Anna Herranz-Surrallés, Johan Adriaensen and Odile Felkamp awarded NWO Open Competition M grant

Anna Herranz-Surrallés, Johan Adriaensen and Odile Felkamp have been awarded an NWO Open Competition M grant of €400,000 for their research project “Towards EU economic statecraft? Party-political cleavages on geoeconomic instruments”.

The project investigates how the European Union’s growing use of geoeconomic tools—such as trade measures and industrial policy—affects internal political dynamics. In recent years, the EU has begun developing a “toolbox of geoeconomic instruments” to respond to global competition and economic coercion. While much attention has been paid to the external drivers of this shift, there is still limited understanding of how these changes influence coalitional politics within the EU.

By mapping and explaining party-political cleavages around the design and implementation of these instruments, the project aims to shed light on the political challenges facing the EU in its efforts to build economic statecraft and strategic autonomy. This research is vital in understanding the future legitimacy and coherence of EU policymaking in an increasingly competitive global landscape.

The NWO Open Competition M is designed to support free, curiosity-driven research in the social sciences and humanities. It supports excellent disciplinary, interdisciplinary, and multidisciplinary projects with high scientific ambition.