Daniel Hegedüs examines democratic backsliding in the EU in Jean Monnet Lecture at FASOS
On 23 April 2026, Daniel Hegedüs, Deputy Director of the Institute for European Politics, delivered a Jean Monnet Lecture titled "International Determinants of Autocratization and Democratization in the EU in an Age of Geopolitical Upheaval". The lecture was organised by the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence on Crises and Emergencies in EU Integration (EmergEU) and held at Maastricht University's Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASoS).
Hegedüs examined how illiberal EU governments have used foreign policy to shape the external context of domestic democratic erosion, an angle that has received less scholarly attention than EU-level enforcement instruments. He mapped the main pre-2025 foreign policy models of autocratization within the Western alliance, explained the rapid pace of democratic regression in the United States, and assessed how deepening US autocratization is affecting the political prospects of illiberal actors within the EU.
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EmergEU hosts Jean Monnet Jecture by Ramona Coman on how the rule of law crisis has transformed the EU polity
Ramona Coman (Université Libre de Bruxelles) delivered a Jean Monnet Lecture at the Faculty of Law, examining what the rule of law crisis has revealed about the EU itself and how it has transformed the EU polity.
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EmergEU Workshop explores the EU’s response to internal crises and emergencies
EmergEU’s second workshop, held in Maastricht on 30-31 March 2026, examined how the EU responds to internal crises and emergencies, focusing on competences, institutional balance, and policy directions.
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Marijn van der Sluis analyses Europeanisation of national budgets in student Jean Monnet Lecture
Dr. Marijn van der Sluis delivered a student Jean Monnet Lecture on 21 April, analysing the Europeanisation of national budgets and the evolution of EU economic governance.
