EUFutures affiliated Researchers and Students

Viviane Perrier is a student in political economy at the École Normale Supérieure Paris-Saclay as well as a student in comparative politics at SciencesPo Paris. Between May and July 2026, she supported the Center research activities by building a timeline, based on historical and institutional sources, of the European Union’s key achievements. This timeline constitutes a necessary step in order to comprehend how the Union has responded to major economic and political crises, and how these crises have shaped its development over time.

Looking at the main actors, institutions, and policy instruments involved in this process and drawing on the literature on European integration and EU transformations, the goal is also to identify what can be learned from past post-crisis growth strategies. Such works serves as a useful baseline to develop forward looking strategies that support a more cohesive, just and future-oriented European Union.

📹 Watch the video where Viviane Perrier explains the core goals of her project and her experience with EUFutures.

Selin Gocer is a Master's student in International Affairs at the University of Bologna. Before starting her Master's degree, she worked on EU- and IFI-funded international development projects, an experience that sparked her interest in European governance and public development.

Between July 2026 and March 2027, she collaborates with EUFutures through her Master's thesis, which examines how the European Union has adapted its budgetary governance in response to successive crises. By comparing different Multiannual Financial Frameworks (MFFs), her research explores whether the EU budget has evolved from a primarily redistributive instrument into a more strategic tool for crisis management and governance.

Drawing on EU budget documents, institutional negotiations, and policy debates, the project aims to contribute to current discussions on European integration, EU governance, and the future evolution of the European Union.

📹 Watch the video where Selin Gocer explains the core goals of her project and her experience with EUFutures.

Simone Slusarz is a Master’s student in International Relations and Diplomatic Affairs at the University of Bologna. His research focuses on Comparative Political Economy, EU governance, and the study of populism and Euroscepticism.

As an affiliated student with EU Futures from July to December 2026, his Master’s thesis examines how EU crisis governance influences populist and Eurosceptic contestation across different European economic models. Specifically, he is developing a European Political Economy framework to analyze how EU crisis legitimacy (input, output, and throughput) is articulated by populist discourse. Through this lens, his project aims to explain why anti-system contestation varies between creditor and debtor states, contributing to current debates on the political economy of the EU's polycrisis and sustainable growth.

📹 Watch the video where Simone Slusarz explains the core goals of her project and her experience with EUFutures.

Michela Antonucci is a master's student in International Relations and Diplomatic Affairs at the University of Bologna. Her current research interests focus on European Political Economy, particularly European economic governance in the context of the renewed prominence of industrial policy in the global political economy.

From July to December 2026, she collaborates with EUFutures through her master’s thesis, which examines the recent resurgence of industrial policy in the European Union. By comparing two legislative acts—the Net-Zero Industry Act and the European Chips Act—her research investigates how the European Union is concretely formulating its industrial policy agenda across key strategic domains, with particular attention to the objectives, policy instruments, and governance arrangements. The project aims to contribute to current debates on the transformation of EU economic governance, the evolution of European integration, and the European Union's position within an increasingly competitive global political economy.

📹 Watch the video where Michela Antonucci explains the core goals of her project and her experience with EUFutures.

Stella Nuria Aiello is a student in the Master's Degree programme in International and Diplomatic Sciences at the University of Bologna. Her research interests focus on European Political Economy, in particular the evolution of European economic and financial governance. Between July 2026 and March 2027, she collaborates with EUFutures as part of her master's thesis, which examines the role of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) as a manager of global crises. The work traces the evolution of European economic and financial governance through the analysis of the sovereign debt crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, trade tensions with the United States, and the conflict in Iran, adopting an institutionalist approach attentive to the role of ideas, actors, and critical junctures.

The research draws on official European Union documents, including communications from the European Commission, conclusions of the Council of the EU, the European Council, and the Eurogroup, resolutions of the European Parliament, and publications from the European Central Bank, alongside the analysis of policy instruments such as the Stability and Growth Pact, REPowerEU, and various negotiated and tariff-related agreements.   The aim of the research is to identify recurring patterns in the EMU's response to external shocks and to contribute to the debate on the resilience and future of European integration.

📹 Watch the video where Stella Nuria Aiello explains the core goals of her project and her experience with EUFutures.