RECONNECT Europe with its citizens: Major funding for Groningen Faculty of Law

The University of Groningen, Faculty of Law, has received more than a quarter of a million euro in EU funding. The funding is part of a four-year multidisciplinary research project called RECONNECT on ‘Reconciling Europe with its Citizens through Democracy and the Rule of Law’. RECONNECT is co-ordinated by Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies (KU Leuven) and a large number of partner institutions. In total this research project is bringing almost 5.000.000 euros to the RECONNECT consortium.

The disconnect between EU citizens and EU governance

The European Union (EU) is facing unprecedented challenges, with several recent crises revealing a disconnect between the concerns and expectations of European citizens and EU governance and policies, such as the attack on the independence of judges by the Polish government or the measures against foreign NGOs in Hungary. Distrust towards institutions has created a deepening divide between the Union and its citizens. Addressing this divide calls for a fundamental rethink of the current democratic architecture of the EU and for a deeper commitment to the rule of law.

Time to RECONNECT

RECONNECT is aimed at understanding and providing solutions to the recent challenges faced by the EU. With an explicit focus on strengthening the EU’s legitimacy through democracy and the rule of law, RECONNECT seeks to build a new narrative for Europe, enabling the EU to become more attuned to the expectations of its citizens. RECONNECT brings together 18 academic partner institutions from 14 countries, amongst which is the Groningen Faculty of Law.

Firstly, RECONNECT will focus on the impact of potential inconsistencies arising between the EU Treaty principles of democracy and the rule of law, and the ways these are interpreted and applied across the EU. Secondly, RECONNECT aims to understand and explain citizens’ perceptions of democracy and the rule of law, thereby assessing to which extent they align with or diverge from EU principles and practices. By placing citizens at the heart of its research and in order to address these mismatches, RECONNECT will formulate policy recommendations, develop communication strategies and propose Treaty changes, with the aim of enhancing the EU’s legitimacy.

Rule of law

Professor Dimitry Kochenov, who holds a chair in EU Constitutional Law and the University of Groningen, is the leader of one of the two legal rule of law packages. The goal of the work-packages is to document and analyse the law and the practice of operation of this principle at the different levels of governance in the EU, especially in the light of the on-going crises of the Rule of Law in Hungary and Poland.

Professor Kochenov: ‘Groningen Faculty of Law has been at the forefront of Rule of Law research in Europe for a number of years, an engagement which resulted in the publication of two major volumes over the last two years, one released by Cambridge – one by Oxford University Press. RECONNECT will help building on this notable achievement.’

Among the academic partners taking part in RECONNECT are: Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law (London), Central European University (Budapest), Charles University (Prague), University of Cambridge (UK), University of Helsinki, Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya (Israel), University of M ün ster, University of Vienna, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and others.

For further information visit www.reconnect-europe.eu

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This article was published by the Faculty of Law.

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