On 4 October 2017, Luuk van Middelaar published his new book ‘De nieuwe politiek van Europa’ (Groningen, Historische Uitgeverij, 372 p.), the fruit of two years of intensive writing, drawing on new research, on his previous 'Passage to Europe' and on five years of practical political experience at the Van Rompuy European Council Presidency.
The book engages the reader on a journey through the various crises that shook the European Union in the past decade (euro crisis, Ukraine war, refugee crisis, Brexit-&-Trump) and then analyses in-depth the impact of these events on the European’s system of government as well as on the appreciation of public opinion, which manifests itself as opposition. He also shows how the “Brussels” European Union learns to deal with the unavoidable trade-offs and compromises between our values when confronted with such unexpected events.
The launch of the book was the occasion for numerous public events, lectures and media appearances, above all in the Netherlands and Belgium. Translations will follow from 2018.