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Re-embedding Europe : the political economy of EU macrosocialisation
No full textDefence date: 21 February 2025Examining Board: Prof. Anton Hemerijck (European University Institute, supervisor); Prof. Daniel Clegg (University of Edinburgh); Prof. Anke Hassel (Hertie School of Governance); Prof. Waltraud Schelkle (European University Institute)The COVID-19 crisis transformed EU economic governance. The Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) stepped forward as a protector of national welfare states— leveraging joint debt, fiscal and monetary stimuli and targeted job support measures. While many attribute this shift to changing national interests, a key question remains unanswered: Who developed this agenda, and how did it come to fruition? This thesis moves beyond explanations of EMU reforms as inter-state conflicts at given points in time. Instead, it explores EMU politics as a dynamic policy space progressively owned and redefined by social policymakers over time. Specifically, I contend that, since the adoption of the euro, the EMU has undergone a gradual, incomplete, yet decisive transformation—which I define as macrosocialisation. Macrosocialisation entails making EU macroeconomic policies more sensitive to its social implications. This process, I posit, was achieved by layering a European Social Union onto the EMU via the supranationalisation of core welfare functions—insurance, capacitation and redistribution. Part I traces EU macrosocialisation historically. Chapter 2 examines the evolution of EMU priorities between 1992 and 2019. Chapter 3 compares the distributive profile of EU labour market policies before vs. after the EU Social Pillar by analysing 110 EU measures and 532 European Court of Justice (ECJ) judgements (1999–2023). Part II explores the Roads to EU macrosocialisation by analysing the political economy underlying the adoption of the SURE job retention scheme (chapter 4), the Minimum Wage Directive (chapter 5), and the National Recovery Plans of France, Germany, Italy and Spain (chapter 6). Chapter 7 evaluates the staying power of this shift. Drawing on the coding of 344 EU prescriptions and 112 national party positions, 74 elite interviews and a participant account at the European Commission, this analysis reveals how (legal) incorporation, (ideological) instillation, and (political) irradiation provide complementary pathways for macrosocialisation.Chapter 3 'EU employment policy and social citizenship (1999–2022) : an inclusive turn after the Social Pillar' of the PhD thesis draws upon an earlier version published as an article 'EU employment policy and social citizenship (2009–2022) : an inclusive turn after the Social Pillar?' (2023) in the journal 'Transfer : European review of labour and research'.Chapter 4 'Towards a reinsurance union? SURE as an EU response to preserve jobs in the COVID-19 pandemic' of the PhD thesis draws upon an earlier version published as an article 'Towards a re-insurance union? : SURE as an EU response to preserve jobs in the COVID-19 pandemic' (2024) in the journal 'Journal of European social policy'.Chapter 5 'Workers of all member states unite : power resources activation in the Minimum Wage Directive' of the PhD thesis draws upon an earlier version published as an article 'Workers of all member states unite? : Europeanising the power resources approach via the Minimum Wage Directive' (2024) in the journal 'Journal of European public policy'
The role of international law in inter-State fishery conflict : a socio-legal investigation
No full textDefence date: 28 April 2025Examining Board: Prof. Joanne Scott (European University Institute, Supervisor); Prof. Sergio Puig De La Parra (European University Institute); Prof. Camille Goodman (Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security; University of Wollongong); Erik J Molenaar (Netherlands Institute for the Law of the Sea, Utrecht University)This thesis investigates the role of international law in inter-State fishery conflict by examining conflict in Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs). RFMOs serve as mechanisms through which States cooperate in managing shared fish stocks, i.e., stocks which extend beyond the jurisdiction of a single State. Specifically, this thesis focuses on conflict over ‘straddling’ and ‘highly migratory’ stocks, which occur both within and beyond waters under national jurisdiction. RFMOs adopt Conservation and Management Measures (CMMs) which are legally-binding on the members of the RFMO. The thesis argues that an important part of current inter-State fishery conflict involves disagreement over the adoption of these RFMO measures. This conflict is especially acute where CMMs involve limiting and distributing how much different States can fish for the shared stocks. The thesis therefore closely investigates the work of RFMOs, looking both to the substance of RFMO measures as well as the decision-making procedures for their adoption. In doing so, the thesis is guided by the approach of ‘New Legal Realism’ which promotes empirical and conditional theorising about the role of law. The aim is to understand how the law ‘in action’ reflects the tension between external factors (such as State power) and the law’s own internal logic (its reason). This thesis is therefore the result of socio-legal ethnographic research, using document analysis and interviews as well as three and a half years of participant observation. Overall, the thesis explores how decision-making in RFMOs has given meaning and specificity to the otherwise ambiguous high-level legal norms on the sovereign rights of coastal States and the duty to cooperate over shared stocks. However, while States do use the law to articulate and justify their claims in RFMO negotiations, external factors clearly also shape the application of the law, and therefore its role in inter-State fishery conflict.Chapter 5 'Conflict over decision-making processes' of the PhD thesis draws upon an earlier version published as an article 'Virtual Voting in RFMOs: A Procedural Odyssey at the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission' (2024) in the journal 'International Organizations Law Review '. Chapter 6 'Allocation conflict in Regional Fisheries Management Organisations' of the PhD thesis draws upon an earlier version published as an article 'Innovation in the quest for compatibility : interplay of jurisdiction and allocation in the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation' (2024) in the journal 'Marine policy'
Online marketplaces, regulation and the real estate market
No full textDefence date: 01 April 2025Examining Board: Prof. Giacomo Calzolari (European University Institute, Supervisor); Prof. Özlem Bedre Defolie (European University Institute, Co-Supervisor); Prof. Elena Argentesi (University of Bologna); Prof. Lapo Filistrucchi (Università degli Studi di Firenze)This thesis contains three essays studying competition, shipping costs and the effects of regulation on real estate markets. In the first paper, I study the impact of conditional free shipping determined by transaction value thresholds (TFS) on intermediary marketplaces. Specifically, it examines how TFS policies influence transaction conditions, product prices, and consumer demand. The analysis reveals that offering free shipping increases the costs of transacting, with higher prices and commission fees, compared to scenarios without free shipping. The price increase is driven by sellers passing on the higher marginal costs of selling as the marketplace raises commission fees to recover the expenses associated with offering free shipping. In multi-purchasing scenarios, prices rise contrary to standard multi-product Hotelling models. This is attributed to the marketplace’s optimal shipping policy, which segments consumers into high-demand (buying two products) and low-demand (buying one product) groups. Free shipping is selectively offered to high-demand consumers, effectively subsidizing their willingness to pay, which enables higher prices and boosts platform revenues. These findings highlight the redistributive effects of conditional free shipping, showing that the costs are indirectly borne by consumers and sellers while the marketplace benefits from increased profitability. The study underscores the strategic role of TFS policies in shaping market dynamics and consumer behavior on intermediary platforms. In the second paper, jointly with Riccardo Pesci, we examine the impact of a short-term rental (STR) regulation in Vienna that limits apartments to a maximum of 90 rental nights per year on the STR-market. Leveraging the policy as a quasi-natural experiment, we analyze its effects on key market outcomes. Using a difference-in-differences methodology with a restricted bandwidth around the city center’s border, we compare similar affected and unaffected areas. The findings reveal a reduction in the number of reserved nights without a significant change in the total number of active apartments or prices independent of quality. However, the regulation leads to a notable decrease in revenues for affected apartments compared to those unaffected. Additionally, the policy exerts a compositional effect, leading to the entry of apartments at lower price points with fewer amenities in regulated areas. The third paper studies the impact of a STR regulation in Vienna on the long-term rental (LTR) housing and real estate market in Vienna. I adopt a triple Difference-in-Differences design (DDD), comparing prices in the regulated inner districts to the unregulated outer districts of Vienna and to the differences between inner and outer districts in Munich, where no STR regulation was in place. The analysis shows that after the regulation, rental rates of new apartments, whose rents are not regulated by the tenancy act, increased, whereas the STR regulation had no effect on old apartments and real estate prices. We further observe that the vacancy rate of apartments in regulated areas increased, suggesting that the STR regulation likely did not lead to a shift of apartments from the STR market to the LTR market but instead resulted in more apartments being kept vacant. Lastly, we observe a net positive effect on migration dynamics into the regulated inner districts of Vienna following the regulation.-- 1 Marketplaces, Delivery Fees and Seller Competition
-- 2 Airbnb, Short-Term Rental Regulation and Spillover Effects in Vienna
-- 3 Profits and Incentives of homeowners under regulation - An empirical study of the housing market in Vienna
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Ordering legal reality : a comparative study on consumer credit in European judiciaries
No full textDefence date: 23 May 2025Examining Board: Prof. Mathias Siems (European University Institute, Supervisor); Prof. Mateusz Grochowski (Tulane Law School); Prof. Martijn Hesselink (European University Institute); Prof. Chantal Mak (University of Amsterdam)This thesis examines whether and how, in the field of consumer credit, national supreme courts accommodate European law as interpreted by the Court of Justice, or whether they develop instead their own nationally specific case law. In doing so, it addresses a gap in European private law literature regarding the extent to which the Court’s case law is applied at the national level. The first part of the thesis consists of a general framework for case law analysis. It explains its guiding concepts: ‘legal reality,’ understood as a framework within which legal knowledge is generated and contested, and ‘ordering,’ which explains how legal reality is structured, particularly in the context of unclear legal provisions and past case law. Following from this, the thesis adopts a narrative approach, inspired by historiography, to analyse selected substantive narratives in the consumer case law of the Court of Justice and national courts. The general framework is subsequently situated within the core concepts of European (private) law, with consumer credit serving as the main case study for comparative case law analysis due to its long-standing regulation and socio-economic significance. The second part consist of a comparative analysis of consumer credit case law of the Court of Justice, the French Cour de cassation and the Polish Sąd Najwyższy. It explains that while both national courts follow a similar cassatory model of judiciary, they operate within divergent contexts, shaped by different legislative frameworks and socio-economic dynamics. Subsequently, four substantive narratives are examined: consumer, main subject matter, unfairness and transparency. The case law analysis reveals that the accommodation of the Court of Justice’s case law by national courts is far from straightforward, as might be assumed. The consumer credit case law of both supreme courts demonstrates differing timelines and approaches to accommodating the Court’s case law. For example, the concept of the consumer has generally aligned with the Court’s interpretation; however, the Court of Justice has more extensively developed the category of vulnerable consumers, while national courts have tended to focus on dishonest consumers. In contrast, significant divergences persist in the narratives on the main subject matter, despite both national courts eventually accommodating the Court’s case law. The unfairness narrative adds another layer of complexity, as ambiguities within the Court’s case law present interpretative challenges for national courts. Finally, the analysis of transparency narratives reveals that while the Cour de cassation maintained relatively lenient transparency criteria for some time, the Sąd Najwyższy adhered to the stricter approach, centred on substantive transparency, adopted by the Court of Justice. Overall, the findings point towards the need to reconsider the role of the current European judicial architecture to ensure that European consumer law is interpreted and applied in a way that consistently delivers a high level of consumer protection.Chapter 2 'Theoretical Foundations' of the PhD thesis draws upon an earlier version published as an article 'Consumer law entangled : comparative approaches in European private law after Aziz and Addiko Bank' (2023) in the journal 'European review of private law'
Between imitation, autarky, and utopia : uneven and combined development in the Soviet-Russian automobile industry
No full textDefence date: 17 January 2025Examining Board: Prof. Alexander Etkind (European University Institute, supervisor); Prof. Federico Romero (European University Institute); Prof. Eglė Rindzevičiūtė (Kingston University London); Prof. Stefan J. Link (Dartmouth College)In the 1960s, the USSR oversaw the largest import of Western technologies since the first Five- Year Plan. Its objective was to reshape the state’s position within the global economy and thus ensure the perennity of the Soviet project. As is well known, it was unsuccessful on both counts. The USSR was vanquished in its ‘peaceful competition’ with the West and saw significant ideological decline. While these themes are well established within the historiography, the precise mechanisms of ideological decline are yet to be elucidated. This thesis argues that technologies, and the social relations embedded within them, played an important role. The USSR’s embrace of capitalist technologies proved to be a Faustian pact. Taking the case of the automobile industry, this study examines the impact of the USSR’s interaction with Western capital. It argues that three socio-technological imaginaries shaped the Soviet approach to mass motorization. The first, ‘revolutionary-imitation’, was the impetus for Western modernization. This study shows that in overseeing Westernization, imitationalists such as Alexei Kosygin overcame ‘revolutionary-autarkic’ belief in Soviet industry’s indigenous potential. However, with the waning of Kosygin’s influence, the Soviet automobile industry was abandoned to an impossible competition with the West. This study shows that the ideological commitment of Soviet engineers and administrators declined as they experienced the subjective shocks of global competition. Meanwhile, Soviet workers were subject to mass production without mass consumption. With the crisis of imitation, a ‘revolutionary-utopian’ imaginary surged to the surface, but was consumed in the chaos of perestroika, after which capitalist content and form aligned. In documenting these trajectories, this study focuses on three factories: AZLK, IAZ, and VAZ. It contributes to the histories of Soviet trade, technology, and industry, but also migration, imperialism, and gender. It examines a variety of primary sources, many of which have not previously been discussed
EU values in action? : shaping sustainable trade in services mobility
No full textDefence date: 24 June 2025Examining Board: Prof. Jürgen Kurtz (The University of Melbourne; former European University Institute, supervisor); Prof. Joanne Scott (European University Institute); Prof. Marise Cremona (Emeritus Professor European University Institute); Prof. Billy Melo Araujo (Queen’s University Belfast)The Treaty of Lisbon transformed the EU’s role as a global trade actor. It introduced a constitutional mandate for value-driven external action, which includes the promotion of sustainable development. As the European Commission increasingly seeks to ‘mainstream’ sustainability considerations in trade policy, the question arises of how this mandate has influenced the content of EU trade policies. This thesis examines how the Lisbon Treaty’s reforms have affected the regulation of trade in services, particularly the temporary movement of persons for service provision (GATS Mode 4). Through the lens of policy coherence, it explores how the EU reconciles its sustainability obligations with Mode 4 regulation. Findings indicate that while Mode 4 trade can promote economic and social development in emerging economies, it requires a careful balance between market openness and regulatory control. The sustainability of this trade hinges on how this balance is managed, which is determined by so-called specific commitments. These commitments define the scope of Mode 4 liberalisation in trade agreements. This study employs a novel mixed-method approach, integrating legal and quantitative analyses, to evaluate Mode 4 commitments in selected pre- and post-Lisbon Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) as well as the EU’s WTO and Doha Round Schedules. Despite formal commitments to sustainability, it finds that EU coherence obligations remain too flexible to drive substantive policy change. Path dependency with WTO law continues to shape EU commitments, embedding the shortcomings of the multilateral framework into EU FTAs. At the same time, Member States retain significant discretion to prioritise their domestic interests, often at the expense of broader sustainability objectives. As a result, Mode 4 trade remains governed by pre-existing legal and political constraints rather than serving as a meaningful tool for advancing sustainability ambitions
The EU and the Sovereign-Monetary Nexus : in search of a European telos
No full textDefence date: 03 November 2025Examining Board: Prof. Andrea Sangiovanni (King's College London, former European University Institute, Supervisor); Prof. Anton Hemerijck (European University Institute); Prof. Richard Bellamy (University College London); Dr. Juri Viehoff (Utrecht University)Since its inception, the European Union (EU) has been a Janus-faced project, conceived both as a ‘rescue of the nation-state’ and as an effort to transcend it. This duality has generated lasting normative uncertainty about the EU’s purpose and the standards by which it should be judged. These tensions sharpened during the Eurozone crisis, when financial turmoil exposed the fragility of an ‘incomplete’ monetary union and revived the claim that a viable currency union ultimately requires a Political Union. This thesis examines the relationship between money and sovereignty —the sovereign– monetary nexus— in the context of three competing normative models for the EU: federalist, disintegrationist, and demoicratic. Chapter 1 explores Jürgen Habermas’s federalist case for a European supranational democracy, reconstructing his critique of the EU’s ‘democratic deficit’ in light of the sovereign-monetary nexus. While the federalist approach offers a plausible response to the pathologies created by an incomplete monetary union, the chapter questions the viability of a European constitutional patriotism and exposes the limits of the EU as a multinational polity. Chapter 2 examines the disintegrationist response —which mirrors the normative logic of the sovereign-monetary nexus but accepts the ‘no-demos’ thesis— contesting the portrayal of the Single Market and the euro as neoliberal projects, and presenting them as precariously governed yet valuable European public goods that merit reform rather than abolition. Chapter 3 addresses the alleged obsolescence of the nation-state, arguing that, despite the challenges of globalization and cosmopolitanism, nation-states remain valuable civic communities capable of meeting the demands of justice and constituting a ‘realistic utopia.’ Chapter 4 clarifies normative ambiguities concerning the relationship between nationhood and civic virtue, and advances a demoicratic foundation for a European Social Union to address the tensions of the sovereign–monetary nexus, reconciling the principles of European solidarity and national responsibility
The other internationalists : the German quest for a League of Nations after imperial collapse
No full textDefence date: 07 November 2025Examining Board: Prof. Pieter Judson (European University Institute); Prof. Emmanuel Mourlon-Druol (European University Institute); Professor William Mulligan (University College Dublin); Dr Anna Ross (University of Sheffield)Germany after the Great War—international ‘outlaw’ state, revisionist disruptor, fragile ‘democracy without democrats’ reeling from imperial collapse. Questioning this common portrayal, this thesis argues that there was another Weimar Republic. Taking the German Union for a League of Nations (Deutsche Liga für Völkerbund) as an entry point, it reconstructs a contemporary German perspective that sought to transform Germany from its transgressive militarist imperial past into an avantgarde state of the ‘new international order’ inaugurated in 1919. An enclave of jurists, diplomats, politicians, civil servants, academics, intellectuals, feminists, social reformers, trade unionists, financiers and businessmen with a broadly internationalist disposition attached to the German Foreign Office (Auswärtiges Amt), the Union was soon swept up in the heady political developments of the ‘German Revolution’, weaving together constitutional and international law in the hope of allowing Germany to emerge from the turmoil as a stable republic with a constitutive role in the making of the League of Nations and the new ground rules of international relations. Then came Versailles. Disillusioned but undeterred, German supporters of international organisation—some Social Democratic, some liberal, some pacifist, some feminist and a few conservative—developed a legalist critique of the peace settlement, contesting its elaboration on its own terms amid a wider German turn towards international law. This thesis charts their various interventions, interventions that, at least initially, sought to lay the groundwork for a radical new departure in German foreign policymaking, complicated at every turn by the difficult politics of the Weimar Republic. It reveals a doubled preoccupation with sovereignty as the leitmotif tying together their various efforts—the ‘compromised’, unequal sovereignty of Germany as a problem but also an anticipation of its deeper change in an internationalist age
Green dreams, gated realities : implementing a circular economy in housing, a comparative study of California and the Netherlands
No full textDefence date: 24 July 2025Examining Board: Prof. Peter Drahos (European University Institute, Supervisor); Prof. Joanne Scott (European University Institute); Prof. David Levi-Faur (Hebrew University of Jerusalem); Prof. Fiona Haines (University of Melbourne; Australian National University)This thesis examines the circular economy theory and its potential application in the housing sector. Housing crises experienced worldwide demand solutions that are both ecological and social in nature. An often overlooked strength of the circular economy is its capacity to integrate these two dimensions. Ultimately, this thesis argues that by truly engaging with the circular economy theory – that is, by going beyond superficial understandings – one can realistically expect it to provide some answers to the housing crises and address some of capitalism’s most pressing challenges. I argue that states can steer markets and bring circularity into housing through different regulatory tools and techniques, effectively making homes more sustainable, affordable, and equitable. Structurally, the thesis departs from a macro-level account of the circular economy theory and housing dynamics, conducted in Part One, to a detailed, micro-level analysis of the regulatory details necessary to implement a circular economy in housing in Part Two. Specifically, the thesis focuses on two case studies: the housing construction sector in California, and that of the Netherlands. Based on regulatory analysis and extensive fieldwork, I examined the housing system in these two case studies by way of an organic approach. That is, I considered housing through its entire lifecycle, from its conceptualisation and construction to its use and eventual ‘death’. Overall, this thesis proposes a more comprehensive definition of the circular economy, highlights the structural challenges posed by capitalism in realising circularity, and identifies particular problems that emerge from trying to regulate circularity into the housing construction industry. Finally, by drawing on regulatory studies, it suggests pathways to overcome these hindrances and to better code circularity into new housing development
National and transnational responses to the 1973 oil crisis : France, Italy and the European Community
No full textDefence date: 09 June 2025Examining Board: Prof. Federico Romero (European University Institute); Professor Corinna R. Unger (European University Institute); Prof. Elisabetta Bini (Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II); Prof. Laurent Warlouzet (Sorbonne Université)The 1973 oil shock marked a turning point in the European Community’s (EC) debate over energy policy. While affecting member states unevenly, the crisis revealed a shared view of energy as a national concern, rather than a Community-wide priority. Ultimately, national agendas were prioritized over Community solutions, leading to inconsistent and largely ineffective progress toward energy policy integration. This perception of energy security as a national rather than collective concern effectively undermined efforts to establish a cohesive, integrated energy policy at the EC level. In this context, this thesis identifies the establishment of the International Energy Agency (IEA) in 1974 as a landmark event that disrupted the cohesion of the EC. While the IEA was conceived as a multilateral framework to coordinate responses to the oil crisis, only eight out of the nine EC member states chose to join the organization. France, however, opted not to join, advocating instead for the creation of a Community energy policy. This thesis investigates the European Community’s failed attempts at a unified energy policy between the 1973 and 1979 oil crises, integrating national, transnational, and international dimensions through the comparative case studies of France and Italy. As major oil importers, the two countries faced comparable challenges and adopted apparently similar strategies, yet with markedly different outcomes. Their divergent paths are examined through the lens of their domestic policies, positions within the EC, and relations with oil-producing countries