Executive Federalism and Politicisation in the European Union Before and During Covid-19

Dr. Alvaro Oleart is a postdoctoral researcher at Studio Europa Maastricht and the Department of Political Science, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences of Maastricht University. 

This lecture departs from the political response to Covid-19 in the European Union (EU), and suggests that ‘executive federalism’ (see Crum, 2013) is normatively problematic. The lecture explores previous episodes of EU politicisation, such as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations, in order to understand the institutional ‘opposition deficit’ of the EU. Throughout the lecture, we will discuss how politicisation should be seen as a symptom of the ‘normal’ politics of a democratic polity, as it enlarges the political arena by embedding European issues into national political debates. Demands for ‘Another Europe is Possible’ empower rather than hinder the legitimacy of the EU. This analytical perspective is then mobilised in order to make sense of the future of EU integration in general, and the Conference on the Future of Europe in particular.

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Working on Europe YUFE Academy

Working on Europe YUFE Academy is a series of student-based, research-centred lectures jointly organised by the Maastricht University and Studio Europa Maastricht under the Young Universities for the Future of Europe (YUFE) alliance.