ECSA was founded in 1987 by the European integration studies Associations from member countries. The purpose of European Community Study Association (ECSA) is:

1. to promote higher level research and teaching on European Integration

2. to promote cooperation between it's member states, and to promote cooperation between different universities throughout Europe and the rest of the world

3. to promote international programs of research, provide technical assistance, organize various conferences, all to stimulate academic cooperation in the study of the area of European integration

4. to help spread the information on current university research and teaching activities related to European integration through publications and interactive networks such as the internet

5. to further educate people on topics of science.

On January 23 Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence at the University of Latvia in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Latvia and the Embassy of the Republic of Armenia in the Republic of Latvia organized a Roundtable Debate „Latvia and EU Eastern Partnership Cooperation: Focus on Armenia”.

The Central Baltic region is home to some 10 million people. Cross-border labour market mobility within the region has allowed more efficient matching of employees’ skills with employment opportunities. However, it has also aggravated the internal labour market situation in Estonia and Latvia, but at the same time labour market mobility has also offered possibilities for individual employees and facilitated general up-skilling of their qualifications. In the upcoming years a labour shortage is expected in quite some sectors across the region. CB Job Ferry project aimed to increase cross-border mobility in all the countries of the region by mapping potentially demanded professions and providing detailed information for job seekers.

European Studies Masters Programme students Aleksandrs Dahs and Javier Jimenez Mendoza took part in EU-Canada Study Tour and Internship Programme 2012 - "Thinking Canada".

On 7th and 8th December 2012 „Centralbaltic Job Ferry” (CB JF) participated in the 4th Latvian National Employment and Professional Development Fair "Darbs EXPO 2012" (Job Expo) at the Kipsala International Exhibition Centre in Riga that provided information about the newest employment promotion measures, employment opportunities, the opportunities of vocational training or retraining. This year’s fair highlight – the opportunities of young people to enter the job market and business.

Nena Markovic, Raimonds Kokarevics and Javier Mendoza, students of the second year of the European Studies Master Program were awarded with a Certificate of honor for significant contribution to developing of scientific research paper „Living in Latvia” for the Latvian Economic Development Forum research paper competition that was issued by the Council of Higher Education of the Republic of Latvia on the ceremony hold the past 9th of November.

Possibilities for improving the cross-border labour mobility have been discussed at the 3rd Workshop of the Centralbaltic Job Ferry project in Turku, Finland on 27 November 2012. The Head of the Joint Technical Secretariat of the Central Baltic Interreg IVA Programme 2007-2013 Dr. Philipp Schwartz addressed participants of this event emphasizing the importance of cross-border labour mobility issues. Ms. Kirsi-Maria Nikander from the Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment of Southwest Finland informed about activities of the Finnish employment services for attracting foreign employees and integrating them into the local labour market. She stressed the importance of taking an action before problems arise. During the Workshop possibilities to cooperate with other similar projects implemented in the Baltic Sea Region, such as the Baltic Sea Labour Network (BSLN) and EXPAT were discussed, as well as possibilities to include new features and information in the www.cbjobferry.eu platform.