On 22 October 2025, the FGV Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence, co-funded by the European Union under the Erasmus+ programme, in partnership with the FGV Centre for Global Law, was honored to welcome Prof. Ramona Coman, Professor at the Université Libre de Bruxelles. The class was part of the third edition of the Rio School on Global Governance, Democracy and Human Rights.

Prof. Coman began by presenting the dissensus over liberal democracy, in light of the constitutionalization of values in the European Union (EU). While the 1950s represented a new wave of democratization and consolidation of liberal democracy, the founding EU treaties had no references to democracy, as economic integration was the priority. In the 1960s, the question of democracy flared up, until the 1973 Declaration on European Identity put forward the principles of representative democracy, rule of law, social justice and respect for human rights. These values were constitutionalized in subsequent treaties, but today many speak of a democratic crisis in the EU, with growing contestation over liberal democracy, the rule of law and judicial independence.

The second part of the lecture examined the EU’s response to this crisis, which became a test of the EU’s political authority and its capacity to act. Prof. Coman assessed the transition from soft tools to hard conditionality, such as the possibility for the EU to suspend funds. Then, she presented some findings from her book, “Dissensus Over Liberal Democracy: Insights from European Judges”, in which the authors interviewed European judges about the state of democracy in Europe today and their role in the public sphere. The work found that there is cooperation between judges, who increasingly cooperate horizontally through transnational networks. These ties strengthen judicial culture and resilience against illiberal pressures. Nonetheless, many actors also emphasized that judicial mobilization alone cannot reverse authoritarian trends.

We sincerely thank Prof. Ramona Coman for this insightful and engaging session.