Julian Rappold joined the European Policy Centre (EPC) in 2017 as a Senior Policy Analyst and Project Leader of the joint EPC-Stiftung Mercator project ‘Connecting Europe’. His research focuses on European integration, German EU policy, Southern Europe and European party politics. Before joining the EPC, Julian worked as a Programme Officer at the Europe Programme of the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP) between 2011 and 2017. Between 2015 and 2017 Julian was also an Associate Researcher at the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR). Previously, he gained first work experience in the European Parliament and in the State Ministry of Baden-Württemberg. Julian Rappold studied Political Science and Economics at the Albert-Ludwigs Universität Freiburg, the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität in Münster and the Institut d’Études Politiques in Lyon. He holds an MA in contemporary European studies from the University of Bath and the Humboldt Universität of Berlin. In 2013 he participated in the ‘North-South Capacity Building: A Common Future in the Eurozone?’ organised by the EU office of the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung.