Guest Lecture: "Multi-Level Governance: A Critical Analysis of the European Union"

Guest Lecture:

Policy and Governance Laboratory (POLiGOV)

Makassar, November 14, 2025 — The Policy and Governance Laboratory (POLiGOV), Department of Administrative Sciences, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Hasanuddin University (FISIP Unhas), once again held an academic event to enrich the knowledge of students and lecturers through a guest lecture entitled "Multi-Level Governance: A Critical Analysis of the European Union." The event took place on Friday, November 14, 2025, from 2:00 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. WITA, at the Prof. Syukur Abdullah Room, FISIP Unhas.

The guest lecture featured Mohammad Novrizal, S.H., LL.M., Ph.D., a lecturer in Constitutional Law at the Faculty of Law, University of Indonesia, who is widely known for his studies in comparative constitutional law and the development of supranational law. He was accompanied by Andi Ahmad Yani, S.Sos., M.Si., MPA., M.Sc., a lecturer at the Department of Administrative Science, FISIP Unhas, who is also a researcher in the field of governance. The event was attended by undergraduate and graduate students from the Department of Administrative Science, who filled the lecture hall to participate in an in-depth discussion on modern governance in the context of regional integration.

In his presentation, Dr. Novrizal comprehensively explained how the European Union (EU) developed into a supranational entity with authority beyond the borders of its member states. He explained that the EU's governance structure was born as part of post-World War II political reconciliation and stabilization efforts, beginning with cooperation on arms production and trade control among Western European countries. From this point, the embryo of European integration grew until the formation of institutions that now hold decision-making authority at a level that is no longer limited to the jurisdiction of member states.

Dr. Novrizal emphasized that the EU governance model is a concrete example of Multi-Level Governance, a system of government characterized by the distribution of authority at various levels—supranational, national, and sub-national. This characteristic means that decision-making in the EU takes place through complex interactions between institutions, including the European Council, which determines general policy direction; the European Commission, which acts as the executive power; the European Parliament, as the legislative body directly elected by citizens; and the Council of the European Union, which represents the interests of member states in the legislative process.

One important aspect that is highlighted is the automatically binding nature of EU regulations. According to Dr. Novrizal, regulations produced by EU institutions no longer require a ratification process in each member state, unlike international agreements in general. This indicates a partial transfer of member state sovereignty to supranational institutions. "Regulations made by EU institutions no longer require ratification to be enforced in member states," he said, adding that this is a strong basis for why the EU is seen as the most advanced model of integration in the world.

At the end of the discussion, a dynamic question and answer session took place between participants and speakers, linking multi-governance to the context of countries in Asia, especially Indonesia. The diversity of languages and cultures of various EU member states is almost the same as Indonesia, which makes it possible to implement multi-governance with a federalist approach.

This guest lecture served as an important platform for students to understand the dynamics of contemporary governance and the challenges of supranational integration. POLiGOV FISIP Unhas is committed to continuing to present academic activities that broaden perspectives and enrich the learning experience for the entire academic community.