Acknowledgements
When writing a book comes to an end, one is overwhelmed by looking back at the entire process and cannot help but think of all those who provided vital support and encouragement along the way. This book would not exist without the people I want to honour here.
The book is part of the wider research project LEVIATHAN – ‘Legal and Political Accountability in “Post-Crisis” EU Economic Governance’ (2017–2021) – funded by the European Research Council (ERC) within the framework of the Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement 716923). I am immensely grateful to Mark Dawson, the principal investigator of LEVIATHAN, for entrusting me with one of the work packages of the project. Working with Mark has been an incredible privilege: a brilliant EU law scholar, an encouraging mentor, and supportive beyond measure in the professional and the personal sphere. He has always had time to discuss my research, read my work, and provide constructive and helpful feedback. The four years I spent working with him on the project were some of the most enjoyable and academically enriching times of my career as an EU lawyer. I hope the future will bring many more opportunities for us to work together and I am so lucky to also be able to call Mark, and his husband Pierre, my dear friends. I am also extremely happy that Mark, in selecting his project team, brought Adina Akbik into my life. Her dedication to work, thorough approach to research, and unwavering support have helped me become a better researcher and shaped many of the ideas expressed in this book. She is my dear academic sister and I am grateful for all her support and inspiration. The Hertie School and its Jacques Delors Centre are a wonderful academic community that always challenged and pushed my thinking forward, and I am especially thankful for the multidisciplinary environment these institutions provided. My special thanks go to Markus Jachtenfuchs and Christian Freudlsperger for making political science indispensable in my work. I am also grateful for the help of the research assistants at the LEVIATHAN Project: Evgenija Kroeker, Rebecca Segall, Harry McNeill Adams, Elena Bertolini, and Francesco Lanzone. Writing this book has been less stressful thanks to Cambridge University Press, and in particular Tom Randall, Sharon McCann, and Gemma Smith.
I am incredibly grateful to Paul Dermine for taking the time to read large parts of this book and offering generous and useful feedback, raising important counterarguments, and generally helping me improve the text. It was wonderful having him as a colleague at the Court of Justice and discuss ongoing developments with our academic hats on. My thanks also go to Thomas Reyntjens, for reading parts of this book and challenging my arguments from a practical point of view. I have presented different parts of this book at numerous conferences, and the feedback and discussions that took place there shaped my thinking and significantly improved my work. I am particularly grateful to Anuscheh Farahat, Xabier Arzoz, Joana Mendes, Klaus Tuori, Julian Nowag, and Martijn van den Brink. I am also grateful to the anonymous reviewers who assessed the book proposal and gave valuable suggestions and feedback that made this book better. I am happy to be part of the EU law academic community, and I hope I will be able to pay the same favours forward in the future.
The last stretches of writing were done during my work in the Cabinet of Advocate General Tamara Ćapeta at the Court of Justice of the EU. I am beyond grateful to Tamara for her support and encouragement, for the intense and stimulating exchanges during our cabinet meetings, and for forcing me to think differently about pressing questions of EU law. From day one, working with my colleagues in the cabinet – Nicolaj, Franck, Kathleen, Antonia, Cian, Corinne, Benoît – has been an inspiring and enjoyable experience; the intellectual environment they create has allowed me to continue my academic research alongside my work on pending cases at the Court.
I am grateful to my friends and family for their love and care. Thank you, Jelena and Milan, Bruno and Grga, Lucija and Mislav. Thank you, Lilas, Josephine, Petra, Kristina, Tamara (P), Branka, Selçuk, Alice, and Ulrike und Albrecht.
This book is dedicated to Ole, my partner and my favourite person. He has been by my side since this book was only a proposal, when I had ample time to write it, and when it was most difficult to find the focus and strength to finish it. Thank you, Ole, for being in my life. ‘That it now.’
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