top of page

About me

I am a political scientist specialising in European integration and representative democracy. I am a CNRS Research Professor at CEVIPOF, the Centre for Political Research of Sciences Po (Paris).

 

After studying at Sciences Po Strasbourg, I wrote my doctoral thesis on the functioning of the European Parliament at the University of Paris VIII. I was initially a post-doctoral researcher at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (Belgium), before joining the CNRS in 1999.

 

My research and publications focus on the institutional system and policies of the European Union, the institutions and actors involved in parliamentary representation in Europe and France, and political life in general – from the local to the European level.

 

I am the author of 10 books, have edited 25 books and special issues of journals, and have published 200 scientific articles, book chapters and reports for public institutions and think tanks.

​

Olivier Costa

I regularly appear in the media on my areas of expertise: the institutions and policies of the European Union, French politics, elections and international issues.

 

I also give many conferences and I regularly write blog posts on political life in France and at EU level. I teach European issues at Sciences Po, in the School of Public Affairs.

 

I have been a visiting professor at a number of universities in Europe, the United States and Japan. I am also involved in life-long training, especially in European issues, for a variety of audiences: senior civil servants, diplomats, private sector executives, lobbyists, journalists, business leaders, etc.

 

I am on the editorial boards of:

- the Journal of European Integration (Taylor&Francis),

- the Journal of Legislative Studies (Taylor&Francis),

- the International Journal of Parliamentary Studies (Brill) and

- the European Law Journal (Wiley).

 

I have never been involved in politics, but I am passionate about it. I advise elected representatives, candidates and public institutions – from local to European level. 

In my spare time, I write short stories and draw classic cars.

Research

​

My work takes place in various sub-disciplines of political science: European studies, legislative studies, public policy analysis, sociology of politicians, political theory and international relations.

​

I have tried to develop an approach that is sensitive not only to institutions and the formal and informal rules that govern them, but also to the behaviour of the actors involved. I am committed to axiological neutrality and avoid normative language as much as possible in my publications, teaching and lectures. My aim is not to criticise or preach, but to analyse and understand how institutions work, how they are organised, the behaviour of the players involved and the ideas that drive them.

 

Over the course of my career, I have worked with academics from a wide range of backgrounds: political scientists using quantitative or qualitative methods, sociologists, historians, specialists in European or parliamentary law, political theorists and practitioners.

 

My work is published mainly in French and English, but also in Spanish, German, Portuguese, Mandarin, Czech, Italian and Japanese. It focuses on 6 central themes:

  1. the European Parliament

  2. the political system of the European Union

  3. Euroscepticism

  4. multi-level governance

  5. parliamentary representation

  6. the Union's external action.

​

​

Talks


I give talks on my favourite subjects to a variety of audiences, in French and English.

 

Since the early 2000s, I have given over 100 talks at the request of secondary schools, associations, trade unions, business clubs, universities, political parties, foundations, companies, etc. or at events open to the general public.

​

I also run a large number of events in a wide variety of contexts: associations, local authorities, scientific conferences, trade unions, clubs, etc. 

​

Media

I am regularly interviewed by journalists from the print and broadcast media.

 

I am involved in hearings before public institutions.

​

I also write columns and articles for the electronic media.

 

Finally, I record audio and video podcasts.

Hobbies

​

During my spare time, I write short stories and I draw cars.
 

Writing

​

In the early 2000s, I started writing little chronicles as I travelled. Writing keeps me calm when things get dense – a cancelled plane, striking railway workers, an ill-tempered neighbour or obsessive security guards. Instead of getting annoyed by every annoyance, I'm happy to perhaps have something to write about that's absurd or funny. In 2018, I published, in French, “Chroniques d’un voyageur mécontent” ("Chronicles of a Discontented Traveller") on Amazon - under the pseudonym "Oscar Vileito", so that this light-hearted book does not get mixed up with my scientific publications. It's a collection of 100 chronicles that I illustrated.

 

Since then, I've continued to write: other travel articles, but also portraits of strangers I've met here and there, memories of conscription, little notes about political life and short stories about my life as an academic. I'm publishing some of these texts on a dedicated Facebook page; I'll be putting them together in other books when I find the time for that.

 

​

Drawing

​

I picked up my pens again on the first evening of the Covid-19 confinement, 17 March 2020, to ease my anxiety. For lack of inspiration, I chose to draw a car - my own - as I liked to do when I was a teenager, with a ballpoint pen. As I spent time in solitary confinement, I continued to sketch my friends' cars, the ones I liked and the ones that people suggested to me. Having shared my drawings on social networks, French publisher Editions Bibliomane suggested I publish a book. So I produced sixty drawings and wrote accompanying texts for each one. The book "Trésors de l'automobile du XX° siècle" was published at the end of 2022. It's a carefully-crafted work that has had some success in bookshops.

​

I'm preparing a second volume, dedicated to the creations of Italian coachbuilders in the 1950s and 1960s - the golden age of the automobile. This time I'm working with a friend who brings his expertise in the subject to bear on my drawings. 
 

bottom of page