A larger and more efficient European Union? The challenges of enlargement and institutional reform
The biannual scientific journal L’Europe en formation invites would-be contributors to submit proposals for a forthcoming thematic issue on the EU enlargement and institutional reform, to be published in December 2024.
When Ursula von der Leyen took over the presidency of the European Commission in November 2019, she promised to lead a “geopolitical Commission”, being a “shaper of a better global order”. She announced a “European Green Deal” not only as a response to climate change, but also as the European growth strategy for the future.
The mandate of the von der Leyen Commission was marked by unprecedented challenges, notably a pandemic entailing a Europe-wide recession, and the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine threatening the EU’s security and exposing it to an energy crisis. Those crises have again put on the agenda the issues of enlargement and institutional reform. The war against Ukraine has strengthened among many decision-makers the awareness that EU enlargement is essentially a geopolitical project. At the same time, a bigger EU arguably needs more efficient decision-making mechanisms and thus a reform of its political system. At the crossroads between an outgoing Commission and the reshuffling of EU institutions in the follow-up of the European Parliament elections of June 2024, our journal wants to take stock of the achievements and leftovers of the von der Leyen Commission. At the same time, we encourage authors to look beyond the current moment and to discuss the upcoming challenges and how they can be met.
Themes of interest, can be approached from an interdisciplinary perspective, and include but are not limited to:
– EU accession in the Western Balkans: What have been the obstacles? How to move ahead?
– The new accession countries Ukraine and Moldova
– The debate on institutional reform in the context of enlargement
– The role of the European Parliament concerning enlargement and institutional reform
– The outcome of the Conference on the Future of Europe
– The record of the von der Leyen Commission in different policy fields
– The role and contributions of different member states concerning enlargement and institutional reform
Contributions are accepted from researchers and practitioners from all fields of social sciences, and can be written in English or French. Interdisciplinary contributions are encouraged, as well as theoretical, conceptual and methodological approaches. Proposals (in English or French) should be submitted by 10 June 2024 to the chief editor of the journal, at the following address: frederic.lepine@cife.eu
Proposals should include the title of the proposed article, a brief presentation (500 words), and the CV of the author separately.
Proposals will be submitted to the editors of the thematic issue. Once the proposal is accepted, the article should be submitted before 15 October 2024. Once received, each article will be submitted to a blind peer-review procedure. It will be published in the Winter 2024 issue (expected month of publication: December) on the scholarly journal website cairn.info.
The papers, of 5,000 to 10,000 words in length (including footnotes), may be written in English or French. An abstract of 150 words should be added to the article (with a translation in the other language if possible), as well as a brief presentation of the author (100 words).
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