Understanding Europe

In the 3rd and final episode of this season, Brendan and Charelle have a conversation with Dr. Christine Neuhold to Understand the EU internal dynamics of democracy. Both in terms of EU democratic reforms as well as the role the EU plays in promoting democracy in its Member States. Over the last 5 years it has been the priority of the Von der Leyen Commision to provide “A New Push for European Dem...

The EU-MENA relations have gone through different phases that presented different challenges and opportunities. Over the past two decades however, these relations have been presented with a new challenge: the legitimacy of the EU as a democracy promoter. In this episode, Charelle and Brendan sit down with Dr. Assem Dandashly to discuss the evolution of the EU-MENA relations focusing on EU democrac...

In the first episode of season 2 from Understanding Europe, Brendan and Charelle sit with PhD. candidate Wicke van den Broek to understand/discuss democracy promotion in the EU’s Eastern neighborhood. The focus of the discussion is Belarus and builds from there. Secondary Sources: 1. The Face of the Revolution is Female / Die Revolution hat ein weibliches Gesicht 2. Lodołamaczka. Swiatłana Cichano...

The 10th and last episode of CERiM's Understanding Europe is out now! This time, Charelle and Brendan talk about the different episodes that have been published this year, discussing how they link and what threads are pulled throughout them all. So if you haven't yet had a chance to listen to this year's episodes this is the place to start! A TL;DR if you will. Secondary sources: - Und...

In this episode, Brendan and Charelle sit down with Assem Dandashly and Gergana Noutcheva to discuss the legitimacy of the EU as an external democracy promoter in its southern and eastern neighbourhood while internally it is dealing with a rule of law crisis in member states such as Poland, Hungary, Austria. Has this internal crisis affected the way the EU is perceived? Has it hindered its legitim...

Europe day! Europe day?  What does it even mean? In this episode Brendan and Charelle talk about the significance of Europe Day and the difficulties of forming a Common European Identity. In doing so they are joined by Dr. Aline Sierp, an expert in memory studies, who outlines what studying memory entails and the difficulties that are faced when trying to create a common European memory, and in th...

In today’s episode, Brendan and Charelle wrestle with the concept of strategic autonomy, also referred to as strategic sovereignty and possibly other names. You might have seen the term circulating online in light of Macron’s recent visit to China. But what does it actually mean to be strategically autonomous? Join them as they talk to Dr. Sophie Vanhoonacker, an expert in European external relati...

"Europe will be forged in crisis, and will be the sum of the solutions adopted for those crises", these were the words of Jean Monnet. But what is a crisis, and how does Europe act when it is confronted by one? Join Brendan and Charelle as they have a conversation with two CERiM experts, Dr. Esther Versluis and Johan Adriaensen PhD, who will lead them through crisis management 101. Secon...

In this episode Brendan and Charelle look at the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine one year after it started. Joined by Anna Herranz-Surrallés and Giselle Bosse, both Associate Professors at Maastricht University, they explore how the conflict has affected Ukraine and the EU. They also look at how the relationship between EU-Ukraine and EU-Russia have evolved since the beginning of the conflict, as...

In this episode Brendan and Charelle take a look at the changing global trade order, while also trying to understand what the World Trade Organisation (WTO) actually is. To this end, they are joined by Clara Weinhardt, Assistant Professor of International Relations at FASoS. Whose recent research explores this topic, specifically the strategies that Brazil, India, and China have adopted when respo...

Digital Sovereignty is an elusive term which can be defined in various ways. In this episode, Brendan and Charelle sat down with Dr. Mariëlle Wijermars, an expert in the field, to discuss the term Digital Sovereignty and the wider ramifications the concept has on the world. Link to sources: Interview with EVP Commissioner Margrethe Vestager Secondary sources: Laura DeNardis (2014)  The global war...

A major aspect of the climate transition in the EU has been the idea of a ‘Just Transition’, but this leaves us questioning what that actually means. In this episode, Brendan and Charelle explore what the Just Transition means and how it is applied internally in the EU. With the help of CERiM experts Francesca Colli and Toon van Overbeke, they also explore the role of the Just Transition philosoph...

Understanding Europe is a new podcast series produced by the Maastricht Diplomat, in collaboration with CERiM. Throughout the 10 episodes, Charelle and Brendan will interview experts from CERiM to dig deeper into the various research done on the EU, but also on Europe at large.  The monthly podcast series aims to contextualize and unpack local dynamics within EU member states but also internationa...