Jean Monnet Centres of Excellence are established within the scope of the Jean Monnet Project supported by the European Commission. The Jean Monnet Project targets universities and higher education institutions (whose higher education equivalences have been approved by national authorities).

The general aim of this scheme is to assist universities in the field of European integration studies by providing assistance with start-up costs. The Jean Monnet Project responds to the need for information on European integration and ensures the emergence of more scientific resources and academic activities in the fields of European integration and issues in European Union at both national and international levels. For this purpose, it targets social science subjects such as community law, European economic integration, European political integration and the history of the social construction process of Europe.

The Jean Monnet European Centres of Excellence form an umbrella organization specialized in European integration where scientific and human resources and documents are shared between one or more universities for studies and research on European integration. The European Centres of Excellence Project was initiated by the European Commission to enable universities to focus their resources into the field of European Integration and to develop activities both within universities and at regional level.

Marmara University European Union Institute is one of a certain number of centers of excellence in all European countries, aiming to support “European integration” in universities and higher education. The Institute, which was awarded the title of Center of Excellence by the European Commission in 2005, continues its work in many areas.

The Institute strives to encourage education and research in this field by contrubiting to 'EU literacy' of the Turkish public, as well as by providing education, expertise and publications in the field. The main activities carried out by the Institute in EU-related fields within the scope of the Jean Monnet Center of Excellence title are as follows:

Providing postgraduate education on European studies in the departments within the Institute’s at the Master’s and Doctorate levels;

Conducting research and carrying out projects in this field;

Organizing conferences to provide information and a discussion environment to the academic world;

Preparing events for the May 9 Europe Day celebrations;

Publishing original and scientific studies through the Marmara European Studies Journal and articles on the occasion of certain events;

Acting as the secretariat of the Turkish Universities European Studies Association (TUNAECS) and ensuring coordination among other universities, centers and academics involved in European studies in Turkey;

Contributing to the dissemination of information about the European Union through its European Documentation Center; and

Organizing conferences and meetings to inform the public about developments in the European Union and Turkey-EU relations in cooperation with municipalities and civil society organizations.