The European Union in Practice: Politics and Power in the Brussels System
Seminar Series
In this innovative LSE seminar series, policy practitioners and commentators talk about their experience working in and with the EU institutions. The series is co-chaired by two visiting professors in practice at the European Institute: Anthony Teasdale, former Director General of the European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS) and former Special Adviser, FCO and HM Treasury; and Dr Martin Westlake, former Secretary General of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) and Visiting Professor at the College of Europe, Bruges.
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Admission is free and only available to LSE staff and students. Advanced registration is required.
Please contact ei@lse.ac.ukwith any queries.
Seminars in 2024/25 will take place in the Thai Theatre (LG.03), Cheng Kin Ku (CKK) building.
Upcoming Seminars:
Past Seminars:
Autumn Term
Friday 11 October 2024 | 2.30pm
‘Changing the Guard in Brussels: What’s happening now and where next for the European Union?’
Speaker: Charles Grant | Director, Centre for European Reform (CER) since 1998; former Brussels bureau chief, The Economist; author ‘Delors: The House that Jacques Built’
Friday 18 October 2024 | 2.30pm
‘The Draghi and Letta reports: How to achieve a circular single market for sustainable competitiveness’
Speaker: Heather Grabbe | Senior Fellow, Bruegel; Visiting Professor, UCL and KU Leuven; previously with the European Commission, EUI, CER and OSI European Policy Institute
Friday 25 October 2024 | 2.30pm
Strategic Political Communication: Behind the scenes of speechwriting for the European Commission President.
Speaker: Helene Banner | Visiting Professor, College of Europe, political communications expert, former speechwriter for European Commission Presidents Jean-Claude Juncker and Ursula von der Leyen
Friday 15 November 2024 | 2.30pm
‘Who has won the 2024 Brussels power-play? The outcome of the EP elections and the struggle for top jobs in the European Union’
Speaker: Klaus Welle |Secretary General of the European Parliament, 2009-22; chief of staff to EP President, 2007-09; former Secretary General, EPP Group and EPP party
Friday 22 November 2024 | 2.30pm
‘From the Single European Act to the Lisbon Treaty - and beyond: Four decades of change in the EU Council system’
Speaker: David Galloway | Deputy Director General, EU Council secretariat, 2010-24; former chief of staff to Secretary General of the Council; former head of press, Council secretariat
Friday 29 November 2024 | 2.30pm
‘The rise of challenger parties in Europe’
Speaker: Sara Hobolt | Professor of European Institutions, LSE; author or co-author of ‘Europe in Question’, ‘Domestic Contestation of the EU’ and ‘Political Entrepreneurs’
Friday 6 December 2024 | 2.30pm
‘Scenarios for the future of the European Union’.
Speaker: Sir Michael Leigh | Adjunct Professor, SAIS Europe; Director General for Enlargement, 2006-11, and Deputy DG for External Relations, 2003-06, European Commission
Winter Term
Friday 24 January 2025 | 2.30pm
‘Grounding EU policies since 1958 - The European Economic and Social Committee: Why is it so little known and what is its potential for the future?’
Speaker: Isabelle Le Galo Flores | Secretary General, European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) since 2024; Deputy DG, Fundación Carasso, 2014-23; Fellow, Aspen Institute
Friday 31 January 2025 | 2.30pm
‘Britain, Labour and Europe: What went wrong, what went right, and where next?’
Speaker: (Lord) Roger Liddle| Europe Adviser to Tony Blair as Prime Minister, 1997-2004; Policy Adviser to BEPA in European Commission, and to Peter Mandelson as Commissioner, 2004-07; Labour member of the House of Lords since 2010
Friday 7 February 2025 | 2.30pm
‘Why is the EU always late in taking responsibility? Lessons from Georgia’
Speaker: Mariam Khotenashvili| Executive Director, TEPSA since 2016; previously with Transparency International Georgia and European Association for Local Democracy (ALDA)
Friday 14 February 2025 | 2.30pm
‘Borderlines: Understanding Europe’s history by looking at the edges’
Speaker: Lewis Baston| Fellow, Radix and Democratic Audit think tanks; Director of Research, UK Electoral Reform Society, 2003-10; Author of ‘Borderlines’ (2024)
Friday 7 March 2025 | 2.30pm
‘Strategic autonomy for Europe: Is it an idea whose time has come - or already gone?’
Speaker: Elena Lazarou | Senior policy analyst, EPRS, Brussels; Associate Fellow, Chatham House; Head, Center for International Relations, Getulio Vargas Foundation, Brazil, 2012-14
Friday 14 March 2025 | 2.30pm
‘Trump, Putin and geopolitics: The EU’s awakening to the Arctic’
Speaker: Marie-Anne Coninsx |Senior Associate Fellow, Egmont; EU Ambassador at large for the Arctic, 2017-19; previously EU Ambassador to Canada and Mexico, and DCM to UN
Friday 21 March 2025 | 2.30pm
‘The European Court of Auditors: Guardian of the EU’s finances’
Speaker: Iliana Ivanova | Member of the European Court of Auditors, 2013-23 and since 2025; European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education & Youth, 2023-24
Friday 28 March 2025 | 2.30pm
‘How to read the EU institutions? Reflections from the Brussels coalface over five decades’.
Speaker: Richard Corbett | British Labour MEP 1996-2009 and 2014-20; Adviser to President of European Council, 2009-14; Secretariat of Conference on the Future of Europe, 2021-22
Winter Term
Friday 26 January 2024 | 2.30pm
'Digital Empires: The European Union and the global battle to regulate technology'
Speaker: Anu Bradford| Professor, Columbia Law School; Author of "The Brussels Effect: How the EU rules the world" (2020) and "Digital Empires: The global battle to regulate technology" (2023)
Friday 2 February 2024 | 2.30pm
‘Geo-political Europe: An economic and security perspective’
Speaker: Maria Demertzis | Senior Fellow, Bruegel; Professor of Economic Policy, EUI; previously with European Commission, Dutch Central Bank and Harvard Kennedy School
Friday 9 February 2024 | 2.30pm
‘The EU and climate change: A rendez-vous with destiny or with reality?’
Speaker: Molly Scott Cato| Senior Vice Chair, UK European Movement; UK MEP (Greens), 2014-20; author of ‘Environment and Economy’ (2020) and ‘Sustainable Finance’ (2022)
Friday 16 February 2024 | 2.30pm
‘How the EU's Erasmus Mundus programme came into being; a personal tale'
Speaker: Martin Westlake| Visiting Professor, College of Europe; Secretary General, European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), 2008-13
Friday 1 March 2024 | 2.30pm
'Where next for the EU and the (Western) Balkans?’
Speaker: Aleksandra Tomanić | Executive Director, European Fund for the Balkans, previously with German development agency GIZ, European Commission and Serbian government
Friday 8 March 2024 | 2.30pm
'How laws get made - and not made - in Europe: The who, what and why of the EU’s new Platform Work Directive’
Speaker: Catherine Barnard | Professor of European and Employment Law, Cambridge University; Deputy Director, UK in a Changing Europe; author of ‘European Union Law’ (2020)
Friday 15 March 2024 | 2.30pm
'The Spitzenkandidaten process and European elections: Past, present and future’
Speaker: Klaus Welle | Secretary General of the European Parliament, 2009-22; chief of staff to EP President, 2007-09; former Secretary General, EPP Group and EPP party
Friday 22 March 2024 | 2.30pm
‘Thinking about the 2024 US Presidential and Congressional elections - and their implications for Europe’
Speaker: Bruce Stokes | Director of Transatlantic Task Force, German Marshall Fund (GMF) and former Director of Global Economic Attitudes, Pew Research Center, WDC
Autumn Term
Friday 6 October 2023 | 2.30pm
'From welcoming Portugal to saying goodbye to Britain: Reflections on a forty-year EU Career'
Speaker: João Vale de Almeida |EU Ambassador to the UK (2020-22), to UN (2015-19) and US (2010-14); Chef de cabinet to Commission President JM Barroso, 2004-09; DG RELEX, 2009-10
Friday 13 October 2023 | 2.30pm
'The politics and practice of COREPER I: Inside the Council system'
Speaker: Katrina Williams| Deputy UK Permanent Representative to the EU, 2017-20; former senior official in Scottish government, Cabinet Office, BEIS, DECC and Defra
Friday 20 October 2023 | 2.30pm
'EU top jobs: How Herman Van Rompuy really got appointed in 2009 - and implications for the 2024 appointments process'
Speaker: Martin Westlake(in conversation with Anthony Teasdale) | Visiting Professor, College of Europe; Secretary General, European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), 2008-13
Friday 27 October 2023 | 2.30pm
'On enlargement and Ukraine - and what it would mean for the EU'
Speaker: Mij Rahman| Managing Director for Europe, Eurasia Group; Adjunct Professor, NYU Stern Business School; former official, HM Treasury and European Commission
Friday 10 November 2023 | 2.30pm
'Political change in Europe in 2024: What will happen in the Brussels system next year?'
Speaker: Klaus Welle| Secretary General of the European Parliament 2009-22; chief of staff to EP President, 2007-09; former Secretary General, EPP Group and EPP party
Friday 17 November 2023 | 2.30pm
'More bark than bite? Extreme right populists in Europe - Can and do they make any impact in government?'
Speaker: Andrew Moravcsik| Professor of Politics & International Affairs, Princeton University; Author of ‘The Choice for Europe’ (1998) and articles on liberal intergovernmentalism
Friday 24 November 2023 | 2.30pm
'Machiavelli and Europe: Lessons in politics and power'
Speaker: Lea Ypi| Professor in Political Theory, Government Dept, LSE; Author of ‘Free: Coming of Age at the End of History’ (2021) and The Architectonic of Reason (2021)
Friday 1 December 2023 | 2.30pm
'Europe, the Ukraine war and the changing EU-NATO interface'
Speaker: Jamie Shea| Deputy Assistant Secretary General, NATO, 2010-18; former Director of Policy Planning, NATO; Professor of Strategic Studies, Exeter University
Winter Term
Friday 27 January 2023 | 3pm
‘The history and politics of energy policy in the European Union’
Speaker: Helen Thompson, Professor of Political Economy and Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge University; author of 'Disorder: Hard Times in the 21st Century' (2022).
Friday 3 February 2023 | 3pm
'The role of referendum in EU politics'
Speaker: (Baroness) Julie Smith, Director, European Centre, and Fellow, Robinson College, Cambridge University; editor of 'Palgrave Handbook of European Referendums' (2021).
Friday 10 February 2023 | 3pm
'Pathways to the politicisation of Europe: What has happened in Italy?'
Speaker: Erik Jones, Professor and Director, Robert Schuman Centre, European University Institute (EUI); co-editor, 'Oxford Handbooks to the EU and Italian Politics'.
Friday 17 February 2023 | 3pm
'Climate justice and democratic consent for climate transition: Challenges and opportunities for the EU'
Speaker: Heather Grabbe, Senior adviser, Open Society Foundations; previously Senior Adviser to Commissioner Olli Rehn and Deputy Director, Centre for European Reform.
Friday 3 March 2023 | 3pm
'How Brussels waged the Brexit battle: Reflections from inside the negotiations'
Speaker: Stefaan De Rynck, Author of 'Inside the Deal: How Europe got Brexit done' (2023); Senior adviser to Michel Barnier, EU chief negotiator for Brexit, 2016-21.
Friday 10 March 2023 | 3pm
'The EU has evolved and is evolving - but will it continue to evolve?'
Speaker: Richard Corbett, MEP 1996-2009 and 2014-20; Adviser to President of European Council, 2009-14; Member of secretariat of Conference on the Future of Europe, 2021-22.
Friday 17 March 2023 | 3pm
'In the room where it happens: Understanding the politics of the European Council'
Speaker: Desmond Dinan, Jean Monnet Professor, George Mason University; author or co-author of 'Ever Closer Union' (2010), Europe Recast (2014), and 'The EU in Crisis' (2017).
Friday 24 March 2023 | 3pm
'Seven lean years of Brexit'
Speaker: (Lord) Neil Kinnock, European Commissioner for Transport, 1995-99; European Commission VP for Administrative Reform, 1999-2004; Leader, UK Labour Party, 1983-92; Labour MP, 1970-95; Labour member of the House of Lords since 2005.
Autumn Term
Friday 7 October 2022 | 3pm
'The EU institutions and the Ukraine war: Implications for the system'
Speaker: Klaus Welle, Secretary General of the European Parliament since 2009; chief of staff to EP President, 2007-09; former Secretary General, EPP Group and EPP Party.
Friday 14 October 2022 | 3pm
'The outcome of the Italian general election and its implications for the future of Europe'
Speaker: Lorenzo Codogno, Founder, Lorenzo Cofohno Macro Advisors; Director General and chief economist, Treasury department of Italian Finance Ministry, 2006-15.
Friday 21 October 2022 | 3pm
'Brexit six years on: Where are we now and what happens next?'
Speaker: Sir Ivan Rogers, UK Permanent Representative to EU, 2013-17; Principal Private Secretary to PM Tony Blair, 2003-06; Chef de cabinet to Sir Leon Brittain, 1996-99.
Friday 28 October 2022 | 3pm
'The shadow of Gorbachev and the Fall of the Wall: How the events of 1989-91 are still impacting Russia, Ukraine and Europe today'
Speaker: Kristina Spohr, Professor of International History, LSE; Senior Fellow, SAIS, John Hopkins; Author of 'Post Wall, Post Square' (2019) and 'Exiting the Cold War' (2019).
Friday 11 November 2022 | 3pm
'What happened in the US mid-term elections and what does it mean for Transatlantic relations?'
Speaker: Bruce Stokes, Director of Transatlantic Task Force, German Marshall Fund (GMF), and former Director of Global Economic Attitudes, Pew Research Center, WDC.
Friday 18 November 2022 | 3pm
'Challenges of EU consumer policy and policy-making in the digital world'
Speaker: Monique Goyens, Director General, European Consumer Organisations (BEUC) since 2007; Co-chair, Transatlantic Consumer Dialogue (TACD).
Friday 25 November 2022 | 3pm
'The evolution of British influence in Brussels after Brexit'
Speaker: Paul Adamson, Chair Forum Europe and EU-UK Forum; founder of E!Sharp and Encompass; Visiting Professor, King's College London (KCL); Patron, UACES.
Friday 2 December 2022 | 3pm
'Scenarios for the future of Europe'
Speaker: Sir Michael Leigh, Adjunct Professor, SAIS Bologna; Director General for Enlargement (2006-11) and Deputy DG for External Relations (2003-06), European Commission.