EIUC was established in 2002 as natural development to the cooperation established – under the coordination of the University of Padua - between the universities organising EMA since 1997, and upon initiative of the European Union.
The EIUC Statute, first signed in 2002, has come in 2017 to its latest (and most comprehensive) revision.
The EIUC Statute identifies the nature of the inter-university partnership among its 38 European member universities (non-profit university association under Italian Law), the aims of the association, the composition and competence of its governing bodies, its main institutional structure and organisation, its membership and privileged cooperation with the Global Campus partners.
EIUC and the City of Venice signed in 2011 an MoU which came to provide a steadier grounding for the institution, both in terms of confirming the Monastery of San Nicolò in Venice-Lido as its location, and strengthening of cooperation in the realisation of joint activities focusing on human rights and democracy.
It also marked the transfer of management and direction over the premises from the Municipality itself (through its articulation Centro Soggiorni Morosini) to EIUC directly.
