In recent years, some Member States of the EU have turned in ‘awkward’ members who increasingly context the EU’s rules and authority, or even their belonging to the block itself. The United Kingdom’s decision to leave the EU, but also the Polish and the Hungarian cases are illustrative of these tendencies. More generally, Euroscepticism is on the rise in numerous Member States.

How can and should the EU react in this context? How have other Member States behaved?

To address these questions, we invited a panel, chaired by Monica Claes, of four speakers to discuss developments in Hungary, Poland, and the UK. Each speaker gave a short presentation before opening up the floor to the audience. Ferenc Laczo (Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences) talked about current developments in Hungary since the 2010 elections and the growing unpopular sentiments against the. Michal Natorski (UNU-MERIT) followed with a case study analysis of Poland and addressed the ongoing controversy about the domestic reform of the judiciary system. Matteo Bonelli (Law Faculty) offered some insight on the tension between EU law and constitutional law and how EU member states sometimes struggle to reconcile the two and the role the Commission plays in enforcing the rule of law. Lastly, Simon Duke (EIPA) gave a nuanced perspective on how the current and common narrative of the UK being the awkward partner does not represent the full picture.

The lively discussion raised a numbers of questions and issues such the factors and conditions that foster increasing Europscepticism and what can be done to combat them, the extent to which the Commission can intervene in domestic issues that seem to go counter to EU rule of law, and evaluating the understanding of ‘awkward membership’ as not only referring to the UK but also current member states that have had a history of going against EU principles.

After the session, the speakers were invited to write a short blog on their thoughts and they will be posted as a short series of related blogs. You can find them here in the blog section of our website.

On Monday 19 March, the Centre for European Research in Maastricht (CERiM) is pleased to welcome Peer Steinbrück, the former German Federal Minister of Finance and 2013 candidate for Chancellor, for a lecture on ‘Germany’s Role in the European Union: Towards a Reform of the Eurozone?’.

The format of the event will be a 45 minute lecture, followed by a round of Q&As by the audience for the remaining time.

Date: Monday 19 March
Time: 18:30 – 20:00
Location: Aula, Minderbroederberg, 4-6 Maastricht

Bio of the speaker
Peer Steinbrück, member of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), was Federal Minister of Finance (2005 to 2009) and Prime Minister of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia (2002 to 2005). In 2013, he ran for Chancellor as opposition candidate but failed to carry the election. Having resigned from his mandate in the Bundestag in September of 2016, Peer Steinbrück now engaged in the founding of the Bundeskanzler-Helmut-Schmidt-Stiftung. As economist by training, he was Head of the office of the Minister President of North Rhine-Westphalia, Johannes Rau, from 1986 to 1990. In 1993, he became Minister of Economic Affairs and Infrastructure in the state of Schleswig-Holstein. He then returned to North Rhine-Westphalia, where he became the Minister of Economic Affairs and Infrastructure in 1998 and Finance Minister in 2000.

“A passport is not a panacea but it can make a big difference in an immigrant’s life”.

Maarten Vink (Chair of Political Science, UM) was granted funding from European Research Council (ERC) to conduct research on studies the relation between migrant naturalisation and integration. The project, MiLifeStatus, investigates why, how, and for whom legal status transition matter, and how varying policies impact on this relation.

For brief overview of the findings so far, see here, and the MiLifeStatus website for further information on the project: https://www.milifestatus.com/

In his lecture, he will address some important questions about Holocaust memory such as the role of peripheries and non-German actors.
1. How have German and Eastern European memory cultures been interacting since the fall of communism?
2. How has the interpretation of the genocide against European Jews been transformed as a result?
3. What are the key accomplishments and where are the limits of Europeanising Holocaust memory?

The lecture will take place at MBB aula (Minderbroedersberg 4-6) from 20:00 – 21:45 on January 23, 2018. Entry is free for students, staff, and the public so please share the event! Registration is not required.

Dohmen paper addresses the European Parliaments legislative influence during the economic crisis while Melin’s research looks into the EU’s social security coordination with third-world countries, with India being a case study.

To access the papers, please find them here.

For more information on our Online Paper series, please find it here.

On 8 December, CERiM organised a roundtable discussion on ‘Debating the EU’s Future: Do we need institutional reforms? Will we get them?’. Edward Best (EIPA), Deirdre Curtin (EUI), Graham Smith (Member of the Cabinet of the European Ombudsman) and Wolfgang Wessels (University of Cologne) shared their thoughts on current reform proposals and recent developments in the European integration process including, among others, the ‘double hat’ proposal for the Presidents of the European Commission and the European Council, the recent initiatives of enhanced cooperation and the issue of democratic representation. These issues gave rise to a lively debate with all attendees. 

The special issue is the outcome of a workshop that took place on 21-22 November, 2016 on “Germs, Bioterrorism and Chemical Attacks: Internal and External EU Security Perspectives“. The workshop was organised with members from Maastricht Centre for European Law (MCEL) and CERiM.

Consisting of research articles, reports, case commentaries, and book reviews, they address several salient issues such as the use of biological weapons, chemical terrorism, regulatory oversight bodies, and global and European public health.

To access the articles, please find them here.