In this episode of the Vienna Coffeehouse Conversations, host Ivan Vejvoda engages with Alberto Alemanno, a leading voice on Europe's democratization. The discussion focuses on the state of democracy in Europe and the European Union, emphasizing the rise of far-right parties and the challenges of upcoming elections, including the 2024 European Parliamentary elections. Alemanno provides insights into electoral trends, the role of conservative parties, and the narrative of a Europe of nations. The conversation also covers the European Council meeting in December 2023, touching on decisions regarding Ukraine and Moldova, and institutional reforms within the EU. Alemanno expresses skepticism about the meeting's potential outcomes due to the complex geopolitical landscape and internal EU politics.

The discussion further explores the EU's handling of rule of law issues, the implications of a potential Russian victory in Ukraine for Europe, and challenges in addressing migration and climate change. Alemanno stresses the need for a reimagined European political process that aligns with sociocultural transformations within the continent. The podcast concludes with reflections on the evolving European identity and the disconnect between the political system and the lived experience of Europeans.

Guest Bio: Alberto Alemanno is a Jean Monnet Professor in EU Law at HEC Paris since 2009, a permanent visiting professor at the University of Tokyo's School of Public Policy and the College of Europe in Bruges​​ and a 2023/24 Europe's Futures Fellow of ERSTE Foundation and IWM Vienna. He began his academic career as a teaching assistant at the College of Europe in Bruges in 2001, later pursuing a PhD at Bocconi University. Alemanno is a qualified attorney in New York and has worked as a law clerk at the Court of Justice of the European Union and the General Court of the European Union. He is a Global Clinical Professor of Law at New York University School of Law, where he directs the HEC-NYU EU Public Interest Clinic​.

​Alemanno advises NGOs, governments, and international organizations on various aspects of European Union law, international regulatory cooperation, international trade, and global health law. He has been involved in several significant advocacy campaigns and initiatives, including co-launching Newropeans, one of the first transnational political parties, and campaigning for plain tobacco packaging and other public health initiatives​.

He has received awards such as Ashoka Fellow 2019, BMW Responsible Leader 2017, and Young Global Leader at the World Economic Forum in 2015​​. Alemanno has published extensively in leading international law journals and is the founder and editor-in-chief of the European Journal of Risk Regulation​.

• Find Alberto Alemanno on X: @alemannoEU
• Alberto Alemanno's Book "Lobbying for Change" can be found on his official website at albertoalemanno.com/advocacy-lobbying/lobbying-for-change-find-your-voice-to-create-a-better-society​​.
• The Good Lobby's official website at thegoodlobby.eu​​.

Ivan Vejvoda  is Head of the Europe's Futures program at the Institute for Human Sciences (IWM Vienna) implemented in partnership with ERSTE Foundation. The program is dedicated to the cultivation of knowledge and the generation of ideas addressing pivotal challenges confronting Europe and the European Union: nexus of borders and migration, deterioration in rule of law and democracy and European Union’s enlargement prospects.

The Institute for Human Sciences (IWM Vienna) is an institute of advanced studies in the humanities and social sciences. Founded as a place of encounter in 1982 by a young Polish philosopher, Krzysztof Michalski, and two German colleagues in neutral Austria, its initial mission was to create a meeting place for dissenting thinkers of Eastern Europe and prominent scholars from the West.

Since then it has promoted intellectual exchange across disciplines, between academia and society, and among regions that now embrace the Global South and North. The IWM is an independent and non-partisan institution, and proudly so. All of our fellows, visiting and permanent, pursue their own research in an environment designed to enrich their work and to render it more accessible within and beyond academia.

For further information about the Institute:

https://www.iwm.at/