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 the podcast of the Institut d’études européennes, Making Sense of EU, and after a first season delving into (In)equality and the European Union, it will focus on the challenges liberal democracy is facing in the European Union.
To cut the ribbon on this new season, Ramona Coman, professor of political science at the Université libre de Bruxelles, presents the ambitions and scientific agenda of the Horizon Europe Research project RED-SPINEL, focused on dissensus over liberal democracy and the capacity of the European Union to act in a context of internal contestation and external competition.
About our guest
Professor Ramona Coman was President of the Institut d’études européennes from 2019 to 2023 and previously its director. She is Principal Investigator of two European Research projects focusing on the growing dissensus over liberal democracy and the challenge this represents for the EU. Her research interest cover the European Union, its modes of governance, the rule of law, Central and Eastern Europe, think tanks, policy change/coordination, sovereignty, among others.
The RED-SPINEL research project
RED-SPINEL stands for ‘Respond to Emerging Dissensus: SuPranational Instruments and Norms of European Liberal democracy’. This interdisciplinary and intersectoral Research project brings together 11 partner organisations from 8 European countries (see the Consortium).
Launched in October 2022, it will seek, in the next years, to analyse the changing nature of dissensus surrounding liberal democracy and its implications for EU supranational policy instruments. It receives funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under the Call HORIZON-CL2-2021-DEMOCRACY-01 – Grant agreement n°101061621
