerning: 1) Constitutional and Procedural Law of the European Union, 2) "Interjuridicidade" (Rule of Law), "Interjuridicionalidade" (access to law), "nterjusfundamentalidade" (judicial protection), 3) Tax Law and Financial Law of the European Union, 4) Administrative Law of the European Union, 5) European Penal Law, 6) European Competition Law and Internal Market.
The scientific contributions presented during the conferences and seminars (organized between September, 2009 and August, 2010 at the University of Minho and University of Vale do Itajaí) were reunited in a publication entitled "European Union Law and Transnationality". From a (general) concept of transnationality - whose basic nucleus contains every dimension that surpasses the boundaries of State, meaning, orders, institutions and problems beyond the State - what was in question was to face, from the different perspectives and cosmovisions, the necessity of new theory supports which explain 1) the transition from the sovereign state to the non-sovereign state, 2) the European constitutionalism, 3) the new models of the political power organization. In his/her actuation and research domain, each Author was challenged to associate a theme in light of the complexity of transnational demands.
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