On 1-3 July, #CAPIS Director Laura Polverari participated in the ECPR Standing Group on the European Union (SGEU) conference at the University of Catania. She contributed, alongside Amy Verdun (University of Victoria), Martin Moland (Hertie School), Andreas Dür (University of Salzburg), Stella Ladi (Queen Mary, University of London) and Simona Piattoni (Università degli Studi di Trento) to the “Authors meet critics” round table on the innovative book on policy dynamics by Eva Thomann , Kent Weaver and Tiziano Zgaga chaired by Tiziano Zgaga (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) and Kent Weaver(Georgetown University). Prof. Polverari also took part in a forward-looking round table on the future of the socio-economic governance, organised by Jonathan Zeitlin and Sven Schreurs (University of Amsterdam), together with Anton Hemerijck (European University Institute) and João Magalhães (University of Edinburgh). The conference was a great opportunity to reflect on the strengths of the EU in these challenging times and highlighted, amongst others, the continued relevance of a strong social justice agenda (even, or perhaps even more so, in the context of external pressures).