On Tuesday 12 February, the PILC students of the IES had a rare opportunity to witness an important piece of EU law being created. In the landmark case C-619/18, the Commission has boldly taken Poland to Court for breaching the rule of law. More specifically, Poland is charged for failing in its obligation to provide remedies sufficient to ensure effective legal protection in the fields covered by Union law (Art 19(1) TEU & Art 47 EUCFR), because it had unilaterally decreased the retirement age of the judges in the Polish Supreme Court. The change effectively forced the judges to leave the Court against their own will, which threatens the independence of the judiciary. This is in the Commission’s view a serious failure that jeopardises the mutual trust on which the entire EU politico-legal system is based.

In the coming weeks, the Institute for European Studies will organise two webinars. These events are an excellent opportunity for everyone interested in our academic programmes to hear more about them and to ask all their questions. In addition, the IES will be present at the VUB Infodag on 28 April 2019 from 10:00-15:00 and at the Master Messe Düsseldorf on 17 May from 9:00-16:00.

Prof. Ilke Adam, supported by PhD researcher Laura Westerveen, contributed to a new EU Commission report entitled 'The Future of Migration in the European Union: Future scenarios and tools to stimulate forward-looking discussions'. This report presents trends that are likely to impact the future of migration in the EU and delineates four possible future scenarios towards 2030. These narrative scenarios are then applied into a set of interactive tools that stimulate forward-looking and strategic discussions about migration and integration.

The European Union is a frontrunner on two major societal developments: digitalization and the circular economy. The EU has therefore particular prominence and interest in the policy domain where these two trends meet: in the creation of a digital circular economy. At the IES, professor Harri Kalimo, together with researcher Lea Mateo (who is pursuing a joint PhD with the University of Eastern Finland) are exploring this exciting topic in their research. 

On 23 January, Ramon Pacheco Pardo was invited by the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Human Rights to provide his views during a hearing focused on the gradual opening up of North Korea and on recent diplomatic developments related to the Korean Peninsula, zooming in on the human rights consequences in particular.

After a three-year running period, EL-CSID disseminated its final results to the audience on 27 February in Brussels. The Final Report (available online on www.el-csid.eu), which discussed EL-CSID’s final results and recommendations, was thoroughly discussed. The panels reflected the topics that were researched by the 9 partner institutions; how EU cultural and science diplomacy are perceived from the outside by partner regions; how to move forward with EU science, innovation and cultural diplomacy and how higher education could be an instrument of European diplomacy more generically.

Climate policy is currently high up on the political agenda in Belgium, not in the least because of the public demonstrations taking place in various cities since the beginning of 2019. On 5 February, Sign for my future was launched, a new initiative aimed at a more ambitious Belgian climate policy. This initiative is supported by companies, universities and civil society organisations alike. IES researcher Tomas Wyns is one of the members of its Steering Group and, together with VUB rector Caroline Pauwels, also acts as one of its ambassadors.

The Panel for the Future of Science and Technology (STOA) of the European Parliament has recently released a study on regulating disinformation with artificial intelligence. IES postdoctoral researcher Trisha Meyer has co-authored this study, along with Chris Marsden (University of Sussex). The study has a particular focus on the implications of use of AI on freedom of expression and media pluralism. It examines the trade-offs in using automated technology to limit the spread of disinformation online and presents options (from self-regulatory to legislative).

In 2018, the Institute for European Studies was honoured to bring four PhDs to fruition: Ferran Davesa (PhD Political Science), Mathias Holvoet (PhD in Law), Carlos Soria Rodrigues (PhD in Law) and Serena D’Agostino (PhD Political Science). The IES organised 57 events and produced 211 publications. Among  these events were the biannual EUIA conference, which was a record-breaking edition, and the large-scale Transatlantic EuroSim (EU simulation) conference hosted by the IES.
The Institute continued to expand and now counts 104 people or 55.4 full-time equivalents. In 2018, IES scholars took part in a total of 131 media appearances. Moreover, the Institute was particularly successful in obtaining externally funded projects. At the end of the year, no less than 38 external projects were conducted by IES scholars, whereas an additional 15 projects were funded through our own budget.

No less than three publications were recently published by our researcher Elie Perot. In the article published in the policy journal Survival: Global Politics and Strategy, Elie argues that the obscuring of the distinction between war and peace is not a distinctive feature of contemporary times, nor simply a conceptual conundrum. Rather, it is a systemic and strategic response to the persistent fear of a general war at the international level, a factor of crucial importance in the perspective of the growing antagonism characterizing US-China relations.

Alexander Mattelaer and Jordan Becker contributed to a new report by former U.S. Permanent Representatives to NATO Ambassadors Douglas Lute and Nicholas Burns, entitled "NATO at Seventy: An Alliance in Crisis." The report coincides with NATO's 70^th anniversary, as the world’s most successful alliance faces perhaps the most daunting and complex set of challenges in its history. 

NATO Photo

The European Commission and antitrust regulators worldwide are focusing their policy and enforcement priorities on key aspects of the digital economy including e-commerce, big data and algorithms. Blockchain appears to be now next in line for scrutiny.  On 16 January 2019, the IES assembled a unique expert panel to explore and debate the “promises and perils” of this emerging and transformative technology in the antitrust context.  The panel was led by Dave Anderson, IES Associate Researcher (and Head of the Brussels office of the law firm BCLP LLP), and it included a diverse spectrum of expertise on blockchain and antitrust: Fabio Falconi from the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority, Pontus Lindblom who has been commissioned by the Swedish Competition Authority to advise them on blockchain, Thibault Schrepel from Utrecht University who is a leading commentator on the antitrust risks involved in blockchain and Falk Schöning from the law firm Hogan Lovells who participated e.g. in the OECD Blockchain roundtable last year as a private sector...

Dr Jan Claudius Völkel has successfully concluded his two-year research project on “The role of national parliaments in the Arab transformation processes” at the IES. With funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 706113, Jan has studied intensively the legislatures of Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia, conducting interviews with parliamentarians, diplomats, journalists and civil society representatives in all four countries, and also with representatives from the European Commission, the European Parliament, as well as EU Delegations. In addition, he spent prolongued research stays at the University of Warwick (UK) and the University of Southern Denmark (SDU) in Odense.