Making sense of EU - Institut d'études européennes of the ULB

We’re back with a new episode of Making sense of EU, and this time we will try to learn more about how the policies surrounding economic governance in the European Union can fuel dissensus. 

Can the EU legitimize policies and instruments that seem like intromissions into sovereign states' politics? Is EU economic governance democratic? 

For this third episode of this season, we welcome two special guests set to help us figure this out. We met during the Council for European Studies conference in Reykjavik, Iceland, where they presented the first research results for our Horizon Europe RED-SPINEL research project.  

Thomas Christiansen is a Professor of Political Science at LUISS Guido Carli University. He is Executive Editor of the Journal of European Integration and co-editor of the ‘European Administration Governance’ book series at Palgrave Macmillan.   

Amandine Crespy is Professor of Political Science and European Studies at the Université libre de Bruxelles. Her research deals with socio-economic governance and policies in the European Union, focusing on the role of ideas, discourse, and conflict.   

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In the second episode of the Making Sense of EU's second season, we want to continue to dig deeper into the core concept of “dissensus” and try to make sense of why it is at the center of the Horizon Europe research project coordinated at the Institut d’études européennes.  

For this Making Sense of EU welcomes Nathalie Brack, who is an associate professor of political science at the Université libre de Bruxelles and a Visiting Professor at the College of Europe in Bruges. Her research interests include EU institutions, EU decision-making process, Euroscepticism, sovereignty, Brexit, political representation, and comparative politics. 

Joining us again is Ramona Coman, who leads RED-SPINEL is a professor of political science at the ULB, and former President and Director of the Institut d’études européennes.   

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In this episode, our hosts Martina and Felix explore the topic of migration, particularly with regard to migrants seeking asylum in the European Union. After an initial overview of the topic in general, they delve into a discussion with the two guests, Mario Vega, newly elected Co-President of Eyes on Europe and Valentin Parys, member of the social board of SAIES and Head delegate for ULB for the Speque. 

Many topics will be touched, as the EU agreements with Tunisia, those with Turkey and the EU New Pact on Migration and Asylum. Our guests will offer their point of view on these issues that have been igniting local and European socio-political debates for years.

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Welcome back to Making Sense of EU! A new academic year brings new challenges and new topics and also new perspectives and questions about the European Union. This is the second season of Making Sense of EU and this time, our podcast focuses on the challenges liberal democracy is facing in the European Union.  

To cut the ribbon on this new season, I have the pleasure to have with me today Ramona Coman, who is professor of political science at the Université libre de Bruxelles. Professor Coman has been President of the Institut d’études européennes for the past 4 years and previously its director. 

She is the Principal Investigator of two European Research projects focusing on the growing dissensus over liberal democracy and the challenge this represents for the EU. Today we will discuss what's a stake, and how scientific research can contribute to understanding these issues and informing policymakers. 

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One of the most polarizing topics in EU affairs today is the treatment asylum seekers get in the European Union. In this episode of Making Sense of EU we will try to understand better the unequal treatment asylum seekers get in the framework of the Dublin system as well as the ongoing process to reform it amid tragic events in the Mediterranean. We will also discuss the specifics surrounding the temporary protection Ukrainians have received since the beginning of the Russian invasion over a year ago.  

For this we welcome Professor Philippe De Bruycker, who is a lawyer specialized in European Immigration and Asylum Law, Free movement of European citizens and comparative aliens law. Professor De Bruycker teaches and researches these fields at our Institute and is founder and coordinator of the Odysseus Academic Network for Legal Studies on Immigration and Asylum in Europe.  

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In this new episode of Talking with EU, our hosts Paulina Agudelo and Martina Rubino interview two IEE students, Alba San Juan Morales, from the SAIES events team, and Joris Rouillon, editor of Eyes on Europe. Together they will talk about feminism and anti-feminist movements in Europe, violence and gender discrimination and the steps forward (and backward) made on these issues in Europe.

Trigger warning: please bear in mind that we mention types of violence and discrimination against women, as well as homophobia and transphobia during the course of this episode. Even though we do not go into much details, it might be triggering and particularly stressful for someone. If you are uncomfortable listening about that kind of topics, you may want to avoid the episode or listen to it in a safe environment.  If you are a victim of violence or discrimination, you are not alone and we believe you. Make sure you are safe first. If you feel you can do so, you can denounce and/or seek help. 

Here’s a list of entities and organisations in Belgium that can help in such situations.

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An activist sentenced to eight months of community service for facilitating abortion pills.  

The creation of ‘LGBT-ideology’ free zones 

A Minister for Family, Natality, and Equal Opportunity who opposes abortion and same-sex unions. 

Imposed disclaimers on children’s books that portray so-called “behaviours deviating from traditional gender roles”.

It is hard to believe that all these are things are happening in the European Union. But they are. Gender has become an ideological battlefield that political actors on the extremes are using to gain power.  

To help us make sense of the anti-gender campaigns and actions in the EU, the strategies, actors, and networks behind them, we welcome Professor David Paternotte to Making Sense of EU.

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On the occasion of the anniversary of the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the students responsible for the podcast "Talking with EU: The students' POV" felt the need to commemorate the event by hearing directly from the voices of some of those people whose lives were more directly affected by the Russian attack, the repercussions of which they are still living today. 

For this special episode, hosts Felix Fend and Daniele Bogani have invited Sofia Nazarenko and Lev Zinchenko, two Ukrainian students at the Université libre de Bruxelles. They were asked to share their perception of the war from an individual point of view as well as more general considerations about the measures taken so far for Ukraine by the EU. 

On 25 February, our hosts Felix Fend and Martina Rubino attended a march held in solidarity with the Ukrainian people in the centre of Brussels and collected some personal and sometimes deeply emotional testimonies.

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Talking with EU: the first student-run podcast at the IEE, where the students' point of view is at the centre. This show looks to extend the conversation of the topics discussed at the podcast ‘Making sense of EU’ of the Institute d'études européennes to the students, this time made for the students and by the students.

In the first episode of Talking with EU we discuss with Paulina Agudelo, a member of the communication board of SAIES, and Martina Rubino, President of Eyes on Europe, the question of ‘Environmental Justice and Inequality’. Why do young people choose more and more radical means of protesting and is that justified? How to tackle the feeling of desperation among young people? And why is it so important to not only transform our society in an ecological way, but also in a just and fair way? We will put a light on all those questions together with our two guests in this first episode of the ‘student’s point of view’!" 

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Making sense of environmental and ecological justice, and the role of the law and of citizen participation in it is not easy.  

Maria Lee, professor of law at University College London and co-director of the UCL Centre for Law and the Environment and Chiara Armeni, professor of Environmental Law and member of the Centre for European Law at the ULB, help us understand what's at stake when it comes to decision-making in this area. 

Inequality rhymes with injustice and understanding how it plays out when it comes to dealing with climate change is key to ensure citizens remain engaged in the fight for the preservation of our planet. 

Is the European Union doing enough to ensure citizens participation is guaranteed? Is the road to a just transition evenly paved or is inequality still a challenge in this field?

Let's find out! 

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