New Head of the European Institute

The European Institute is delighted to announce that

Prof Maurice Fraser is its new Head of

Institute. Maurice is Professor of Practice in European

Politics, Director of the LSE-Sciences Po European Double

Master’s Degree and Director of the LSE European Public

Lecture Series. He is Associate Fellow (Europe) at

Chatham House and was Visiting Professor at Sciences Po

Paris in April – May 2013.

Maurice was Special Adviser to UK Foreign Secretaries Sir Geoffrey Howe, John

Major and Douglas Hurd, 1989 – 95. He is a trustee and council member of

several European think tanks and a regular commentator and broadcaster on

European affairs. He was made Chevalier de la Legion d’ honneur in 2008.

Maurice takes over from Prof Paul de Grauwe, John Paulson Chair in European

Political Economy, who has been head of the European Institute for the past year.

Maurice says of Paul:

“Paul's time at the helm of the European Institute was marked by the very qualities

for which he is renowned: innovative thinking, trenchant analysis, and a rare ability

to convey economic and financial concepts in ways which stimulate lively debate

and make a wide audience sit up and listen. To these virtues I would add good

humour and unfailing courtesy. For one year the European Institute was the happy

beneficiary, and we are delighted that he will now have the opportunity to deepen

his ground-breaking research - still at the heart of the European Institute.”

Prof Kevin Featherstone awarded Commander

of the Order of the Phoenix of the Hellenic Republic

Prof Kevin Featherstone, Eleftherios Venizelos Chair in

Contemporary Greek Studies and Director of the EI’s

Hellenic Observatory, has been bestowed the award,

Commander, Order of the Phoenix of the Hellenic Republic

(Ταξιάρχης, Τάγμα του Φοίνικος).

EI Latest News

Monthly European Institute Newsletter October 2013

Monthly European

Institute Newsletter

Useful links:

European

Institute

Homepage

Academic Staff

Contacts

Administrative

Staff Contacts

Inside this issue:

EI Latest

News

1

Arrivals &

Departures

5

New

Publications

7

Events 7

Sixty-second

Interview 9

Staff

Calendar

10

EI in the

News

12

Alumni News 14

The award was presented to Prof Featherstone by H.E. Mr Konstantinos Bikas,

Ambassador of Greece, on Tuesday 17 September 2013, at the Ambassador’s

residence in London. The Order of the Phoenix, which was established in 1926, is

awarded to Greeks who have distinguished themselves in the fields of public

administration, science, arts and letters, commerce, industry and shipping. It is also

conferred on foreigners who have contributed to improving Greece's stature abroad

in the above fields. Click here for more details on the Award. You may also see

photos from the award ceremony here.

Kevin said about the award: ‘Our work in the Hellenic Observatory has always been a

“team-effort” and this award is a recognition of our collective performance. I’m

honoured to receive it on behalf of my colleagues and I.’

The European Institute would like to congratulate Kevin for this very distinguished

award!

Anthony Teasdale appointed as Director-General

of new European Parliamentary Research Service

Congratulations also to the EI’s Visiting Senior Fellow,

Anthony Teasdale, who has been appointed as Director

-General of the new European Parliamentary Research

Service with effect from 1 November 2013. The EPRS will

combine the European Parliament's existing library with a

new research capability for MEPs - modelled on the

Congressional Research Service of the Library of

Congress - wrapping in his current directorate for impact

assessment, added value, and science and technology

options assessment. It will also handle transparency issues, citizens' enquiries and the

historical archive of the Parliament.

The European Institute would like to congratulate Anthony on this exciting new role!

Dr Spyros Economides appointed Visiting Professor at

University of Zagreb

Dr Spyros Economides, Senior Lecturer in International

Relations and European Politics and Hellenic Observatory

Deputy Director, has been appointed Visiting Professor at the

Faculty of Political Science, University of Zagreb for the

academic year 2013-14.

Page 2 October 2013

EI Latest News

Prof Nicholas Barr joins the Board of the Journal of the

Economics of Ageing

Prof Nicholas Barr has joined the Board of the Journal of

the Economics of Ageing as Associate Editor. The Journal of

the Economics of Ageing (JEoA) is an international academic

journal that publishes original theoretical and empirical research

dealing with the interaction between demographic change and

the economy.

EI’s Facebook page reaches over 1000 likes!

The EI would like to say a big thank you to all those Facebook

fans who liked and have followed our page since it was created

in March 2011. Our Facebook page currently has over 1,000

followers and last week, we asked Pierre-Antoine Klethi – our

1000th follower – to answer a few questions about our page.

Here is what Pierre-Antoine said:

How did you hear about us?

I heard about LSE’s European Institute last year. I was studying in London and

occasionally went to conferences at LSE related to European issues. Regarding the

EI’s Facebook page, it was more of a coincidence: I follow the ‘European Parliament in

the UK’ page which shared your post about ‘The future of Europe’s economy:

Deliverance or disaster?’ event. A few days later I also started to follow the EI on

Twitter, via my blog’s account.

How important do you think social media sites are?

I think the answer to that question depends on your goals. If you aim at reaching a

wide audience, I believe they are very important. As I am a simple blogger, social

media sites enable me to reach people who would otherwise never read my articles. I

have also observed that being present on social media during very important events

(e.g., the recent German legislative elections) can bring a higher number of followers.

Social media can also help starting debates with people from very different origins and

living in distant places, but who are interested in the same topic. So, social media can

contribute to the democratic debate insofar as they open a space for discussion.

However, if you seek to develop your influence, I believe social media have a limited

usefulness. For example, when I published an article in the form of an “open letter” to

Angela Merkel urging her to take bold decisions for Europe, I know that the article is

very unlikely to reach her (or her close collaborators), let alone influence her. It is

just a way of sharing my opinion with other people who will maybe find it interesting

enough to share it further. But I actually believe it is good like that, because the

“social media population” is not representative of the whole population and “digital

democracy” cannot and must not replace traditional representative democracy.

Page 3 October 2013

EI Latest News

Finally, I believe it is necessary to point out that social media have different features

and therefore different degrees of usefulness. For example, Twitter is very good to

spread headlines, but the 140-character limit makes it inappropriate to start a

reasoned debate.

Appreciation about the EI’s Facebook page I would give an overall rating of 8/10 to the EI’s Facebook page. Regarding the

content of the posts, I noted that they can be classified in three categories:

information about upcoming conferences; information for EI students; and

information about the publication of academic papers by EI staff. I would suggest

improving it by adding some variety to the sources, e.g., by sharing particularly

interesting newspaper articles about the EU.

As to the form of the posts, those about upcoming events are very informative. But

sometimes they are too long. So I would suggest to focus on the event’s title, to

name only the (or the two) most prominent speaker(s), to mention key information

(date, time, venue) and to put the link to the LSE events’ page which includes more

details about the topic and the speakers. Another potentially positive evolution could

be the inclusion of interactive posts: asking questions to stimulate readers’/visitors’

participation.

Thank you, Pierre-Antoine. We value your views and suggestions, and we’ll take them

on board!

News from our PhD student cohort:

Tim Vlandas

EI’s final year PhD student Tim Vlandas defended his PhD Thesis on ‘Essays on Labour

Market Dualisation in Western Europe: Active Labour Market Policies, Temporary

Work Regulation and Inequality’ on Friday 27 September and has very successfully

passed with very minor revisions. The viva examiners were Prof Silja Häusermann

(University of Zurich, Switzerland) and Prof David Rueda (University of Oxford).

Well done, Tim!

Tim has just started in his new permanent role as Lecturer in Comparative Politics at

the Graduate Institute of Political and International Studies, University of Reading. We

wish you all the best, Tim.

Joseph Downing

EI’s final year PhD student Joseph Downing will be working as an LSE100 Teaching

Assistant for the academic year 2013/14 and as a guest teacher on ‘Principles of Social

Policy’ at the LSE’s Department of Social Policy. Joseph has recently submitted his

thesis on ‘Investigating why Marseille does not riot: Analyzing the role of urban

governance, history commemoration and public culture in defining inclusion in

Marseille, Paris and Lyon’. Congratulations, Joseph!

Page 4 October 2013

EI Latest News

Miss Polly Liouta is the new Hellenic Observatory (HO)

Administrator. She holds a BA in History of Art, an MA in

Classical Art and Archaeology and a Diploma in Event

Management. She is experienced in co-ordinating academic

conferences, educational events, lectures and seminars and has

worked for private and public museums and galleries, including

the National Portrait Gallery.

The EI is pleased to welcome three members of visiting staff:

Dr Hartmut Lenz and Dr Yuemei Ji join us as Visiting Fellows

for the next academic year. Hartmut is no stranger to the EI,

having joined us in 2010 as LSE Fellow in EU Politics. In 2011

Hartmut undertook a Leverhulme Fellowship for two years.

Whilst Hartmut remains at the Institute as a Visiting Fellow he

will be working on a project asking ‘How and to what extent

does domestic political opinion have an impact on negotiations in

the EU’. The project aims to explore under what conditions

domestic public opinion is an advantage or disadvantage for

negotiating actors.

Dr Yuemei Ji joins us from the Faculty of Economics and

Business at the University of Leuven. During Yuemei’s year with

us she will be working on a project with three themes: the

diagnosis of the Eurozone debt crisis; the impacts of the

European austerity policies on the European economies; the

management of the crisis. It includes the study of the role of

European Central Bank as ‘a lender of last resort’ and the

adjustments and imbalances of the Northern and Southern

European economies.

Finally, Dr Martin Westlake joins us until July 2014 as

Visiting Senior Fellow. Martin was the Secretary-General of the

European Economic and Social Committee between 2008-2013.

Prior to that, Martin served as a Director of Consultative

Works as Head of Communications in the Committee, which he

joined in 2003. We are looking forward to working with you all

over the next year.

Page 5 October 2013

Arrivals

Dr Marilena Simiti is joining the HO as Visiting Fellow from

October-December 2013. She is Assistant Professor of Political

Sociology at the Department of European and International

Studies in the University of Piraeus (Athens). She will undertake

research on the current political crisis by highlighting the

continuities and ruptures in citizens’ political engagement prior to

and after the economic crisis. The title of the research will be

‘From passive political participation to political contestation’.

Dr Rifat Baris Tekin has joined LSEE as Visiting Fellow for

the whole academic year 2013/14. He is Assistant Professor at

the Department of Economics, Marmara University (Turkey). His

research at LSEE will focus on the potential impact of the present

crisis in the Eurozone on economic relations and regional trade in

South East Europe, with special attention to FDI flows and

bilateral trade between Turkey and Greece, the two largest

economies of the region. The research title is ‘Foreign Direct

Investment and International Trade during Times of Austerity and Crisis: The Case of

South East Europe’.

The EI is sad to announce that Prof Damian Chalmers has

moved 100% to LSE’s Law Department from 1 October 2013.

Damian has contributed so much to the EI over the years,

including being the EI’s Head of Department for four years. We

will miss him, but we wish him lots of success in his new

department.

The Hellenic Observatory is saying ‘farewell’ to Dr Nikos

Skoutaris, who worked as the Andreas N. Hadjiyiannis Senior

Research Fellow on Contemporary Cyprus. Nikos will be taking a

position as Lecturer in Law at UEA from 1 October 2013. The EI

and HO wish Nikos the very best in his new career move and are

pleased that he will continue to maintain a Visiting Senior Fellowship

with the HO and the EI.

Page 6 October 2013

Arrivals

Departures

The Hellenic Observatory has recently published its latest GreeSE papers. GreeSE

Paper 75 was written by Athanassios Petralias, Sotirios Petros and Pródromos

Prodromídis (September 2013) and is titled on ‘Greece in Recession: Economic

predictions, mispredictions and policy implications’

GreeSE Paper 76 was written by Prodromos Vlamis (September 2013) and is titled

on ‘Greek Fiscal Crisis and Repercussions for the Property Market’.

EI’s Visiting Fellow Richard Bronk was the author of the LEQS latest paper

together with Jacoby Wade. It’s entitled 'Avoiding monocultures in the European

Union: the case for the mutual recognition of difference in conditions of

uncertainty' (LEQS Paper No. 67, September 2013). The paper is also available

here.

EI’s PhD student Tim Vlandas wrote an article entitled ‘The Politics of

Temporary Work Deregulation in Europe: Solving the French Puzzle’ in

the Politics & Society, September 2013 41: 425-460, first published on July 2, 2013

(doi:10.1177/0032329213493754).

EI’s PhD graduate Dr Andreas Kornelakis has written the journal article

‘Liberalisation, Flexibility and Industrial Relations Institutions: Evidence from Italian

and Greek Banking’ for the Work, Employment & Society journal (doi:

10.1177/0950017012466930, ISSN: 0950-0170).

Wednesday 2 October 2013, 18.30-20.00, New Theatre, LSE

‘The 2014 European Elections: why this time will be different’ Panel: Simon Hix, Doru Frantescu, Mats Persson and Bjorn Kjellstrom

(pictured)

Chair: Shirin Wheeler Panel discussion jointly organised by the European Institute and VoteWatch Europe,

in partnership with the European Parliament information office in the UK

Tuesday 8 October 2013, 18.00-19.30, COW 1.11, Cowdray House

‘Crisis and austerity: A Painful Watershed for the Greek Welfare State’ Speaker: Maria Petmesidou, Professor of Social Policy at the Democritus

University of Thrace

Chair: Prof Kevin Featherstone

Hellenic Observatory Research Seminar

Thursday 10 October 2013, The Hellenic Centre, 16-18 Paddington

Street, London

One-Day Conference: ‘The Euro, Greece & the Southern Periphery’ Organised by the British Hellenic Chamber of Commerce Conference, in

collaboration with the Hellenic Observatory and the Council of British Chambers of

Commerce in Europe

Page 7 October 2013

New Publications

Events

Monday 14 October 2013, 18.30-20.00, New Theatre, LSE ‘Can the European Union reconnect with its citizens?'

Speaker: Gavin Hewitt

Chair: Maurice Fraser

LSE European Institute Perspectives on Europe Series public lecture

Tuesday 15 October 2013, 18.00-19.30, COW 1.11, Cowdray House ‘Ruritania in Brussels, Evzones in the Eurozone: Balkan Stereotypes in

the Age of Austerity’

Speaker: Prof Vesna Goldsworthy, Kingston University Chair: Dr James Ker-Lindsay

LSEE Visiting Speaker Programme

Wednesday16 October 2013, 18.30-20.00, Wolfson Theatre, LSE

‘Banking supervision and resolution in the EU – who calls the shots?’

Panel: Ignazio Angeloni, Charles Goodhart and Helene Rey (pictured)

Wolfson Theatre, 18.30-20.00

Chair: Waltraud Schelkle

LSE European Institute Towards a Genuine Economic Monetary Union seminar series

Thursday 17 October 2013, 14.00-15.00, Sheikh Zayed Theatre, LSE

‘The UK in the EU Single Market: What Next? Opportunities and chal-

lenges’ Speaker: Michel Barnier, European Commissioner responsible for the Internal

Market and Services Chair: Prof Maurice Fraser

LSE European Institute Perspectives on Europe Series public lecture

Tuesday 22 October 2013, 18.00-19.30, COW 1.11, Cowdray House

‘Civil Society and Religion in Greece in a Period of Crisis’ Speaker: Dr Manussos Marangudakis, Associate Professor, Department

of Sociology, University of the Aegean

Chair: Dr Vassilis Monastiriotis

Hellenic Observatory Research Seminar

Wednesday 23 October 2013, 18.00-19.30, COW 1.11, Cowdray House

‘The Sandzak: A History’ book launch

Speakers/authors: Dr Kenneth Morrison and Lady Elizabeth Roberts

Chair: Dr James Ker-Lindsay

Organised by LSEE Research on South East Europe (supported by Hurst Publishers)

Tuesday 29 October 2013, 18.00-19.30, COW 1.11, Cowdray House ‘Ethnic Struggle, Coexistence, and Democratization: Hungarian Politics in

Romania’

Speaker: Dr Sherrill Stroschein, University College London

LSEE Visiting Speaker Programme

Page 8 October 2013

Events

Events

Page 9

Wednesday 30 October 2013, 12.30-14.00, 35 Old Queen Street, SW1H

9JA

‘Europe’s global strategy’ (title tbc)

Speakers: Luuk van Middelaar, (Lord) Anthony Giddens and Susi Dennison ‘The Europe Question: perspectives from the UK’ debate series – Jointly organised by

ECFR and LSE European Institute in partnership with the EU Commission

Representation in the UK

… Sixty Seconds Interview with Jennifer (Jen)

O’Connell, MSc and External Relations Assis-

tant. Jen is covering Jenny Robottom’s maternity

leave.

Jen, welcome (officially) to the LSE and EI. We

are very happy to have you here. What have you

found so far to be the most noticeable differences

between your previous career and your

employment with LSE? That you have to empty your own bin! That and the

amazing LSE and EI events. I don’t have a background in

economics but the two events I have so far attended have been so interesting and so

accessible to lay audiences.

What do you like to do in your spare time?

I try to go to the gym as often as possible but I also like running outdoors and

swimming. I like the usual stuff - trying out new restaurants, going to gigs and going

out with friends. Nothing that exciting unfortunately!

If you had a time machine, where and to what era would you go?

It’s quite boring as it wasn’t that long ago but maybe the 50s. From the way this time

is portrayed on television and in books, everything seems so exciting and glamorous.

Things we take for granted now were just the beginning back then, like air travel for

instance! I have some dresses that belonged to my Nana from back then and I love

the style of them all.

What is your favourite type of food?

I enjoy all cuisines although I’m not a big fish eater. I particularly love Lebanese/

Turkish/Greek food.

What is your favourite part of London?

I love Hampstead Heath. I used to live near there and it’s definitely a hope to move

back again. We didn’t have a garden but we didn’t need it as we had this huge space

on our doorstep. I really miss it!

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

This is tough because I can’t really think of anything. This may explain why I still don’t

know what I want to do. I have changed my mind several times, psychologist/

neuroscientist/teacher and much more!

Sixty-Second Interview

Sixty-Second Interview

Page 10

Where are you from originally, and name one

thing this place is famous for. I was actually born in London (my parents came here

from Ireland in the 80s to seek work!). We moved

back to Ireland when I was around two to a tiny

village called Meelick in Co. Clare. I cannot think of a

single famous thing about this place but I live near

Limerick city which is known for being the home of

the Munster rugby team. Quite famously, a couple of

years ago, they played a match against Leinster (rival province) on Good Friday. On

this day, pubs should be shut in Ireland but they opened the pubs in Limerick on this

day to show the match. It was quite controversial!

If you were offered the trip of a lifetime, where would you like to go and

why?

At the moment, there are so many places I want to visit. Namely New York and

Calgary. New York because it’s New York (I hope it lives up to my expectations).

Calgary because that is where my two year old nephew has just moved to! The lack

of job opportunities in Ireland has led my brother and his partner to emigrate.

2-11 October: LSEE’s Dr William Bartlett is presenting a paper on ‘Vocational

education and social inclusion in the Western Balkans at a seminar at the International

University of Sarajevo (2 October), at a seminar at the Institute of Economics in

Zagreb (4 October) and at the University of Tirana, Albania (11 October).

3 October: Prof Nicholas Barr is presenting his report on ‘The pension system in

Sweden’, written at the invitation of the Swedish authorities, to a conference of

stakeholders in Stockholm.

7-8 October: Visiting Fellow Richard Bronk is speaking at a workshop on

reflexivity organised by the Institute for New Economic Thinking and the Journal of

Economic Methodology, at the Central European University in Budapest.

10 October: Prof Iain Begg will is speaking at the TEPSA/EKEME Greek Presidency

conference in Athens, on ‘Banking Union’.

11 October: Dr Waltraud Schelkle is participating in a panel discussion on what

the German elections mean for the Euro crisis, organised by the Cambridge

International Studies Association at the University of Cambridge. For a relevant

podcast on the same topic, click here.

12 October: Prof Paul De Grauwe is presenting on the Eurozone at a

conference in Brussels on ‘Reinventing Europe’.

Staff Calendar

Staff Calendar

Page 11

17 October: LSEE’s Dr William Bartlett is taking part in the EC/IFI Social Sector

workshop hosted by DG Enlargement in Brussels as a discussant.

18 October: LSEE’s Dr William Bartlett is giving a lecture on youth unemployment

in the Western Balkans at a TAIEX Seminar on ‘Employment Policies: fight against youth

unemployment’ organised in co-operation with the Committee of the Regions in

Brussels.

18 October: Dr Jonathan White is presenting ‘Generational Conflict’ at the

William Pitt Seminar on ‘The Anxiety of Age’, Emmanuel College, University of

Cambridge.

18 October: Prof Paul De Grauwe is a keynote lecturer at the annual meeting of

Dutch economists in Amsterdam.

18 October: Prof Iain Begg will is speaking at a conference organised by the

THESEUS project in Vienna , on ‘economic union’.

22 October: Prof Nicholas Barr is giving a presentation on ‘Financing teaching: the

2006 and 2012 reforms in England: Where are we? Where should we be?’ at the LSE.

This is a conference to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the publication of the

Robbins Report.

24-25 October: Hellenic Observatory’s Dr Rebecca Bryant is giving a seminar at

the Anthropology Department of the University of Edinburgh.

25 October: Prof Paul De Grauwe is presenting at CeNDEF symposium in

Amsterdam.

28 October: Dr Waltraud Schelkle is talking about the question whether there is

a case for more protection of national welfare systems at a Policy Network

conference on ‘Growth and wealth creation in tomorrow’s Europe’ in London.

30 October: Dr Jonathan White is presenting ‘The Generational Timescale’ at the

workshop on ‘Justice, genes and welfare: are intergenerational relationships toxic?’, at

the South Bank University, London.

EI in the News

Prof Nicholas Barr

Spanish newspaper El Diario published an interview with Prof

Nicholas Barr on 28 September (in Spanish).

Prof Iain Begg

Prof Iain Begg spoke to Le Monde about the UK’s economic

recession and recover on 10 September.

Prof Iain Begg was interviewed about the French economy by the

Voice of Russia on 26 September.

Dr Olaf Cramme

Sky News interviewed EI’s Visiting Fellow Olaf Cramme on Angela Merkel’s

election ‘triumph’ on 23 September.

Prof Paul De Grauwe

Prof Paul De Grauwe was quoted in a Daily Telegraph story on 20

September as saying that the euro is ‘a currency without a country’, and that

essentially defines the nature of the problem, at a panel discussion at the LSE

on 18 September organised by the EI and CER.

On 23 September, Paul told CNN that the imbalance [in the Eurozone] had

created a system ‘where the creditor nations rule and impose their conditions

and the others are subservient to that. At some point, these countries will not

continue to accept this recipe’.

Under the title ‘China's investment a 'job-saver' in Europe, the China Daily

features a story on 24 September where Paul argued that to satisfy its middle

class, China will import more agricultural products and luxury goods from

Europe. This story was also picked up by China Securities Journal Net and

Xinhua News Agency.

In an analysis entitled ‘Euro zone current account surplus puts Germany in

dock’, Reuters UK quotes Paul as saying ‘Unemployment is at a record high

in the periphery, where investment has fallen

almost three times more than in core coun-

tries. Politically this is not acceptable and

therefore these countries will be pushed into

default’, Paul said. This story was picked up by

Chicago Tribune as well.

Page 12 Monthly European Institute Newsletter

EI in the News

Dr Spyros Economides

In an article by Bloomberg’s Henry Meyer on 11 September about the

situation in Syria, Dr Spyros Economides argues that “If Assad thinks Putin can

guarantee his long-term survival then he may make some concessions. It will

mean a lot in the Middle East and internationally for Russia if Putin succeeds

and it will show the world that the U.S. is less powerful’.

In statements to the Voice of Russia on 19 September on the killing of anti-

fascist activist in Athens Petros Fyssas by a member of the Golden Dawn

group, Spyros said that the attack followed several years of similar violence

against immigrants to Greece that did not get the same kind of attention.

Spyros was also quoted in an article on the Greek Nazi party Golden Dawn by

the Danish newspaper Information on 24 September.

Prof Kevin Featherstone

Prof Kevin Featherstone, in an Op-Ed for Greek newspaper Kathimerini on

1 September, asked ‘What is Britain saying now?’ in its foreign policy after the

parliamentary vote on Syria.

Kevin wrote a commentary for the Independent on 17 September entitled

‘Greece's Herculean task is to survive a recession as big as the Wall Street

Crash’, in which he says among many things ‘Amid the frenzy of strikes, street

protests and stalled negotiations it is difficult to get a clear picture of whether

or not the two debt bail-outs for Greece are working. The renewed

speculation that Greece might need further support next year adds further

concern’.

In a story in the Guardian on 21 September on the new wave of violence in

Athens, Kevin said ‘Greece's exit from the crisis is being made much more

politically difficult and socially painful than is needed. The spread and depth of

austerity that lenders have insisted on has been much too severe. There has

been success, but success at what price? If this is success, who wants to be

rescued like this?’. This was also picked up by International Business

Times UK.

Under the heading ‘Austerity measures push Greek universities to point of

collapse’ on 25 September, Kevin told the Guardian’s Matina Stevis that ‘The

troika is not focusing enough on structural reforms which would be growth

enhancing’.

Dr James Ker-Lindsay

Dr James Ker-Lindsay’s article ‘Engaging with Contested States: How

Much Interaction Constitutes Recognition?’ was published on e-

International Relations. Dr James Ker-Lindsay also spoke to CyBC radio

(Cyprus) about the latest developments in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Page 13 Monthly European Institute Newsletter

EI in the News

Dr Jan Komarek

In an article of the Wall Street Journal on 27 September, Dr Jan Komarek

was asked to comment on a new hurdle for resolving euro crisis: Constitutions.

Jan said that constitutional courts also ‘operate in the context of society and

politics’ In southern Europe, ‘there is little support from both for austerity, and

that is reflected in their decisions’.

Dr Waltraud Schelkle

Dr Waltraud Schelkle has written a blog for CNN on the myths that Germans

and Germany's critics share.

Maarten Veldmans, MSc in Political

Economy of Europe (2013)

‘I completed the MSc in Political Economy of

Europe this year. It was a very fascinating and

especially intellectually challenging year, during

which our professors continuously pushed us to

go one step further. This experience in itself

was very exciting and required a great amount

of effort on my part to succeed. The LSE has been a rich environment for me on

a social level as well for bringing together a very diverse range of ambitious

people. I would urge all new students to take full advantage of that so that they

get the best experience from studying a year abroad. I also found participating in

extracurricular activities incredibly valuable. One of my favourite experiences

was a weekend trip to Cornwall with the LSE Surf Club. It was simply a lot of

fun and I made some good friends from it. I also established a social life outside

of LSE to avoid getting trapped inside a bubble whilst doing something that

couldn’t hurt my CV. I therefore co-founded the London branch of AEGEE,

Europe’s biggest interdisciplinary youth association which promotes

inter-cultural understanding, progressive values and debates on European

integration. It offers a lot of opportunities for young students, such as travelling

abroad in cultural exchanges for low prices or engaging in fun local activities. I

aspire to build a career in conference production which involves conducting

research on themes for business conferences and corresponding with leading

entrepreneurs from various industries to arrange speakers. That way, I can

remain engaged in current economic affairs and regularly enjoy travelling

abroad’.

Alumni News

Page 14 Monthly European Institute Newsletter

Alumni News

Alumni News

Dimitris Dimitriadis, MSc European Studies (2000)

Dimitris works as Director of Investment Banking and

Advisory Services at XRTC Business Consultants in

Greece. XRTC Business Consultans Ltd. is a leading

financial consulting and advisory services firm established in

1999 acting as a representative of international banks with

the intention to enter or continue operations in the Greek

shipping market. His duties include among others

origination, structuring and execution of new transactions as well as the

preparation of credit applications and credit analysis. Dimitris has given an

interview to Shippax Magazine in July 2013 entitled ‘Greece needs to find

solutions for its ferry services’. You may read a transcript of the interview

here.

Victoria Volossov, MSc in European Political Economy, LSE – Sciences

-Po double degree, (2011)

‘When I graduated from the European Institute in September 2011, I joined the

British Embassy in Paris as a research officer in climate and energy policy. A very

exciting insight into UK-France relations! The degrees from Sciences Po and LSE

were crucial for me to secure this job – they gave me the tools to effectively

analyse the British and French approaches to policy-making and the diplomatic

culture. I am very grateful to teachers from both institutions, who gave me

excellent references with short notice, before I had my interview.

In my professional life, some of the skills I learnt during the Master’s programme

have been particularly important: setting the right priorities, for example. At LSE,

every hour had to be carefully allocated, between reading, researching, writing

essays/presentations, seminars, language classes, lunchtime concerts, student

associations, talks, sports, the George... This was good practice for planning my

own workload and managing others’ expectations. Another example would be

that LSE and Sciences Po taught me how important it can be to question the

reasoning behind established rules. At the embassy, I secured funding and organ-

ised Arabic classes for a group of employees – nobody had thought to ask if this

was possible.

Finally, my education gave me a little bit of serenity. So when my contract with

the embassy ended, I decided to carefully choose a job that I would be proud

of. The LSE Career Service helped me understand the sectors I was interested

in. It was also good to get in touch with other LSE alumni, who would often

offer information about the organisation they were working in. Today I work

for Great Britain’s Office for Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem), the sector

regulator for energy. Making economic policy and ensuring our stakeholders

will implement it, is my day-to-day job. For example, my team has been working

on the largest reforms of the retail market since privatisation (our most

recent decision published here).

Page 15 Monthly European Institute Newsletter

My MSc dissertation on the regulatory design of the EU Emissions Trading

Scheme had given me useful information about regulatory theory.

Even today I regularly return to LSE. For example, to use the LSE Library for

research on climate security. My most recent paper was published by the French

Ministry of Defence, in the Directorate for Strategic Affairs. Based on expert

interviews, the paper gives five recommendations to the French Defence corps

about security risks that might be linked to climate change adaptation and

mitigation measures (available here).

Also, I come to Capoeira training three times a week, a Brazilian martial art/

dance I have been heavily involved in ever since joining LSE’ (see Aprendendo

Angola’s website’ here).

European Institute

London School of Economics and Political

Science

Houghton Street

Cowdray House

WC2A 2AE

Tel: +44 (0)207 955 7537 / 7896

Email: europeaninstitute@lse.ac.uk

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Page 16 Monthly European Institute Newsletter

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