Prof. Dr. Schwarzer is a renowned expert in European affairs and transatlantic and international relations.
In addition to her position at the Bertelsmann Stiftung, she is an honorary professor of political science at Freie Universität Berlin and a senior fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center. She serves as non-executive board member of BNP Paribas, the Jacques Delors Institute, and is a member of the advisory council of the European Council on Foreign Relations.
Prior to joining the Bertelsmann Stiftung, she was executive firector for Europe and Central Asia at the Open Society Foundation, director and CEO of the German Council on Foreign Relations, served on the executive team of the German Marshall Fund of the United States, and worked at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP). She also held academic positions at the Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies, and the Hertie School.
Adherence to the rule of law is central to the European Union, which is why it cannot afford to have Member States undermine it without repercussions. The good news is: the EU is not defenceless. It has the leverage, such as the competence of the Commission to hold back funds from the Corona Recovery Plan, to get the rule-breakers back in line. It is indispensable that national governments of Member States defend those rules and have the European Commission's back. In a global clash of systems, it is fundamental to inform public debate about the purpose of those principles.
