Brussels-based political analyst focusing on European affairs.

Expertise

  • Expertise in European affairs, particularly EU institutions and governance, including power dynamics between Member States. Research areas include the EU’s institutional design; elections; national and European elections; overall EU priorities and the MFF negotiations.

    Former projects in that field included a comparative analysis of the EU elections 2024 in 4 countries, hosted by Das Progressive Zentrum and the European Policy Centre; an analysis of the German elections 2021 and its implications for Europe, also with the European Policy Centre. Co-launched a project to follow the EU Council Presidencies, in particular the German Presidency in 2020 and the French Presidency in 2022.

  • Expert on EU democracy, rule of law and civil society. Author of several papers, e.g., on EU civil society support to Ukraine; EU civic education; and the EU’s rule of law and democracy agenda. From 2019-2023, project lead of “Connecting Europe” project, providing EU expertise to a network of 40+ civil society organisations.

    I also worked on democratic innovations, citizen participation and representation. For instance, I co-launched the annual “Innocracy Conference” in Berlin, as well as a network of democracy innovators within the “Democracy Lab” at Das Progressive Zentrum. From 2017-2019, I monitored the far-right surge and developed counter-strategies to right-wing populism right after the Brexit vote and Trump’s election in 2016.

  • In the past years, I have focused on Franco-German relations, its development in the past ten years at the highest level, and the role of both countries in EU policy-making. I regularly comment political news and elections in both countries for French and German media outlets, as well as for international media.

  • I worked on the topics of social cohesion and solidarity mechanisms in Europe, e.g. through a fellowship with the Charlemagne Prize Academy, researching EU solidarity during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021/2022 as well as with Bertelsmann Stiftung in 2017/2018.

  • In the past two years, I focused on the EU’s Green Deal and its implementation, in particular in the following areas: green trade (e.g., CBAM, EUDR), EU agrifood policies, as well as ocean protection and governance (EU Ocean Pact; MPAs; decarbonisation of the shipping industry). I’ve also helped philanthropies with their funding strategy on European climate and fair transition, and explored the climate-democracy nexus.

About me

  • Sophie Pornschlegel is a Brussels-based political analyst, with a focus on EU politics and institutions, democracy and the rule of law. She teaches at Sciences Po Paris and is the author of the book ‘Am Ende der gewohnten Ordnung: Warum wir Macht neu denken müssen’ (‘At the end of the known order: Why we need to rethink power’) (Droemer, 2023). She regularly comments on EU, French and German politics in international and national media outlets.

    Sophie holds a double degree in European Affairs (M.Sc.) from Sciences Po Paris and the London School of Economics (LSE), as well as an interdisciplinary B.A. from Sciences Po Paris. She also studied at King’s College London. She is fluent in French, German and English and is learning Dutch.

  • Sophie Pornschlegel ist Expertin für Europapolitik mit einem Schwerpunkt auf EU-Institutionen, Demokratie und Rechtsstaatlichkeit. Sie ist Autorin des Buches ‘Am Ende der gewohnten Ordnung: Warum wir Macht neu denken müssen‘ (Droemer, 2023). Sie lehrt an der Sciences Po Paris und kommentiert regelmäßig europäische Neuigkeiten in nationalen und internationalen Medien.

    Sophie hat Politik- und Europawissenschaften an der Sciences Po Paris und der London School of Economics (LSE) studiert sowie ein Erasmus-Jahr am King’s College London absolviert. Sophie spricht fließend Französisch, Deutsch und Englisch und lernt Niederländisch.

  • Sophie Pornschlegel est analyste en affaires européennes et spécialiste des institutions européennes, des question d'État de droit et de démocratie. Elle est l'auteure du livre « A la fin de l’ordre habituel: pourquoi nous devons repenser le pouvoir », publié en allemand en 2023. Elle enseigne à Sciences Po Paris et commente régulièrement l'actualité européenne dans les médias nationaux et internationaux.

    Sophie a étudié les sciences politiques et les affaires européennes à Sciences Po Paris et à la London School of Economics (LSE). Elle a également effectué une année Erasmus au King's College de Londres. Sophie parle le français, l’allemand et l‘anglais, et apprend le néerlandais.

A woman with blonde hair and glasses appearing on a news broadcast, with the headline in German about a political scientist discussing the new EU Commission.
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Woman speaking into a microphone at a panel discussion, with a man seated beside her, in front of a booth with text about advocacy, livestreams, campaigns, lobbying, and social media, and a banner for Euromovescotland.org.uk.
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Services

Research & Analysis

  • Conducting policy analysis and research projects, including comparative studies, scoping exercises and bespoke reports for European and international organisations.

  • Authoring analytical content such as discussion papers, policy briefs, op-eds and insights for think tanks, foundations, and civil society actors.

  • Author of the non-fiction book At the End of the Regular Order: Why We Need to Rethink Power (Am Ende der gewohnten Ordnung: Warum wir Macht neu denken müssen, Droemer).

Policy Consulting

  • Designing tailored strategies for think tanks, foundations and NGOs, with a focus on EU, democracy and climate policy.

  • Preparing evidence-based policy briefs, recommendations and stakeholder mappings to inform decision-making and advocacy.

  • Supporting the development of grant-making strategies for foundations, providing actionable recommendations and sectoral insights.

Public Speaking

  • Delivering keynotes at high-profile events and institutions, including EU institutions, national ministries and regional parliaments.

  • Providing expert inputs for board meetings, high-level roundtables and panel discussions.

  • Facilitating workshops and roundtables, and moderating panels and conferences.

Stakeholder Engagement

  • Developing advocacy strategies and recommendations for NGOs, think tanks, foundations and federations (e.g. in the media sector).

  • Building and managing networks, including a civil society coalition of more than 40 organisations.

  • Representing clients in exchanges with policy-makers, foundations and the media.

Media work

  • Publishing op-eds in outlets such as Zeit Online, Tagesspiegel and FAZ.

  • Co-hosting podcasts, such as the Jacques Delors Institute podcast Rethinking Europe.

  • Regularly invited as a commentator on TV and radio, including BBC, Reuters, France24, Al Jazeera, Deutsche Welle as well as national broadcasters such as France Info, ARD, ZDF (ZDF Aspekte, Maybrit Illner) and ORF.

Teaching

  • Visiting lecturer at Sciences Po Paris, teaching a seminar on EU institutions and governance for Bachelor students.

  • Previous teaching experience includes a seminar on comparative EU politics at Freie Universität Berlin (2018/2019) and a summer course on EU-UK relations after Brexit at the Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes summer school (2018).

Current & Previous Partners

SciencesPo logo in red text on a white background.
Logo of Das Progressive Zentrum in black and pink text.
Logo for the European Policy Centre, featuring the initials 'EPC' in burgundy, a globe design in gray, and the text 'European Policy Centre' below.
Logo of Europe Jacques Delors featuring a blue circular design and the text "Europe Jacques Delors" with the tagline "Thinking Europe".
Logo of E.ON Stiftung with red text and red border on a white background.
Logo of ENoP, European Network of Political Foundations.
Charlemagne Prize Academy logo with a circular emblem featuring a profile portrait and stars.
Text that reads 'Droemer Knaur' with a small red asterisk symbol.
Elf logo with stylized figure and the word 'elf' on a blue background.
Logo of Friedrich Ebert Stiftung with red background and white text
Open Society Foundations logo with a black square containing a white spiral design.
Agora Strategy logo with red geometric shape and text 'Agora Strategy Your Global Compass'
Logo of Heinrich Böll Stiftung Brussels European Union
Logo of the Helmut Schmidt Foundation with stylized black and green design and the foundation's name in black and green text.
Logo of the German Federal Agency for Civic Education, featuring a dark red circle with white lowercase letters 'bpb:' to the left of the words 'Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung' in red.

Current & Previous Positions

University of Maastricht

2025-ongoing

Doctoral candidate in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASoS) of the University of Maastricht. Writing a PhD thesis on European sovereignty and how the concept has evolved in the political discourse in the past years, supervised by Prof. Dr. Sophie Vanhoonacker and Prof. Dr. Thomas Conzelmann.

Europe Jacques Delors

2023-2025

Deputy Director at Europe Jacques Delors, a Brussels-based think tank, alongside the Institut Jacques Delors in Paris and the Jacques Delors Centre in Berlin. The think tank focuses on EU sustainability policies and how to green different EU policy fields, from trade to agrifood.

Sciences Po Paris

2022 & 2024

Visiting lecturer at the Franco-German campus of Sciences Po Paris, giving a seminar on EU institutions and governance to second-year Bachelor students.

Europe Policy Centre

2019-2023

Senior Policy Analyst at the European Policy Centre, working on EU governance and institutions, the rule of law and civil society. Managed the Connecting Europe project in cooperation with Stiftung Mercator, which connects civil society organisations with EU decision-makers. Also developed other projects, such as “Project Presidency”, which followed the EU Council Presidencies.

Das Progressive Zentrum

2017-2019 / 2020-ongoing

Since November 2020, Policy Fellow with the Berlin-based think tank Das Progressive Zentrum, focusing on German EU Policy, the future of democracy and social cohesion. Previously worked in the think tank as a full-time employee from 2017-2019. Led the EP elections project (2024), headed a working group in the Daring New Spaces project (2021), co-launched the Innocracy Conference in 2017, and participated in the Dialogue on Europe project (2016-2017).

Polis180

2015-2018

Board member for the grassroots think tank for European and Foreign Policy Polis180 from 2015-2018, working on the establishment of the international network of the think tank with its European partners (“Open Think Tank Network”) and co-founding a programme area working on EU-UK relations.

Fellowships & Memberships

  • Member of the Strategic Advisory Council. Supported the team in the development of the programme for the 2025 conference in the “democracy” track.

  • Fellow in 2020/2021 with the Charlemagne Prize Academy. Research on EU solidarity during the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • Member of the 2021 cohort of the training organised by OnThinkTanks.

  • Member of the 2018 cohort of the European Young Leaders Seminar.

  • Franco-German Young Leaders Programme – Member of the 2018 cohort.

    Franco-German Future Dialogue (Ifri & DGAP) – Member of the 2017 cohort.

“Pornschlegel zeigt mit ihrer Machtdefinition auf den Elefanten im Raum - genau die Debatte, die wir jetzt brauchen.””
— Yasmine M'Barek, ZEIT
Book cover with the title in German, author Sophie Pornschlegel, featuring large orange and blue text on a white background.