Making sense of EU - Institut d'études européennes of the ULB

In the second episode of the Making Sense of EU's second season, we want to continue to dig deeper into the core concept of “dissensus” and try to make sense of why it is at the center of the Horizon Europe research project coordinated at the Institut d’études européennes.   For this Making Sense of EU welcomes Nathalie Brack , who is an associate professor of political science at the Université l...

In this episode, our hosts Martina and Felix explore the topic of migration, particularly with regard to migrants seeking asylum in the European Union. After an initial overview of the topic in general, they delve into a discussion with the two guests, Mario Vega, newly elected Co-President of Eyes on Europe and Valentin Parys, member of the social board of SAIES and Head delegate for ULB for the...

Welcome back to Making Sense of EU! A new academic year brings new challenges and new topics and also new perspectives and questions about the European Union. This is the second season of Making Sense of EU and this time, our podcast focuses on the challenges liberal democracy is facing in the European Union.   To cut the ribbon on this new season, I have the pleasure to have with me today Ramona...

One of the most polarizing topics in EU affairs today is the treatment asylum seekers get in the European Union. In this episode of Making Sense of EU we will try to understand better the unequal treatment asylum seekers get in the framework of the Dublin system as well as the ongoing process to reform it amid tragic events in the Mediterranean. We will also discuss the specifics surrounding the t...

In this new episode of Talking with EU, our hosts Paulina Agudelo and Martina Rubino interview two IEE students, Alba San Juan Morales, from the SAIES events team, and Joris Rouillon, editor of Eyes on Europe. Together they will talk about feminism and anti-feminist movements in Europe, violence and gender discrimination and the steps forward (and backward) made on these issues in Europe. Trigger...

An activist sentenced to eight months of community service for facilitating abortion pills.   The creation of ‘LGBT-ideology’ free zones  A Minister for Family, Natality, and Equal Opportunity who opposes abortion and same-sex unions.  Imposed disclaimers on children’s books that portray so-called “behaviours deviating from traditional gender roles”. It is hard to believe that all these are things...

On the occasion of the anniversary of the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the students responsible for the podcast "Talking with EU: The students' POV" felt the need to commemorate the event by hearing directly from the voices of some of those people whose lives were more directly affected by the Russian attack, the repercussions of which they are still living today.  For this special epis...

Talking with EU: the first student-run podcast at the IEE, where the students' point of view is at the centre. This show looks to extend the conversation of the topics discussed at the podcast ‘Making sense of EU’ of the Institute d'études européennes to the students, this time made for the students and by the students. In the first episode of Talking with EU we discuss with Paulina Agudelo, a mem...

Making sense of environmental and ecological justice, and the role of the law and of citizen participation in it is not easy.   Maria Lee, professor of law at University College London and co-director of the UCL Centre for Law and the Environment and Chiara Armeni, professor of Environmental Law and member of the Centre for European Law at the ULB, help us understand what's at stake when it comes...

War in European soil is the latest test on EU resilience. After living in a polycrisis for the last couple of decades, the European Union is facing one a tough trial, one that is pushing it out of its “soft power” approach to international relations. How will the EU handle a return to War in Europe? And how does inequality manifest in this context?   Marta Matrakova , research coordinator at the I...

Over 96 million people are at risk of poverty and social exclusion in the European Union, 22% of the EU's population. Analizing social inequality, from disciplines as varied as law, political science, history or economics is one of the goals of the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence EUqualis, hosted at the Institut d'études europeénnes of the Université libre de Bruxelles.  We discuss with professor...