Martina Minardi and Dimitri Zurstrassen have been awarded the 2025 European Court of Auditors (ECA) Postgraduate Research Grants. The two projects examine the development of European Union financing instruments and explore how these reflect stronger European integration and the EU’s efficacy as a financial actor.
Martina Minardi is a PhD candidate in European Law at the University of Bologna and the University of Paris II Panthéon-Assas. Her doctoral project, “Les perspectives du financement de la défense commune : entre contraintes constitutionnelles et évolutions du processus d’intégration européenne,” examines recent developments in the financing of a common European defence. Focusing particularly on the innovations introduced by the ReArm/Readiness 2030 plan, her research analyses the constitutional and financial implications of these innovations, including the constraints stemming from Article 41 TEU and EU budgetary discipline. Furthermore, she explores the emergence of new instruments, such as the SAFE initiative, which is based on Article 122 TFEU and is supported by joint debt. Through a legal and constitutional lens, Martina’s project evaluates whether these transformations signal a new stage in European integration, characterised by deeper financial solidarity and a multilevel governance framework in defence.
Dimitri Zurstrassen is a lecturer and policy analyst at LUISS Guido Carli. His research project, “The Evolution of EU Financing Instruments for Industrial Policy in Response to US and Japanese Competition (1970s–1990s): Lessons for Contemporary Challenges,” investigates how the European Community designed and adapted its industrial policy financing tools during a period of intense global technological competition. Focusing on instruments such as the New Community Instrument, European Community research programmes, and European Investment Bank industrial lending, the project aims to evaluate their effectiveness in addressing the investment shortfall in emerging high-technology sectors. Drawing extensively on sources at the HAEU, especially the ECA archives, Dimitri will explore the institutional debates on financing mechanism design, audit evaluations of their performance, and the budgetary constraints shaping EC decision-making. By comparing these with American and Japanese approaches, Dimitri’s work will provide insights relevant to current challenges in European industrial policy.
The ECA research grant at the HAEU
Up to two European Court of Auditors Postgraduate Research Grants are awarded to early career scholars each year to facilitate access to and consultation of the sources deposited at the HAEU, to which the Court entrusts its own historical archives and those of the Audit Board (1958-1977).
The grant aims to promote original research into the EU's public finances, EU policies, and the development of the EU's accountability. It also seeks to nurture a community of researchers interested in these areas.