What does the future of Europe look like in times of internal tensions and external crises? From 17 to 19 June 2026, political scientists from across the German-speaking world will gather at Zeppelin University in Friedrichshafen. Under the joint umbrella of the political science associations of Germany (DVPW), Austria (ÖGPW) and Switzerland (SVPW/ASSP), this year’s Dreiländertagung is dedicated to the highly topical theme “Europe’s Future – The Future of Europe: Internal Tensions and External Challenges”.
At the heart of the scholarly debate: Lena Gigerl, Setaiesh Ghafari, Stacy Ogembo and Nadine Benedix from the DFG Research Training Group “Standards of Governance”, together with postdoctoral researcher Dr. Julia Drubel, Prof. Dr. Nathalie Behnke and the Speaker of the RTG, Prof. Dr. Jens Steffek. They present their own research contributions at the conference and offer important insights into how the European Union and international organisations act as standard-setters, particularly in the areas of sustainability, governance and human rights.
Our Research Contributions
EU Supply Chain Law and Standard-Setting
Lena Gigerl explores in her contribution current developments regarding civil society participation in the EU. Using the example of the so-called ‘Omnibus I’ package, which inter alia simplifies due diligence standards for companies under the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), she discusses the relationship between established participatory structures and supposedly urgent legislative proposals.
“The Commission’s preparation of the ‘Omnibus I’ package illustrates that civil society participation is being increasingly viewed as an obstacle when human rights and environmental standards are up for debate. The Dreiländertagung is the ideal platform to discuss these developments.” – Lena Gigerl
EU Structural Funds and Mainstreaming
Setaiesh Ghafari & Prof. Dr. Nathalie Behnke analyse the role of mainstreaming in EU Cohesion Policy in their paper “Carrots and Sticks: Mainstreaming through European Structural and Investment Funds as an Innovative Governance Tool”. They argue that linking EU structural funds to cross-cutting objectives such as gender equality, non-discrimination, and sustainability constitutes an innovative form of European governance that combines financial incentives with procedural requirements.
“Our paper raises the question of whether the European Union today governs less through the harmonisation of policies than through the standardisation of procedures. We are particularly looking forward to discussing this proposition and its implications for how we understand European integration.” – Setaiesh Ghafari
UN Standards and Women’s Rights
Stacy Ogembo focuses on global human rights governance. In her paper “Making Standards Work? The CEDAW Committee and the Domestic Implementation of Women’s Rights”, she employs Qualitative Content Analysis (QCA) to examine how the CEDAW Committee’s monitoring practice shapes national policies on gender-based violence. To do so, she conducts a comparative case study of two African countries.
‘”My research shows that implementation of UN recommendations unfold incrementally and selectively over time, with less demanding recommendations being more likely to be implemented than those requiring sustained resources. I hope the conference will sharpen my understanding of the global entanglements of governance standards and allow me to engage with comparable findings from other research areas.'” – Stacy Ogembo
Child Labor and Global Norms
Nadine Benedix examines in her paper “Implementing Child Labor Standards: Fields of Contestation and Unruly Beneficiaries” why the global eradication of child labor remains elusive despite near-universal ratification of the relevant ILO conventions. Drawing on the cases of Peru and Senegal, she shows how globally formulated child rights standards are reinterpreted and contested in local contexts – and how working children’s movements themselves become central actors in the localization of these norms.
“My paper shows that global standards on child labor encounter their own local logics on the ground – and that those affected are by no means merely passive recipients, but agents in their own right. I look forward to discussing this perspective alongside the other contributions on the panel.” – Nadine Benedix
Postdoctoral researcher Dr. Julia Drubel and Prof. Dr. Jens Steffek are also presenting contributions connected to the Research Training Group: Julia Drubel examines the interplay between evidence-based policy-making and participatory procedures using the example of the EU’s Sustainable Forest Management standard, while Jens Steffek traces the historical development of governance benchmarking practices from the colonial “standard of civilization” to today’s World Bank indices.
All contributions directly engage with the Dreiländertagung’s central theme, showing how standard-setting in Europe and beyond responds to internal tensions and global challenges. They also highlight the thematic breadth and contemporary relevance of research within the Research Training Group.
“The active participation of our doctoral researchers in the Dreiländertagung underlines the high relevance and visibility of research within our Research Training Group. The contributions impressively demonstrate that ‘Standards of Governance’ should be at the centre of scholarly debate on the future of Europe and the global order.” – Prof. Dr. Jens Steffek, Speaker of the Research Training Group
About the Conference
The Dreiländertagung takes place every three years and is an important forum for scholarly exchange within the political science community across the German-speaking world.
Further information: https://www.dvpw.de/veranstaltungen/3-laender-tagungen/dreilaendertagung-2026#c8230