On 6 June 2023, Melanie Fink gave a ‘conférence’ at the University of Liège, Belgium in the context of its EU Studies Seminar Cycle, organised by Ljupcho Grozdanovski.

On Friday 2 June 2023, the Europa Institute launched the Liber Amicorum – “The EU and the WTO: Ever the Twain Shall Meet” – in honour of Marco Bronckers. To mark the special occasion, a panel discussion on five major challenges facing the EU and the WTO in the next fifty years was held.

The suspects of the fatal assault on Mallorca will be investigated in the Netherlands. If the Dutch Public Prosecution Service sees sufficient reason to prosecute the suspects, then a Dutch court will consider the case.

The year 2023 saw the earthquake in Turkey and Syria, the Wagner Group rebellion and wildfires and floods as all the weather records were smashed. Our most-read stories were about the climate crisis and the elections: here’s the list.

To what extent can Parliament limit freedom with the so-called 2G policy? Associate Professor of Constitutional and Administrative Law Ingrid Leijten of Leiden University discussed this topic on NOS Nieuws en Co.

Jorieke Manenschijn vertelde NU.nl over hoe de Britten tijdens de verkiezing uit onvrede over de pogingen van de Conservatieven om wetten via een juridisch achterdeurtje te laten passeren, op Labour stemmen.

Free trade negotiations and agreements are important instruments of EU trade policy. An increasing number of EU climate, environmental and sustainable development objectives play a role in free trade agreements.

Lecture

One week ago a group of Dutch men were attacked out of the blue by another group of Dutch tourists on the Spanish island of Mallorca. One of the victims later died as a result of his injuries. The Spanish police know who the suspects are, but those men are in the Netherlands.

How do you increase the EU’s EQ so that citizens and countries feel a greater sense of belonging and safety in the EU, and the countries work better together? To answer this question, Professor of European Law Armin Cuyvers works, among others, with social psychologists. Inaugural lecture on 9 Decem…

PhD defence

The rise of populist parties, the expansion of the role of the state and now the fragmentation of the Senate and the House of Representatives: Dutch political reality has changed rapidly over recent decades. These developments are in stark contrast to Dutch constitutional law that has remained almost…

Lecture

Lecture

On 15 December, Director of the MIVD General Jan Swillens, visited the Institute of Security and Global Affairs (ISGA) to give a lecture on international intelligence cooperation together with ISGA/NLDA researcher Pepijn Tuinier. This event, co-organised by the Intelligence and Security Group and the…

On November 30, 2023, the research group Institutions for Conflict Resolution (COI) organized a stakeholder meeting on governmental problem-solving and its implications for legitimacy. COI is a joint collaboration between the Universities of Leiden, Utrecht, and Nijmegen as part of the Dutch Sector…

Conference, Workshop

Lecture

Festival

Fishermen in the United Kingdom recently protested about the adverse effects of Brexit on their trade. It would be naive to think that covert feelings of being under threat do not exist among the Dutch population. Citizens who feel threatened become defensive, a situation that could lead to a Nexit.

On Friday 2 June 2023, Vincent Delhomme, Assistant professor at the Europe Institute at Leiden Law School, successfully defended his PhD thesis entitled : ‘Regulating lifestyle risks in EU law: Promoting health in a diverse market’.

On 24 March 2023, the University of Tartu, Estonia hosted a Workshop on ‘'Algorithms, Rule of Law, and the Future of Justice: Implications in the Estonian Justice System’.

Should criminal law have a greater role in protecting this democracy? In his inaugural lecture, Professor Jeroen ten Voorde urges caution.

The free AI and Ethics course (in Dutch) is available online to anyone who wants to find out more about the ethical implications of artificial intelligence. One of the eight experts featured in the course is Professor Reijer Passchier. ‘Artificial Intelligence is spreading so fast and has such an impact…

Political scientist Kevin Köhler (Leiden University) has been awarded a Consolidator Grant by the European Research Council (ERC). This prestigious grant enables him to set up a research group in the coming five years. Köhler and his team will examine how elite conflict affects processes of regime change…

Students of the Leiden University Faculty of Archaeology once again explore the archaeology of Oss between April and May of 2023. New areas along the Gewandeweg will be investigated. The local news platform DTV Nieuws featured an article about it.

The reconstruction of a dress worn in the Netherlands nearly 3000 years ago has gone on display in Oss, and shows that, contrary to popular opinion, woman from that time liked cheerful colours. Leiden archaeologists were involved in both the find of the dress as well as its reconstruction.

Course, Summer School

Lydie Cabane, Assistant Professor at ISGA, has written an article in E-International Relations to discuss the key lessons from other crisis management domains to improve the EU response to pandemics.

A controversial video in which PowNed asks Taylor Swift fans how far they would go for a meet-and-greet with the singer violates portrait rights according to Jeroen ten Voorde in Dutch newspaper ‘NRC’.

Is the child benefits scandal an omen for the future and will people’s lives soon be fully dominated by algorithms? Assistant Professor of Constitutional and Administrative Law Reijer Passchier warns that the encroaching digitalisation is giving the executive branch even more power, leaving parliament…

This summer, political scientist Thijs Vos received the Kaare Strøm prize for his paper ‘Power or Ideology? What structures legislative voting behaviour in Dutch municipal councils, ideology or coalition-opposition dynamics?' He was awarded the prize during the ECPR summer school on parliaments in F…

Europe must be prepared to stand up for its values in its relationship with China, argues University Lecturer Casper Wits in an article in Politico.

On May 4, 2024, from 10.00 to 16.00 hours, a festive day took place in Oss, celebrating the fact that staff and students of the Leiden Faculty of Archeology have been doing fieldwork in and around Oss for 50 years in good collaboration with the municipality of Oss, the local heritage and archaeological…

PhD defence

Bert Koenders, professor of Peace, Law and Security at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs, has been appointed chairman of the Advisory Council on International Affairs (AIV), or foreign policy.

University lecturer Casper Wits wrote an opinion piece on the ongoing diplomatic tensions between the European Union and China for POLITICO. In this article, he argues that 'rather than shrinking from the fight, the EU must develop a China policy that prioritizes progressive values and human rights.…

The League of European Research Universities (LERU) was launched in Leiden 20 years ago. LERU is a partnership of 23 leading research universities, including the universities of Oxford, Cambridge, Leiden, Leuven and Heidelberg. It celebrated this anniversary last week with a multi-day conference in…

Debate

A fragmented political landscape, permanent pressure from current affairs and an increasingly political civil service: our government faces many challenges. This makes it all the more difficult to make important decisions about pensions or the climate. Research and good education can help meet the challenges…

The design for the METIS instrument for the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) is final. The European Southern Observatory (ESO) has given the green light for production of all parts of the instrument. It is the first ELT instrument, designed and to be built under Dutch leadership, to formally pass the…

To what extent does exoplanet Proxima b resemble our Earth? And is there some form of life present? Astronomers hope to find answers to these questions with the new European Extremely Large Telescope (ELT). An NWO research grant of €18 million will allow a Dutch consortium to continue building instruments…

On Saturday 25 June, the Europa Institute of Leiden University hosted the 61st Leiden-London Meeting, an annual event organized jointly by the Europa Institute and the British Institute of International and Comparative Law (BIICL). This year’s meeting had “Interdependence, cooperation and strategic…

The Dutch Ministry of Finance says that new rules have significantly reduced tax avoidance via 'transit country' the Netherlands. Jan Vleggeert, Professor of Tax Law, has voiced his reservations about this claim in the media.

Language can be a time machine: we can learn from ancient texts how our ancestors interacted with the world around them. But can language also teach us something about people whose language has been lost? PhD candidate Anthony Jakob investigated whether the languages of prehistoric populations left…