The Department of International Relations and European Integration ( DRIIE ) is the branch based on which National School of Political Studies and Public Administration (SNSPA) has been formed.

The initiative of its founding appeared due to the situation faced by Romania after 1989. There was a need of political and administrative trainings for specialists and human resources in these fields. Trainings were also necessary for specialists in the public sector or in critical areas of the management of economic, social and political processes at the national and local levels. This was especially due to the Romania’s reform and its integration into European and Euro-Atlantic structures.

An important role in the organization of the Department as a modern and dynamic structure belongs to the first Tempus Program in European Studies field, which has been implemented since 1991. The partners are: EIPA – Maastricht, College of Europe – Bruges, ASIR – University of Amsterdam and University of Limerick. The program has allowed students and teachers exchange and it eased the connection with the debate regarding the organizing of European Studies domain.

The Department of International Relations and European Integration has been designed so that to ensure a close link between the theory and the practice in foreign policy, security and defense, developing solutions able to make the connection between the academic and the expertise sectors.