Schmidt Interviewed on Legitimacy in Europe
Vivien Schmidt, Jean Monnet Professor of European Integration and Professor of International Relations and Political Science at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, was interviewed by Nantes Euradio on legitimacy in Europe during the Eurozone crisis and COVID-19.
In the interview, Schmidt discusses the findings of her latest book Europe’s Crisis of Legitimacy: Governing by Rules and Ruling by Numbers in the Eurozone. She discusses the crisis of legitimacy that the European Union is currently experiencing from the austerity policies imposed after the 2008 financial clash.
An excerpt:
In your book, you say that this crisis started with the sovereign debt crisis in the Eurozone following the financial clash of 2008. Why do you determine at this precise moment the beginning of the crisis of legitimacy in Europe ?
Before, there were legitimacy issues, but it was more at the national level, that’s normal. The more decisions are taken at European level, the less they are taken at national level. This means that the public space is emptying a little of content as decisions go up to the European Union. The problem was that a way had to be found to ensure that citizens were more represented at European level. Yes, there is the European Parliament, but it is not enough. This is why at the national level, citizens felt less and less close to decisions. If we are talking about the rise of populism, it was also due to the fact that the decisions were distant.
The full interview can be listened to below.
Vivien Schmidt is Professor of International Relations and Jean Monnet Professor of European Integration at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies and was the first Director of BU’s Center for the Study of Europe, housed at the Pardee School. Schmidt’s research focuses on European political economy, institutions, democracy, and political theory—in particular on the importance of ideas and discourse in political analysis. Read more about Professor Schmidt on her faculty profile.