SPAIS Lunchtime Talks are a chance to hear SPAIS lecturers and researchers offer their take on some of the big issues of the day. Talks will draw on their research and expertise, inviting us to think critically about events and ideas shaping popular discourse on politics and international relations today. Talks will last approximately 25 minutes, followed by a Q&A session. 

Professor Cini’s talk will focus on the role of France and Germany and how both countries sit within the European Union and globally. It will take into account that both states are likely to experience political turbulence owing to election consequences and campaigns. The talk situates this discussion within the two countries’ traditional function of motor of the European integration process, questioning whether that function is still relevant. It looks back at how crises have impacted the two countries  (refugee crisis, rule of law crisis, Brexit, COVID  to name but a few), and looks forward to consider how France and Germany might perform in the context of future European and global challenges, whether in the climate change negotiations, or in addressing other pressing issues such as digital innovation and regulation.