Proposed cuts to the budgets of Dutch research institutes threaten the integrity of European parliamentary history

Press Release by the Board of Directors of EuParl

The Board of Directors of the European Information and Research Network on Parliamentary History (EuParl.net), representing 17 scientific institutes from 15 countries, deeply regrets that the Minister and the State Secretary of Education, Cultural Affairs and Science is planning to discontinue the grants for the Centre for Parliamentary History (CPG) and the Montesquieu Institute (MI). Both institutes are leaders in their field. They provide essential non-partisan, authoritative and timely information on Parliament and the political process. CPG is a unique centre of excellence, its international standing acknowledged last year by a review of the Faculty of Arts at Radboud University Nijmegen. Its importance is underlined by its sponsorship of a major international conference taking place this week in The Hague.

Together, the two bodies largely initiated and have become the core of the EuParl network which is establishing a new infrastructure for studying the common European tradition/heritage of parliamentary government. This shared participatory, democratic and deliberative tradition is a key value for European societies as they face future challenges, and CPG and the Montesquieu Institute´s role in maintaining and deepening it must be preserved.

The Board of Directors

The Hague, 30 May 2013

Prof. dr. Jean Garrigues

Centre d’Histoire Parlementaire et Politique, Paris, France

Dr. Adéla Gjuričová

Institute of Contemporary History, Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic

Prof. dr. Pasi Ihalainen

University of Jyväskylä, Finland

Prof. dr. Andreas Schulz

Kommission für Geschichte des Parlamentarismus und der politischen Parteien, Berlin, Germany

Dr. Paul Seaward

History of Parliament Trust, London, UK

Prof. dr. Carla van Baalen

Radboud University Nijmegen / CPG, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

For more information please visit www.euparl.net or call dr. Margit van der Steen, +31651108964