Scrutiny or Complacency? Banking Union in the Bundestag and the Assemblée Nationale

in Politics and Governance (2021), 9(2), 219-229

National isolation or regional cooperation? The media debate on border closures during the Covid-19 crisis in Luxembourg

in Small States & Territories (2021), 4(1), 61-74

Having been initially confined largely to China, East Asia and Italy, the Covid-19 crisis swept quickly over Europe in March 2020. Luxembourg was among the many small continental European states with high ... [more ▼]

Having been initially confined largely to China, East Asia and Italy, the Covid-19 crisis swept quickly over Europe in March 2020. Luxembourg was among the many small continental European states with high rates of infection. In the absence of a common European Union response, national responses to the crisis varied strongly. Decisions on the closing of borders and the limiting of cross-border movements have become a symbol of a newly found unilateralism. Luxembourg took the rare decision not to close its borders and disapproved of the restriction of cross-border movements by neighbouring states. The paper argues that this is the result of its size and economic policy which, in the context of EU integration, has led to strong interdependencies and social networks within the cross-border region. This argument is based on an analysis of the pre-Covid-19 situation in Luxembourg as a cross-border metropolitan region and how local newspaper articles can open a window to understand how the disruption caused by the pandemic reconfigured Luxembourg’s borders with its neighbouring European states of Belgium, France and Germany. [less ▲]

Editorial: Small States and the ‘Corona Crisis’

in Small States & Territories (2021), 4(1), 3-12

The BENELUX, Regional Groupings and the Dynamics of European Integration: Contemporary and Historical Perspectives

Book published by Brill (2020)

Regional (sub-)groupings have played a significant, but comparatively neglected role in the processes of European integration. The BENELUX and the Nordic Council both offer longstanding models of regional ... [more ▼]

Regional (sub-)groupings have played a significant, but comparatively neglected role in the processes of European integration. The BENELUX and the Nordic Council both offer longstanding models of regional cooperation which have, in various ways, often been cited as examples for the wider European integration project. More recently, both the Visegrád and Baltic states have seen the (re-) emergence of forms of regional cooperation in connection with their accession to and later membership of the European Union. Yet, though often cited, these experiences of (sub-)regional cooperation within the wider European project have been the object of relatively little systematic or comparative study. The aim of the edited volume is to address this gap by bringing together specialists on these regional groupings with a view to providing a fuller understanding of both their historical significance and their possible future role relative to a potentially fragmenting European political landscape. [less ▲]

Die Auswirkungen der Coronakrise auf die parlamentarische Demokratie in Luxemburg

in Mein, Georg; Pause, Johannes (Eds.) The Ends of Humanities - Volume 2: Self and Society in the Corona Crisis (2020)

The 2019 European Parliament Elections in Luxembourg in the Context of Past Elections

E-print/Working paper (2019)

The aim of this article is to analyse the 2019 European election in Luxembourg and to contextualize it by comparing it with past elections. The article presents the party landscape, the electoral campaign ... [more ▼]

The aim of this article is to analyse the 2019 European election in Luxembourg and to contextualize it by comparing it with past elections. The article presents the party landscape, the electoral campaign, the electoral system and the results of the 2019 European election. The results are then analysed in the context of past national and European elections in order to establish whether European elections are second-order elections in Luxembourg, how electoral volatility evolved over time, whether there is a rise in Eurosceptic parties and how the representation of women has evolved since 1979. [less ▲]

Das Vereinigte Königreich und die Europäische Union: Geschichte einer komplexen Beziehung

Article for general public (2019)

Research into Parliamentary Administartions in EU Affairs: Quo vadis?

in Poirier, Philippe; Farhat, Nadim (Eds.) Démocratie(s), Parlementarisme(s) et Légitimité(s) (2019)

The Politicisation of the European Central Bank and the Bundestag

in Politics and Governance (2019), 7(3),

The European Central Bank (ECB) became one of the key actors during the Eurozone crisis. However, its prominent role was not without controversy. On one hand, the Eurozone was stabilised, no member state ... [more ▼]

The European Central Bank (ECB) became one of the key actors during the Eurozone crisis. However, its prominent role was not without controversy. On one hand, the Eurozone was stabilised, no member state defaulted, and no state had to leave the Euro. On the other hand, the ECB had to stretch its mandate, expand its policy remit, and adopt so-called ‘unconventional’ monetary policies. These attempts to depoliticise political challenges through a technocratic approach reduced the opportunities for democratic contestation, but they also bred frustration that led to politicisation. This article studies to what extent this politicisation affected the perception of the ECB in national parliaments. For this purpose, it studies the extent to which ECB policy has become politicised in the German Bundestag through an analysis of plenary debates from 2005 to 2018. The Bundestag represents an unlikely case for politicisation despite wide-spread criticism of the ECB in the media, as Germany was traditionally attached to creating a highly independent ECB, until recently had no major Eurosceptic right-wing parties, and parliamentary scrutiny of the national central bank is low. However, by studying the salience of ECB policies, the polarisation of opinion in the parliament, as well as the range of actors participating in the debates, this article finds that the ECB’s policies have become politicised and the subject of scrutiny and dissatisfaction. [less ▲]

Een haarde Brexit gëtt ëmmer méi wahrscheinlech

Article for general public (2018)