This conference provides a platform to discuss comparative crisis research on the EU that SOLID and other scholars have done over the last 15 years. The SOLID project investigates policymaking in the EU in times of crisis, including the crisis of the Euro Area, the surge of refugee flows, Brexit, the COVID-19 pandemic and the challenges to socio-economic cohesion in the EU. The aim of this conference is to explore, with colleagues who have extensively published on similar issues, the politicisation of these crises unleashed, as well as the policy responses to address the conflicts over sovereignty, solidarity and identity that emerged. Ultimately, the focus is on the implications for the EU as an evolving political system. SOLID research tries to make sense of seemingly contradictory relationships: between processes of deep polarisation and bold polity-building, unrelenting identity politics and pragmatic agreements on reform and the fragility and resilience of EU institutions.
The conference provides an opportunity for taking stock of research findings by scholars studying different crises and crisis politics in the EU, as well as in other polities. In six sessions, colleagues working in the field and members of the SOLID team will introduce key results of their own research. In each session, there will be one scholar and one team member presenting their research. These presentations will be followed by a round table discussion as well as a Q&A session.