In cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland, and with the support of the Institute for European Studies (IES/VUB), the ALL-YOUTH project calls on youth/young researchers to apply for the MasterClass: “The Future of the Council of Europe”. The session will take place on Monday 4 February 2019 at the Tampere University, Finland.

With the support of the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union, the Jean Monnet Network on Governing the EU’s Climate and Energy Transition in Turbulent Times or GOVTRAN brings together a broad range of scholars interested in climate and energy governance in the European Union. GOVTRAN reaches out to the wider epistemic community and actively fosters engagement with policymakers and the broader public in this field. The project is coordinated by the IES’ research cluster on Environment and Sustainable Development (Prof. Sebastian Oberthür) and implemented in collaboration with three other universities: Ghent University, the University of East Anglia and the University of Eastern Finland. 

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...

The extensive commercialisation of civil drones has made them accessible to a broad range of users for leisure, business-related, and professional activities. However, their growing number has also raised a series of societal concerns about this fast-evolving technology, related to security, safety, privacy, protection of personal data, liability and environmental issues.

IES researcher Jan Claudius Völkel organised an international conference on 15-16 December 2018 in Tunis with ca. 30 participants from different Arab countries, who were invited to discuss aspects of “Parliamentary work and scientific counselling” (so the conference theme) in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). The conference was one of the main deliverables of his EU-funded Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship “The role of national parliaments in the Arab transformation processes”, that Jan is currently conducting at the IES [grant number 706113].

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 Institute for European Studies (IES) at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) is proud to announce the appointment of Prof. Dr. Alexander Mattelaer as its new Academic Director, as a successor to Prof. Dr. Luk Van Langenhove. With this new appointment, the IES sees a familiar face take charge of its academic activities. Indeed, Prof. Dr. Mattelaer is not only a senior member of the IES’ International Security cluster, he also has a longstanding affiliation with the Institute in different managerial capacities, having served as Assistant Director and Acting Academic Director for several years in the past. Beyond the IES, Prof. Dr. Mattelaer held posts as Director of European Affairs at Egmont Institute, and Fulbright Schuman Fellow at Harvard University and National Defense University. With a research background on diplomacy and defence issues, he currently teaches several courses at VUB related to EU and international security.

In its energy vision of 19 May 2017 the Flemish government indicated that it supports the European long-term goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 by at least 80% to 95%. The role that the industry will play in this transition towards a low carbon economy is of course vital in this respect.

This is why at the end of 2017 the Flemish government asked the Institute for European Studies (IES) at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel to develop an exploratory research report that looks at the conditions that have to be met for the future realisation of an industrial transition framework for Flanders. This study report has just been published on the Flemish government’s website.

Trisha Meyer (Assistant Professor at Vesalius College and Postdoctoral Researcher at the Institute for European Studies) recently concluded a study on the use of artificial intelligence to combat disinformation online. The study was commissioned by the European Parliament’s STOA (Future of Science and Technology) panel and focuses on the consequences of automated content moderation for freedom of expression and media pluralism. On 13 December 2018, she presented the study with her co-author Chris Marsden (Professor of Internet Law at the University of Sussex) in Strasbourg.

IES Academic Director, Prof. Dr. Luk Van Langenhove, has been appointed as “Honorary Professorial Fellow with the University of Warwick in the ‘Politics and International Studies Department’ (PAIS). This appointment will allow to further deepen and widen the collaboration between PAIS and the IES. Click here for more background on the collaboration between the University of Warwick and the IES/VUB.

On Tuesday 27.11. the European Parliament organized the 10^th European Innovation Summit. These summits address hot topics on the EU’s policy agenda, highlighting developments in areas crucial for the Union’s competitiveness and sustainable development. The 10thSummit kicked off with a session “Tackling Microplastics with Sustainable Solutions”. Microplastics refer to the very small pieces of plastics that are either intentionally added to products (such as make-up, cleaners and toothpaste) or detach from larger plastic objects as they wear down (e.g. car tyres, textiles) or fragment over a longer period of time (e.g. plastic bottles). An interdisciplinary group of top scientists elaborated on the current state knowledge on microplastics in the 10^th Summit.