Name: Barbara Boschetti
Nationality: Italian
Occupation(s): Barbara Boschetti is a member of the Faculty of Political and Social Sciences and Associate Professor of Administrative Law at the Catholic University of Milan (Italy).

Date of interview: September 8, 2016

In this episode, Barbara Boschetti, Associate Professor of Administrative Law at the Catholic University of Milan (Italy), discusses the state of democracy in the EU, distinguishing procedural democracy from ballot box democracy. She shares her optimism regarding the future of the EU, even after Brexit, which she argues may in fact strengthen ongoing federalist processes.

(Re-posted from EU Futures)

Name: Vlad Perju
Nationality: Romanian
Occupation(s): Director of the Clough Center for the Study of Constitutional Democracy at Boston College and Professor of Law at Boston College Law School; Research Fellow and Co-Chair of Harvard's CES’ EU Law Study Group; served as a member of Romania’s Presidential Commission on Constitutional Reform
Connection to Europe: European citizen; research interests centered upon European Union law, comparative constitutional law and theory, international and comparative law and jurisprudence; observer of constitutional developments and authoritarianism in Eastern Europe (particularly Romania)

Date of interview: May 25, 2016

This episode is a conversation with Vlad Perju, a Romanian Professor of Law at Boston College Law School, who identifies and addresses the two conflicting projects of European integration: one based upon fusion and unity, the other centered on cooperation and coordination of Member States. He talks about the challenge of European versus national law, and highlights some of the discontinuities in the goals of European integration, including the major issue of the continued existence of nation states without nationalism. Perju discusses how legal documents encapsulate the conflicting political project in the EU, and how the paradigm of the constitutionalization in Europe has two lenses (doctrinal and normative) which European lawyers must use in the reformation of European law in order to promote the active involvement of citizens in the European integration experiment.

(Re-posted from EU Futures)

Name: Marija Bartl
Nationality: Dutch
Occupation(s): Lecturer in Law at the University of Amsterdam; Research Fellow at Boston University within the project “Architecture of Post-national Rulemaking.”
Connection to Europe: European citizen; interdisciplinary research agenda focused on the legitimacy of market integration beyond the state (focused on the EU); awarded competitive personal research funding ‘VENI’ from the Dutch Research Council (250 000EUR) for the project “Bringing Democracy to Markets: The TTIP and the Politics of Knowledge in Postnational Governance.”

Date of interview: May 17, 2016

This episode is a conversation with Marija Bartl, a Dutch Lecturer in Law at the University of Amsterdam, about the polarization of Member States in regards to economic policy, and the urgent need for solidarity within the European Union in the restructuring and formation of institutions to address the monetary and social crises facing Europe today. She points out the lack of true democracy in Europe, and emphasizes the necessary establishment of a public sphere where citizens can Europeanize issues, coordinate appropriate responses, and reconsider commitments to each other to join in an open discourse about the Common Market. Bartl also discusses the mobilization of Europeans, across political and national boundaries, against the proposed TTIP, and how public demonstrations represent the power citizens have when committed to the principles of solidarity in actively influencing policy making decisions at the European level.

(Re-posted from EU Futures)

Name: Sara Poli
Nationality: Italian
Occupation(s): Associate Professor of European Law and International Law, and Political Science at the University of
Pisa;
Connection to Europe: European citizen; Jean Monnet Chair (2013-2016) under the Lifelong Learning Programme on ‘Good governance principles within and outside the EU.’
Date of interview: May 17, 2016

This episode is a conversation with Sara Poli, an Italian Professor of European and International Law at the University of Pisa, about the uncertainty within the European Union today. She discusses the question of Member States retaining sovereign powers while simultaneously addressing the need for a common response to major security challenges caused by the migration crisis. Poli speaks on the volatility in the European periphery of the Middle East and Northern African, and the need for the EU to emphasize solidarity with one another and involve themselves in conflict resolution efforts in the Neighborhood.