On March 8th, Professor Olivier Costa (College of Europe) was welcomed as an invited professor at the Rio School on Global Governance, Democracy and Human Rights, an activity organised by the FGV Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence on EU-South America Global Governance, co-funded by the European Commission under the Erasmus+ Programme.

His lecture on "How the EU really works?" provided an explanation of the state and functioning of the EU political system. Professor Olivier Costa gave a comprehensive and concrete overview of the way EU actors elaborate, reform and implement European norms and policies. His lecture took into account not only the main EU institutions (European Council, Council, European Parliament, Commission) and their formal interactions, but also the numerous non-institutional actors that evolve around them (experts, lobbyists, civil society representatives) and the informal contacts that play a growing role in the EU decision-making.

The lecture was followed by the participation of students who engaged in a debate about the topics explained in class.