The Carlemagne Institute for European Studies (ICEE) was set up in the year 2000 in the Universitat Internacional de Catalunya with the aim of acting as a platform for disclosure about and reflections on European reality. Their work has always targeted institutions and professionals who need to know about European reality on a daily basis, as well as people with concerns in this area. Since then, the Institute went through various changes, all under the presidency of Mr Carles A. Gasòliba.
Dr Amparo del Río Pascual directed the ICEE during its initial stages and taught the international and community law subjects in various Catalan universities and also worked in the European Commission headquarters in Barcelona. The main line of activity in this institute is based on training and disclosure, through various activities, conferences and seminars, with support from various institutions, on the European challenges of the moment, such as food safety in the communitary terrain, the promotion and protection of the rights of people with disabilities, tax harmonisation or the executive European qualification. Therefore in October 2000, Frits Bolkestein, European Commissioner for the Internal Market, inaugurated the first seminar cycle at the IEEC, which focused on "Tax Harmonisation in Europe".
In 2009, the ICEE went through a new stage under the management of Dr Enrique Banús Irusta, a professor of European Studies at various universities around the world, and who also hold a Jean Monnet ad personam Chair and is president of the ECSA (Spanish University Association of Professors and Researchers who Specialise in European Integration). The main contribution of this period consisted of strengthening the institute, providing it with a cultural and humanistic dimension which was necessary in order to complement the work of the ICEE. Therefore various seminars and conferences were held that focused on the historical memory of a divided Europe and humanitarian aspects such as EU aid for Africa. At the same time, the institute also acted as the headquarters for highly prestigious events, such as a world meeting of ECSA professors and the European Conferences on European Culture, which receive a lot of academic support.
In September 2013, Dr Carlos Espaliú Berdud was named Director of the Institute. He was previously a university professor teaching international and community law in various Spanish universities and was also a solicitor for the International Court of Justice in the Hague. This new future stage, which the institute looks forward to, should help to bring together the magnificent legacy of the institute, while remaining faithful to the multidisciplinary richnesss of the ICEE, and will involve continuing to organise events, conferences and seminars on current issues related to science, culture, history, economics or European law, particularly in relation to European integration. In fact, during this first year various conferences have been organised with participation from renowned experts on current affairs. The academic and research dimensions of the institute have been reinforced during this recent new stage, and one of the priorities of the new Director is to organise academic conferences related to some of the ICEE research projects which have been officially recognised.