From 2009 to 2012 the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence "The EU and its Citizens" linked the expertise and research activities on European Integration at the Freie Universität Berlin. The scholars from four different disciplines (political science, law, sociology, and communication science) explored the relationship between the EU and its citizens as one of the major challenges of European integration. In doing so, the aim was to sustain and further strengthen the outstanding position of the Freie Universität in European Union (EU) studies, but also to disseminate the cumulative knowledge produced by our joint activities to both the academic community, practitioners and the wider public.