A new, interdisciplinary project
Starting April 2022, and for three years, the Institut d’études européennes of the Université libre de Bruxelles hosts the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence EUqualis, focused on the overarching topic of (in)equality and the European Union.
Directly involving a dozen academics and researchers affiliated with the Institute, EUqualis aims to investigate how the EU deals with the problem of inequality among individuals, territories and states. Conceived using a bottom-up, interdisciplinary approach, EUqualis builds on the success of the previous IEE Centre of Excellence dedicated to ‘European Solidarity’ (2016-2019).
In the evaluation by peer researchers, the project (101047382 — EUqualis — ERASMUS-JMO-2021-HEI-TCH-RSCH) obtained the outstanding score of 96.5/100. As of April 2022, EUqualis will directly involve a dozen colleagues affiliated with the IEE-ULB.
The project’s principal investigator will be Prof. Amandine Crespy , whose research interests are focused on the politicization of EU integration in relation with socio-economic policies. Prof. Crespy is Associate Professor in Political Science and EU Studies and a researcher at Cevipol & Institut d’Etudes Européennes (IEE). She is also the Academic Coordinator for the ULB Master in European Studies and Visiting Professor at the College of Europe (Bruges).
Teaching, research and public debate
EUqualis will gather a substantial share of the academics and researchers affiliated with IEE around a shared teaching, training, and research agenda in European integration with a focus on ‘Inequality and the EU’.
By unpacking the challenges relating to various forms of inequality in direct connection with EU actions, EUqualis will simultaneously address a set of scientific, pedagogical, and societal needs.
Rooted in its focus on the politics, legislation, and case-law affecting equality across a range of policy areas involving the EU, EUqualis will both produce and facilitate access to innovative research in EU Studies.
The Centre’s three-year work plan will enable the ULB Institut d’études européennes to further to stand out as one of the main competence and knowledge on the EU around the world by making a significant contribution to this crucial research agenda.
IEE Podcast: Making sense of EU
The Institut d’études européennes is happy to announce the launch of its podcast “Making sense of EU”, a seasonal production that seeks to shed light on EU affairs through the latest scientific research by IEE academics, researchers, and project partners.
Through “Making sense of EU” the IEE-ULB hopes to contribute the EU debate by bringing nuance and a scientific perspective to “hot” issues on the EU agenda linked to our research priorities. It will address the why and how of EU issues and highlights the IEE expertise, embodied by its professors and researchers.
The first season of “Making sense of EU” was launched on September 29th, 2022 and focused on the IEE’s Jean Monnet Center of Excellence EUqualis, devoted the important topic Inequality and the EU and it is cofunded by the Erasmus + programme of the European Union (101047382 —EUqualis — ERASMUS-JMO-2021-HEI-TCH-RSCH).
The podcast is available on all major streaming platforms.
The first season of “Making sense of EU” was produced and presented by IEE-ULB Communication director Maria Isabel Soldevila, a journalist with over 20 years of experience focused on gender, migration, human rights, and politics.
In 2023 our podcast won the Prix de la diffusion scientifique ULB.
Student-run Podcast: Talking with EU
In this podcast the students’ point of view takes the centre stage. It is a podcast for the students and by the students.
The student hosts and guests extend the conversation on some of the topics discussed at the podcast ‘Making sense of EU’:
Episode 3: Gender Inequality
Episode 8: Inequalities during the COVID-19 pandemic
Highlights
Publication of the book “Inequality and the European Union – New Frontiers in Political Science and Law”
The book, edited by prof. Chloé Brière and prof. Amandine Crespy, follows from the 2022 IDEAS conference.
By gathering cutting-edge research by specialists of inequalities across Europe, the volume pushes conceptual frontiers as to the EU’s role in fighting or fuelling inequalities pertaining to antidiscrimination, mobility and migrations, and the European welfare model.
Guest lecture “Preparing for the next pandemic: the EU’s expanding role in the fight against global health threats”
In the aftermath of Covid-19, the EU legislator has taken major reforms to remedy some of the weaknesses revealed by the pandemic, such as the One Health approach, aiming to tackle animal and environmental root causes of pandemics.
Our guest speaker Éloïse Gennet from University of Aix-Marseille explored the recent developments and EU’s role in global health security.
Opening conference of the 2024-2025 academic year
For the openign conference of the academic year, the IEE-ULB was delighted to welcome economist Éloi Laurent, a researcher at OFCE and professor at Sciences Po Paris. His talk focused on ‘Just transitions in Europe’.
IDEAS24 : Policy briefs
Two postdoctoral fellows of the IEE-ULB participated in the the IDEAS24 conference and published policy briefs on the topics of the Keynote and Policy panel.
The policy brief by Stephen Gaffney offers elements for reflection on European social citizenship.
The policy brief by Laura Schmeer addresses the topic of housing justice in Europe, summaring and developing further the fruitful discussion of the policy panel.
Eyes on Europe Special Issue on IDEAS24
The IDEAS24 conference arouse a high interest among master students of IEE-ULB. Thanks to them, the rich debades that took place during the conference in May are prolonged through a special issue of the magazine Eyes on Europe.
The articles written by the students analyse inequality in the European Union from various perpectives, from migration to gender equality, and from mobility to just transition, providing new perspectives on edge-cutting issues.
Discover the Eyes on Europe special issue
IDEAS24 Keynote: European Social Citizenship in Perspective
This keynote was co-organised with CIVIS alliance in the context of the Interdisciplinary conference on European Advanced Studies (IDEAS), held at the Institut d’études europénnes (IEE-ULB) in May 2024. The keynote was given by Professor Martin Seeleib-Kaiser from the University of Tübingen and Professor Zoe Lefkofridi from the University of Salzburg. The discussion was chaired by Professor Amandine Crespy from the IEE-ULB. The keynote highlighted the stratification of social rights and the regional variation within the EU. The speakers discussed for instance whether we need to look beyond nation states and the concept of a European Social Union as a “holding environment” for national welfare states, if we aim to realize social citizenship in the European Union.
IDEAS24 Policy Panel: Affordable Housing and (In)equality in the European Union
This policy panel was co-organised with the Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS) in the context of the Interdisciplinary conference on European Advanced Studies (IDEAS), held at the Institut d’études europénnes (IEE-ULB) in May 2024. The policy panel gatherezd experts from European and local level as well as from the civil society to exchange on the pressing topic of affordable housing in Europe. The focus of the discussion was on housing inequalities and the role of EU policymaking to help member states deliver more affordable housing, support social housing and energy efficiency of buildings.
About the Speakers:
• Sorcha Edwards is Secretary General of Housing Europe, the European Federation of Public, Cooperative and Social Housing since 2014.
• Michaela Kauer is Director at the Brussels Office of the City of Vienna and expert on EU urban policy, affordable housing and public services with a strong gender equality focus.
• Ana Carla Pereira serves as an expert in the Cabinet of the Commissioner Nicolas Schmit for Jobs and Social Rights. Her work primarily addresses initiatives related to the European Pillar of Social Rights with a particular emphasis on housing policies and homelessness.
The discussion was chaired by Lászlo Andor, Secretary General of FEPS, Lecturer at IEE-ULB and former EU Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and inclusion.
Guest lecture “The Unruly Paths to Climate Neutrality: The Case of Critical Raw Materials”
Securing access to critical raw materials is deemed to be of strategic importance and necessity to ensure the EU’s obligations to achieve climate neutrality by 2050. To this end, the European Commission has put forward the Critical Raw Materials Act to streamline, speed up and simplify procedures enabling critical raw materials extraction, processing and recycling in the EU. In this lecture, Sanja Bogojević, Professor of Law at Lady Margaret Hall and Oxford Law Faculty, discusses conflicts that the rally for critical raw minerals has created – both within and outside the EU – and consider whether the proposed Act responds to these, as well as the extent to which it creates a new set of legal issues.
Guest lecture “A Union for health equity? Policy and power in the post-COVID EU”
The COVID-19 pandemic initiated a process of redefinition of public health and a significant increase in the investment in health policy tools such as civil protection and financing for health initiatives. The policy response to this public health crisis required an integration leap by the European Union in the field of health. However, this transfer of competences to the EU level was met with important political resistance. Eleanor Brooks, lecturer in health policy at the University of Edinburgh, introduces the progress and the obstacles to institutional and policy integration achieved during and after the pandemic. Moreover, the lecture explores whether the EU requires expanded legal competences to more effectively tackle health inequalities.
Poverty and social inclusion: which role for Europe?
For the opening ceremony of the academic year 2023-2024 in EU Studies, the IEE-UB welcomed Professor Bea Cantillon to give a lecture about Poverty and social inclusion in Europe. This event marked the beginning of the Institute’s 60th anniversary.
«Accès inégal au marché du travail pour les groupes vulnérables»
Dans le cadre du Centre d’excellence EUqualis visant à examiner la question des inégalités au sein de l’Union européenne, l’Institute d’études européennes prévoit l’organisation des demi-journées d’échanges autour des cliniques juridiques (Equality Law Clinic, Refugee Law Clinic et EU Criminal Law Clinic). Ces dernières constituent un outil précieux pour renforcer la professionnalisation des parcours universitaires mais aussi pour contribuer à lutter contre certaines inégalités (discriminations fondées sur le genre, aide aux réfugiés et personnes en situation vulnérables ou appui à des avocats impliqués dans des affaires pénales transnationales).
Afin d’améliorer leur déroulement et permettre la création de nouvelles cliniques, une première matinée d’échanges sera organisé le mardi 25 avril à l’IEE (Avenue Franklin Roosevelt, 39, 1050 Bruxelles), qui permettra d’échanger sur les cliniques et les enjeux les entourant. L’évènement va se intégrer trois table-rondes autour des atouts et défis des cliniques juridiques.
Environmental justice and public participation: law matters
In this EUqualis guest lecture, Maria Lee (Professor of law at University College London and co-director of the UCL Centre for Law and the Environment) will explore various dimensions of environmental and ecological justice, and the ways in which legally protected rights to participate in environmental decision-making support those striving for environmental justice. Maria will argue that the ways in which environmental justice draws attention to marginalised human voices helps us to think critically about both the limitations and the potential of law on public participation. Law matters, taking us beyond the goodwill of those with power.
Organized on November 25, 2022, Professor Lee’s visit is part of a series of EUqualis guest lectures hosted by the IEE. Professor Lee was a speaker in Professor Chiara Armeni’s (Centre for European Law, IEE) course on Environmental Law
Inaugural conference of the year in EU studies with Laurent Warlouzet
From a market-oriented Europe to a global Euro-power? The history of European integration from Yalta to the war in Ukraine. Initially grounded on the economic logic of market making, the EU now has to transform itself in a political and military power amidst the war in Ukraine. Drawing from his latest book “Europe contre Europe, entre liberté, solidarité et puissance” (2022), Warlouzet went through the history of European integration by stressing the role of liberal – and neoliberal – market making, and how it was tamed by a social dimension. He dwelled on the EU’s search for political and military significance. The conference was held on November 23, 2022.
Submissions for the IDEAS24 conference open in September
The next IDEAS24 conference will take place in Brussels from May 15 to 17, 2024 and will be entitled ‘Inequality and the European Union. New frontiers in European Studies’.
The biennial Interdisciplinary conference on European Advanced Studies (IDEAS) is a three-day scientific event organized by the Institut d’études européennes of the Université libre de Bruxelles (IEE-ULB) in collaboration with the Institute for European Studies of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (IES-VUB) and the Politics and International Studies Department at the University of Warwick (PaIS-UoW).
Submissions open in September, until October 31st.
Past events & news
- Policy panel in coordination with FEPS
A policy panel was co-hosted with the Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS) on the second day of the IDEAS conference. The topic of the discussion is Policy measures for a just transition: Ideas for designing a structural transformation to reduce inequalities.
This policy panel brought together policymakers, researchers and civil society actors to debate about inequality reducing climate policies at multiple levels of governance and integrate perspectives from policymakers, academics and civil society.
- Keynote by Prof. Olivier de Schutter
UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights and UCLouvain Professor Olivier de Schutter inaugurated the IDEAS Conference, dedicated this 2022 to the topic of (Dis)Integration from an (in)equality perspective with the keynote speach Combating horizontal and vertical inequalities in the EU: the role of non-discrimination in a market integration perspective. The presentation assessed how the fight against discrimination relates to the establishment of an internal market, which is at the core of the European integration project.
- The IDEAS-ELJ best paper award to be launched in the context of EUqualis
The IEE will launch, for the IDEAS conference, a best paper award in collaboration with the prestigious European Law Journal. EJL stands for the advancement of research on European integration through law in its multifaceted context, be it political, economic, historical, philosophical, social or cultural. This interdisciplinary approach is in line with the Intitute’s work. For the relaunch of the IDEAS conference, in May 2022, only one participant will be awarded with a publication in ELJ and a yearly subscription to the journal. Confirmed speakers to the conference will be invited to submit their papers.
- The IEE relaunches its biennial conference under a new title
The Institute for European Studies of the ULB relaunched its biennial conference under the new title: Interdisciplinary conference on European Advanced Studies (IDEAS). The three-day scientific event organised by the Institut d’études européennes of the Université libre de Bruxelles (IEE-ULB) in collaboration with the Institute for European Studies of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (IES-VUB) and the Politics and International Studies Department at the University of Warwick (PaIS-UoW). It took place in Brussels from May 11 to 13, 2022 under the theme (Dis)Integration from an (in)equality perspective.
This webpage has been produced with the support of the EUqualis
A Jean Monnet Center of Excellence (n°10104782)
at the Institut d’études européennes – Université libre de Bruxelles
