EU Futures

In this episode, Robert Socha focused on the growing income gap in Europe and the United States, and the disconnection between elites and average citizens. Talking about his childhood in communist Poland, Socha expressed his love for the democratic, borderless European project and his pride in his home country advancing since the fall of the Iron Curtain. He admitted, "the EU is not a perfect place – it is often too bureaucratic, lacks vision, too distant to ordinary people,” but ended the conversation by explaining his belief that European identity is based upon a shared past, but that the continent's complicated history has taught Europeans the necessity of communication. [Date of interview: April 3, 2017]

In this episode, Isabel Schayani explained how she transformed a Facebook page into a platform for communicating directly with migrants, describing how her WDR project offers news, education, and entertainment for refugees entering Germany. The discussion moved toward a conversation about the situation facing asylum-seekers in Europe, as Schayani condemned the treatment of refugees in Eastern Europe and how she believes journalists are in the unique position to teach Europeans to avoid xenophobic assumptions and help migrants orient themselves once settled in the EU. She ended by emphasizing the global dimension of migration in the 21st century and the need for Europeans to provide adequate information about legal channels of entry to refugees trapped on the periphery of the EU. [Date of interview: April 3, 2017]

In this episode, Dr. Jacqueline Cramer discusses her belief that EU Member States can pursue common goals at 'different speeds', allowing countries to act as frontrunners in fields such as sustainability and circular economic practices. Cramer emphasized the need for Brussels to reconnect with and engage citizens in order to foster a community of Europeans within an increasingly globalized world. She emphasized the threat of populism, arguing that “democracy is the key of European culture - it should be nourished all the time in order to show what the enormous merits are of our democracy." Cramer ended by commenting on the strength of diversity and the need for Europeans to find a balance between national identity and common EU values of democracy and socioeconomic stability. [Date of interview: March 6, 2017]

In this episode, architects Bernard Dubois and Pol Esteve talk about the turning point Europe faces today, specifically highlighting the imbalances between the supranational institutions of the EU and the national-based governments. Given their backgrounds growing up in Catalonia and Belgium, the two men agreed that there are many schisms in Europe - at the EU, national, and regional levels - but that integration can occur as a result of finding commonalities beyond geographical borders. They emphasized the radical modernization of Europe and role of younger generations in participating in the European project. They concluded that artists in Europe should promote a better understanding of EU institutions, promote transparency, and defending human rights and diversity. [Date of interview: March 5, 2017]

Photo Bernard Dubois: Valextra

In this episode, Olya Yordanyan talks to Alberto Alemanno about European democracy and how citizens might engage politically to regain some power and influence over their own futures. They discuss Alemanno's new book, Lobbying for Change: Find Your Voice to Create a Better Society, as well as the recent white paper on the future of Europe, and the threat to democracy presented by the populist parties. [Date of interview: March 5, 2017]

In this episode Olya Yordanyan talks to Dutch politician Esther de Lange, Vice-Chair of the European People's Party (EPP) in the European Parliament. De Lange focuses on the big challenges Europe faces, challenges she believes will require cooperation across borders. She stresses the need for Europe to reinvent itself: “We need a different Europe in the 21st century than we did in the 1950s and 60s.” The debate now, she says, is about global issues and Europe's role in the world. Europe, she says, is stronger together. But people need a ”smart Europe.“ And Europe needs to find more ways to engage citizens at the local and supranational levels. The lack of leadership paralyzes citizens, she adds. [Date of interview: March 4, 2017]

In this episode, Olya Yordanyan and Sandra Porcar talk to Aleksandra Sojka, Postdoctoral Fellow at the Department of Political Science, University of Granada, Spain, about political situation in Europe. Sojka discusses the disconnect between European institutions - at both the EU and national levels - and European citizens. She attributes the rise of populist parties to the growing perception of European citizens that they have been denied any say in their political future, stressing the need for policies that address citizens' concerns. She describes the disappointment of many in Central and Eastern Europe, who have not experienced personally the benefits of enlargement. [Date of interview: March 3, 2017]

In this episode of the EU Futures podcast, Markus K. Brunnermeier, Edwards S. Sanford Professor of Economics at Princeton University and author of The Euro and the Battle of Ideas (Princeton University Press, 2016), discusses the fundamental differences between the economic policies in France and Germany, presenting their ideological bases and historical contexts. Brunnermeier thinks that the European Union is capable of overcoming the challenges it faces if common ground could be found between the French and German positions. He is hopeful about the future of Europe, and the Eurozone, but believes that Europe needs a common vision and a big goal that can be only achieved together.

In this episode, Olya Yordanyan and Toria Rainey talk to Chandler Rosenberger, Chair of the International and Global Studies Program at Brandeis University, about the emerging future in Europe. The conversation focusses on the different political cultures in Europe, different conceptions of nationalism, and the relationship between nationalism and democracy. Rosenberger shares his concern over the re-emergence in some states of an undemocratic and ethnic nationalism many thought had been put to rest after the “return to Europe” of the formerly communist nations of Eastern Europe. He describes the need to rethink the cultural and intellectual roots of the European project in order to reawaken a sense of Europe that people will want to belong to. The more successful politicians are in capturing the imagination of citizens, the more healthier the future of Europe will be. [Date of interview: February 28, 2017]

In this episode our visiting researcher Sandra Porcar talks to José María Beneyto about the emergence of populism in Europe and what it means for Europe's future. Beneyto discusses the need for European politicians to address citizens' concerns without acquiescing to populist demands. Globalization, he says, has exacerbated feelings of abandonment and anonymity among citizens who long for the security that comes from a sense of embeddedness in culture and in community. He ends with a positive note on the future of the continent, by considering the fact that traditionally Europe has used crises as opportunities and has historically regenerated itself based on the unity of its peoples.

José María Beneyto is an academic, an international lawyer, a politician and a writer. He is a visiting professor at the Harvard Kennedy School and a professor of European Law and Politics, International Relations and International Law, a Jean Monnet Chair ad personam of the EU and the Director of the Institute for European Studies in Madrid. He has published extensively on European Union, he has been practicing law over twenty years, and he was also a Civil Servant of the European Institutions and an advisor to the European Parliament, the European Convention, the OCDE and the World Bank. [Date of interview: February 27, 2017]