Who Needs EU? The Maastricht Treaty at 30 Event

Drawing on experts from different academic disciplines and nationalities, the event will highlight actions under the three pillars of the Treaty- citizenship amid institutional reforms, foreign and security policy, and justice and home affairs. The webinar will also address the Social Chapter, introduced as an annex to the Treaty, and intended to progress EU social policy. Finally, mindful of changes in policy priorities since Maastricht and the emergence of newer global challenges, the pressing contemporary issue of inward migration to the EU will be examined.

Delivered at a time of critical importance in EU affairs, this webinar aims to contribute to research and dialogue on democratic futures and in doing so will present key ideas and possibilities for action. Designed to be informative, accessible, and concise, the event will be of interest to a range of actors, including policy makers, NGOs, academics and the wider public. To facilitate discussion on the day, the webinar will provide time for a Q&A session after the contributions of the expert speakers.

 

Speakers

 

Dr. Xuechen Chen

Assistant Professor in Politics and International Relations New College of the Humanities London (part of Northeastern University), has previously held posts at the SOAS, University of London, the London Pacific Centre of Social Science at King’s College London, the European Institute for Asian Studies and at the EU Centre in Singapore. Dr. Chen is writing a book examining the EU norms and their policy diffusion in relation to the Association of South East Asian (ASEAN) nations.

Dr. Saskia Maria Hufnagel

Reader in Criminal Law and Co-Director of the Criminal Justice Centre (CJC) Queen Mary University of London, has previously worked at the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Policing and Security at Griffith University, and University of Canberra, Australia. She has held a Leverhulme Fellowship at the University of Leeds and addressed House of Lords committee work on policing issues. Dr. Hufnagel is the author of Policing Global Regions (Routledge, 2021).

Prof. Maru Taddele Mahari

Part-time Professor at the Migration Policy Centre, European University Institute, Florence and Fellow at the United Nations University Institute Bruges, has practitioner experience including with the African Union. He has contributed to policy work at the UN and media outlets including the BBC, Reuters and Al Jazeera on the topics of internally displaced persons and peace-building. Dr. Taddele Mahari is the author of The Kampala Convention and its contributions to International Law (Eleven, 2014).

Prof. Philippe Pochet European Trade Union Institute and Université catholique de Louvain

Director General of the European Trade Union Institute and Professor at the Université catholique de Louvain and Associate Researcher at the Université de Montreal. He was previously Director of the Observatoire social européen and held visiting professorships at the College of Europe and at Griffith, Berkeley, Montreal and Harvard Universities, the University of Madison-Wisconsin and the Max-Planck Institute. Prof. Pochet’s publications on social policy include Social Policy in the European Union 1999-2019: the long and winding road (OSE, ETUI, 2020).

Prof. Eleanor Spaventa

Professor in Law at Università Bocconi, has held previous professorial and lecturing posts at the Universities of Durham, Birmingham, and Cambridge and visiting professorships/fellowships at the College of Europe and European University Institute. Prof. Spaventa has authored reports for the EU Parliament and Commission and is a member of the Italian Scientific Committee on the Future of the European Union. Her research has been published in such works as Fundamental Rights in EU Law (Oxford University Press, 2017)