Research

I research the EU institutions, the backgrounds, careers and beliefs of EU civil servants, gender, diversity and inclusion in the EU administration, the interaction between the EU and the member states, and UK-EU relations, pre-and post-Brexit.

I have been PI or Co-I on grants from the British Academy, the ESRC, the Nuffield Foundation, and the EU ('EMU Choices’).

Much of my work has been collaborative across institutions and disciplines. Click for a full list of my publications.

Current projects

As well as monographs on the EU and Brexit, and on the presidentialisation of the European Commission, I am working on several collective volumes:

Negotiating Brexit. EU institutions, national governments, and the UK, co-edited with Simon Usherwood,

Coordination at the Top, co-edited with Jean-Michel Eymeri-Douzans and Marie Goransson

The National Coordination of European Policy after Lisbon and an era of Crisis, co-edited with Eva Heidbreder

Research highlights

I have led four major multi-disciplinary research projects on the EU administration and the people who work for it:

• 'The European Commission: Where now? Where next?Link opens in a new window', 2018
• ‘Understanding the EU Civil Service: the General Secretariat of the CouncilLink opens in a new window’, 2016
• 'European Commission: Facing the FutureLink opens in a new window', 2014
• 'The European Commission in QuestionLink opens in a new window', 2008

These projects explore leadership and coordination, the internal operation of EU bodies, the backgrounds and beliefs of officials, and the careers of EU civil servants, with a particular focus on gender. Data from the three projects on the European Commission have allowed us to undertake longitudinal analysis of many of these topics.

Beyond the EU administration, I have conducted projects that investigate topics as varied as member state-EU relations, EU competition policy including the operation of the European Competition Network, the EU's common aviation policy, policy instruments in the EU's multi-level system, and uses of the principal-agent model in modelling relations in government and politics.

This project, which I lead as Senior Fellow under the ESRC's 'The UK in a Changing Europe’ initiative, investigates the reconfiguration of the UK's relations with the EU and European states after Brexit. Dr Cleo Davies is the senior research associate and Dr Pippa Lacey the administrative assistant. The 'Living with the Neighbours ObservatoryLink opens in a new window' brings together specialists to provide expert commentary from across Europe on relations with the UK.

'Living with the neighbours' builds on earlier research, ‘Negotiating Brexit: EU institutions, national governments, and the UK’, and ‘Negotiating the Future’, which examined the negotiations that led to the Withdrawal Act and the Trade and Cooperation Agreement. It also assesses the impact of Brexit on UK regulation

The events conducted as part of my first Fellowship, ‘Assessing UK membership of the EULink opens in a new window’, explored key aspects of UK-EU relations.

As part of those projects, I have organised multiple events, published commentary and analysis, and co-hosted with Cleo Davies four series of podcasts, including 'Books on Brexit', ‘Good Neighbours? The UK and Europe after Brexit’, 'After Brexit: What has changed?’, and ‘Negotiating Brexit: views from the Member States’.

I have appeared many times on radio and TV, and been interviewed by national and international media in relation to this work.

News

New reports

UK-EU: What next? considers the challenges that the Starmer government will face in resetting the UK's relationship with the EU, July 2024.

'The UK and its neighbours: views from across EuropeLink opens in a new window' - first publication from the Living with the Neighbours ObservatoryLink opens in a new window, written by leading specialists, June 2024.

Panelist 'The State of UK-EU relations' at UK in a Changing Europe annual conference 2024, 18 June 2024

Talk 'Post election prospects for UK-EU relations' at the Royal Elcano Institute, Madrid, 13 June, 2024

Blog: Elena Barcani and Hussein Kassim 'Von der Leyen II and the ‘Geopolitical Commission’: more of the same?', UK in a Changing Europe, 9 October 2024

Podcast series: 'Books on Brexit', with Cleo Davies, 2023

Explainers and working papers:

Cleo Davies and Hussein Kassim Institutions and governance of the EU-UK relationship

Cleo Davies and Hussein Kassim UK bilaterals with EU member States since Brexit

Forthcoming articles:

Pierre Alayrac, Sara Connolly, Miriam Hartlapp, and Hussein Kassim ‘Pathways to the top: Women, men, and leadership in the European Commission’ European Union Politics

Forthcoming book:

National European Union narratives: ‘official stories’ of belonging, coedited with Adriaan Schout, which explores the meanings that the EU has for twelve European states, will appear later this year

Research impact

I am strongly committed to working with research users. I submitted impact case studies drawing on my work on the EU administration to both the 2014 and 2021 REF audits. Our 2021 REF impact case study was awarded a 4*, the highest possible score.

Engagement

I have hosted multiple public events, including several series of 'The too difficult box' featuring leading figures (politicians, civil servants, and others) which I convened with Charles Clarke at my previous institution. My activities as a 'UK in a Changing Europe' Senior Fellow have included multiple conferences, expert events, and broadcasts. Highlights include:

Good neighbours? UK and Europe after Brexit

After Brexit: Utopia or dystopia?

Negotiating the Future EU-UK relationship

What influence? The UK and Europe

Reporting the Europe: the UK media and the EU

The EU and the UK. External Perspectives on UK Membership of the EU – past, present and future