The European Union in Practice: Politics and Power in the Brussels System

Friday 17 October | 2.30pm

The Ukraine war: The challenge for Europe in the era of Putin, Trump and Xi

Speaker: Claude-France Arnould | Chief Executive, European Defence Agency, 2011-15; French Ambassador to Belgium, 2015-19; former Director, EU Council secretariat, 2001-11

Friday 24 October | 2.30pm

The enigma of Keir Starmer and Europe: What does Britain’s prime minister really think?

Speaker: Tom Baldwin | Author of ‘Keir Starmer: The Biography’ (2024); Head of Communications, Labour Party, 2010-15; ex-journalist on The Times and Sunday Telegraph

Friday 31 October | 2.30pm

Macron’s Europe: Understanding the French President’s European strategy

Speaker: Sébastien Maillard | Associate Fellow, Chatham House; Director, Institut Jacques Delors, 2017-23; author of ‘Jacques Delors’ (2025); former Brussels correspondent, La Croix newspaper

Friday 7 November | 2.30pm

European political parties and foundations: Past, present and future

Speaker: Klaus Welle | Secretary General of the European Parliament, 2009-22; former Secretary General, EPP Group and EPP party; Chair, Academic Centre, Martens Centre

Friday 14 November | 2.30pm

Growing in weakness: Is European social policy in decline?

Speaker: Armandine Crespy | Professor of political science and EU studies, Université libre de Bruxelles; author of ‘The European Social Question: Tackling Key Controversies’ (2022)

Friday 21 November | 2.30pm

Brexit effects: What has happened to EU-UK trade since 2020 - and what are the options for the future

Speaker: Anton Spisak | Associate Fellow, Centre for European Reform (CER) since 2024; Senior fellow, Tony Blair Institute, 2020-24; official, Cabinet Office and FCDO, 2017-20

Friday 28 November | 2.30pm

The Sisyphean challenge of communicating the EU

Speaker: Jacki Davis | Managing Director, Meade Davis Communications, since 2009; formerly Communications Director, European Policy Centre & Editor ‘European Voice’

Friday 5 December | 2.30pm

My forty years at the service of Europe

Speaker: Margaritis Schinas | Vice-President, European Commission, 2019-24; Chief spokesperson of European Commission, 2013-19; Deputy Director, BEPA, 2010-13; MEP, 2007-09

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.