This project called EURECA (“The European Union’s Outermost Regions in the Caribbean and their Sovereign Neighbours – Between Regional Integration and External Alignments”) is based on cross-disciplinary EU studies which will allow a new approach to relevant topics. The EU’s outermost regions in the Caribbean maintain a special relationship with their regional Caribbean neighbours, with their Latin American neighbours, with Europe and global players like the U.S.A. and China. They are challenged to question their identity and ways of development. It will be analysed whether EU policies constitute constraints or challenges. EURECA involves key partners (among them several Jean Monnet Chairs or module holders) from different disciplines (history, political science, sociology, law and economics) which will allow a cross-disciplinary approach. All of the key staff members are directors and/or teachers in relevant MA programmes in European Studies or International Relations or in related fields in e.g. Law, Economics, and Cultural Studies. Actually, more than 400 MA students from European Studies / International Relations from the universities Antilles, Azores, Bologna-Forli, Piraeus and Siegen will be directly involved in the project. This newly established teaching and research network of academic specialists will test, evaluate and implement the gained results in the respective MA programmes in the different participating universities. They will use innovative teaching methods (e.g. virtual classroom, blended learning, and self-learning tools). In a second phase the material will be made accessible as open access resources to further institutions and the general public. The participants of EURECA and further users will gain an innovative insight on the importance of the outermost regions of the EU and its policies, on the EU integration process in general and on the actual political , economic, legal and cultural framework of the EU.