The Eurozone financial crisis and its political management are frequently described as a setback for democratic governance in the European Union (EU). However, is it possible that the increased focus on EU democratic governance resulting from the crisis, has also sparked a more politically engaged EU citizenry? If so, are the longer-term implications for EU-level democracy necessarily negative?

“Crisis Contained, Democracy Diminished? The Politics of the Eurozone Financial Crisis”, aims to enrich the prevailing critical discussions of the Eurozone crisis and its implications by shifting the analytical focus away from the role of key EU institutions such as the European Central Bank and economically dominant Member States, namely Germany. Instead, the conference research themes explore how the financial crisis has impacted the nature of EU democracy, and its current and future implications for EU electoral politics and civic engagement.

The conference features innovative research from established and emerging younger scholars with an expertise in European integration politics from throughout Europe and North America. The day-long conference will begin with a round table, followed by panel discussions on diverse aspects of crisis or post-crisis politics in the EU. Panel themes to be discussed include the role of political elites in crisis management at the European and national level, the results of the 2014 European Parliament election, and the potentiality of crisis-induced politicization.

The conference will take place September 19, 2014, from 9:00AM – 5:30PM, at Carleton University, in the Senate Room, Robertson Hall. All are welcome. Registration: please register with CES here.

Agenda (draft as of August 15)

9:00 a.m. – 9:15 a.m. | Welcome

• Joan DeBardeleben (Director, Centre for European Studies), TBC

9:15 a.m. – 10:45 a.m. | Opening Roundtable: Crisis Contained, Democracy Diminished? The Impact of the Eurozone Crisis on EU Governance

Chair: Achim Hurrelmann (Carleton University)

• Richard Bellamy (European University Institute)
• Amy Verdun (University of Victoria)
• Matthias Matthijs (Johns Hopkins University)

10:45 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. | Coffee Break

11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. | Panel I: In the Spirit of Solidarity? The Politics and Discourses of Crisis Management

Chair and discussant: Joan DeBardeleben (Carleton University), TBC

• Dorian Kroqi (Carleton University), The Permanent Presidency of the European Council in the crisis
• Frank Wendler (University of Washington), Debating the Eurozone crisis in national parliaments
• Claudia Schrag Sternberg (Oxford University), Crisis narratives in the media in Germany and Greece

12:30 p.m. – 1:45 p.m. | Lunch

1:45 p.m. – 3:15 p.m. | Panel II: Europeanized Politics or Euroscepticism? The Electoral Politics of the Crisis

Chair and discussant: Jon Pammett (Carleton University)

• Laurie Beaudonnet (Université de Montréal), Radical left parties in the 2009 and 2014 EP elections
• Daniel Stockemer (University of Ottawa), Impact of the crisis on radical right parties in Western Europe
• Harry Nedelcu (Carleton University), EP elections in Eastern European member states
• Ece Atikcan (Université Laval), Member state referendums in the context of the crisis

3:15 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. | Coffee Break

3:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. | Panel III: Awakening the “Sleeping Giant”? The EU and Its Citizens

Chair and discussant: David Long (Carleton University), TBC

• Felix Roth (University of Göttingen), Crisis and Trust in National and European Union Institutions – Panel Evidence for the EU, 1999 to 2012
• Sebastian Baglioni and Achim Hurrelmann (Carleton University), Multilevel Democracy in the EU – and its Transformation in the Financial Crisis
• Francesca Vassallo (University of Southern Maine), Civil society mobilization in the context of the Eurozone crisis
• Anna Gora (Carleton University), Politicization and civil society mobilization in Ireland

5:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. | Concluding Discussion: Democracy in the EU after the Crisis

• Achim Hurrelmann (Carleton University) and Frank Wendler (University of Washington), Concluding remarks