Events

• A 3-day intensive program designed for professionals seeking an advanced understanding of the EU institutions and decision-making
• A balanced approach, where theory and practice complement each other to facilitate the learning experience
• Mix of face-to-face and online training

The Institute for European Studies at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, in cooperation with the Institute for European Environmental Policy, kindly invites you to attend the upcoming environmental policy forum on the 6th of February with:

The Institute for European Studies cordially invites you to the PhD defence of Katja Biedenkopf: "Policy Recycling? The External Effects of EU Environmental Legislation on the United States"

Katja Biedenkopf prepared her PhD under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Sebastian Oberthür, Academic Director of the Institute for European Studies. The defence will take place on Monday, 6 February 2012, 16:00h in the conference rooms Rome & Lisbon at the Institute for European Studies. It will be followed by a reception.

Please RVSP by sending an email to katja.biedenkopf@vub.ac.be, before 1 February

• A 3-day intensive program designed for professionals seeking an advanced understanding of the EU institutions and decision-making
• A balanced approach, where theory and practice complement each other to facilitate the learning experience
• Mix of face-to-face and online training

• A 3-day intensive program designed for professionals seeking an advanced understanding of the EU institutions and decision-making
• A balanced approach, where theory and practice complement each other to facilitate the learning experience
• Mix of face-to-face and online training

by Dr. Magdalena Sapala

The webinar will focus on presenting and explaining the main issues of the ongoing debate on the European Union Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) for 2014-2020. The state of play in the European Parliament and the Council negotiations will be also highlighted.  

The procedure for establishing the multiannual budgets, introduced in the EU in 1988, was to be a remedy to the growing difficulty in negotiating the annual budgets, the guarantee of fiscal discipline and the stable framework for important European long-term projects. It is evident however, that despite the use of this method, the negotiations of both - annual and multiannual budgets - are still very difficult. In recent years the problem has even worsened.

The Institute for European Studies at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, in cooperation with IBBT-SMIT, kindly invites you to attend the upcoming Policy Forum on March 6th with:

There is ongoing concern about the relationship between the Court and African states, as well as the lack of forthcoming cooperation by many member and non-member states with regards to the execution of arrest warrants and penalties, freezing of assets, information sharing, etc. In most of these cases, much work needs to be done by both Court officials as well as government representatives to ensure cooperation becomes a more stable pillar as the Court moves forward.
 

“Gendering the European Union” is a holistic assessment of six decades of European integration as seen through a gender lens. It features the insights of scholars from nine countries, who analyze new and old barriers to gender equality in all realms of EU activity.

In 2010 the European Union was accused of "turning a blind eye" as countries across Europe carried out a wave of expulsions and introduced new legislation targeting the Roma (The Guardian, July 30, 2010). Human rights groups criticised the EU for failing to address the real issues driving Roma persons to migrate in the first place and for choosing not to upbraid countries for breaking both domestic and EU laws in their treatment of them. As a response, the European Commission presented an important EU Framework for National Roma Integration Strategies up to 2020.

Where do we stand today? The Research Group ‘Fundamental Rights and Constitutionalism’ (FRC) and the Institute for European Studies, both based at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, kindly invites you to the 'Europe and the Roma' conference which will take place the 16th of March 2012.

While the Rome Statute is a landmark document with regards to victims’ rights and participation, the Court’s record to date leaves much to be desired. Not only that, but many have begun to question the wisdom and feasibility of the victim participation and reparation regime in the international criminal justice fora in general, and in particular, as envisioned under the Rome Statute.

The functioning and enforcement of copyright are key actions in the EU’s Digital Agenda, one of seven flagship initiatives of the Europe 2020 Strategy. The emphasis here is on smart growth for a future Europe. Come participate in our first debate dealing with three pan-European issues: copyright licensing, piracy and intermediary liability, and online business models.

• Mr Olivier Maeterlinck, General Manager at the Belgian Entertainment Association
• Mr James Waterworth, Director of the Nokia EU Representative Office

With the MEP cash-for-amendments scandal still fresh in our minds and the launch of the Citizens’ Initiative imminent, this second debate is particularly timely. Listen to diverging stakeholder views (and voice your opinion too!) on lobbying, transparency and democratic legitimacy in the EU. Special attention will be paid to the role of social media in interest representation.

• Mrs Caroline De Cock, Managing Director at N-Square Consulting and Lobbyplanet.eu
• Mr Dan Hannan, Member of European Parliament
• Mr Gerard Legris, Head of Unit on Transparency at the European Commission
• Mr Yiorgos Vassalos, Researcher at the Corporate Europe Observatory

'Quo vadis EU: The EU Abroad in the World'
by: Prof. Dr. Amelia Hadfield, Prof. Dr. Luis Simon, Dr. Alexander Mattelaer, Dr. Fraser Cameron
This fourth and final Jean Monnet Webinar focuses on the most animating aspects of EU external relations: foreign and security policy, defence developments, and its current strategic partnerships with Russia, US and Asia, including focal points relating to trade and energy security, before concluding with a broad analysis of short and long term trends.

An important contribution of the Rome Statute is the enshrining and protection against gender- based crimes in the body of international criminal law. Moreover, the Statute guarantees unprecedented gender equality within the Court’s several organs. Nevertheless, while significant progress has been made in the latter, the prosecution of gender-based crimes has been often decried by civil society members as receiving insufficient attention. Clearly, more needs to be done to allay such concerns.

The Institute for European Studies at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (IES-VUB), the Institut d’Études Européennes at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (IEE-ULB), the United Nations University Comparative Regional Integration Studies (UNU-CRIS) and Egmont – the Royal Institute for International Relations biannually organise the ‘European Union in International Affairs’ (EUIA) Conference. The organisers are currently reviewing the submissions for the third edition of EUIA, which will take place in Brussels from 3 to 5 May 2012.

The Institute for European Studies at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (IES-VUB), the Institut d’Études Européennes at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (IEE-ULB), the United Nations University Comparative Regional Integration Studies (UNU-CRIS) and Egmont – the Royal Institute for International Relations biannually organise the ‘European Union in International Affairs’ (EUIA) Conference. The organisers are currently reviewing the submissions for the third edition of EUIA, which will take place in Brussels from 3 to 5 May 2012.

The Institute for European Studies at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (IES-VUB), the Institut d’Études Européennes at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (IEE-ULB), the United Nations University Comparative Regional Integration Studies (UNU-CRIS) and Egmont – the Royal Institute for International Relations biannually organise the ‘European Union in International Affairs’ (EUIA) Conference. The organisers are currently reviewing the submissions for the third edition of EUIA, which will take place in Brussels from 3 to 5 May 2012.

The Institute for European Studies at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel kindly invites you to the third and last of three lectures on integration and interest representation in the European Union. Energy is the contemporary “coal and steel” of the European Union. It is crucial to growth in our economic union and yet can seem at odds with the EU’s ambition for sustainability and combating climate change. Join us for a third debate on decarbonisation, energy efficiency, renewables and the challenges for EU policy.

• Mr Dries Acke, Policy Manager and Resident Energy Expert of Energy Strategy Centre at the European Climate Foundation
• Mr Ruud Wassen, Senior Regulatory Affairs Manager at Eurogas
• Mr Tim Nuthall, Media Manager of Energy Strategy Centre at the European Climate Foundation

This webinar is the first session of the series of webinars "DECODING THE EU: EU INSTITUTIONS AND DECISION-MAKING IES ONLINE COURSE" which provides advanced understanding of the EU institutions and decision-making.
During this webinar you will learn about the role, composition and functioning of the European Commission and understand its power as policy initiator.

How the Court will handle its relationship with the UN Security Council as well as several emerging powers, including Brazil, India, and South Africa, will determine whether the Court will be able to be perceived as a legitimate actor in its own right, or as just another political tool in the hands of powerful and at times unaccountable states. This risk of politicization has been greatly increased subsequent to the agreement in Kampala on the crime of aggression.

This webinar is the second session of the series of webinars "DECODING THE EU: EU INSTITUTIONS AND DECISION-MAKING IES ONLINE COURSE" which provides advanced understanding of the EU institutions and decision-making.
During this webinar you will learn about the composition of both the Council of Ministers and the European Council and their role in EU policy-making.

The European Union is inextricably linked to the Arctic region and despite its lack of an Arctic coastline it already has legitimate interest in the region. Three of its member states –Denmark, Finland and Sweden- with two of its direct economic partners –Norway and Iceland- are localised in the region. Moreover, through its Northern Dimension Policy, the Barents Euro-Arctic Council and strategic partnerships between the EU and Canada, the United States and Russia, a longstanding EU engagement in the Arctic has been established.

This webinar is the thirth session of the series of webinars "DECODING THE EU: EU INSTITUTIONS AND DECISION-MAKING IES ONLINE COURSE" which provides advanced understanding of the EU institutions and decision-making.

This webinar will give an overview of the powers, structures and functioning of the European Parliament.

This webinar is the fourth and last session of the series of webinars "DECODING THE EU: EU INSTITUTIONS AND DECISION-MAKING IES ONLINE COURSE" which provides advanced understanding of the EU institutions and decision-making.
This webinar is a guide to the EU decision-making procedure, with a focus on the ordinary legislative procedure (former co-decision)