An iconic location, a European storyThe College of Europe, established on the initiative of the Hague Congress, dates back to 1949 and is the oldest postgraduate institute of European studies. After the end of the Cold War, in 1992 the College of Europe in Natolin began its mission to prepare students to think beyond disciplinary boundaries, beyond preconceptions, and to encourage them to build bridges and embrace a wider perspective on Europe.
Today, the College of Europe in Natolin looks at Europe and its complex neighbourhoods, both facing major external and internal challenges of which security comes to the fore yet again.
Our academic programmes in European Interdisciplinary Studies and European Security and Strategy attract students from all over Europe and beyond.
"Our mission began more than three decades ago with the ambition to overcome the unnatural East-West divide after the end of the Cold War. Today, the College of Europe in Natolin looks more at Europe and its complex neighbourboods, both facing major external and internal challenges of which security comes to the fore yet again. Many divisions still characterise our continent but we need a new strategy to secure the continent’s future. community of diversity and mutual respect."
- Ewa Ośniecka-Tamecka – Vice-Rector
The campus of the College of Europe in Natolin occupies an historic estate and nature reserve of 120 hectares. Once the royal hunting grounds of the King of Poland, the campus remains unto this day a quiet island of green within the vibrant Warsaw metropolis.
A thriving and fast-developing metropolis of 2 million inhabitants and 250,000 students, Warsaw is a rich cultural, political and business hub. It hosts the headquarters of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency FRONTEX and the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights.
Located in Poland, a country close to the Eastern frontier of the European Union, makes the College of Europe in Natolin an ideal starting point for the exploration of the political and socio-economic impact of the EU in Central and Eastern Europe and in the EU's neighbourhoods.
"Le Collège d’Europe à Natolin c’est plus que le symbole de l’Europe retrouvée, c’est l’espoir qui s’incarne ici, dans ce beau lieu chargé d’histoire. L’espoir que les échanges se multiplient pour plus de compréhension mutuelle et de fraternité."
- Jacques Delors, 26 May 1994
