Professor Rilka Dragneva-Lewers

Professor Rilka Dragneva-Lewers

Birmingham Law School
Dean 麻豆精选 Law School
Professor of International Legal Studies

Contact details

Address
Birmingham Law School
University 麻豆精选
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Rilka Dragneva-Lewers is Professor of International Legal Studies and Dean 麻豆精选 Law School. She specialises in comparative regional integration law and regionalism, the external relations of the European Union and legal reform, with a particular focus on Eastern Europe and Eurasia. Her recent publications critically examine Russia’s conceptualisations of sovereignty, international law and regional integration in the post-Soviet space – especially in relation to Ukraine – and explore their broader implications for the international and European order. Rilka’s research is strongly interdisciplinary, drawing on history, area studies and political science. This expertise has facilitated Rilka’s engagement with policy-makers and leading think-tanks, as well as participation in law reform technical assistance projects and professional training programmes.

Qualifications

  • LLB (Sofia University, Bulgaria)
  • MA (Sussex)
  • PhD (Sussex)

Biography

Rilka Dragneva-Lewers joined the Birmingham Law School in September 2012. Previous to that she was at the School of Law, University of Manchester (2006-2012) and Department of Law, University of Leiden (The Netherlands) (1999-2006). Rilka has been a visiting lecturer at the University of Sussex (2001) the Faculty of Law, University of Trento, Italy (2003 and 2004). Between 1999 and 2004 she was also actively engaged in technical assistance programmes and consulting activities in Eastern Europe for the World Bank, IFC and the EBRD. She was a legal counsel of a large foreign trade company before embarking on her academic career.聽

Postgraduate supervision

I am interested in supervising high quality postgraduate research projects in the following areas:

Russia鈥檚 approaches to sovereignty, international law and regional integration.

Comparative regional economic integration law; preferential trade agreements and regional blocs; authoritarian regionalism;

EU Neighbourhood Policy and enlargement; EU鈥檚 external relations; EU-Russia relations

Legal reform; Law and Development; External promotion of rule of law


Find out more - our PhD Law  page has information about doctoral research at the University 麻豆精选.

Research

Professor Dragneva鈥檚 most recent research explores the following complementary themes:聽

  • Russia鈥檚 use of sovereignty, international law and regional integration as instruments to advance its strategic objectives in the post-Soviet space.
  • Eurasian integration as a case of authoritarian regionalism, characterised by economic integration promoted by a regional hegemonic power with global ambitions but also autocratic domestic regime, weak institutions and proven use of coercion.
  • The inter-play between different regional integration projects in the wide Eurasian region and the resulting implications for the multilateral international order.
  • The European Union鈥檚 Eastern policy, in particular its relations with Ukraine and the shifts and complementary approaches necessary to address the challenges resulting from the Russian invasion.

Rilka has participated in a number of high profile research projects, including:聽H2020 EU-funded collaborative project 鈥: The EU and Eastern Partnership Countries - An Inside-Out Analysis and Strategic Assessment鈥櫬(May 2016- April 2019),聽the AHRC-funded project 鈥Ukraine鈥檚 Hidden Tragedy: Understanding the Outcomes of Population Displacement from the Country鈥檚 War-Torn Regions鈥 (November 2016- July 2018), and the聽ESRC-funded project 鈥楻ussia and the EU in the Common Neighbourhood: Export of Governance and Legal (In) Compatibility鈥 (January 2013-September 2016).

Rilka is a member of the Advisory Boards of聽Review of Central and East European Law听补苍诲听International Journal of Law and Management.

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Dimitrova, A & Dragneva, R 2022, '', JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies.

Dragneva, R & Hartwell, C 2022, '', Politics and Governance, vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 95-105.

Dragneva, R & Hartwell, C 2020, '', Post-Communist Economies.

Chapter (peer-reviewed)

Dragneva, R & Wolczuk, K 2024, . in M Rabinovych & A Pintsch (eds), Ukraine's Thorny Path to the EU: From 鈥淚ntegration without Membership鈥 to 鈥淚ntegration through War鈥. 1 edn, Palgrave Studies in European Union Politics, Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 43-66.

Dragneva, R 2021, . in R Petrov, S Lorenzmeier & C Vedder (eds), EU External Relations Law: Shared Competences and Shared Values in Agreements Between the EU and Its Eastern Neighbourhood. Springer, pp. 229-252.

Dragneva-Lewers, R 2018, . in R Howse, H Ruiz-Fabri, G Ulfstein & MQ Zang (eds), The case of the economic court of the CIS. Studies on International Courts and Tribunals, Cambridge University Press.

Chapter

Dragneva, R 2021, . in S Wegren & F Nilssen (eds), Russia鈥檚 Role in the Contemporary International Agri-Food Trade System. 1 edn, Palgrave Advances in Bioeconomy: Economics and Politics, Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 225-251.

Comment/debate

Dragneva, R 2022, '', Russian Analytical Digest, vol. 275, pp. 16-19.

Discussion paper

Dragneva, R 2019 '' IDEAS Report, LSE, pp. 34-38. <>

Other contribution

Wolczuk, K & Dragneva, R 2022, . Chatham House. <>

Wolczuk, K & Dragneva, R 2022, . Chatham House. <>

Wolczuk, K, Dragneva, R & Wallace, J 2022, . Chatham House. <>

Dragneva, R 2019, . EU-STRAT. <>

Working paper

Jonavicius, L, Delcour, L, Dragneva, R & Wolczuk, K 2019 ''. <>

Dragneva, R, Delcour, L, Jaroszewicz, M, Kardas, S & Ungureanu, C 2018 '' No. 8 edn, EU-STRAT. <>

Expertise

Russia and the EU in the Common Neighbourhood: Export of Governance and Legal (In)Compatibility

Eurasian economic integration (post Soviet countries)

EU initiatives in the post-Soviet region

Legal aspects of trade with Russia and the Eurasian Economic Union