One year after the latest European elections, there has been little smooth sailing for the Von der Leyen II Commission, nor indeed for the European Parliament (EP), which is facing continued struggles internally and with other EU institutions about majorities, adequate crisis responses and Parliament’s position in the broader power…
Continue ReadingAuthor: Mechthild Roos
Invitations as Speaker on German and European Politics: From Chancellor Election to European Solidarity
I have recently been invited to comment on two significant public discussions: analysing Friedrich Merz’s election as German Chancellor on the public broadcast BR24 radio, and participating in a panel discussion on European solidarity at the documentary film festival DOK.fest München. Both engagements allowed me to connect academic insights from…
Continue ReadingLive on German Tagesschau and other ARD channels following the German general elections 2025: A discussion on the AfD’s election success, coalition politics, and democratic principles
On Monday, 24 February 2025, I had the opportunity to discuss the recent German general elections on a live radio show, streamed on YouTube and broadcasted across several channels of the German ARD group. Alongside a representative from the IGM trade union and the moderator, I explored key topics surrounding…
Continue ReadingNew article out with JLS: The European Parliament and the COVID-19 crisis (with Francis Jacobs)
A new special issue in the Journal of Legislative Studies brings together a collection of articles on events and dynamics defining the European Parliament’s ninth term (2019-2024). With Francis Jacobs (School of Politics and International Relations, University College Dublin), I contributed an article on the European Parliament and the COVID-19…
Continue ReadingPresentations at the FIS Forum and Social Policy Biennale 2024 in Berlin
From 6 to 8 November 2024, scholars and various stakeholders from politics, welfare administration, civil society and beyond met in Berlin at this year’s FIS Forum and Social Policy Biennale. Under the overarching theme ‘Lost in Social Policy? Research for an Integrated Welfare State’, they discussed cutting-edge research and current…
Continue ReadingNew Article Out with JHPPL: The EU as Active and Passive Political Determinant of Forced Migrants’ Health
The most recent special issue of the Journal of Health Policy, Politics and Law assembles a range of articles on the theme of political determinants of health and the European Union. I contributed an article (open access) on The EU as Active and Passive Political Determinant of Forced Migrants’ Health:…
Continue ReadingPresentations at the UACES Conference 2024 in Trento
The 54th Conference of UACES took place from 1 to 4 September 2024 in the beautiful Italian city of Trento. Apart from joining a range of excellent and thought-provoking panels, and enjoying surreally beautiful receptions, coffee and lunch breaks and the grand conference dinner, I was glad to contribute three…
Continue ReadingMedia interviews on the 2024 European elections
The 2024 European elections were covered by a wide range of media across the globe. Both in the wake and aftermath of the elections, I was contacted by various media to comment on actors and factors shaping the elections, unprecedented institutional and electoral dynamics, new parties competing for votes, and…
Continue ReadingNew volume out: ‘Europäische Einigung zwischen Anspruch und Wirklichkeit’ (Metropol)
Just in time for the European election, Mathias Häußler‘s and my new volume on ‘Europäische Einigung zwischen Anspruch und Wirklichkeit‘ (European integration between aspirations and reality) has been published by Metropol. In this volume, a group of renowned scholars engage with key debates and themes in current EU politics through…
Continue ReadingFaculty Teaching Award 2023/24
On 17 April 2024, the University of Augsburg’s Faculty of Philosophy and Social Sciences awarded its annual Faculty Teaching Awards for the academic year 2023/24. I was honoured to receive one of the three teaching awards for my lecture ‘Introduction to Comparative Politics’. The winners of this award are selected…
Continue Reading