Problems and Prospects for the EU after Lisbon
This week we are wrapping up a series of six podcasts on the “Political Cultures of the European Union.” The series of thirteen events was organized by Vivien Schmidt, Jean Monnet Professor of European Integration and Director of the Center for International Relations at Boston University, as part of the Institute for Human Sciences European Commission sponsored project “Getting to Know the European Union: European Culture(s) in Focus.” The lectures explore the diversity of political perceptions and traditions among the citizens and member states of the European Union, addressing philosophical issues as well as empirical ones.
Today we bring you an unedited recording of a December 3, 2009 discussion with David Rennie, British journalist and EU correspondent at The Economist where he authors the Charlemagne column. Rennie shared his thoughts on the future of the European Union with Boston University students and discussed his role as a journalist in Brussels. He said that while the adoption of the Lisbon Treaty in the EU was supposed to have been a celebrated event, people in Brussels were instead “sunk in gloom.” He then laid out a compelling argument for why he feels the European project is in trouble, listing the trade offs that various actors must make in order for the EU to function.