EU-BREATHE is a Jean Monnet Chair that aims to make the European Union's budgetary response to COVID-19 both understandable and engaging. Through hands-on teaching methods, the project shows how the EU budget became a safety net and a catalyst for economic recovery and institutional resilience during the pandemic.
The name “EU-BREATHE” is symbolic: just as the virus affected our ability to breathe, the EU used its budget to help European societies breathe again—economically and socially. The Next Generation EU plan, agreed in 2020, represented a turning point. It introduced joint borrowing, reshaped political priorities, and expanded the EU’s role in coordinating national economic policies and cohesion funding. These developments have transformed how the EU budget operates and how it affects everyday life.
EU-BREATHE brings this complex post-crisis architecture closer to university students and the general public. It fosters critical thinking about EU decision-making and its direct impact on citizens’ lives. Ultimately, the project seeks to strengthen trust in the EU by promoting understanding and active involvement in its evolving governance model.