Projects

Currently I spend my days daydreaming, thinking and writing about issues in citizenship and equality in capitalist democracies, particularly the EU. More specifically, my research centres on competition law & policy in the EU and the US, economic governance & democracy in the EU and gender equality. In the past, I also worked extensively on EU external rights particularly from a Kurdish minority rights perspective. I consider myself a 'critical scholar', which means that I am not convinced with mainstream theories and official explanations and I go beyond those in my investigations to find the answers that I find convincing and satisfying. I am also an interdisciplinary researcher, as my research often sits at the intersection of law, economics and political science.

Competition law & policy, economic governance and democracy

I am deeply interested in citizen's participation to economic decision-making and governance on matters which tremendously impact on citizen welfare, such as competition law and policy, against the mainstream conviction that these matters are too complex and technical for citizens to have a voice. Between 2015-19 I held a competitive and prestigious Marie Curie grant to investigate citizen participation to competition policy-making. Whilst working on a collaborative project focusing on deliberative democracy in the EU, I am also developing a new project that will investigate competition law enforcement in labour, personal data and financial services markets to develop a 'citizen welfare' model as opposed to the currently dominant 'consumer welfare' model.

My publications in this field include the following:

‘The Conflict Between Market Competition and Worker Solidarity: Moving From the Consumer to a Citizen Welfare Standard in Competition Law’, (2020) Legal Studies, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/lst.2020.31
‘Bringing the citizen back into EU democracy: against the input-output model and why deliberative democracy might be the answer’, (2018) European Society and Politics, 19(5): 577-594.
‘Legitimacy and Multi-Level Governance in European Union Competition Law: A Deliberative Discursive Approach’, (2016) Journal of Common Market Studies, 54(4): 826-845.
‘Network Governance in European Competition Law Post-Financial Crisis: What Impact on Legitimacy?’, in JM Beneyto and J Maillo (eds.), Fostering Growth in Europe: Reinforcing the Internal Market, (Madrid: CEU Ediciones, 2014).

Gender equality

My research in gender equality is often driven by my own experiences and frustrations as a working mother. I am particularly interested in the role of gender in economic governance and, therefore, unsurprisingly, I spend my days thinking about gender budgeting and how to increase women's participation to decisions about allocation of resources in society. I have been commissioned by the European Parliament twice to provide expertise on gender budgeting, although the institutional resistance to gender budgeting among EU institutions persists. I am also a member of the UK's Women's Budget Group. Currently I am working on a collaborative project investigating gender equality effects of the 'Next Generation EU' programme and the EU's 2021-27 Multiannual Financial Framework.

My publications in this field include the following:

‘Gender Budgeting in the European Parliament’, in Petra Ahrens & Lise Rolandsen Agustin (eds.), Gendering the European Parliament: Structures, Policies, and Practices, (Rowman & Littlefield: New York).
Gender Responsive EU Budgeting – Update of the Study ‘The EU Budget for Gender Equality’ and Review of Its Conclusions and Recommendations (European Parliament, 2019).
Report for the European Parliament, EU Budget for Gender Equality (European Parliament, Brussels, 2015 with Fiona Beveridge)

Turkey-EU relations and Kurdish minority rights

In the past I worked extensively on this subject, although it is a dormant interest at present, due to the comatose status of EU-Turkey relations and Turkey's outright hostility towards the Kurdish population. However, if the dynamics change in the future, I will be very much keen to revive this research interest.

My publications in this field include the following:

Turkey and the EU: Facing New Challenges and Opportunities (co-edited with Lars Hoffmann, Routledge, 2014)
‘The Future of Democratic Reform in Turkey: Constitutional Moment or Constitutional Process?’, 49 Government and Opposition 682 (2014)
‘Rethinking Conditionality: Turkey’s EU Accession and the Kurdish Question’, 51 Journal of Common Market Studies 416 (2013 with Lars Hoffmann)
‘The 2011 General Elections in Turkey: Potential Implications on Domestic and International Politics in the Shadow of a Discourse Change?’, 65 Parliamentary Affairs 255 (2012 with Lars Hoffmann)