The Jean Monnet lecture series seeks to contribute to bridging the gap between the academic world (often described as an ivory tower), on the one hand, and the EU institutions, national governments, civil society (NGOs), interest groups, journalism, etc., on the other hand. The main aim is to shed new light on the challenges and practical constraints of EU’s external action. This concerns several dimensions: the policy-making process, the interaction patterns of different actors, the content of certain policies and the institutional structure of EU external/foreign policy.

• Dr. Sandra Eckert: “The EU Regulatory State in a Turbulent Age: Implications of Crises Responses for the Core of Integration”, 27 January 2021, 16:00 – 17:30 CET: The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe had immediate and dramatic effects for European inte-gration. While much of the attention has focused on high-level crisis responses of the European Union (EU) such as the adoption of a recovery fund, the more profound changes to the EU regulatory state went largely unnoticed. The EU’s respon- ses in state aid policy and banking regulation are insightful cases in this regard. In both areas, European policy makers and regulators reacted swiftly, and adopted unconventional and extra- ordinary measures that contrast with the type of responses adopted during the Great Financial Crisis. Based on historical institutionalist theorising, the talk will engage in a comparative analysis of crises responses over time and across sectors, with a view to answer the question about the type of change the EU regulatory state currently encounters: are we witnessing a new era of European integration or more of the same?

• Clara Portela (University of Valencia, Spain, Law, Faculty Member): “The Changing Nature of EU Sanctions”, 17 October 2018, 19h, University of Mainz: The present decade has witnessed a turning point in the autonomous sanctions practice of the European Union. One of the most evident features of recent sanctions practice is that measures are gradually becoming less ‘targeted’. Targeted sanctions are designed to affect those individuals and elites responsible for the policies condemned by the sender, rather than the population as a whole. The present talk considers the extent to which autonomous sanctions fulfil this objective by scrutinising three established sanctions strands of the EU: Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) sanctions, development aid suspensions and Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP) withdrawals. It is argued that the notion of targeted sanctions has been more faithfully implemented in some strands of EU sanctions than in others, and that court challenges have driven the modification of selection criteria in the ‘flagship’ CFSP sanctions practice that accounts for the increasingly broad nature of the measures.

• “Small State, big politics: Qatar’s motives for hosting the FIFA World Cup 2022 and its consequences for Europe”, Prof. Danyel Reiche (American University of Beirut), 11 December 2018

• Thomas Weiler (DGVN – Deutsche Gesellschaft für die Vereinten Nationen Landesverband Nordrhein-Westfalen e.V.): “The Role of the European Union at the United Nations”, 15 January 2013, 18:15h, University of Mainz
• Siebo Janssen (Kölner Forum für Internationale Beziehungen und Sicherheitspolitik e.V.): “The Transatlantic Relations – A Discontinued Model?”, 19 January 2013, 14:15h, University of Mainz
• Romain Kirt (Advisor to the Prime Minister of Luxembourg): „Working for the European Union“, 23 January 2012, 14:15h, University of Mainz
• Elisabeth Bittner (Rhineland-Palatinate State Agency for Civic Education): „Common Educational Policy in the European Union“, 19 June 2013, 14:15h, University of Mainz
• Peter H. Niederelz (Europa-Union Wiesbaden-Rheingau-Taunus): “Research policy in the European Union – Which language is spoken?”, 26 June 2013, University of Mainz
• Dr. Susanne Pihs, (EUI), Lessons (not) learned? – EU Military Operations and the Adaptation of CSDP” 04 December 2013, University of Mainz
• Dr. Uwe Becker, University of Amsterdam, Die BRICs, politik-ökonomische Liberalisierung, Deliberalisierung und Demokratisierungschancen, 8 January 2014, University of Mainz
• Prof. Dr. Daniel Stockemer, University of Ottawa, Right-wing extremism in Europe“, 07 May 2014, University of Mainz
• Prof. Dr. Tim Engartner und Maria Theresa Meßner, “Planspiele als Lehr- und Lernmethode in der politischen Bildung”, 19 May 2014, University of Mainz
• Dr. Lenka Bustikova, University of Arizona, , “Policy Hostility and Voting for the Radical Right: Micro-Level Evidence From Slovakia”, 25 June 2015, University of Mainz
• Dr. Max Mutschler (BICC, Bonn), “Möglichkeiten und Grenzen präventiver Rüstungskontrolle in Europa und der Welt”, 06 July 2015, University of Mainz
• Prof. Geoffrey Underhill (University of Amsterdam), “Theory of Optimum Financial Areas: Retooling the Debate on the Governance of European and Global Finance”, 15 July 2015, University of Mainz

The project named EU+ is the result of a collaboration between the Chair for International Relations at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU), the Ingelheim Center for Continuing Education (WBZ), the Representation of the State of Rhineland-Palatinate to the Federal Government and the European Union, and various high schools in the city of Mainz. The simulation game is organized under the aegis of the Jean Monnet Chair held by Professor Dr. Arne Niemann. The Jean Monnet Chair is designed to promote the teaching of and research into the field of European integration. In addition to helping participants understand political procedures, the aim of the event is to introduce high school students to issues related to European politics and to make the general public more aware of the subject of European Integration.