Chair group History and Theory of European Integration

Research in History and Theory of European Integration (HTEI) aims to provide relevant perspectives on current and future challenges for the EU, focusing on policy- and decision-making, and institutional development; democracy, legitimacy and human rights policies; and changes in the relationship between the EU and (South-)East Asia – the latter in cooperation with universities in China and Indonesia. The overall governance perspective refers not only to the structure, but also to the agents in the European constellation. Formerly strongly inspired by progress, development, enlargement and new areas of policy-making, research has moved towards studying crisis, stagnation and public skepticism in Europe.

Research includes perceptions and mutual understanding in EU-China relations (Gaenssmantel); EU sanction policies and the role of private actors in implementing sanctions (Giumelli); the changing relationship between the Netherlands and the EU, on the levels of government, parliament, public opinion and interest groups (Harryvan); the rise of euroskepticism in the EU member states (Van der Harst); human rights issues, equal treatment, LGBT and diversity (Holzhacker); EU external democratisation efforts in Eastern Europe (Neuman); and critical EU theory, Europeanization and European citizenship (Neuman-Stanivukovic); EU relations with the post-Soviet region and the engagement of authoritarian regimes in IR (Van Gils); The Foreign Policies of EU member states, EU-Russia relations and the diplomacy of populist governments (Cadier); History and political theory of European Integration from the perspective of collective memory (Verovsek); Russian-Western and British-European relations with a focus on the politics of stigma and temporality (Rogstad).

Members of the chair group HTEI