Could you tell us about your research at the EUI?
I am a law researcher at the EUI. I work on the procedure for concluding Trade Agreements by the European Union (EU) and, more precisely, on the role of the European Parliament (EP) in this procedure.
With the Lisbon Treaty, the current Article 218 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) reforms the procedure for concluding EU Trade Agreements and, more in general, international agreements. Article 218 TFEU seems to confer a limited role or involvement to the European Parliament in concluding international agreements, suggesting that the main institutional actors are only the European Commission and the Council.
My research project analyses how the European Parliament has managed to become a very impactful institutional player in this field. I concentrate both on procedural aspects, meaning how the Parliament has been making its way into the procedure, and on substantive aspects, meaning what chapters in EU Trade Agreements the Parliament has been able to change, such as the content of the chapters on Trade and on Sustainable Development. To better understand these developments within the Parliament, my thesis also relies on interviews with EU officials. These interviews allowed me to gain access to information which is not present in the official documents, and to inter-institutional negotiations and discussions taking place behind closed doors.
Could you tell us more about your experience in Brussels?
I was a European Parliamentary Research Service (ERPS) visiting scholar, under the European Parliament’s Visiting Scholarship scheme, from 1 October until 31 December 2023. The European Parliament’s Visiting Scholarship scheme promotes links between high-level academics and think-tankers on the one hand, and, EP staff engaged in research and policy-related work, on the other.
During my stay in Brussels, I also conducted the fieldwork part of my research. The fieldwork consisted in interviews with officials from the EU Institutions: the Parliament, the Council, and the Commission. Both the Parliament's visit and the fieldwork were essential for my PhD project. The possibility to do research within the Parliament allowed my PhD project to shed light on subjects which are insufficiently developed in the existing literature or are difficult to access through the literature alone. I am referring, for example, to inter-institutional relations (and tensions) between the Parliament and the other EU institutions and Member States in the framework of the procedure for concluding EU Trade Agreements.
What are the main lessons learnt from this experience?
The interviews enabled me to meet officials and practitioners who are directly concerned with the topic of my research. They helped me to understand the EU institutions' practice and the tensions during meetings behind closed doors in the context of the procedure for concluding EU Trade Agreements. These procedures are very difficult to understand from the outside, if we only rely on official documents. It is also quite difficult to comprehend legal practice from the outside, with an observer’s point of view. This experience really helped me to gain a better understanding of all those complex aspects. The fieldwork boosted both my research writing and my enthusiasm about my PhD project. This happened as I was fascinated by all of the findings and openness of the EU officials I met, and therefore I was eager to enrich my PhD dissertation with those findings.
How has being a researcher at the EUI facilitated this experience?
During the first years of my PhD in Law at the EUI, I received useful training on various methods in order to approach legal research. Thanks to dedicated seminars offered by the EUI Law Department, I also felt very well trained in conducting fieldwork, in particular interviews. Moreover, my experience was very much facilitated by the ‘EUI Mission Fund’, which provides researchers with yearly financial help for conducting research outside of the EUI. It goes without saying that such research outside an academic institution, for a relatively long period of time, requires additional funding in order to be conducted properly and adequately. The EUI allocates special funds for these types of experiences, because it understands the importance of expanding our practical understanding of law as lawyers and as law researchers.
What do you believe is the added value of being a PhD researcher at the EUI?
I always say that the EUI is heaven on earth for anyone in academia, without exaggeration. Researchers are encouraged to find their own ideas and work for and on these ideas, and the Institute, as I mentioned earlier, also funds some research missions for researchers. The fact that the EUI pays particular attention to empirical legal methods, which usually translates into fieldwork or short research stays in various institutions and organisations, help us, researchers, to be fully dedicated to our projects and to make progress in our research.
In relation to the fieldwork in Brussels, I also realised the power and extent of the EUI network of alumni. I frequently found former EUI researchers now working in EU institutions. In addition, being a PhD researcher at the EUI comes with a bit of prestige. Whenever I mentioned that I am a researcher at the EUI and that I would like to conduct interviews for my PhD thesis, people were more keen to interact with me and to go more in-depth in our discussions.
Dorin-Ciprian Grumaz is a Romanian researcher at the EUI Department of Law, where his PhD thesis will be on ‘The European Parliament’s Battle for Power in EU External Relations: The conclusion of Free Trade Agreements under Article 218 TFEU’. Within the EUI, Ciprian is also a coordinator of the International Economic Law and Policy Working Group.