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11/12/2025 - Keynote Roundtable: "The Future of Liberal Democracy in the EU: Political and Legal Perspectives" - with Vivien Schmidt and Iulia Motoc

Published on October 17, 2025 – Updated on December 2, 2025

Roundtable : "The Future of Liberal Democracy in the EU: Political and Legal Perspectives"

With Vivien Schmidt (Boston University) and Iulia Motoc (International Criminal Court)

Registration required

A high-level roundtable with Professor Vivien Schmidt (Boston University) and Judge Iulia Motoc (International Criminal Court) discussing the future prospects for liberal democracy in the EU. The speakers will be invited to reflect on both their own insights as privileged witnesses of the contemporary dissensus surrounding the liberal democracy and the key research findings of the RED-SPINEL project. As such, the roundtable will reflect on the nature of the dissensus and its implications for the EU's institutions and instruments.

The two speakers as well as the discussants have extensive experience as observers of the challenges facing both the EU's political system and the international legal orders.

Vivien A. Schmidt is Jean Monnet Professor of European Integration, Professor Emerita of International Relations in the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies, Professor Emerita of Political Science, and Founding Director of the Center for the Study of Europe at Boston University, where she taught from 1998 to 2023. Prof. Schmidt is currently Visiting Fellow in the Robert Schuman Centre at the European University Institute in Florence, Honorary Professor at LUISS Guido Carli University in Rome, and Senior Fellow at the Zoe Institute in Cologne and Brussels.

Prior to joining the ICC, Judge Iulia Motoc was a Judge at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR, 2013-2023) and Professor of International Law. Judge Motoc served as a UN Special Rapporteur for the Democratic of Congo reporting crimes against humanity and war crimes. Judge Motoc is a member of the Institut de Droit International. As a judge at the Constitutional Court of Romania (2010-2013) and Judge at the ECHR, Judge Motoc dealt with serious and complex cases including corruption and sexual violence, genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, in cases such as Drelingas v Lithuania and interstate cases such as Ukraine and the Netherlands v Russia or Chiragov and Others v Armenia and Sargsyan v Azerbaijan.

Hosted by RED-SPINEL and the Institut d'études européennes (IEE) of the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB) near several EU institutions, at the Résidence Palace - International Press Center (Rue de la Loi 155, 1040 Bruxelles), the roundtable is open yet registration is required.
Dates
On the December 11, 2025

6:30pm

Location

Residence Palace (Polak Room)

Rue de la Loi 155, 1040 Bruxelles