“A really great experience, I hadn’t expected to receive so much support.” Pauline Thinus described her visit to the Historical Archives of the European Union in July, when she carried out work as a Vibeke Sørensen Grant Fellow.
After having had to postpone her research stay because of the pandemic, Pauline, who was a Masters student at the College of Europe in Natolin at the time, is now working as an academic assistant in the Department of European Political and Governance Studies at the College of Europe in Bruges.
Accession criteria for EU enlargement
Pauline is interested in political conditionality in the EU enlargement process. More specifically, she aims to analyse the pre-accession strategy of the enlargement to Central and Eastern European countries, to understand how compliance with the Copenhagen political criteria was evaluated by European institutions.
Worried that one month in Florence would be too short, Pauline arrived determined to get the most out of her stay. “The staff members were really helpful,” she said.
While at the Archives, Pauline consulted not only primary sources from the European institutions concerning the development of the Copenhagen criteria, but also files from the archives of private individuals who were involved in the negotiations. She also took advantage of the Reference Library at the Archives and the EUI’s Library, which complemented her research.
Next steps
Pauline will present her preliminary work at an Alcide de Gasperi Centre seminar at the EUI and is now proceeding with the preparation of an article related to her stay. Long interested in the region, she intends to write a PhD on similar issues. In her opinion, the study of the different approaches and positions on political criteria could help to understand the contemporary developments in relation to the respect of the rule of law and democracy in the Union.
The Vibeke Sørensen Grant aims at encouraging research on the history of European integration based on primary sources held at the Historical Archives of the European Union. Application deadlines for the grant are in March and June of each year.