CLP - Membership of the EU in an Era of Geopolitical Disorder

This lecture will be delivered by Professor Michael Dougan, as part of the Current Legal Problems Lecture Series 2025-26

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CLP - Membership of the EU in an Era of Geopolitical Disorder

23 Oct 2025, 18:00 – 19:00

UCL Faculty of Laws
4-8 Endsleigh Gardens
London
WC1H 0EG
United Kingdom

Speaker: Professor Michael Dougan (University of Liverpool)
Chair: Professor Oana Stefan (King's College London)

About the lecture

To confront the challenges and threats unleashed by the likes of Putin and Trump, Europe should reconcile the demands for a more Geopolitical Union with its commitment to a Constitutional Union based on shared fundamental values. That means reimagining and revisiting certain existing assumptions and practices, including about what it means to be a Member State of the European Union. In this lecture, we will explore how far EU law could help in reshaping some of the expectations surrounding participation as a Member State, so as to discourage damaging unilateral behaviours and promote more collaborative conduct, but without disturbing the underlying constitutional balance premised upon state sovereignty.

Michael Dougan is Professor of European Law at the University of Liverpool, Joint Editor of Common Market Law Review, and Chair of the Law Sub-Panel for REF2029.

The Current Legal Problems (CLP) lecture series and annual volume was established over fifty five years ago at the Faculty of Laws, University College London and is recognised as a major reference point for legal scholarship.

You can attend this event in-person at UCL Faculty of Laws (Bentham House, 4-8 Endsleigh Gardens, London WC1H 0EG) or alternatively you can join via a live stream.

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Image by Geralt from Pixabay