1st November 2017, Great Hall, Durham Castle
The European Union (EU) is facing one of the rockiest periods in its existence. No time in its history has it looked so economically fragile, so unsure about how to protect its borders, so divided over how to tackle the crisis of legitimacy facing its institutions, and so under assault of Eurosceptic parties. The unprecedented levels of integration in recent decades has led to increased public contestation, yet at the same the EU is more reliant on public support for its continued legitimacy than ever before. In this lecture, Catherine E. De Vries discusses the role of public opinion in the European integration process based on her forthcoming book Euroscepticism and the Future of European Integration (forthcoming February 2018 with Oxford University Press).
Biography
Catherine de Vries is Professor of Politics in the Department of Government at the University of Essex. She is also an associate member of Nuffield College at the University of Oxford and affiliated Professor at the University of Amsterdam. She is an editor of Research & Politics, dedicated to publishing short and accessible articles in an open source format. Catherine has a strong commitment to unravelling some of the most important societal and political problems facing Europe today, such as the electoral ramifications of the Euro crisis, the rise of Euroscepticism, or the success of extremist parties.
