The Vibeke Sørensen Postgraduate Research Grant at the Historical Archives of the European Union (HAEU) has facilitated research on European integration for more than 30 years. Lucile Truffy, a third-year PhD candidate at the Centre for History at Sciences Po in Paris, where she also teaches, was a 2026 recipient of the grant.
She visited the HAEU to expand her research for her PhD thesis A history of plastic packaging: Consumption, contestation, and regulation, 1950s–1970s. She described her work in an interview with Angelos Pappoulis at the Historical Archives.
What is your research about and how did you come up with this topic?
My current research focuses on the history of plastic packaging after the Second World War, seeking to bring the history of consumption and environmental history into dialogue. I had previously worked in these two historiographical fields for my master’s thesis, which was concerned with the history of formica plastic in furniture in post-war France. I’m currently applying this dual perspective on a related issue through my research on another emblematic object, that is plastic packaging.
More precisely, I seek to understand how plastic packaging became so widely adopted. My hypothesis is that this movement towards plastic packaging was by no means inevitable but was instead actively constructed, despite early criticism and encouraged from very early on by different pressure groups. In addition, I’m also interested in the regulatory aspects of plastic packaging, with this latter point being the main driver of my interest in visiting the HAEU.
Which specific archival fonds at the HAEU interested you for your work?
I came to the HAEU to broaden my perspective and have a look at my research subject on a European scale, which I deemed essential. I began looking into several European directives from the 1970s and 1980s, addressing both waste and the toxicity of plastic packaging, especially PVC plastic and its carcinogenic effects on workers of the chemical industry and consumers.
To do so, I spent most of my time here examining archival documents from the Council of the European Communities, the Commission, the European Parliament and the Economic and Social Committee. I also researched materials shedding light on the activities of some pressure groups, such as the Bureau of European Consumers as well as the plastic industry and the food and beverage industry.
What do you aim to do with your research?
I am planning on completing my PhD dissertation, which I hope to eventually publish as a monograph.
How was your stay at the Archives?
It was a truly rewarding and fruitful experience that exceeded my expectations! I feel grateful that I was given the opportunity to spend a month in Florence as a researcher. I would like to warmly thank the archivists for their invaluable assistance and the Historical Archives for awarding me the Sørensen Grant.
About the Sørensen Grant
The Vibeke Sørensen Grant programme for visiting scholars was set up in 1993, by then EUI President Emile Noël and with the support of the European Commission. The grant scheme adopted its current name in 1997 to honour the memory of EUI alumna Dr. Vibeke Sørensen (1952 – 1995), who completed her doctorate in the Department of History and was also a staff member at the HAEU. Up to ten grants are awarded each year.