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EU 2014-19: New Faces, Old Problems?

02 October 2014, 12:00 am

Eventbrite - P&P: 'EU 2014-2019: New Faces, Old Problems?'

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2 October 2014
This panel discussion with three leading experts - academics and practitioners - will discuss the long-term consequences of the 2014 European Parliament elections and of the "Spitzenkandidaten" process in particular.


When:
2 October 2014
5.30-7pm

Free to attend but please register below

Where:
AV Hill Lecture Theatre
Medical Sciences 131
Malet Place, UCL
How to get there

In the run-up to the May 2014 European Parliament elections, pan-European parties-for the first time in history-nominated lead candidates for the post of European Commission President. Against staunch opposition from the UK and Hungary, Europe's heads of government nominated, and Europe's parliament subsequently elected, the centre-right candidate Jean-Claude Juncker. This event brings together distinguished experts on European politics, the British media and Euroscepticism to explore the long-term institutional and political consequences of the "Spitzenkandidaten" process. Has the new way of candidate selection changed the EU's inter-institutional relations by empowering the European Parliament? What are the likely long-term repercussions for (party) politics at the supranational and domestic level? Has Juncker's nomination increased or decreased the likelihood of EU reform, called for by the British prime minister? What are the consequences for the line-up and policy-direction of the new European Commission? Has the process led to a wider debate about and a greater politicisation of the European Union?

Confirmed speakers:

Michael Shackleton is Special Professor in European Institutions at the University of Maastricht.  He spent most of his career in the Secretariat of the European Parliament in Luxembourg and Brussels, where his jobs included heading the service responsible for conciliation negotiations between Council and Parliament, setting up europarltv, the  European Parliament webTV channel, and finally, running the UK Information Office in London.  Since retiring at the end of 2011 he has also been an Honorary Senior Research Associate at University College London.

Simon Usherwood is Senior Lecturer in the University of Surrey's School of Politics. He is a leading British expert on the mobilisation and impact of publics, interest groups and political parties that are opposed to the European integration process. He is a co-founder and coordinator of the UACES Collaborative Research Network on Euroscepticism. He is author of journal articles on various aspects of euroscepticism and on the UK's European policy, as well as the co-author of The European Union: A Very Short Introduction (with John Pinder, OUP: 2013).

Paola Buonadonna
Paola Buonadonna is Media Director at British Influence. Throughout a 17 year career as a political journalist, mainly with the BBC, specialising in EU affairs Paola has focused on understanding and explaining how Europe works - and why sometimes it doesn't. She is passionate about giving people enough information and context to allow them to make informed choices.

Chair:

Christine Reh is Senior Lecturer in European Politics and Programme Director of the MSc in European Public Policy. Her research focuses on constitutional politics, the theory and practice of international negotiation, informal decision-making in the European Union and legitimate governance beyond the state. She has recently completed an ESRC-funded project on the reasons for and the consequences of the informalisation of the EU's legislative process since 1999, was a member of the APSA President's 2013 Task Force on "Negotiating Agreement in Politics", and is on the editorial board of the Journal of European Public Policy.