Alessandro Petti defended his thesis

Alessandro Petti defended his thesis "Wider Europe : the extension of the EU’s legal space" on 2 December 2021. Congratulations Doctor!

This thesis turns the political formula of "Wider Europe" into an analytical concept to expound the interplay of law and diplomacy in the EU’s extended legal space. The formula was originally employed to outline the EU’s proximity policies following the Union’s enlargements in the 2000s. Brexit has brought about the need to further reflect on the original Wider Europe design: the set of new legal relations between the EU and the UK challenges the paradigms of gravitation around the EU legal order conventionally characterising the EU’s proximity relations.

Relying on both legal and international relations scholarships, the thesis discloses the patterns of inclusion and exclusion entailed in the geopolitical reconfigurations through law promoted by the EU. The focus is not limited to formal legal arrangements but includes the more elusive processes of third countries’ socialisation in the wider European legal space.

The thesis develops a composite analytical framework to account for the legal techniques and repertoires characterising the Wider Europe. It offers novel insights on the complex relationship between the EU’s internal and external integration experiences. It contributes to capture the different political covenants underlying EU membership law and EU neighbourhood law. In doing so, the work sheds light on the evolving nature of the EU legal order while appreciating the dense web of legal and material interdependences managed and fostered by the EU’s proximity policies.

Jury:

• Loïc Azoulai, Professeur des Universités, Sciences Po (supervisor)
• Marise Cremona: Emeritus Professor, European University Institute 
• Giacinto Della Cananea: Professore Ordinario, Università Bocconi
• Christophe Hillion: Professor, University of Oslo
• Cécile Rapoport: Professeure des Universités, Université de Rennes