When EU member states signed the Treaty of Lisbon in 2007, they did not anticipate the manifold crises in store for them over the following years. Instead of the intended consolidation of a Union which had just gone through its most profound modernisation and biggest round of enlargements, the EU has since then had to weather a wide range of political, economic, social, legal, health and even military crises with major repercussions within and beyond its own territory. Indeed, this time of polycrisis has induced change on many levels: Across the continent and its many fora of European supra-, trans- and international collaboration, established institutions, rule systems and normative frameworks have been put into question and power balances have been shifting. Against this background, actors from social, political, economic and cultural life have sought new ways to overcome the manifold pressing problems of their time, be it through intensified collaboration or attempts to increasingly resolve issues at the national level.

This roundtable brings together a diverse group of established and early-career scholars who have contributed to the newly published volume 'The EU under Strain? - Current Crises Shaping European Union Politics' (De Gruyter 2023), which offers a compilation of case studies on EU crisis responses, covering the most impactful of the various crises the EU has had to face in recent years. Stella Ladi will act as discussant, contextualising the volume with her own research on EU polycrisis. The roundtable participants will not merely present their respective chapters and case studies, but will discuss larger dynamics shaping EU politics against the now virtually permanent background of (poly)crisis. Moreover, the roundtable will address what new challenges and tasks this permanent state of (poly)crisis presents to researchers in the area of European studies, and how they can be tackled. Members of the audience will be actively involved especially in this latter part of the discussion.