Ideas on Europe

Politics as choice

Every Friday, a member of the international academic association ‘ UACES ’ will address a current topic linked to their research on euradio . Simon Usherwood y ou are Professor at the Open University and chair of our partners UACES, and we are delighted to have you back for the end of the season! When we talked for the opening of the season in September, elections were far off. And now, right after the European elections we find ourselves in the middle of national campaigns on both sides of the ...

Knowledge, information and trust after the COVID pandemic

Every Friday, a member of the international academic association ‘ UACES ’ will address a current topic linked to their research on euradio . The mini-publics are an innovative method we used with the transnational REGROUP project. REGROUP stands for “Rebuilding governance and resilience out of the pandemic”. The project is based on the assumption that involving citizens in decision-making enhances transparency and trust in governance, as well as ensures that policies reflect the diverse needs a...

Yesterday’s Women in the European Assembly

Every Friday, a member of the international academic association ‘ UACES ’ will address a current topic linked to their research on euradio . How nice to have you back on Euradio! You are Senior Lecturer in Comparative Politics at the University of Surrey, in the UK, and you have already shared with us on several occasions your research on the role of women in the early stages of European integration....

A tree in Normandy

Every Friday, a member of the international academic association ‘ UACES ’ will address a current topic linked to their research on euradio . While the commemoration of D-Day on the beaches of Normandy is dominating the news this week, you want to tell us the story of a simple tree.

The Post-Pandemic Parliament

Every Friday, a member of the international academic association ‘ UACES ’ will address a current topic linked to their research on euradio . Very pleased to have you back with us. You are Lecturer in Comparative Politics at the University of Augsburg, in Germany. As an expert on the European Parliament, what are your expectations towards the forthcoming elections?

Is there an anti-green backlash ?

Every Friday, a member of the international academic association ‘ UACES ’ will address a current topic linked to their research on euradio . Jannik Jansen, you are Policy Fellow at the Jacques Delors Centre in Berlin, and together with your colleagues, you express serious doubts about the famous anti-green backlash among European voters. Tell us where this narrative comes from in the first place....

The Radical Right and the European Elections

Every Friday, a member of the international academic association ‘ UACES ’ will address a current topic linked to their research on euradio . Nick, You have studied the European far right parties over decades now and you shared your findings several times in our programme, most recently on how these parties respond to the climate crisis. With the European elections less than one month away, let me ask you what you think of all the media speculation about the rise in support for Radical Right Par...

20 years of Slovenia in the EU

Every Friday, a member of the international academic association ‘ UACES ’ will address a current topic linked to their research on euradio . This week, we celebrate 20 years of Slovenia in the EU with Ana Bojinović Fenko, professor of international relations at the University of Ljulbjana.

20 years of Cyprus in the EU

Every Monday, a member of the international academic association ‘ UACES ’ will address a current topic linked to their research on euradio . This week, we celebrate 20 years of Cyprus in the EU with Phoebus Athanassiou, Associate Professor at the Wolfgang Goethe University of Frankfurt.

20 years of Estonia in the EU

Every Monday, a member of the international academic association ‘ UACES ’ will address a current topic linked to their research on euradio .

20 years of Poland in the EU

Bonjour , Natasza Styczyńska, very pleased to have you back at Euradio. Today, in 2024, you are Professor at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow. But what were you doing when Poland became a member of the European Union, twenty years ago, on the 1st of May 2004? I was a student, in my fourth year of political science studies! Membership negotiations and the opening prospects for education and work across Europe made a huge impression on my generation but also intimidated us. We didn’t quite be...

20 years of Lithuania in the EU - Ramūnas Vilpišauskas

Bonjour, Ramūnas Vilpišauskas, you are Jean Monnet Professor at the Institute of International Relations and Political Science of Vilnius University, in the capital of Lithuania. How old were you when your country became a member of the European Union, twenty years ago, on the 1st of May 2004? In 2004, I was 32 years old, working as an associate professor at Vilnius University, teaching and researching EU-related subjects. Actually, I also remember quite well how I spent that day. I took part in...

20 years of Czechia in the EU

Petr Kaniok, you are professor of political science at the Masaryk University of Brno, beautiful city in the South-East of the Czech Republic. And you recall the moment when your country became a member of the European Union, twenty years ago, on the 1st of May 2004. May 2004 – that is a long time ago! Twenty years is a small step for mankind, but it is a remarkable period for one person. Anyway, I still remember what I did and what the atmosphere was in the society. Why? Because this time was v...

Ukraine’s other battle: the one against corruption

European elections: voting matters!

Simon Usherwood! I’m very pleased to welcome you back on Euradio. Your are professor at the Open University in Britain, and Chair of our partners UACES. Less than three months left until the elections to the European Parliament. What are your expectations? Do you think these elections actually matter? Whether these elections matter is a great question and one that often gets asked. 45 years after the first direct elections, it is still a key problem for the European Parliament that most people d...

Clashes of sovereignty

Bonjour, Emilija Tudzarovska, you are Lecturer in Contemporary European Politics at Charles University, in Prague, and your research focuses on the democratic legitimacy of the European Union. How do you evaluate it today? Let me start with going back to the economic crisis that struck the world in 2008. This crisis revealed deeper problems plaguing representative democracies and party politics, but also effected a profound change in EU member states’ political and economic systems ......

Two years of war in Ukraine : lessons learnt

It has learnt some painful lessons, but I also think there is hope in this learning process. To start with, it was forced to rediscover that war is not a faint memory or a minor disturbance that happens in some distant countries on other continents. And the war that has been raging for two years now in its immediate neighbourhood brought with it a whole list of other very unpleasant truths.

In defence of the EU-Mercosur trade agreement

Camila Villard Duran, you are a law professor at ESSCA School of Management, and as a lawyer, you would like to take the defence of a not very popular “suspect”. Yes, I would like to speak in defence of the trade agreement between the European Union and Mercosur. You realise that many European farmers are protesting against such an agreement right now! I am aware of this resistance and can understand it. The simple fact that the trade negotiations with Mercosur have been going on since 1999 exem...

Moldova – our unknown future partner

Dorina Baltag, you are researcher at the Institute for Diplomacy and International Governance of Loughborough University, in London. And you speak to us about Moldova today, our future EU partner we know so little about. Yes, it’s a historic moment for Moldova. Together with Ukraine, it is now taking part in accession negotiations initiated by the European Council just before Christmas. It is not exaggerated to call this a “milestone” in the EU’s enlargement strategy, a decision of geopolitical ...

The Reform of Common European Asylum System

Daniele Saracino, good to have you back in our programme! You are lecturer in European Studies at the University of Essex, working on migration, asylum and solidarity . We can say that these three topics have given rise to much contention for almost a decade now. During the migratory movements to Europe in 2015/2016, the dysfunctionality of the so-called Dublin regulation and by extension the whole European asylum system was under display. The political crisis was exacerbated when some Member St...

Extreme polarisation reduces support for democracy

Lisa Janssen, you are a PhD candidate at Ghent University, and you are working on a topic that is of crucial importance in a year that is full of elections in democracies around the globe. That’s right. And one crucial element of a democratic election is “loser’s consent”, the losing party’s willingness to voluntarily accept the election result, even though it might not have been the outcome for which they had hoped. We had a good illustration four years ago, when a crowd of Trump supporters att...

The EU’s legal approach to cybersecurity

Eva Saeva, You are researcher at Newcastle Law School, in the UK, and a specialist in cybersecurity. Tell us about this area of research. It is a fascinating field of study that I have researched for over 6 years now. Let me focus today on the European Union's legal approach to cybersecurity. It’s been 10 years since the EU adopted its first Cybersecurity Strategy in 2013. Since then, the regulatory landscape has been expanding. So has, however, the landscape of threats and dangers. Cyber threat...

Why the EU needs China “mainstreaming” in all policy areas - Gesine Weber

Gesine Weber, you are PhD candidate at King's Collège in London, and researcher for the Paris office of the German Marshall Fund. And you have followed closely the recent EU-China summit in Beijing. Yes, the first in-person summit since 2019, which took place on December 7 and 8. From the beginning, expectations were low : the relations between the EU and China are subject to increasing tensions. Everybody is nervous! European policy-makers are concerned about the ties between China and Russia t...

Temporary protection - Kathryn Cassidy

Kathryn Cassidy, You are professor at the University of Northumbria in Newcastle, and currently working on a project analysing the response to the Ukrainian refugee crisis, especially with regard to the “Temporary Protection Directive”. That’s correct. As a quick reminder, the European Union introduced the Temporary Protection Directive in 2001, following the wars in the former Yugoslavia. However, it was never triggered before March 2022, after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine....

Collective memory - Francesco Spera

Francesco Spera, your research, at the University of Salento, in Lecce, looks, among other things, at the legal framework of the EU collective memory. Yes, we all know that collective memory in the European Union has always been built on the ethical lessons of World War II . From the start, EU institutions have capitalised on a moral commitment to overcoming a traumatic past and promise a better future . Accordingly, the foundations of European collective memory lie in the Holocaust. Through the...

EU-UK event - Simon Usherwood

Very pleased to welcome you back on Euradio. Simon Usherwood, you are Professor at the Open University, and Chair of our partners UACES. A few days ago, you co-organised a conference in London on the state of EU-UK relations . But who still speaks about Brexit? That’s the big question. While a lot of people think that Brexit is ‘done’, it is clear there’s still a lot to be dealt with......

Anniversary events

ery pleased, Amelia Hadfield, to welcome you back on “Ideas on Europe”. It’s been already four years since you launched the “ Centre for Britain and Europe ” at the University of Surrey. That’s right. And in the meantime, we have been granted a Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence, which has allowed us to develop our activities further, form strong bonds with civil society, research institutes and universities across the UK and Europe. And we successfully applied for a transnational research project...

European Union Security in an Age of Uncertainty

Filiz, you have been working for several years on the security of the European Union, first for your doctorate, and now as guest researcher, at Leiden University, in the Netherlands. Security has always been one of the most complex and critical issues for the EU. After decades of remarkable success in promoting peace, stability and prosperity on a continent historically marked by conflict and division, the EU’s security landscape has shifted dramatically in recent years in the face of evolving s...

To deny or to acknowledge? The European Radical Right and the Climate Crisis

Very pleased to have you back with us, Nick. The last time you spoke to us , you talked about how the generational shift taking place in Europe in terms of progressive social attitudes might have a potential negative impact on support for Radical Right parties in the coming years. That’s right. And one of the issues I mentioned in the discussion was how European Radical Right parties have traditionally tended to be in ‘denial’ or ‘sceptical’ about Climate Change....

Three years European Health Union – Time to drop the grand title?

For our weekly “Ideas on Europe” editorial by UACES, the University Association for European Studies, we welcome Mechthild Roos again, from the University of Augsburg, in Germany.