Antoni Blanc Altemir

Antoni Blanc Altemir is Professor of Public International Law and International Relations at the University of Lleida, where he also directs the Jean Monnet European Centre of Excellence and the European Documentation Centre. Holder of two successive Jean Monnet Chairs awarded by the European Commission, he is a leading authority on EU external relations, trade policy, post-Soviet affairs, Mediterranean security and international human-rights law.

Education

• Doctor of Law (extraordinary award), University of Barcelona

Research interests

His research is organised around five inter-connected axes:

• EU external action – trade agreements, association policy, neighbourhood instruments and multilateral diplomacy.
• Post-Soviet space – state succession, de-facto states, energy geopolitics and EU–Russia relations.
• Euro-Mediterranean relations – Barcelona Process, Union for the Mediterranean, migration and security governance.
• United Nations reform – institutional change, peace and security, human-rights protection mechanisms.
• International legal theory – universality of human rights, state responsibility, legal history.

Publication trends

Across more than 150 scholarly works since 1984, recent output (2014-2023) evidences a concentrated focus on EU trade strategy after the pandemic and the war in Ukraine, the redefinition of EU–Mercosur negotiations, the legal implications of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the resilience of universal human-rights norms in a fragmented international order.

Scientific awards and distinctions

• Jean Monnet Chair “EU Promoter of Free Trade and Multilateralism”
• Jean Monnet Chair “Law and External Relations of the European Union”
• Jean Monnet Project “Challenges of the European Union: An Approach for Senior Students”
• Extraordinary Doctoral Award, University of Barcelona
• Académico de Número, Aragonese Academy of Jurisprudence and Legislation
• Académico Correspondiente, Royal Academy of Jurisprudence and Legislation

Advising and institutional roles

• Director, Jean Monnet European Centre of Excellence, University of Lleida
• Director, European Documentation Centre, University of Lleida
• President, Association for the United Nations in Lleida
• Member, Federal Council of the Association for the United Nations in Catalonia
• Guest professor at over twenty universities worldwide, including Bologna, Cambridge, Harvard, and Sciences Po.

Laboratories and teams

While no formal laboratory is listed, Prof Blanc Altemir leads the Jean Monnet European Centre of Excellence at UdL, a multidisciplinary research hub that coordinates EU-funded projects, hosts visiting scholars, and organises international seminars on EU external action and global governance.