Eline-Madeleine Schmeets

PhD researcher

Eline-Madeleine Schmeets is a PhD researcher at Studio Europa Maastricht analysing the European integration process where it ‘hits the ground’, i.e., where theories, policies, subsidies and good intentions meet with everyday reality. With her research Eline-Madeleine wants to generate a better understanding of the way the interaction between the formal European integration process—as spearheaded by the European Union—and (informal) situated cross-border integration processes both make and unmake the European project. Her research will add to the existing literature on European integration by arguing that integration efforts at the European level do not necessarily override integration efforts at the cross-border level and might even be counterproductive. At the same time, it will demonstrate what a Perecquian interest in the seam of Europe offers with regard to possible bottom-up approaches to European integration.