three new ies-vub phds awardedthe event was a collaborative enterprise of ies and the centre for...
TRANSCRIPT
Vol. 8 • Issue 44 • October - December 2013
News letter
A Region at the Centre of Attention:
March Lecture Series on Migration in the
Mediterranean
Policy Forum on The implementation of the
Blue Card Directive: what, why and what
next?
Supporting the development of EU climate diplomacy
narratives
IES work on enhanced climate policy
Lisanne Groen on the EU energy and climate
framework for 2030
TEMPUS project “Innovating Teaching
and Learning of European Studies”
European Parliament Elections - Free Mini-
Module Now Online
The IES welcomes HUFS from Korea
3 4
4 6-7
Economic Governance Environment & Devt Migration & Justice Education
.Policy Forum: the Future oF AirPower
The EFSP cluster and The Hague Centre for Strategic
Studies (HCSS) organised a joint policy forum on
Benelux Air Cooperation in a European Context.
European Foreign & Defence Policy
Corpus Project Lives On
Policy Forum on National Competition
EU Law Course in Tampere
Energy Transitions
This winter the IES has had three reasons to celebrate. Three doctoral dissertations were successfully defended.
On 24 January 2014 Steffi Weil defended her doctoral thesis The Role of Foreign Interest Groups in China’s Political Bargaining Process. Crowning her hard word, she was awarded a double PhD degree from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel and the Goethe University Frankfurt. During the course of her work in Brussels, Steffi was hosted at the IES. In her thesis, she convincingly demonstrated that Western interest groups in operating China have created membership-based organisations that form the basis for their efforts to create a beneficial business environment. Just like lobby groups in Western democratic-pluralist systems,
they mobilise members to organise briefings, events and meetings with Western and to a lesser degree with Chinese policy-makers. Nevertheless, Western interest groups operate inside China’s political system, which could be one reason why they refrain from confrontational lobbying techniques such as protests. In their lobbying attempts Western interest groups prefer to target the often like-minded policy-makers from the US and the EU rather than Chinese policy-makers. Congratulations, Dr Weil!
This book focuses on the attempts of Western interest groups to lobby the Chinese government. China’s growing capitalist system has encouraged increasing numbers of European and US companies to invest
in China’s economic system. And as more and more Western companies invested in China and began to grow together with this vast economy, so did their ambition to actively influence China’s economic policies. The aim of European and US companies has been to create the best possible market conditions in China and they tried to do this by working through European and US interest groups in China which lobby for them to establish better market conditions.China’s Communist Party is of course no stranger to imposing its power and taming opposing voices. The existing mechanisms that were established to monitor such activities of Chinese actors, however, soon proved to be ill-suited to exerting a similar degree of control over Western actors that had entered China. As a result,
Three new IES-VUB PhDs awarded
8 3 5
Vol.9 - Issue 45 - January - March 2014
2
the Chinese government had to engage with its new partners and meet certain demands or requirements, make concessions and at times give up control – a new world for China’s corporatist practise of state-society relations.This work shows that like lobbying groups in democratic-pluralist systems, Western interest groups in China have created membership-based organisations, which form the basis for their efforts to create a beneficial business environment. As in the West, they mobilise members to organise meetings with Western and to a lesser degree with Chinese policy-makers, briefing, and events. Nevertheless, Western interest groups operate in China’s political system, which could be one reason why they refrain from confrontational lobbying techniques such as protests. In their lobbying attempts Western interest groups prefer to target the often like-minded US/EU policy-makers rather than Chinese policy- makers.
On 13 February Ioannis Spyridakis publicly defended his PhD, entitled: ‘Delegation and Control: A Critical Analysis on Principal-Agent Theory in the Context of EU External Policy Making’. The public defence started with a presentation by Ioannis in which he highlighted the main argument of his thesis, which can be summarised as follows: the EU has concluded over the last decades a variety of internationally binding agreements in diverse policy areas such as trade, environmental protection, transport or development cooperation. The EU’s two central institutions in this process have been the Council of Ministers representing the Member States and the European Commission. In this relationship the practice of delegation, whereby Member States surrender part of their autonomy to the supranational level, has become an indispensable element in the EU’s international treaty making practice. While the act of delegation is undoubtedly a crucial device for achieving the EU’s goals, it has frequently stirred heated debates about the wider implications of a phenomenon in which the European Commission seems to acquire authority in an ever-increasing number of
PhDs
policy domains. The theoretical model that has become the dominant approach in EU studies over the last few years, the Principal-Agent (P-A) model, analyses the dynamics of delegation within the context of external policy making. The PhD thesis offers a critical approach to this particular theoretical model by attempting to re-evaluate the relationship between the European Commission and the Council of Ministers, and going beyond the conception of an intergovernmental-supranational divide. The PhD thesis is a theory-
building effort and at the same time an empirical exploration of how delegation processes between these two institutional actors unfold in the context of the EU’s international treaty making practice.After Ioannis’ clear presentation three members of the jury (Prof. Dr. Chad Damro, University of Edinburgh, Prof. Dr. Irina Tanasescu, Vrije Universiteit Brussel and Prof. Dr. Youri Devuyst, Vrije Universiteit Brussel) intervened and asked several questions. Among others they challenged Ioannis’ “diarchic model”, which is based on the notion of common ownership between the Commission and the Council. They also asked him about the function of theory in social science. After Ioannis answered these tough questions in a convincing way all jury members left the room. When they came back they brought Ioannis the happy news that he would be awarded the title of Doctor in political science.
After the proclamation of the official words in Dutch, promotor Sebastian Oberthür gave a speech. Sebastian mentioned that Ioannis followed his own path during his four-year PhD at the IES. Ioannis decided for himself what he wanted to do, without much guidance from Sebastian. When he was asked how he was doing, he always told: ‘everything is fine’. And in the end, indeed, everything turned out fine. Then Ioannis took the floor to thank his supervisor, colleagues, family and friends for their support along the way. Professionally speaking, Ioannis does not know yet what step to take next. He is thinking of going to China.
On the afternoon of the 5 March the public defence of Florian Rabitz’s thesis ‘Power and Institutional Complexity took place at the IES. His thesis emerged from a FWO- financed project on the European and International governance of resources involving Prof Sebastian Obertür and Justyna Pozarowska and himself. He became interested in this topic in September 2009 and the dissertation went through a variety of transmutations before taking its final shape. The core argument he made drawing on foundational debates in 1970s and 80s regime theory was that the transition from isolated institutions to institutional complexes in a variety of issue areas of global governance did not diminish the capacity of powerful actors to significantly shape the rules of the international system. In the near future, Florian will continue to work empirically on global environmental politics and intellectual property rights but somehow shifting the theoretical angle to multilateralism and the sources of interstate cooperation. Pending the resolution of some formalities, Florian will take up a position as visiting professor at the University of Sao Paolo in the coming weeks.For the time being, he is happy to spend some time reading books which are not in the slightest related tohis dissertation as well as taking some language classes.
3European Economic Governance
Parliamentary Elections
The Joint Policy Forum Brussels-Bialystok: Elections to the European Parliament as a Challenge for Democracy took place on 5 March 2014 at the premises of IES. The event was a collaborative enterprise of IES and the Centre for Direct Democracy Studies (CDDS) at the Faculty of Law, University of Bialystok (UwB), Poland. The former President of the European Parliament Prof. Jerzy Buzek MEP supported the forum and Claire Dupont read out his introductory letter to the audience. Linked to the launch of the CDDS’ second book, the half-day programme provoked thought-provoking 2-minutes interventions from panelists divided into two separate sessions: first, the design of the EP elections, and second, the role of the EP in reducing the EU democratic deficit. The discussion was concluded by remarks from Prof. Mariusz Golecki who provided his assessment on both the legal design of the European elections and on the contested phenomena of the democratic deficit. The follow up of this well received Policy Forum will be held on 15 April 2014 in Bialystok, Poland.
“the half-day programme provoked thought-provoking 2-minutes interventions from panelists divided into two separate sessions: first, the design of the EP elections, and second, the role of the EP in reducing the EU democratic deficit. “
Corpus Project Lives On
Linking the activities in the economic governance and environmental clusters, the IES is glad to announce it has received with its partner IÖW supplementary funding from the Finnish Ministry of the Environment to continue managing the online knowledge brokerage platform CORPUS. The platform was developed by the IES Team in a FP7 Project 2010-12. The platform has created a unique community of over 900 experts from research, policy making and NGO communities in the field of sustainable consumption. It also hosts a substantial database of documents related to the three key areas of sustainable consumption: mobility, housing and food.
Policy Forum on National Competition
Associate Researcher Dr. Assimakis Komninos is organising a Mini-series on national competition law authorities and their current practices. At the first session on 21 March 2014 Alexander Italianer, Director – General of DG Competition, delivered the presentation entitled
“All for One and One for All: National Competition Authorities and the European Competition Network”.
To accommodate the constraint in the form of EU enlargement in 2004, the transformation of competition landscape was inevitable. In his presentation Alexander Italianer focused on the developments introduced by Regulation 1/2003, the prime EU legal instrument addressing the interrelationship between National Competition Authorities (‘NCAs’) and the Commission and introducing ‘reverse subsidiarity’.
Dr. Italianer accentuated the change from notification to self-assessment system introduced by Regulation 1/2003. There exists no notification obligation on the part of the Member States and pursuant to reverse subsidiarity NCAs act on their own. The overall high number of decisions taken by the NCAs and covering a huge range of sectors indicates that the self – assessment system proved to be highly efficient.
Regarding the inadequacies in the current cooperation scheme, the prime argument developed by Dr. Italianer concerned the fact that although the competition rules are the same, enforcement regimes can be substantially different among Member States, ranging from administrative to judicial systems. Although in the light of the aforementioned more convergence
would be expedient, the overall conclusion withdrawn by Dr. Italianer is that the model of reverse subsidiarity governing the application of the competition rules in Europe is greatly effective.
EU Law Course in Tampere
Tampere University again hosted IES’ Senior Researcher Harri Kalimo as a lecturer in January. Since 2008, Harri has been giving a course on EU law to an international body of students at the Tampere University’s School of Management. The course focuses on the EU’s history and institutions, with a substantial dose of EU economic law included. Harri’s next visit to Tampere will take place in the autumn when he will present in a workshop organised by the department of law around the notion of ‘responsibility’ in law.
Energy Transitions
Max Salomon Jansson attended the 2nd annual conference on Energy Transitions in Joensuu, Finland. The event gathered a good crowd and offered some lively discussion on, among other things, the effects of the crisis in Ukraine may have on the transfer of gas from Russia to the EU. Max’s presentation in turn, focused on the potential legal implications of Austria’s anti-nuclear policy aiming at blocking the import of nuclear power from its neighbouring states.
“The CORPUS platform has created a unique community of over 900 experts from research, policy making and NGO communities in the field of sustainable consumption.”
4Supporting the development of EU climate diplomacy narratives
The IES’ environment cluster, together with the Berlin-based institute Adelphi and the London-based
Overseas Development Institute (ODI), won a service contract to support the European Commission’s
DG Climate Action in their climate diplomacy efforts with selected mid-income countries. The project
aims to contribute to the creation of the necessary political momentum for global climate action and
partner countries’ move towards low-carbon and more climate-resilient societies. The international climate
negotiations are about to enter their final stage for the development of an international agreement to be
adopted at the 2015 climate conference in Paris. In this context, diplomatic outreach to other negotiating
parties is of paramount importance for the EU in its attempt to contribute to a successful outcome.
The project has two objectives. First, the IES and its partners will develop climate policy messages
tailored to different regions and country groups. For example, while some countries might be more
interested in opportunities for green growth, others might focus on questions of climate-resilient
development and livelihood security. The second objective is to provide information on domestic climate
policy developments in selected partner countries in order to better address their needs and priorities.
Environment Sustainable Development
In February the IES presented its findings on “EU climate policy governance and
equity” to the MAPS (Mitigation Action Plans & Scenarios) programme and Cape
Town University. This report analyses the changes in governance of the EU Emissions
Trading System during the period 2005-2013, and looks into equity or solidarity
mechanisms in central EU climate legislation. The report, authored by IES researcher
Tomas Wyns, will shortly be made available on the website of the MAPS programme.
Since the beginning of 2014, the IES has been advising the Ministerial Green Growth Group (GGG), an
informal grouping of like-minded energy, environment and climate Ministers from across 13 EU member
states who have come together to work towards a pro-growth and pro-climate EU agenda. The group meets
regularly to discuss and co-ordinate positions on EU low carbon matters and to promote, with businesses
and investors, an ambitious EU decarbonisation growth agenda. On 19 March the platform’s socio-economic
advisory council released a report to the Green Growth Group Ministers on the forthcoming EU 2030 climate
and energy framework and its possible positive impacts on growth, jobs, energy security and competitiveness.
On 6 March, IES researcher Tomas Wyns presented new ideas for low-carbon industrial innovation at the Cecilia
2050 project Brussels conference “EU Climate Policy Beyond 2020 - taking stock and looking forward”. He also
presented these concepts at the Energy-Post debate “Putting Innovation at the Heart of 2030” on 17 March.
Lisanne Groen on the EU energy and climate framework for 2030
In January, IES PhD researcher Lisanne Groen wrote
a blog piece on the European Commission’s proposals
for an EU energy and climate
framework for 2030. She argued
that the Commission proposal
lacks ambition as an input for a
new global climate agreement
to be agreed upon in Paris in
2015. The blog appeared, in
Dutch, on the website of the
Netherlands Institute of International Relations
(Clingendael) on 28 February. It provided input to
a debate held on 7 March in The Hague about the
importance of EU climate policy for the Netherlands.
Extended Producer Responsibility back on the policy agenda
The issue of Extended Producer Responsibility has
recently re-emerged with force in the context of the
WEEE Directive and e-waste, mainly because the value
of e-waste has quickly increased due to concerns for
resource scarcity. Will we need an “EPR 2.0” for this
policy approach to match the new circumstances? This
was the main topic addressed on 21-22 March by an
INSEAD-led multi-stakeholder expert group on WEEE,
where IES Senior Research Fellow Harri Kalimo has
been actively working over the past decade. With a
focus on EPR 2.0, the group intends to continue its role
as a front-line think tank on EPR, cross-fertilising the
work of industry, NGOs and academics on the matter.
IES work on enhanced climate policy
Sebastian Oberthür
IES Academic Director Sebastian Oberthür presented a paper on “Regime-Interplay
Management: Lessons from Environmental Policy and Law” at an international
conference on “Contested Collisions” in international law, held at Bremen from 10-
12 January. Together with Lisanne Groen on 16 January, he also gave a presentation
on “EU Performance in Global Environmental Politics” at the final outreach conference
of the EUPERFORM project on the EU’s performance in international institutions with which the IES has been
associated. Finally, he served as a respondent at an expert seminar on “The EU and Effective Multilateralism:
Internal and External Reform Practices”, which was held at the Dutch Permanent Mission in Brussels on 31 March.
Latest Policy Briefs
• EU Performance in the International Climate
Negotiations in 2013: Scope for Improvement
Sebastian Oberthür and Lisanne Groen
• EU Climate and Energy Policy: Hope for More and Better Climate Policy Integration?
Claire Dupont
• European Energy and Industrial Policy Realigned: Risk or Opportunity for EU Eco-Innovation Strategy?
Thomas Sattich
5A Region at the Centre of Attention: March Lecture Series on Migration in the Mediterranean
Migration and mobility in the Mediterranean region is a topic that is as complex as it is tragic. Thousands of migrants and asylum seekers have embarked on very dangerous sea crossings, at great risk to their lives. Human rights concerns arise regarding international protection of, and assistance to, people rescued at sea. Recent tragedies have shown all the more that migration in the Mediterranean remains a pressing policy issue.
The International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD), in association with the Institute for European Studies (IES), were to present their Lecture Series on Migration in the Mediterranean.
With four sessions, the lecture series did not set out to cover each of a myriad of policy and political questions. Instead, the series led to discussions between policy-makers and academics. Prof. Godfried Engbersen, Professor of Sociology and Research Director of the Sociology Department, Erasmus University and Mr. Spyridon Voulgaris, Counsellor, Head of Unit of Justice and Home Affairs, Permanent Representation of Greece to the EU reflected on respectively the state of the arts of research as well as policy-making, most recently at the EU level with the creation of a Task Force Mediterranean (TFM). The speakers shared their expertise on the raw data of migration patterns and the politics of external cooperation between the EU and countries in North Africa.
This second aspect was further delved into by Prof. Ali Bensaâd, Institut de Recherches et d’Etudes sur le Monde Arabe et Musulman and Mohamed Ali Chihi, Directeur Général Des Affaires Consulaires, Ministère Des Affaires Etrangères, Tunisie, during the lecture on the continuing development of a real rapport between the EU, its member states and partner countries on the other side of the Mediterranean. Further, the heavy humanitarian component of migration in the Mediterranean was addressed during the remaining two lectures in particular. Dr. Mohamed El Sioufi, Coordinator, Housing and Slum Upgrading Branch and Coordinator, Global Housing Strategy at UN-HABITAT, unpacked those rising humanitarian needs through the often overlooked angle of urbanism and the capacity of localities in the Mediterranean region to absorb those fleeing violence - from Syria especially. Prof. Dr. François Crépeau, Hans and Tamar Oppenheimer Professor in Public International Law at the Faculty of Law of McGill University and UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants and Mr. Filippo Colombo, Counsellor, Justice and Home Affairs, Permanent Representative of Italy to the EU, concluded the lecture series with a discussion on the topic that is among the most complex of migration policy questions in Europe at the moment: irregular migration pressures, asylum and search and rescue at sea.
Bringing together policy-makers, academics and civil society: March Policy Forum on The implementation of the Blue Card Directive: what, why and what next?
On 6 March 2014 the IES migration, diversity and justice research cluster organized a policy forum on the implementation of the Blue Card Directive. The Blue Card Directive (2009/50/CE) is the first legal policy instrument aimed at forging a European labour migration policy. Achieved 10 years after the Tampere Council of 1999 called for a common immigration policy, it aims at facilitating the admission of highly qualified workers and their families and making the EU more attractive to such workers. The objective of the directive was to sustain competitiveness and economic growth. As finally agreed, the directive leaves a wide leeway to the Member-states, for example to define the professions concerned, to set the volume of admissions, whether to require a labour market test or linguistic skills, and to limit the possibility that the workers benefit from public allowances. To date, after delays, all countries, except Denmark, Ireland and the UK, which had opted out, have enacted the Blue Card Directive in their national legislation (or, in the case of Sweden, are close to doing so). Time had thus come to analyze how they implemented the directive, why divergence and convergence in implementation appears and what the implementation of the blue card would bring us in the future.
For discussing these questions, the IES migration cluster set up a panel of 3 eminent experts on the issue: one in-house expert, Prof. Dr. Christof Roos, the cluster’s new research professor who has written on the EU decision-making process which had led to the blue card directive, and two external experts: Lieven Brouwer, the Commission’s policy expert following up the member-states transposition of the blue card, and Lucie Cerna, who is an Analyst in the Directorate for Education and Skills at the OECD, Paris, and a Research Associate at the Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS), Oxford. Prof. Dr. Ilke Adam, the IES migration cluster coordinator and Martina Belmonte (Milan University), a former cluster’s intern writing a PhD on EU high skilled migration policy jointly chaired the event. After the presentations of the speakers, very lively discussions took place with the public on the interpretation of the added value of the Blue Card directive.
Migration Diversity & Justice. IES at the International Conference of Europeanists
Alison Woodward, Ilke Adam and Richard Lewis represented IES at he 21st International Conference of Europeanists in Washington D.C March 14th to 16th. The conference, entitled Resurrections - Contradictions –Envisioning European Futures was organized by the Council for European Studies at Columbia University and included a wide variety of topics relating to European integration of which migration was but one. The organizers chose their theme with care indicating in the programme that the event would be addressing issues “which reiterate large questions from Europe’s past, while impinging on the ability of social forces to imagine possible futures.” Migration certainly fits as a topic within these guidelines and the field was well represented in Washington by some eminent academic names. The United States, which for the past few years has been re-orientating both academic and policy thinking in the direction of the Asia-Pacific region, is being challenged by American Europeanists on the wisdom of giving less attention to Europe. In spite of the rise of China and other countries in Asia, the EU and the US have mutual trade, investment and strategic interests which far surpass other competitors. This is reinforced by the crisis in the Ukraine and the renewed role of NATO as a deterrent treaty. This kind of concern was aired at the conference in a discussion amongst teachers of European studies who lamented the lack of funding and indeed interest of students on topics relating to Europe. They are reflecting on how the counter this tendency.
All three participants from IES played active roles in panels and discussions. Ilke Adam chaired and acted as discussant for a panel entitled New Dynamics in EU Migration and Integration Policies which concentrated on European governance of migration and the mainstreaming of migration policies. Professor Woodward chaired and acted as discussant in a panel on Ethnicity and Building Identity which included absorbing discourse on identity issues in France. Professor Adam and Richard Lewis acted as discussant and chair respectively of a panel on post-colonial immigrants that discussed the bonus and malus of such of a post-colonial background. The countries discussed included the Netherlands, France, Belgium and Spain that provide substantial examples of this phenomenon. With the enthusiastic support of the panellists Ilke Adam intends to pursue this question as a research topic early in the next academic year.
Conferences leave participants and those who finance them with the inevitable question of what one learns from them? As a migration specialist, the advantage of attending a conference of Europeanists is that it places migration into a context of pan-European policy issues. One cannot divorce migration questions from the economic environment especially at the tail end of a major recession. Equally, in the run-up to the European elections, on which there was substantial interest at this event, immigration, as one of the major concerns of European citizens , has to be considered in a broad political perspective.
6EDU Educational Development Unit
Jean Monnet Chair
The IES Jean Monnet Chair resumed in 2014 with a new series of podcasts and webinars. For the Springboard Brussels 2015, the “EU Foreign Affairs” Podcast Series produced a total of five podcasts on topics that range from airpower defense, to geopolitics and migration. Five more podcasts will follow in 2014, each analyzing the role of the EU as an international actor from various angles. The podcast series in permanently being updated and made available to the broader public through the IES YouTube channel (IESBrussels).
Accompanying the foreign affairs podcasts, the “Diplomacy in Action” Webinar Series resumed in March 2014 with an inaugural webinar on “EU-Russian energy relations in an international context - now and in the future”. A hot topic for debate, the online event gathered as much as 40 participants from various parts of the world, interested in the recent developments of EU-Russia relations. Dr. Claire Dupont chaired the debate, and had as guest speakers Dr. Andrei Belyi and Dr. Olga Khrushcheva who managed to spark a serious and fruitful debate. The webinar series can be followed online live or recorded (on the IES YouTube channel).
Jean Monnet Module
The IES “Quo Vadis EU? Foreign Policy Aspirations and Obligations for the Twenty-first Century” Jean Monnet Module is now in its third and final year. The project has continued throughout the 2013-2014 academic year to produce its outputs, and, aside from the EU Foreign Policy EuroMaster course (coupled with the four webinars), it continued the bi-annual Alumni Event series with a lecture on “The UK and the Geopolitics of Europe” given by James Rogers, Lecturer in European Security at the Baltic Defence College in Tartu, Estonia. A final conference on “Europe, Japan and Asian Security” is
scheduled to take place in April.
German Pupils at the IES
On 12 February, for a second time in a row the EDU hosted a group of 40 pupils and their teachers from Städtische Kaufmännische Schulen Rheine (Germany). They visited the Institute in the framework of their study trip to Brussels and the EU institutions. The programme of their meeting at the IES included two lectures and a debate about current EU affairs; Dr. Claire Dupont gave a presentation about EU climate change policy and Dr. Magdalena Sapala discussed the political and economic aspects of the forthcoming elections to the European Parliament. Additionally, the guests were informed about the EDU educational activities and our e-learning offer.
Alexandra Mihai’s Research in London
In February, Alexandra Mihai was in London as a visiting researcher at the London Knowledge Lab part of the Institute of Education. The London Knowledge Lab is an interdisciplinary research centre that focuses on the use of technology in education.
As she recently started working on her PhD, Alexandra’s main goal during her stay was to conduct initial research on theories in educational science and the use of educational technologies, as well as to access literature on pedagogical methods in social science and on research methods in educational science. Being able to work in the biggest educational studies library in Europe, she was able to map out the most important resources available and start building the foundations of the theoretical part of her PhD. Another very important aspect of her stay at the London Knowledge Lab were the meetings she had with various researchers working on topics close to her interest, that provided her with interesting ideas, helping her shape the structure and focus of her PhD. These
interactions, as well as the exposure to the community of educational scientists, are very relevant and enriching at this very early stage in her PhD.
During her stay, Alexandra also organized a seminar on teaching European Studies with technology, where she presented the work of the EDU on online and blended learning, as well as the outline of her research. The audience was very engaged and offered valuable feedback, both on the practice side (i.e. ideas on how to further develop the online modules and webinars) and the research focus.
All in all, Alexandra’s research stay in London proved to be very fruitful, both for her research and for exchanging best practices on integrating technology in teaching.
TEMPUS project “Innovating Teaching and Learning of European Studies”
The Educational Development Unit is involved, as of January 2014, in a project financed by the TEMPUS funding stream. The IES is one of the nine partners of the consortium led by the University of Maastricht and also involving universities from UK, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. The kick-off meeting took place on 12 February in Maastricht and the partners are now working on the first substantive Work Package aimed at mapping the state of the art in teaching European Studies.
The project, entitled “Innovating Teaching and Learning of European Studies” (INOTLES) aims to promote the convergence of European Studies core curricula between EU and the neighbouring countries and to provide teacher training in innovative teaching methods such as e-learning/ blended learning, problem-based learning and the use of simulations.
The EDU will be involved in various Working Packages, including organising a teacher training session in Brussels in the summer of 2014, conducting literature review on teaching methods in European Studies and offering a course on the EU institutional setup via the online platform to students from all the participating universities.
European Parliament Elections - Free Mini-Module Now Online
Understanding the importance of the upcoming European elections, the Institute for European Studies of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel in cooperation with VoteWatch Europe, has designed an online handbook that will guide you through the most relevant aspects of the European Parliament. The only EU institution directly elected by the citizens of one of the 28 Member States has gained increased powers with each succeeding treaty change, and is today the main co-legislator of the Union (together with the Council of the EU), impacting the lives of over 500 million Europeans.
This guide will offer a clear overview of the main institutional aspects of the European Parliament, by highlighting major developments, structure, roles and powers, offering at the same time relevant information and data on how this institution works in theory and practice. (www.eumodules.eu)
www.eumodules.eu
7 IES Educational Programmes
Hendrix 2014
In January the IES inaugurated the sixth Study Abroad Programme for the students from Hendrix College (Arkansas, USA). The students will stay with us until the end of May. They have different academic specialisations, ranging from political and international studies, business and economics, to public health studies, but they all came to Brussels with the same goal: to learn about the European integration process, the functioning of the European Union and to gain a unique experience of leaving, studying and working in the capital of Europe.
The intensive programme of their semester at the IES includes the series of fifteen lectures followed by seminars called the EU REDUX (tackling the EU institutions, decision-making and policies), one course of their choice from Vesalius College catalogue, visits to the EU institutions and 150 hours of an internship carried out in EU affairs in various sectors. At the end of the semester the students also have to write and defend a final paper on an EU topic of their choice. The IES Study Abroad Programme is designed to give the participants a complete picture of the functioning of EU affairs in theory as well as in practice. We wish the students a successful and exciting stay in Brussels.
EuroMaster Graduation
In February, six students graduated from the MSc in
European Integration and Development (also know as
‘EuroMaster’). Ivica Karas and Annachiera Stefanucci
obtained a Great Distinction, Niki Coppe and Borislava
Woodford graduated with Distinction, and Marietta Asik
and Grace Petrona passed with Satisfaction. Congrats
to all!
Hendrix students in Bruges
EU Studies Fair 2014 in Brussels
On 7-8 February, the IES participated in the annual EU Studies Fair, which is organised by the weekly newspaper the European Voice. The two-day education and networking event brought together prospective students and academic institutions. The IES promoted its advanced masters programmes, summer schools and EU modules with the help of IES staff and advanced masters students who shared their knowledge and experience with potential applicants. It was a great success and a very valuable contribution to recruiting new students for our programmes.
The IES welcomes HUFS from Korea
On 23 January, a delegation from Hankuk University
of Foreign Studies-HRI EU Centre (HUFS) visited the
Institute for European Studies. HUFS Director Prof. Si
Hong Kim led the delegation. A lively debate on EU-East
Asia relations took place between students from HUFS
and the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. The event was chaired
by Prof. Bong Chul Kim, Deputy-Director of HUFS, and
IES discussants included Prof. Dr. Alexander Mattelaer
and Prof. Dr. Luis Simón.
We had by far the best “stand” and the dynamism of all contributors helped to promote our institute beyond what we would have imagined.
The deadline for the LLM in International and European Law is approaching!
8European Foreign & Security Policy
how political decisions are translated into operational plans for EU Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) missions and operations. This process is typically fraught by difficult intergovernmental deliberations and organisational friction.
Luis Simón
On 28 January Luis Simón participated in a European Council on Foreign Relations roundtable on the future of European strategy in Madrid. Over the February-March period, Luis published an op-ed on the Ukraine crisis for European Geostrategy, and a report on the future of Spanish foreign policy for the Royal Elcano Institute and the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Luis also presented two papers at the annual International Studies Association convention in Toronto; one on ‘Geography and Strategic Culture’, the other on ‘Spinoza’s Philosophy and IR Theory’. He served as a discussant on a panel entitled ‘Strategic Challenges for NATO and European Security’ at the conference too. On 13 March Luis delivered a guest lecture on Europe-Asia relations at the ESDC, and he spent two weeks in March at Columbia University, New York, and Washington, D.C. to conduct research and fieldwork.
Daniel Fiott
In February, Daniel Fiott took up a position as an
EDGE Policy Brief on the Crisis of Democratic Legitimacy
In the context of the strategic research programme Evaluating Democratic Governance in Europe (EDGE), financed by the VUB’s Research Council, POLI post-doctoral researcher Eline Severs and IES Assistant Director Alexander Mattelaer co-authored a European Policy Brief entitled ‘A Crisis of Democratic Legitimacy? It’s about Legitimation, Stupid!’. This constituted a VUB contribution to the project ‘The Citizen and the European Elections’, initiated and led by the Egmont Institute, culminating in a high-level conference chaired by Etienne Davignon. In a clear display of cross-departmental collaboration, Eline and Alexander suggested that the present feeling of political malaise calls for a redefinition of the relationship between citizens and the authorities by which they are ruled. If popular sovereignty is to mean anything today, they argued, it requires a new legitimising narrative.
Alexander Mattelaer
On 27 February Alexander Mattelaer gave a guest lecture on the European Security and Defence College’s (ESDC) Advanced Political Advisors course. During the course of his presentation, Alexander elaborated on
POLICY FORUM: THE FUTURE OF AIRPOWER
Associate Analyst with the EU Institute for Security Studies, where he will focus his research on European defence-industrial issues. He also delivered the state of play of his PhD work at his second IES research colloquium on 25 February. On 14 March, Daniel spoke on Franco-British defence cooperation at a workshop organised by Franco-British Connections that included a day of events at the British Council, SciencesPo, La Sorbonne, and the British Embassy to Paris. Over the January-March period Daniel delivered lectures on the CSDP for the IES EuroMaster course, the Greek EU presidency-led ESDC’s high-level orientation course, the German Academy for Security Studies, the Hendrix College spring programme and the International Association for Political Science Students. In January, Daniel and Alexander Mattelaer had the great privilege of interviewing Sir General Richard Shirreff, NATO’s Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe, for European Geostrategy.
Associate Researcher News
Isabelle Ioannides became a research consultant for a European Policy Centre-led project on EU member states and enlargement towards the Balkans. On 20 February, Isabelle was a panel chair at a conference organised by Wilton Park and the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office on EU programmes and action in fragile and conflict states.
“Political decisions will ultimately pave the way for more cooperation with Belgium’s two privileged partners in air cooperation, France
and the Netherlands.”
On 13 February the EFSP cluster and The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies (HCSS) organised a joint policy forum on Benelux Air Cooperation in a European Context. Hosted by IES Assistant Director Alexander Mattelaer, the event provided the Belgian and Dutch air chiefs, Lieutenant General Claude Van de Voorde and Lieutenant General Alexander Schnitger, with an occasion to present their views on how to translate political guidance on multinational collaboration into practice. Lt. Gen. Van de Voorde emphasised that political decisions will ultimately pave the way for more cooperation with Belgium’s two privileged partners in air cooperation, France and the Netherlands.
In order to put this debate into context, Peter Wijninga and Frank Bekkers presented the recent HCSS airpower study reportTaking the High Ground. Their work was commented upon from an operational and defence-industrial perspective by Lt. Colonel Vincent Maniet from the Belgian Defence Staff and the IES’ own Daniel Fiott. The event was attended inter alia by the Belgian Chief of Defence, General Gerard Van Caelenberge and several representatives of the Belgian aeronautical industry. On the basis of the different presentations the IES produced two podcasts for the EU Foreign Affairs podcast series, which can be viewed via the IES YouTube channel.
“IES produced two podcasts for the EU Foreign Affairs podcast series, which can be viewed via
the IES YouTube channel.”
youtube.com/IESBrussels
9IES Publications
FIOTT, Daniel,”2014”,”’The EU as a Global Security Actor: A Comprehensive Analysis beyond CFSP and JHA’ by C. Kaunert and K. Zwolski, Journal of Common Market Studies, Vol. 52, No. 2, pp. 437-438.”,” Articles in scientific journal without peer review”.
FIOTT, Daniel,”2014”,”An Industrious European Council on Defence?, Egmont Security Policy Brief, No. 53.”,” Final reports of policy preparing projects, submitted to financing authority”.
FIOTT, Daniel,”2014”,”No TTIP-ing point for European defence?, EU Institute for Security Studies Policy Alert, No. 19.”,” Final reports of policy preparing projects, submitted to financing authority”,”.
FIOTT, Daniel,”2014”,”One Size to Fit All? Setting Standards for European Defence, EU Institute for Security Studies Policy Brief, No. 13.”,” Final reports of policy preparing projects, submitted to financing authority”.
FIOTT, Daniel,”2014”,”Reducing the Environmental Bootprint? Competition and Regulation in the Greening of Europe’s Defense Sector, Organization & Environment, (online early view).”,” Articles in scientific journal with international peer review”.
GROEN, Lisanne,”2014”,”Klimaatvoorstel Europese Commissie schiet tekort met het oog op aankomende klimaattop in Parijs””, opinion piece on website Clingendael, Netherlands Institute for International Relations, 28 February 2014. Available at: http://www.clingendael.nl/publication/klimaatvoorstel-europese-commissie-schiet-tekort-met-het-oog-op-aankomende-klimaattop. “
HOLVOET, Mathias & DE HERT, Paul & VAN CAENEGHEM Jozefien & WEIS Karen,”2014”,”Handboek internationaal en Europees Strafrecht, Antwerpen, Intersentia, 2014, 540p.”,” (co)author of a scientific monograph”
HOLVOET, Mathias & MEMA, Medlir ,”2014”,”’The International Criminal Court and the Third Pillar’ in KOOPS, Joachim & FIOTT, Daniel (eds.), Responsibility to Protect and the Third Pillar Approach: Legitimacy and Effectiveness, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2014 “,” Chapters in scientific monographs / edited volumes with international peer review”
JANSSON, Max S. & KALIMO, Harri,”2014”,”De minimis Meets ‘Market Access’ -- Transformations in the Substance -- and in the Syntax -- of EU free movement law? Common Market Law Review, 51(1), p.1-36.”,” Articles in scientific journal with international peer review”
LAMENSCH, Marie,”2014”,”Tax Law in the light of judgments: Interaction between European law and domestic courts - 2012; Tax Planning: What is (un)acceptable - 2013, S. van Thiel (ed.), Brussels, Confederation Fiscale Europeenne (CFE) Forum Reports on European Taxation - 5”,” Chapters in scientific monographs / edited volumes with international peer review”
MATTELAER, Alexander & MARIJNEN, Esther,”2014”,”EU Peacekeeping in Africa; Towards an indirect approach, in Tardy, Thierry & Marco Wyss (eds), Peacekeeping in Africa, the evolving security architecture, London: Routledge, p. 54-72”,” Chapters in scientific monographs / edited volumes with international peer review”
OBERTHUR, Sebastian & POZAROWSKA Justyna,”2014”,”The Impact of the Nagoya Protocol on the Evolving Institutional Complex of ABS Governance, in: Sebastian Oberthür and G. Kristin Rosendal (eds.), Global Governance of Genetic Resources: Access and Benefit Sharing after the Nagoya Protocol, Abingdon: Routledge 2014, 178-195.”,” Chapters in scientific monographs /
edited volumes without peer review”
OBERTHUR, Sebastian & RABITZ Florian,”2014”,”The Role of the European Union in the Nagoya Protocol Negotiations: Self-interested Bridge Building, in: Sebastian Oberthür and G. Kristin Rosendal (eds.), Global Governance of Genetic Resources: Access and Benefit Sharing after the Nagoya Protocol, Abingdon: Routledge 2014, 79-95.”,” Chapters in scientific monographs /edited volumes without peer review”
PAUWELS,Caroline, KALIMO, Harri, DONDERS, Karen & VAN ROMPUY, Ben,”2014”,”Rethinking European Media and Communications Policy. VUB Press: Brussels”,” Scientific editor of an edited volume or special issue”
SIMON, Luis,”2014”,”Geopolitical Change, Grand Strategy and European Security, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.”,” (co)author of a scientific monograph”
TINTIN, Cem,”2014”,”International Conference on Business and Economics, 3-4 August 2012, Istanbul, Turkey”,” Papers presented at other conferences, published integrally”
IES Policy Briefs
EU Climate and Energy Policy: Hope for More and Better Climate Policy Integration?
With discussions on-going in the EU on the climate and energy policy framework to 2030, it is timely to assess the reality of climate policy integration into EU energy policy. Such an analysis can lead to lessons for the legislative process for the 2030 package, and even for policies in other sectors and beyond 2030. Climate change is a complex, crosscutting, long-term and global problem. Policymakers acknowledge that integrating climate policy objectives into the elaboration and agreement of measures in other sectors represents one method for striving towards coherent policies that respond adequately
to the climate change problem. This policy brief presents the results and policy recommendations from the project “climate policy integration into EU energy policy”.
European Energy and Industrial Policy Realigned: Risk or Opportunity for EU Eco-innovation Strategy?
Europe’s eco-innovation strategy fuses industrial, energy and environmental policy together in a concept for sustainable economic growth in the 21st century. The latest debate about
high energy prices and their impact on energy-intensive industry shows, however, that the emphasis among the three policies has shifted over the years. Some adjustments are therefore necessary in order to reduce evolving inconsistencies. This Policy Brief describes the different dimensions of the EU’s industrial policy, and assesses the options available to policy-makers to increase the competitiveness of energy-intensive sectors without compromising the eco-innovation and sustainability agenda. If several key principles of the European sustainability agenda remain unchanged, strategic development is possible.
Associate Researcher News
Dominik Tolksdorf completed his research visit to the Institut Francais des Relations Internationales and, following a research trip to Ukraine in February, after which he was interviewed by France 24, he started the last phase of his participation in the TAPIR programme at the US Institute of Peace in March.
On 18 February visiting researcher Hubertus Juergenliemk spoke on the ESDC course on Civilian Aspects of Crisis Management, which was organised by the National Defence Institute of Portugal and the French Higher Institute for National Defence Studies. On 6 March, Hubertus presented his fieldwork from the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2013 at the University of Cambridge’s European Research Seminar. The EFSP cluster welcomed Katarina Meissner in March. She began her stay by co-authoring an op-ed with Euractiv on a practical way forward for EU-ASEAN relations.
10IES in the media
IES in the social media
• Claire Dupont : Over apokalyptische kadering en korte termijn-politici. Een gesprek met Claire Dupont.
7 January 2014 in: ARGUS Actueel
• Daniel Fiott and Alexander Mattelaer : Interview with General Sir Richard Shirreff
25 January 2014 in: European Geostrategy
• Alexander Mattelaer : Onmacht EU drijft Fransen naar VS
12 February 2014 in: De Standaard
• Tomas Wyns : EU i klimaskvis
14 February 2014 in: Ukeavisen Ledelse
• Tomas Wyns : EU Leaders Said to Delay Decision on 2030 Carbon Target
17 February 2014 in: Bloomberg
• Thomas Sattich : European energy and industrial policy must be ‘realigned’
19 February 2014 in: Policy Review
• Tomas Wyns : EU Energy and Industry Sector Need Competitive Edge
28 February 2014 in: Energia
• Lisanne Groen : Klimaatvoorstel Europese Commissie schiet tekort met het oog op aankomende klimaattop in
Parijs
28 February 2014 in: Clingendael
• Daniel Fiott : Waarom Europa niet meer zonder de ruimte kan
13 March 2014 in: Erasmix
• Tomas Wyns : Energy Post in partnership with Shell-Putting innovation at the heart of 2030
17 March 2014 in: Energy Post
• Malasree Neepa Acharya : De Grote Obama Show: Reactie van het Publiek
27 March 2014 in: De Morgen
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Join the debate.@IES_BrusselsStudy@IES
facebook.com/IESBrussels
Successful Launch of the SOURCE Project
The PRIO coordinated SOURCE project “Virtual centre of excellence for research support and coordination on societal security” held its kick-off meeting on 28 January 2014 thereby officially launching the five-year project funded by the EU FP7 programme.All 12 partners in the project, including the IES, were present at the meeting organised by PRIO in Brussels to discuss the work plan and lay the foundations of the project’s activities and management practices. The Research Executive Agency (REA) – delegated by the European Commission to be in charge of the project – was present at the meeting as well.
The SOURCE Network of Excellence will last until the end of 2018 and will run a variety of activities in connection to societal security, with the final aim to create a sustainable virtual centre of excellence capable of exploring and advancing societal issues in security research and development. The project is coordinated by J. Peter Burgess, Senior Research Fellow at the IES and research professor at PRIO’s Security Research Group.
For more information visit: www.societalsecurity.net
11Katharina L. Meissner joins the
IES as a Visiting Researcher in the
EFSP cluster. Since September
2012 she has been affiliated as
a PhD researcher to the Political
and Social Sciences department
of the European University Institute (EUI) under
the supervision of Adrienne Héritier. Her PhD thesis
examines the EU’s foreign trade policy towards South
America and Southeast Asia with a particular emphasis
on the scope of negotiations. She holds degrees from
the University of Bamberg, the University of Otago
and the EUI. Katharina is particularly interested in
the EU’s foreign (trade) policy, regional integration
beyond Europe, inter-regionalism, regional powers,
international trade, and International Relations theories.
Katharina will be with us until the end of May 2014.
Svitlana Kobzar, Assistant Professor
at Vesalius College, joins IES as an
Associate Researcher. In addition
to these duties Svitlana is a Policy
Analyst at RAND Corporation, and
has also served as a Research
Associate at the University of Cambridge. She holds
an MPhil and PhD from the University of Cambridge
Isabelle Ioannides joins us as a
Senior Associate Researcher with
the European Foreign and Security
Policy research cluster. Isabelle
is an Adviser at the European
Commission’s Bureau of European
Policy Advisers (BEPA).
Abdel-Elah Afennas is working
on a part-time basis at the IES
while finishing his studies. He’s
currently working with Harri on our
alumni databases, as well as more
generally on our IES database.
Judith Brown is a Hendrix College
student who joins us for an
internship. She will be working
with Lynn on the educational
programmes, as well as the
upcoming EUIA conference.
Staff NewsTomas Wyns is a new doctoral
researcher at the IES. He is working
on European and international
climate policy, in particular the
design of the EU Emissions Trading
System, post 2020 industrial and
innovation policy and enhancing
global climate action under a 2015 international
climate agreement. Tomas has a masters degree in
Physics and is specialised in international relations and
conflict management.
Before joining the IES, Tomas worked for five years
as a climate policy officer in the environmental
administration of the Flemish government in Belgium,
responsible for implementing the European Emissions
Trading System and industrial energy efficiency policies.
He later joined the European Climate Action Network
where he coordinated the European NGO’s activities
with regard to Europe’s 2020 climate and energy
package, including the implementation of the reviewed
EU Emissions Trading System. Tomas finally directed
the Center for Clean Air Policy’s European office for
two years, where he developed innovative solutions for
industrial policy embedded in EU climate and energy
action; assisted in the financing and development of
National Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs)
in developing countries; and supported Chinese
authorities in the design and implementation of a pilot
emissions trading system in Hubei province. Tomas has
been attending the UNFCCC climate negotiations since
2007, assisting parties and stakeholders with insights
into the development of post 2012 international
climate action.
Giacomo Orsini is a third year
bursary PhD student at the
D e p a r t m e n t o f S o c i o l o g y,
University of Essex. Co-financed
by the University Association for
Contemporary European Studies
(UACES), and supervised by Dr. Yasemin Soysal and Dr.
Darren Thiel, Giacomo’s doctoral research constitutes an
exploratory sociological ground-level assessment of how
the EU, through the Common Fishery Policy (CFP) and the
European external border management policy, impacts
the everyday lives of artisanal fishing communities
living along Europe’s external edges in places such as
Lampedusa and Fuerteventura. The work is entitled “A
European fishery at the edge: The EU and the changing
lives of fishermen”. As part of his research on EU migration
and border policies, the CFP, sociology of everyday life,
postcolonial studies, Giacomo has conducted fieldwork
in Spain, Morocco, Malta and India. He graduated
first at the Italian universities of Padova and Bologna,
and later as a student of the Erasmus Mundus MA in
Euroculture – at the University of Groningen, Jagiellonian
University of Krakow, University of Pune. Following his
graduation, in 2011 the University of Groningen awarded
him with the GUF-100 Prize as the student of the year
for the Faculty of Arts. Corresponding to his doctoral
investigation in the two EU peripheral islands, Giacomo
has produced the documentary “Once the Sea Was
Covered with Water”, which has already been screened at
various film festivals in Krakow, Lampedusa and Iglesias.
Christof Roos recently joined the
IES as a Postdoctoral Researcher
in the Migration cluster. Before
joining IES, Christof Roos worked
at the University of Bremen (2007-
2014). At Bremen International
School for Social Sciences, and
the Collaborative Research Centre Transformations of
the State, he researched EU integration in Justice and
Home Affairs. His focus is on EU immigration politics
as well as single market issues such as freedom of
movement, Schengen cooperation, and the common
European asylum system. In 2013 he published his PhD
“Cracks in the Walls of Fortress Europe? The EU and
Immigration Policies” with Palgrave Macmillan. As a
member of the interdisciplinary research project “From
Containers to Open States: Border Regime Change
and the Mobility of Persons”, he was co-author of the
project monograph “Liberal States and the Freedom of
Movement: Selective Borders, Unequal Mobility”. He
studied political science at the Freie Universität Berlin
(2000-2006) and at York University Toronto (2003-
2004). Questions of inclusion and exclusion and the
right to membership and community are core to his
studies. Outside of academia Christof worked for the
European Commission’s DG Joint Research Centre, Ispra
(Italy). There he contributed to a study on emigration
from West African countries (2006-2007). In 2013 and
2014 he consulted the European Affairs Department of
the Senate Chancellery of the State of Berlin on the
European strategy on Roma Inclusion, as well as on the
European Smart Cities and Communities Initiative.
When he does not think about states, migrants and
borders, Christof enjoys sports such as swimming and
badminton, and spending time with his partner and
family.
Inga Ydersbond joins us as
a Visiting Researcher in the
Environment cluster. She is a PhD
student at the Department of
Political Science at the University
of Oslo, where she participates in
the international research centre
Strategic Challenges in International Climate and
Energy Policy (CICEP). Her research interests are the
EU’s climate and energy policy, renewable energy,
comparative studies and lobbying. During her stay in
Brussels she aims to participate in a relevant research
environment, and also to conduct the majority of the
interviews and participate in various events to obtain
the necessary data for the next two articles in her
dissertation. She will be here from 10 March until 6
June. Her personal interests are photography, theater,
art and exercise, and she also is a very social person.
12Events Calendar
Contributions to this Newsletter:
Ilke Adam - Anthony Antoine - Claire Dupont - Daniel
Fiott - Lisanne Groen - Max Jansson - Harri Kalimo
- Esther Marijnen -
Alexander Mattelaer - Alexandra Mihai - Sebastian
Oberthür - Silviu Piros - Magdalena Sapala - Jamal
Shahin - Luis Simon - Anna Stahl - Cem Tintin -
Lynn Tytgat - Mathijs Van Dijk -
Alison Woodward
Editing & layout by:
Marie Tuley
Pictures courtesy of IES
Newsletter of theInstitute for European Studies
Published by
Anthony Antoine
Institute for European StudiesVrije Universiteit Brussel
Pleinlaan 2 (IES)B-1050 Brussels (Belgium)
Date Event
31 March 2014
18:00 - 20:00Lecture Series: Irregular Migration Pressure, Search and Rescue at Sea
4 April 2014
12:30“Planetary Economics”: Implications for European Energy and Climate Policy
4 April 2014
17:00 - 20:00
Public PhD Defence Anna Katharina Stahl - “Hic Sunt Dracones: Exploring the Uncharted Territory of EU-China-Africa Trilateral Relations”
8 April 2014
14:00
Conference on Europe, Japan and Asian Security
15 April
14:00 - 17:30Joint Policy Forum Brussels-Bialystok: Elections to the European Parliament as a Challenge for Democracy
5 May 2014
12:00EU Food Law: What’s on the Menu?
6 May 2014
12:00VAT and digital economy: testing the robustness of the EU common system
14 May 201410:00 - 14:00 The EU Abroad
22-24 May 2014The European Union in International Affairs IV
Register Now
www.ies.be/conference/euia2014