Europeanization Specialist Hosted by International Relations Department
Prof. Robert Ladrech, from the School of Politics, International Relations and Philosophy at Keele University in the UK, visited the Department of International Relations in the context of the Erasmus Teaching Staff Mobility program and the agreement between Keele and Bilkent. Prof. Ladrech, one of the best-known academics in the area of Europeanization studies, delivered two talks at the department, one on UK-EU relations and the other on the current Eurozone crisis. The latter was a Jean Monnet Seminar organized and hosted by the Jean Monnet Chair of the IR Department, Asst. Prof. Dimitris Tsarouhas.
At the seminar, Prof. Ladrech began his talk by pointing to the Lisbon Treaty changes (e.g., trade, budget, the Fiscal Treaty), and the increasing influence of the European Parliament (EP) in the EU's economic governance as a result of these changes. He argued that in contrast to most political scientists' characterization of the 2014 EP election as another "second-order" election, it will actually be a critical one. According to him, the Eurozone crisis has made these changes and the upcoming election particularly important, mainly because of the changed environment, in which public opinion has been mobilized against the politics of extreme austerity. Prof. Ladrech concluded his lecture by describing the mobilization of public opinion as the "awakening of a sleeping giant," and asserted that stakes are high in the upcoming EP elections.
Prof. Ladrech's talk was followed by a fruitful question and answer session, during which questions were asked about the changes in parliamentary and public opinion regarding EU enlargement and Turkey's accession, the changing role of lobbying in the EU, the anti-austerity platform and protesting groups, and the dilemma of solidarity vs. sovereignty.