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Research

I research the EU institutions, the backgrounds, careers and beliefs of EU civil servants, gender, diversity and inclusion in the EU administration, the interaction between the EU and the member states, and UK-EU relations, pre-and post-Brexit.

I have been PI or Co-I on grants from the British Academy, the ESRC, the Nuffield Foundation, and the EU ('’).

Much of my work has been collaborative across institutions and disciplines. Click for a full list of my publications.

Current projects

As well as monographs on the EU and Brexit, and on the presidentialisation of the European Commission, I am working on several collective volumes:

Negotiating Brexit. EU institutions, national governments, and the UK, co-edited with Simon Usherwood,

Coordination at the Top, co-edited with Jean-Michel Eymeri-Douzans and Marie Goransson

The National Coordination of European Policy after Lisbon and an era of Crisis, co-edited with Eva Heidbreder

Research highlights

The European Union

, edited by Hussein Kassim and Adriaan Schout, investigates the official stories that governments tell their citizens about participation in the EU. With contributions from leading specialists from across the EU, the twelve country studies show that these stories may invoke common themes of security, prosperity, and acceptance, but that they differ from each other and, indeed, from the EU's own formal narratives.

The EU institutions and administration

Over the past fifteen years, I have led four major multi-disciplinary research projects on the EU administration and the people who work for it:

• 'The European Commission: Where now? Where next?Link opens in a new window', 2018
• ‘Understanding the EU Civil Service: the General Secretariat of the CouncilLink opens in a new window’, 2016
• 'European Commission: Facing the FutureLink opens in a new window', 2014
• 'The European Commission in QuestionLink opens in a new window', 2008

These projects explore leadership and coordination, the internal operation of EU bodies, the backgrounds and beliefs of officials, and the careers of EU civil servants, with a particular focus on gender. Data from the three projects on the European Commission have allowed us to undertake longitudinal analysis of many of these topics.

Beyond the EU administration, I have conducted projects that investigate topics as varied as , EU competition policy including , , , and uses of the principal-agent model in modelling relations in government and politics.

This project, which I lead as Senior Fellow under the ESRC's '’ initiative, investigates the reconfiguration of the UK's relations with the EU and European states after Brexit. Kirsty Warner is the research assistant, succeeding Dr Cleo Davies who worked on the project until September 2024 and continues to be associated with it, and Dr Pippa Lacey the administrative assistant. The '' brings together specialists to provide expert commentary from across Europe on relations with the UK.

'Living with the neighboursLink opens in a new window' builds on earlier research, ‘Negotiating Brexit: EU institutions, national governments, and the UK’, and ‘Negotiating the Future’, which examined the negotiations that led to the Withdrawal Act and the Trade and Cooperation Agreement. It also assesses the

The events conducted as part of my first Fellowship, ‘Assessing UK membership of the EULink opens in a new window’, explored key aspects of UK-EU relations.

As part of those projects, I have organised multiple events, published commentary and analysis, and co-hosted with Cleo Davies four series of podcasts, including 'Books on Brexit', ‘Good Neighbours? The UK and Europe after Brexit’, 'After Brexit: What has changed?’, and ‘Negotiating Brexit: views from the Member States’.

I have appeared many times on radio and TV, and been interviewed by national and international media in relation to this work.

A full list of research and engagement activities conducted across the course of the three UK in a Changing Europe Senior Fellowships and a further grant I held under the programme can be found here.

News

New book: , coedited by Hussein Kassim and Adriaan Schout, explores the meanings that the EU has for twelve European states - France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, the UK, Ireland, Denmark, Greece, Austria, Hungary, Poland, and Lithuania.

In the news: Kirsty Warner interviewed by on youth mobility.

New reports

We are delighted to launch The Starmer Government and Europe: Resetting relations in turbulent times 28 May 2025, a production

considers the challenges that the Starmer government will face in resetting the UK's relationship with the EU, July 2024

Contributor: Cleo Davies and Hussein Kassim 'The EU's Brexit Strategy' in the UK in a Changing Europe '', 28 January 2025

Panelist 'The State of UK-EU relations' at 18 June 2024

Blog: Elena Barcani and Hussein Kassim '', UK in a Changing Europe, 9 October 2024

Podcast series: '', with Cleo Davies, 2023

Explainers and working papers:

Cleo Davies and Hussein Kassim

Cleo Davies and Hussein Kassim UK bilaterals with EU member States since Brexit

Research impact

I am strongly committed to working with research users. I submitted impact case studies drawing on my work on the EU administration to both the 2014 and 2021 REF audits. Our 2021 REF impact case study was awarded a 4*, the highest possible score.

Engagement

I have hosted multiple public events, including several series of '' featuring leading figures (politicians, civil servants, and others) which I convened with Charles Clarke at my previous institution. My activities as a 'UK in a Changing Europe' Senior Fellow have included multiple conferences, expert events, and broadcasts. Highlights include:

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