Prof. Dr. Sandra Eckert

• governance in the European multilevel system
• European integration, Europeanisation, Single European Market
• comparative public policy, policy analysis
• regulatory governance, private governance
• comparative capitalism, international political economy
• economic and social regulation, green regulation; banking regulation, energy regulation, network industries
• environmental policy, sustainable development, circular economy

• Project partner in the project »The European Elections as a Seismograph of Political Trust? A German-Austrian Comparison« (EUROPOLVER), Universitätsbund Erlangen-Nürnberg e. V., Luise Prell Foundation, International Association for the Study of German Politics, May 2024 – May 2025.
• Partner in the Jean Monnet Network VISTA »Revitalising the Study of EU Single Market Integration in a Turbulent Age«, Goethe University Frankfurt, January 2020 – August 2023.
• Principal Investigator »Regulating the Circular Economy and Plastics in the OECD World« German Israeli Foundation for Scientific Research & Development (GIF), January 2022 – December 2022.
• Investigator in the Research Group »The Economic and Monetary Union at the Crossroads«, LEIBNIZ Institute for Financial Research SAFE (Sustainable Architecture for Finance in Europe), House of Finance, Goethe University Frankfurt, January 2019 – December 2022.

Monographs    

2019. Corporate Power and Regulation. Consumers and the Environment in the European Union. London: Palgrave Macmillan.Discussed by: Malou van den Broek, Onna 2020. »Exploring Two Facets of Corporate Power in EU Policymaking.« Political Studies Review http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1478929919899348

2015. The Social Face of the Regulatory State. Reforming Public Services in Europe. Manchester: Manchester University Press.

Edited volumes

2024. »The Geoeconomic Turn of the Single European Market« Journal of Common Market Studies Special Issue 62/4 (Ed. with A. Herranz-Surrallés & C. Damro).2012. »Symposium on Experimentalist Governance«, Regulation & Governance 6/3 (with T. A. Börzel).

Articles in peer-reviewed journals

2026. » Europäische Außenwirtschaftspolitik und die politische Rolle von Unternehmen in der Ära der Geoökonomik«, ORDO Vol. 76/2026. Doi 10.1515/ORDO-2026-3012.

2025. »Turf Protection or Policy Expansion? How European Agencies Shape Their Reputation Through Social Media Communication« Regulation & Governance 1-13 (with K. Shyrokyh & K.Olofsson). https://doi.org/10.1111/rego.701172

2025. »Europäische Wirtschaftspolitik in der geopolitischen Ära: Eine geoökonomische Wende?« Integration 1/2025.https://doi.org/10.5771/0720-5120-2025-1-4

2024. »The Geoeconomic Turn of the Single European Market? Conceptual Challenges and Empirical Trends« Journal of Common Market Studies 62/4 (with A. Herranz-Surrallés & C. Damro). https://doi.org/10.1111/jcms.13591

2024. »Business Power and the Geoeconomic Turn in the Single European Market« Journal of Common Market Studies 62/4. http://doi.org/10.1111/jcms.13604

2024. »A policy portfolio approach to plastics throughout their life cycle: Supranational and national regulation in the European Union« Environmental Policy and Governance 34/4, 427-441. (with O. Karassin & Y. Steinebach). https://doi.org/10.1002/eet.2092

2023. Review of: »Analysing the Trust-Transparency Nexus: Multi-level Governance in the UK, France and Germany« Politische Vierteljahresschrift 64/3, 661–663. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11615-023-00482-2

2022. »European administrative networks, private networks and agencies: coexisting, cooperating or competing?« Journal of European Public Policy, 29/10, 1610-1630. https://doi.org/10.1080/13501763.2022.2104913

2022. »Sectoral Governance under the EU’s Bilateral Agreements and the Limits of Joint Institutional Frameworks: Insights from EU-Swiss Bilateralism for Post-Brexit Relations with the UK« Journal of Common Market Studies 60/4. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcms.13315

2022. »Supranational authorities and private actors as drivers of single market integration? The state of the Union in electricity and banking« Journal of European Integration 44/1, 19-40. https://doi.org/10.1080/07036337.2021.2011265

2021. »The European Green Deal and the EU’s Regulatory Power in Times of Crisis« Journal of Common Market Studies Annual Review 2021. 59/S1, 81-91. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcms.13241

2021. »Varieties of Framing the Circular Economy and the Bioeconomy. Unpacking business interests in European policymaking« Journal of Environmental Policy and Planning, 23/2, 181-193. https://doi.org/10.1080/1523908X.2021.1894106

2021. »Are business actors right a lot? On the strategic use of self-regulation and litigation by European business associations« (in German) Der Moderne Staat, 13/2, 1-22. https://doi.org/10.3224/dms.v13i2.06

2020. »Beyond legislation: reconsidering the locus of power in EU regulatory governance« Special Issue The Theory and Practice of Legislation eds. N. Kosti, D. Levi-Faur and G. Mor, 7/3, 205-225. https://doi.org/10.1080/20508840.2020.1730102

2020. »Private authority in tackling cross-border issues. The hidden path of integrating European energy markets« Special Issue Journal of European Integration eds. V. J. Fairbrass, A. Herranz-Surralés and I. Solorio 42/1, 59-75 (with B. Eberlein). https://doi.org/10.1080/07036337.2019.1708340

2018. »Two spheres of regulation. Balancing social and economic policy goals« Regulation & Governance 12/2, 175-313. https://doi.org/10.1111/rego.12137

2016. »The governance of Markets, Sustainability and Supply. Toward a European Energy Policy« Journal of Contemporary European Research 12/1, 502-517. https://doi.org/10.30950/jcer.v12i1.694

2012. »Experimentalist Governance: An Introduction« Regulation & Governance 6/3, 371-377 (with T. A. Börzel). https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-5991.2012.01163.x

2010. »Between Commitment and Control: Varieties of Delegation in the European Postal Sector« Journal of European Public Policy 17/8, 1231-1252. https://doi.org/10.1080/13501763.2010.513581

2009. »Self-Regulation by Associations: A Collective Action Problem in Environmental Regulation« Business and Politics 11/1, Article 3 (with A. Héritier). https://doi.org/10.2202/1469-3569.1250

2009. »Postal Reform around the Globe. Comparing the Asian and European Experience« Policy and Society 27/3, 261-272. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polsoc.2008.10.005

2008. »New Modes of Governance in the Shadow of Hierarchy: Self-Regulation by Industry in Europe« Journal of Public Policy 28/1, 113-138 (with A. Héritier). https://doi.org/10.1017/S0143814X08000809

Book chapters

forthcoming 2026. »Umweltpolitik in der Vergleichenden Politikwissenschaft« In: Handbuch Vergleichende Politikwissenschaft, edited by Marianne Kneuer, Gert Pickel and Susanne Pickel. Berlin: Springer Nature.

2026. »Geopolitics and responsible business conduct« In: The Routledge Companion to International Law and Responsible Business, edited by B. Wernaart, New York: Routledge (with M. Krajewski) (https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2179-1924).

2026. »Wirtschafts- und Währungsunion«. In: Europa von A bis Z, edited by W. Weidenfeld, W. Wessels and F. Tekin. Wiesbaden: Springer VS. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-24456-9_120-3

2026. »Wettbewerb und Regulierung« in: Politik und Wirtschaft, edited by  K. Mause, C. Müller and K. Schubert, Springer, Wiesbaden (with O. Budzinski). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-06476-1_11-1

2026. »Binnenmarktpolitik« in: Jahrbuch der Europäischen Integration 2025, edited by W. Weidenfeld and W. Wessels, Baden-Baden: Nomos Verlag, 211-216.

2025. »Energy Policy: Integration by Stealth and Crisis-driven Change« in: EU Regulatory Responses to Crises: Adaptation or Transformation? edited by D. Fromage, A. Héritier and P. Weismann, Oxford: Oxford University Press (with O. Windahl Pedersen). https://academic.oup.com/book/59307

2023. »Business and private finance: their role in the EU’s climate transition« in: Handbook on European Union Climate Change Policy and Politics, edited by T. Rayner, K. Szulecki, A. J. Jordan, S. Oberthür, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing.

2023. »Circularity in the Plastic Age: Policymaking and Industry Action in the European Union« in: Living in the Plastic Age. Perspectives from Humanities, Social Sciences and Environmental Sciences. edited by J. Kramm und C. Völker, Frankfurt/New York: Campus Verlag.

2022 »Theresa May’s leadership in Brexit negotiations: Self-Representation and Media Evaluations« in: Pathways to Power: Female Leadership and Women Empowerment in the European Union. edited by I. Tömmel and H. Müller, Oxford: Oxford University Press. (with C. Galpin)

2019. »Cross-border technical cooperation in times of political disintegration: The case of European electricity markets« (in German) in: Energiewende in Times of Populism (in German) edited by W. Canzler, J. Radtke and M. Schreurs, Wiesbaden: Springer VS.

2018. »The company in western business systems and national varieties of advanced capitalism« in: Handbook of the International Political Economy of the Corporation, edited by C. May and A. Nölke, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing.

2018. »The European Commission as a negotiator: Evidence from the disintegration talks with the United Kingdom and Switzerland « in: The European Commission: promoting European Cohesion? edited by J. Ege,  M. W. Bauer and S. Becker, Baden-Baden: Nomos.

2018. »Wettbewerb und Regulierung« in: Politik und Wirtschaft: Ein integratives Kompendium, edited by K. Mause, C. Müller and K. Schubert, Wiesbaden: Springer VS/ Gabler. (with O. Budzinski).

2011. »European Regulatory Governance« in: Handbook of the Politics of Regulation, edited by D. Levi-Faur, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, 513-524.

2011. »EU« in: Internationale Organisationen, edited by K. Freistein and J. Leininger, München: Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag, 94-105

2009. »Researching Governance in a Multinational Environment: The European University Institute«, in: European Multilevel Governance. Contrasting Images in National Research, edited by B. Kohler-Koch and F. Larat, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, 153-164.

2004. »Paul Karl Feyerabend«, »Thomas Samuel Kuhn«, »Imre Lakatos«, »Karl Raimund Popper«, in: Politische Theorie der Gegenwart in Einzeldarstellungen, edited by G. Riescher, Stuttgart: Kröner Verlag.

Working papers

2023. »Wettbewerb und Regulierung (Update 2023)« (November 2023). Ilmenau Economics Discussion Paper No. 183. https://www.tu-ilmenau.de/fileadmin/Bereiche/WM/wth/Diskussionspapier_Nr_183.pdf (with O. Budzinski).

2022 »The Limits of Joint-Institutional Frameworks for Sectoral Governance in EU-Swiss Bilateral Relations: Lessons for Future Relations with the UK« (February 21, 2022). SAFE Working Paper No. 341, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.co/abstract=4039554 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4039554

2022 »Political Science Research on the Reasons for the (non) Adoption and (non) Implementation of EMU Reform Proposals: The State of the Art« (January 2022). SAFE Working Paper No. 339. http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4020327 (with V. Lindner and A. Nölke).

2020 »EMU reform proposals and their (non) implementation: An overview«. SAFE White Paper No. 78, December 2020. https://safe-frankfurt.de/fileadmin/user_upload/editor_common/Policy_Center/SAFE_White_Paper_78.final.pdf (with V. Lindner and A. Nölke).

2020. »EU Agencies in Banking and Energy between Institutional and Policy Centralisation«. SAFE Working Paper No. 278, May 2020. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3609845; TARN Working Paper Series 05/2020, July 2020. Available at SSRN:https://ssrn.com/abstract=3709679.

2015. »Wettbewerb und Regulierung« Diskussionspapier Nr. 93, Institut für Volkswirtschaftslehre, Technische Universität Ilmenau (with 0. Budzinski). https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-658-06227-9_11

2008. »Self-Regulation by Associations: Collective Action Problems in European Environmental Regulation« EUI Working Papers, RSCAS 1008/26 (with A. Héritier). https://cadmus.eui.eu/handle/1814/9049

Other Publications

Business Power and Geoeconomics in the European Union, Blog post for Ideas on Europe, The JCMS Blog. Insight from the Journal of Common Market Studies. 19 April 2024.

Conference paper »The Politics of Deregulation in Times of Crisis. The example of Omnibus I«, DVPW Dreiländertagung Europe’s Future – Future Europe. Internal Tensions and External Challenges, Zeppelin Universität Friedrichshafen, Friedrichshafen, 17-19 June 2026. 

Conference paper »Green transition on the ballot? The impact of green issue orientations on party choice in the 2024 EP elections«, DVPW Dreiländertagung – Future Europe. Internal Tensions and External Challenges, Zeppelin Universität Friedrichshafen, Friedrichshafen, 17-19 June 2026 (mit Simon Primus und Constantin Wurthmann). 

Conference paper »European Reliance on US Big Tech as a Security Risk? The EU's Geoeconomic Turn and Critical Infrastructure«, Workshop Capital, Values and Strategic Autonomy: Business-State Relations in Europe’s Zeitenwende, Alfred Krupp Wissenschaftskolleg, Greifswald, 11-12 June 2026 (with Silvia Weko). 

Conference paper »Die EU als Regulativer Staat under pressure. Die Politik der Simplifizierung unter von der Leyen II« (The EU as a regulatory state under pressure. The politics of simplification under von der Leyen II), Workshop of DVPW section on Policy-Analysis and Administrative Science, Otto von Guericke Universität Magdeburg, Magdeburg, 12-13 March 2026.

SmartProSys Symposium, Keynote Lecture »Regulating Plastics in Europe: Politics, Policy Instruments and Policy Outcomes«, Otto von Guericke Universität Magdeburg, Magdeburg, 1 October 2025.

Conference paper »The involvement of third countries in European administrative networks and private networks. The example of Switzerland in energy and banking«, Workshop Exploring the European Administrative Space: The Role of New Venues in the Differentiated Integration of the EU, University of Geneva, Geneva, 26 May 2025.

Organiser and Convenor of the Workshop Sustainability Research in Economics, Law and Political Science, FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, 3-4 April 2025.

Conference paper »Environmental Policy and Comparative Politics. Adopting a policy portfolio approach to the Circular Economy«, Workshop Sustainability Research in Economics, Law and Political Science, FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, 3-4 April 2025.

Organiser and Convenor of the Workshop »Towards a New Era of Environmental Risk Regulation in the EU? Analysing the EU Regulatory Approach in a Comparative Perspective«, ECPR Joint Sessions of Workshops 25– 27 April 2023, Sciences Po Toulouse (with Ronit Justo-Hanani, Tel Aviv University, Israel).

Conference paper »Energy Policy« Workshop on EU rule-making in crises, Salzburg, 2-3 February 2023 (with O. Windahl-Pedersen).

Conference paper »Policy measures and voluntary initiatives on plastics in the Circular Economy at national and European level. Taking stock«,  Conference on Regulation, Frankfurt School of Finance and Management, Frankfurt, 29 November 2022.

Conference paper »EU energy policy in times of war. The geo-economic turn of the regulatory state« Workshop on Energy Policy in Times of War, Darmstadt, 28 October 2022.

Panel discussion »Electricity in Perspective« Workshop Electricity rules towards unity or diversity? European University Institute, Florence, 12-13 October 2022.

Conference paper »The Dynamics of Differentiated Integration and Sectoral Governance – Revisiting the Banking Case«, ECPR General Conference, University of Innsbruck, 22–26 August 2022.

Conference paper »Integrating the Climate Risk into EU Regulatory Governance«, ECPR General Conference, University of Innsbruck, 22–26 August 2022.

Conference paper »Regulating the Circular Economy and Plastics in the OECD World«, ECPR General Conference, Universität Innsbruck, University of Innsbruck, 22–26 August 2022. (with O. Karassin and Y. Steinebach).