The ECPR Standing Group on the European Union hosted its 13th biennial conference at the University of Catania in Sicily from July 1 to 3, 2026. Researchers from political science, history, sociology, law, anthropology, philosophy, geography, and economics were invited to present and discuss research under the theme: “The EU under Pressure”, highlighting the interdisciplinary research on European Integration. Taylor Pearce presented a paper from the ReSpend project on institutional features of spending governance across industrial and social policy. Drawing on the same database, Jakob Pegels presented in depth research on social policy spending and Taylor Pearce presented her research on industrial policy spending. Additionally, both participated in a workshop for early career academics on the "Promises and Pitfalls of Interdisciplinary Research on EU Policy and Governance". The successful conference was accompanied by the eruption of Etna shortly afterwards, making for an adventurous return to Berlin.