Peter van Kemseke studied history and global politics in Leuven, Hull (UK) and Los Angeles (US) and hold a PhD in the history of international relations (Leuven University). He then joined the Belgian diplomatic service and served at the OSCE, NATO, the UN in New York (Belgium's 2007-2008 membership of the UN Security Council) and the Permanent Representation of Belgium to the EU (Deputy of the COREPER I-Ambassador during the Belgian EU-Presidency; acting COREPER I-Ambassador). Later on, he joined the cabinets of the Belgian Foreign Affairs Minister, the Belgian Vice Prime Minister/Finance Minister, European President Van Rompuy (Deputy head of Cabinet) and the cabinet of Vice President Maros Sefcovic of the European Commission. Moving back to the Belgian Foreign Ministry, he led the Directorate ‘Strategy and Communication’. Currently, he is working at the European Commission, in charge of climate and energy policies (Fit for 55).
He presented his last book: Europe Reinvented. How COVID-19 Is Changing the European Union. Europe reinvented takes the reader on a journey through the key moments of the COVID-19 pandemic in the EU and through the maze of European institutions and offers some thoughts on the future of the EU.
Following the political upheavals that erupted in Northern Africa and the Middle East in late 2010, millions of migrants reached Europe or lost their lives trying. Numerous municipalities have been on the frontlines of defending and expanding the rights of migrants residing in, or travelling through, their jurisdictions.
This seminar, that took place on 10 May 2022, aims to shine a light on the rise of sanctuary cities during the European “refugee crisis.” Sanctuary cities, also referred to as refuge or solidarity cities, support migrants in a precarious situation—most notably asylum-seekers, refugees, and the undocumented—in reaction to national policies and practices that produce exclusion in the first place.
Four leading scholars, policy-makers, and migrant rights activists directly involved in sanctuary initiatives in Europe - Prof Harald Bauder (Ryerson University), Hera Lorandos (Bourough of Sanctuary of Lewisham and Bourough of Sanctuary of Greenwich), Ramon Sanahuja (Barcelona’s City Council and C-MISE) and Dr Sarah Spencer (University of Oxford) - discuss how through sanctuary policies and practices, cities disrupt the monopoly of nation-states over immigration and citizenship, challenging conventional understandings of governance in liberal democracies.
The event was organized and chaired by Dr Raffaele Bazurli (Queen Mary University of London and Ca’ Foscari University of Venice) and Dr Rachel Humphris (Queen Mary University of London).
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022 has led to unprecedented refugees flows in Europe: in addition to the 6.48 millions of internally displaced people, the UNHCR estimated on 28 March 2022 that 3.9 millions of persons had fled their home and crossed borders. On April 8th NEXTEUK organised a lecture on the answers provided to these massive flows of refugees from 3 different individual and collective actors with distinctive roles and reactions: the European Union, the United Kingdom and The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
Three experts offered some insights on the ongoing situation in early April: Florian Trauner (Director of the Research Centre for Migration, Diversity and Justice (C-MDJ) at Vrije Universiteit Brussel), Sarah Wolff (Director of the Center for European Research at Queen Mary University of London and principal investigator for NEXTEUK), and Morgane Nicot (Team Leader, Knowledge Development and Innovation / Human Trafficking & Migrant Smuggling at UNODC). The event was chaired by Agathe Piquet, co-manager of NEXTEUK.
On April 11th the NEXTEUK project and the Groupe de recherche sur l'Union européenne (GrUE) organised a lecture on Europe and the 2022 French presidential elections. The event was chaired by Sarah Wolff, the director of the Center for European Research and Principal investigator for NEXTEUK, and gathered five speakers : Emmanuel Rivière (Chair, Centre Kantar sur le Futur de L’Europe); Sylvie Strudel (Professor of Politics, Paris-Panthéon-Assas University); Nicolas Sauger (Professor of Politics, Sciences Po); Yves Surel (Professor of Politics, Paris-Panthéon-Assas University); and Rainbow Murray (Professor of Politics, Queen Mary University of London).
One day after the results of the first round of the elections the 5 speakers exchanged about the divides within the French electorate in respect to Europe, and the importance of Europe during the campaign and in the vote. They also compared the European policies of the two winners, Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen.
Sarah Wolff, Principal investigator of NEXTEUK and Director of the Centre for European Research, Queen Mary University of London; Colin Grant, Vice Principal (International), Queen Mary University of London; and Valsamis Mitsilegas, Dean for Europe, Queen Mary University of London, opened the 2022 NEXTEUK Conference with some welcoming words.
Sarah Wolff, Director of the Center for European Research, NEXTEUK Principal Investigator, Queen Mary University of London, had the prviledge to exchange with Sylvie Bermann, President of the Board of Directors of the IHEDN, former French Ambassador to the UK, and Menna Frances Rawlings, British Ambassador to France, about EU-UK relations.
Fernando Barrio, Academic Lead for Resilience and Sustainability, Queen Mary Global Policy Institute, exchanged with Lea Perekrests, Deputy Director of Operations for Europe & MENA, Institute for Economics and Peace in Brussels; Ana Coelho, Programme Coordinator, Centre for Sustainability Research of FGV Brazil; and Khetsiwe Khumalo, Climate Change Programme Coordinator at Ministry of Tourism and Environmental Affairs, Eswatini, about climate Change and the challenges to Human Security in the Global Order with a specific focus on policies and food security.
On November 19th, the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence NEXTEUK on the Future of EU-UK Relations (Queen Mary, University of London) and the Jean Monnet Chair RE-CON on EU-UK internal security relationship post-Brexit (Northumbria University) organized an event on "Freedom, Security and Justice post-Brexit: The UK-EU Relationship in Troubled Waters".
Sir Julian King (former British European Commissioner for the Security Union and British ambassador) opened this event with a keynote speech entitled «Meeting shared challenges. Protecting our shared values». Dr Helena Farrand Carrapico (Northumbria University) was the chair.
The second session of this event was entitled «'You can’t always get what you want'. The impact of Brexit on UK internal security». Lord Ricketts (member of the Justice and Home Affairs Committee of the House of Lords, former National Security Adviser and British ambassador), Baroness Hamwee (Chair of the Justice and Home Affairs Committee of the House of Lords), Professor Christian Kaunert (Dublin City University and Jean Monnet Chair (EUCTER)) and Professor Elaine Fahey (City University of London and Jean Monnet Chair (Law and Transatlantic Relations)) discussed the impact of Brexit on UK internal security. The event was chaired by Dr Benjamin Martill (Lecturer, University of Edinburgh).
The third part of this event was entitled «With or without U(K): the post-Brexit Area of Freedom, Security and Justice». Dr Chloé Brière (Associate Professor, Université libre de Bruxelles), Ms Camino Mortera-Martinez (Senior Research Fellow, Centre for European Reform) and Professor Florian Trauner (Vrije Universiteit Brussel and Jean Monnet Chair (EXPAND)) discussed the impact of Brexit on the EU's Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (AFSJ). The event was chaired by Dr Agathe Piquet (Postdoctoral researcher, QMUL and co-manager of the Jean Monnet Centre for Excellence (NEXTEUK)).
Following the Treaty of Westphalia, Gods and Diplomats have traditionally thought to be incompatible. Yet in recent years, some have spoken about a resurgence of the religious in international relations. Engagement with the religious has taken new forms that have been explored by our two panellists, Delphine Allès and Sarah Wolff, who presented their findings from their respective books at ULIP on October 7th. Nadia Marzouki and François Foret discussed the two books and Anna-Louise Milne chaired the event.
On July 9th, the participants to the NEXTEUK Summer Schoold had the opportunity to listen to and engage with Brigid Laffan, Director and Professor at the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies and Director of the Global Governance Programme at the European University Institute (EUI), Florence, on the future of the EU in a post-Brexit and post-COVID era.
On July 8th, the participants to the NEXTEUK Summer School had the opportunity to listen to and engage with Anand Menon, Professor of European Politics and Foreign Affairs at King's College London in the United Kingdom, director of the UK in a Changing Europe initiative and former special adviser to the House of Lords EU committee, on the UK in a Changing Europe in the post-Brexit and post-COVID era.
On July 6th, the participants to the NEXTEUK Summer School had the opportunity to listen to and engage with Philip Rycroft, Permanent Secretary at the Department for Exiting the EU from October 2017 to March 2019, on the decision-making of Brexit.
On July 5th, the participants to the NEXTEUK Summer School had the chance to listen to and engage with Frédéric Mérand, Professor of Political Science and Scientific Director of CÉRIUM, on Brexit from an international relations perspective.
On June 1st, the NEXTEUK project organized a double book launch on the Eurozone crisis: "The Politics of Bad Options" (OUP, 2020) and "Capitalising on constraint" (MUP, 2021).
Their authors, Stefanie Walter, University of Zurich, and Stella Ladi, Center for European Research, Queen Mary, University of London, and Catherine Moury, Nova University Lisbon presented their perspectives and the methods they used to understand one of the biggest crises that hit Europe in the last decade. They were discussed by Matthias Matthijs, John Hopkins University and Paul Copeland, Center for European Research, Queen Mary, University of London. The debate was moderated by Sarah Wolff, Center for European Research, Queen Mary, University of London.
In 2016, the Scottish National Party was very vocal about how “Scotland being taken out of the EU against our will” could be a sufficient argument to set up a second vote on independence, after the 2014 referendum. The first minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, supported by Scottish Greens, has since played an active role in asking Westminster to give formal consent to the organisation of a new independence referendum, without success.The 2021 May elections and the electoral success of the SNP and Greens could be a turning point and raises many questions our lecturers (Fiona Simpkins, Lyon 2 University, Lecturer in English studies; Michael Keating, University of Aberdeen, Chair in Scottish Politics, Nicola McEwen, University of Edinburgh, Professor of Territorial Politics and Co-Director of the Centre on Constitutional Change) dealt with: will the SNP respect its commitment to set up a new referendum? Will Westminster allow it, and if not could Scottish decision-makers go without it? Will Scottish electorate go through with their ideas of independence? Would Scotland ask for EU membership? What would the divorce look like, would a hard border be installed between England and Scotland and how could the two work together?
This webinar organised jointly by the Jean Monnet Network on EU-China Legal and Judicial Cooperation (EUPLANT) and the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence on the Future of EU-UK Relations (NEXTEUK) aims to analyse recent technological and regulatory developments relating to AI in China. It focuses among others on China’s Social Credit System(s) and increasing use of science diplomacy in the field of AI. Finally, the event looks into the implications of those developments for Europe and the emergence of an AI Global Order (Ref: 599857-EPP-1-2018-1-UK-EPPJMO-NETWORK).
Living in the age of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is no longer a science-fiction premise nor a vision for the future but a reality that we are all experiencing albeit to different degrees. While our societies are getting transformed in depth, China has affirmed its intention to become a world leader in the development of AI by 2030 (New Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Plan 2017). For China, not only do developments in the area of AI support the creation of new instruments of population control and surveillance at the disposal of the Party State, they also participate to the export of China’s own vision of cyberspace governance globally.
Presentation by Jonathan Diaz of the main results of his working paper written from his dissertation which was awarded the CER MA Dissertation Prize 2020. In this dissertation, Jonathan reviews the essential characteristics of Estonian governance and consider how they could be applied in the US for the betterment of its democracy. He examines Estonia’s road to digitalization, constructs the “Estonian Model” of digital governance, and shows how pillars of the Estonian Model can reinforce modern democracy. Lastly, he considers the case of the US and examine if, and how, the US can apply key lessons from the Estonian Model.
Presentation by Griffin Shield of the main results of his working paper written from his dissertation which was awarded the CER MA Dissertation Prize 2020. In this dissertation, Griffin analyses the link between burden sharing and European integration during the European Refugee Crisis. He argues that the inability of the EU and its Member States to meet the burden sharing objectives of the EU’s Emergency Relocation Scheme (ERS) should be understood as a by-product of new intergovernmentalism, specifically the prioritisation of domestic policies over supranational ones, the emphasis on deliberation and consensus as policy-making methods and the use of de novo bodies.
On March 1st, the NEXTEUK project organised in partnership with the IHSS Covid-19 Working Group at Queen Mary University of London a lecture on EU and UK health and vaccination strategies in times of Covid-19 and the impact of the vaccination race on the future of the EU-UK relations.
Louise van Schaik, Head of Unit EU & Global Affairs, Netherlands Institute for International Relations, Remco van de Pas, Public health specialist and global health scholar, Maastricht Centre for Global Health, and Anna Holzscheiter, Chair of Political Science TU Dresden and head of the 'Governance for Global Health' research group at the Social Science Research Center Berlin (WZB), exchanged views and were discussed by Valsamis Mitsilegas, Professor of European Criminal Law and Global Security, chair of the IHSS Covid-19 working group, Queen Mary University of London. The lecture was chaired by Sarah Wolff.
On February 2nd, the NEXTEUK project, with Dr Joanne Yao's help, organised its first (virtual) Coffee and Politics. Attendees had the opportunity to listen and engage with Professor Kalypso Nicolaïdis (Oxford University) and Dr Robert Saunders (QMUL) on Brexit and the State of British Democracy. The event was chaired by Agathe Piquet.
Sarah Wolff, main investigator of the NEXTEUK project, and Stella Ladi, member of the NEXTEUK steering committee, have coordinated a Journal of European Integration Special Issue on "Pandemic Politics and European Union responses". They introduce in this video the goals of this Special Issue and the main results, and are followed by the presentation of their article by some of the scholars having contributed to this collective research.
The whole Special Issue is accessible on https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/geui20/42/8?nav=tocList
Table of contents:
Conference openings: Sarah Wolff, Agathe Piquet, Kimberly Hutchings
Keynote speech :"Where are we at? The EU-UK negotiations so far and future challenges" by Philip Rycroft (ex-Permanent Secretary of Department for Exiting the European Union (DExEU) between March 2017 and March 2019), discussed by Tim Bale (QMUL - Deputy Director at UK in a Changing Europe)
Discussants: Paul Copeland (QMUL) and Elaine Fahey (City University)
Chair: Agathe Piquet (QMUL)
- Stella Ladi (QMUL): "The EU's socio-economic response to COVID-19"
- Sarah Wolff (QMUL): "Schengen governance in times of pandemics"
- Justinas Mickus (Princeton University): "Competition policy and COVID-19"
Discussants: Valsamis Mitsilegas (QMUL) and Sabine Saurugger (Sciences Po Grenoble)
Chair: Sarah Wolff (QMUL)
– Claude Moraes (ex-MEP)
- Violeta Moreno-Lax (QMUL)
- Susanne Oberhauser (European Parliament Liaison Office in the UK)
- Nicole Sykes (ProBono Economics, ex-CBI head of EU negotiations)
Discussants: Stijn van Kessel (QMUL) and Sofia Vasilopoulou (University of York)
- Agnès Alexandre-Collier (Maison française d’Oxford):“David Cameron, Boris Johnson and the ‘populist hypothesis’ in the British Conservative Party”
- Franco Zappettini (University of Liverpool): “The tabloidization of the Brexit debate: Power to the (British) people”
- Luca Augé (EHESS): “From Cameron to Brexit: The path to a mainstream and nationalistic British Euroscepticism between 2005 and 2016”
- Gulay Icoz (independent researcher): “New era British Euroscepticism – opposing the expansion of differentiated integration and sailing for an alternative beginning”
Discussants:Nicholas Wright (University College London) and Sarah Wolff (QMUL)
Chair : Sarah Wolff (QMUL)
- Nicholas Wright (University College London): “Managing the ‘Great Unmooring’: Re-shaping Britain’s foreign policy for the era of Brexit”
- Amelia Hadfield (University of Surrey): “EU Development Policy post Brexit”
- Benjamin Martill (University of Edinburgh): “Great expectations: The Brexit moment in EU security and defence and the return of the capabilities–expectations gap”
- Marja-Liisa Öberg (Örebro University): “Blessed be the fruit: On Brexit, cherry-picking and the EU’s relations with the neighbourhood countries”
Presentation by Humaira Mahmud of the main results of her working paper written from her dissertation which was awarded the CER MA Dissertation Prize 2019. In this dissertation, Humaira puts forth the case that the underlying pressures of economic insecurity caused by decades of neoliberal globalisation were at the root of people’s disaffection, particularly following the global financial crisis of 2008 and the austerity measures enacted thereafter.
Dr Sarah Wolff and Dr Agathe Piquet are joined by Professor Anand Menon (KCL), Professor Patrick Le Galès (Sciences Po Paris), Dr Elvire Fabry (Institut Jacques Delors) to discuss how the ongoing EU-UK negotiations have been impacted by COVID-19.
What has been the impact of the current pandemic on borders and on Schengen? Is Schengen in danger? How human rights taken for granted are affected by the measures adopted in Europe? Would new views on migration appear? What could be the consequences on the EU?
Five NEXTEUK experts (Dr Stella Ladi, Dr Davor Jancic, Dr Agathe Piquet, Prof Tim Bale, Dr Sarah Wolff) discuss how different European States have been dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic and what could be the impact on the European construction?
What has been the EU and the EU member States answer to COVID-19? What are the consequences on European integration? How have reacted populist leaders and parties? Is the current pandemic an opportunity for populism? What is the future of social Europe and of the Welfare State in Europe? How would the Brexit negotiations and the EU-UK relations be impacted by the situation?
What are the next steps in the negotiation process, and how will key players such as France and Germany influence the discussions?
The potential consequences of Brexit on UK parliamentary democracy, and Europe are discussed by Prof Pauline Schnapper (Sorbonne Nouvelle), Prof Tim Bale (QMUL), Prof Prof Helen Drake (Loughborough) and Dr Sarah Wolff (QMUL).
Dr Saskia Hollander debates the strategic use of referendums in Europe based on her book ‘The Politics of Referendum Use in European Democracies’.
In Secular Power Europe and Islam: Identity and Foreign Policy (2021), Sarah Wolff, Principal Investigator of the NEXTEUK Project, argues that secularism is not the central principle of international relations but should be considered as one belief system that influences international politics. Through an exploration of Europe’s secular identity, an identity that is seen erroneously as normative, Wolff shows how Islam confronts the European Union’s existential anxieties about its security and its secular identity.In this conversation, Wolff and Berkley Center Senior Fellow Jocelyne Cesari will unpack secularism as a bedrock principle of international relations and diplomacy. They will explore how Islam disrupts Eurocentric assumptions about democracy and human rights, as well as discuss how European secular identities should be reconsidered in areas of religion and foreign policy. Judd Birdsall, senior research fellow at the Berkley Center and project director of the Transatlantic Policy Network on Religion and Diplomacy, will moderate the event.