Current News

In a guest commentary in the Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Konstantin Bätz and Patrick Weber examine a new EU measure that promises more clout on the global market. The Anti-Coercion Instrument is described as an important step towards strategic autonomy, but it allows for too much flexibility, offers too little protection for private companies and neglects extraterritorial sanctions by EU partners. The guest commentary can be read here.

Prof. Dr. Gerald Schneider talks to the Stuttgarter Zeitung about Switzerland's crumbling relationship with the EU and its implications for the Lake Constance region. Last April, Switzerland broke off negotiations with the EU for a framework agreement. This breakdown was also partly due to a growing nationalisation of politics in Switzerland and unsettled medium-sized companies in all parts of the four-country region of Lake Constance. The online article can be found here.

The Bild-Zeitung interviews Prof. Dr. Gerald Schneider on Robert Habeck's climate policy for a commentary in the online edition of the newspaper. The authors interview various association representatives and other experts on the climate policy for the next four years, which Robert Habeck presented at the beginning of the week. The commentary can be found here.

In a Deutsche Welle preview of the election year 2022, Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Seibel discusses possible election results for the SPD and CDU. The article focuses in particular on the state elections in Saarland, North Rhine-Westphalia, Schleswig-Holstein and Lower Saxony. The article can be read online in English here and in German here.

Prof. Dr. Christian Breunig was interviewed by Bayerischer Rundfunk and Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung as part of the diversity study he published. The content of both interviews is the composition of the German Bundestag with regard to the diversity of the members of the Bundestag. The article of the Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung can be found here, the article of the Bayerischer Rundfunk here.

Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Seibel was interviewed by ARD about the new federal government as part of the Morgenmagazin programme. Special focus was placed on the new ministers who have been assigned to a ministry away from their previous area of activity. The short excerpt from the Morgenmagazin can be viewed here.

Kathryn Hahn-Madole from the USA (M.Sc. SEDS) and Christian Græns Mende from Denmark (M.A. PolVer) have received the VEUK award for honorable international full-time students in 2021. The Alumni Association of the University of Konstanz VEUK awards three prizes á 200 Euro each year to honor special efforts of exchange students and foreign students. More information about the award and the previous winners can be found here.

The KOMEX workshops offer cutting-edge, inclusive, and affordable methodological training in both qualitative and quantitative research design and techniques for PhD students and postdocs. Courses take place from March 10-11 (On-line preparatory course) and March 14-18, 2022 (in-person and on-line main courses at 4 ECTS) at the University of Konstanz, Germany—beautifully situated at Lake Konstanz, close to the Alps, near the borders to Switzerland and Austria. More information on the matter can…

Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Seibel was interviewed about the election of the CDU chairmanship as part of an online article by Deutsche Welle. In it, he comments on the three candidates and their ability to lead the CDU as opposition leaders in the future. In this context, the political background of the candidates is also discussed. The article can be found here.