Public Debates will invite the European Policy Community to engage with civil society actors and academic reflecting on the future of European integration and EU policies.
Public Debates will connect actors with shared interests in European politics and policy developments. It will cross EUNMUTE preoccupations with those of stakeholders and shed new light on the von der Leyen Commission political priorities.
Programme 2024-2025

Co-organisation EUNMUTE
Intervenante:
Ramona COMAN, Professeure à l’ULB
Abstract: Populist governments aim to fundamentally challenge the EU, raising the question of when and how backsliding populist governments disrupt decision‐making in the Council of the EU (hereafter Council). Due to their anti‐elite and strong anti‐EU stance, along with their opposition to core values of liberal democracy, I argue that these governments are more inclined to resort to unpolitics, understood as “unsettlement.” Analysing the behaviour of the Hungarian Fidesz government in the Council, the article demonstrates that populist governments resort to unpolitics but use an à la carte approach. Populist backsliding governments selectively oppose the Council’s formal and informal decision‐making rules. Looking at the voting behaviour in the Council since 2009, the article shows that the Fidesz government preserves the norm of consensus. However, over time, it has become the government that has most often broken with this norm. Conversely, when it comes to “backsliding‐inhibiting competences,” the Fidesz government challenges both formal and informal rules through a wide range of strategies, i.e., systematically contesting the legality of procedures and decisions, embracing a confrontational approach and diplomacy, self‐victimisation, bending the truth, and accusatory rhetoric. To illustrate them, the article focuses on decisions related to the dismantlement of the rule of law in the country, such as Article 7 TEU, the application of Regulation 2020/2092, and the disbursement of Cohesion funds.
Programme 2023-2024
September 25, 2023 12:30-14:00 | Autonomie judiciaire et respect des exigences découlant de l’État de droit. Enseignements de l’arrêt de la Cour de justice de l’UE du 5 juin 2023, Commission c Pologne, aff. C-204/21 Pierre Vandernoot (Président de chambre au Conseil d’État, maître de conférence à l’Université libre de Bruxelles) Discussion: Katarzyna Herrmann (membre du service juridique de la Commission européenne) & Nicolas de Sadeleer (UCLouvain Saint-Louis Bruxelles) |
October 9, 2023 12:30-14:00 | Long Live Glyphosate? State of Play and Prospects Anne-Lise Sibony (UCLouvain) Discussion : Antoine Bailleux (UCLouvain Saint-Louis Bruxelles), Natacha Cingotti (HEAL), Martin Dermine (PAN), Angeliki Lysimachou (PAN) |
October 13, 2023 12:00-13:30 | Chroniques de l’Europe: genre et sans-voix dans l’histoire longue de l’Europe – en collaboration avec EUGENDERING – Fabrice Virgili (CNRS) & Anne-Laure Briatte (Sorbonne Université) Discussion: Claire Lafon (UCLouvain Saint-Louis Bruxelles et Université Paris 3) & Nathalie Tousignant (UCLouvain Saint-Louis Bruxelles) |
November 30, 2023 18:00-20:00 | Intersectionality in EU policies: A step forward? – in collaboration with EUGENDERING – Oriane Calligaro (UCLille), Serena D’Agostino (VUB), Sophie Jacquot (UCLouvain Saint-Louis Bruxelles) & Gender5+ Panel participants: Jelena Jovanovic (ARDI, PE), Stefi Richani (Equinox) & Anne Pépin (European Commission, DG Research & Innovation) |
February 16, 2024 12:30-14:00 | D’une présidence à l’autre, la politique européenne de la Belgique 2010-2024 Christian Franck (UCLouvain) Discussion: Bernard Quintin (directeur, DG Affaires européennes) |
March 18, 2024 18:15-20:00 | Les démocraties au défi du populisme: le Brésil et l’Union européenne à l’épreuve Antoine Bailleux (UCLouvain) & Julie Ringelheim (FNRS & UCLouvain) Discussion: Florian Hoffman (Université PUC-Rio), Cecilia Rizcallah (UClouvain Saint-Louis Bruxelles) & Céline Romainville (UCLouvain) |
