On August 19th 2019, the conference "Regionalism in Hard Times: 30th Anniversary of Jean Monnet Activities" was held at the FGV headquarters in Rio de Janeiro. The event celebrated the thirtieth anniversary of the Jean Monnet activities, part of the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Commission, bringing together experts who are or have been beneficiaries of the programme and scholars of the European project in general.

The conference examined the current obstacles faced in regionalism and inter-regionalism by organisations in Europe and South America. The opening of the event was conducted by representatives of the organising entities: Professor Renato Galvão Flôres Junior from the Center for Prospecting and International Intelligence and FGV EPGE, Paula Wojcikiewicz Almeida from FGV Direito Rio and coordinator of the Jean Monnet Chair, and Costanzo Fisogni, member of the Delegation of the European Union in Brazil.

The keynote speaker, Professor Mario Telò (Jean Monnet Chair ad personam, Université Libre de Bruxelles-IEE, Brussels; LUISS-Roma), presented a lecture titled "The European Union in a comparative perspective. Regionalism and interregionalism in hard times: 'pessimism of intelligence and optimism of will'" and it was followed by a debate. The panel discussion, moderated by Professor Paula Wojcikiewicz Almeida, featured several experts in the field: Prof. Paulina Astroza Suárez, coordinator of the Jean Monnet Chair at the University of Concepción in Chile; Andrea Hoffmann from the Institute of International Relations at the Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro and member of the institution's Jean Monnet Network; Carolina Moehlecke from the School of International Relations at FGV, and Professor Renato Flôres, Director of FGV NPII.

Based on the premise that integration formats follow different paths in different regions, the participants shared their views on the past and present of Regionalism and Inter-regionalism in Europe and South America. They also looked to the future to identify some of the main challenges ahead, including populist movements and the terms of the agreement between the European Union and Mercosur.

The conference also acknowledges the long-standing partnership between the Getulio Vargas Foundation and the European Commission, which will continue in the coming years with the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence on EU-South America Global Governance at FGV Direito Rio and the Jean Monnet Atlantic Network 2.0 at FGV NPII.