Sebastian Oberthür has been appointed by the Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO) to serve as a member of the expert panel G&M4: Social, Political and Communication Sciences for an initial term of one year (2018). The expert panel in particular is mandated to assess applications for PhD and postdoctoral fellowships submitted to the FWO. The FWO describes these expert panels as its beating heart. By submitting scientific advice to the Senate and the Board of Trustees, they play a crucial role in the development of research in Flanders. Professor Oberthür’s appointment is an acknowledgement of his expertise in International Relations and European Studies, and of the IES’ reputation as a trusted advisor to Flemish public authorities.

The German Bertelsmann Stiftung has today released its updated Transformation Index (BTI 2018). Every second year, the BTI measures political and economic progress in 129 transformation countries around the world and belongs to the most detailed comparative country analyses.

IES researcher Jan Claudius Völkel serves as the BTI’s Regional Coordinator Middle East & North Africa, and is hence responsible for the detailed assessment of 19 MENA countries, which stretch from Morocco in the West to Iran in the East, and from Turkey in the North to Sudan in the South. For this, he has organised and supervised the conduct of independent analyses by two renowned experts per country. The findings are worrying: overall, democracy has reached its lowest level ever in the MENA region, only Tunisia has stabilised its achievements since the 2011 revolution.

On 28 March 2017, the IES (VUB) and the IEE (ULB) co-organised a panel debate on the reform of the EU’s asylum system in the Ravenstein Gallery in the centre of Brussels. The event was part of the VUB-ULB initiative ‘konekt.brussels’, which sought to improve the links between the Brussels-based universities and the city of Brussels. The guiding question for the event was: ‘Is the reform of the EU’s asylum system on track?’. It was debated by a high-level group of experts consisting of Prof. Philippe De Bruycker (IEE), Stefan Maier (UNHCR), Sara Silvestre (IES), Jihad Mustafa (VUB Refugee Student) and Dr. Leonhard den Hertog (Policy Advisor in the European Parliament). IES Prof. Florian Trauner moderated the discussion.

In the context of the SOURCE project, an IES team consisting of Ólöf Soebech, Irina van der Vet and Florian Lang designed a 90-page E-Handbook on Societal Security Crises and Emergency Response in Europe. The e-handbook is an innovative educational tool for first responders managing crises in the area of societal security. It features six multi-media case-studies coming from different parts of Europe, namely: Austria, Sweden, Belgium, and Spain. The case-studies explore and re-construct strategies and actions of first response professionals involved in management of socio-political emergencies and natural disasters. In addition to texts, the interactive content includes educational assignments and video interviews...

Following the University Council’s approval on 30 March 2018, the Annual Report 2017 of the IES is now available online. In its 15^th anniversary year, the IES organised 33 public events, awarded 4 PhDs (bringing the total of PhDs awarded by the institute to 32), produced 117 publications, of which 24 peer-reviewed articles, and 25 book chapters, and collected 4 academic awards. Additionally, the IES also internally published 7 policy briefs, 2 policy papers and 7 working papers. Our Institute now counts 106 people or 48.9 full-time equivalents.

Organized by the Diplomatic School of Armenia and funded by the European Union, this panel workshop on 3 May 2018 is designed for students and academics in Armenian universities, and targeted officials and professors. IES Academic Director Luk Van Langenhove will deliver two talks: “The long past and short history of the practice of Science Diplomacy” and “European Union Science Diplomacy in review”. Other presentations will deal with: “Global Challenges, New Frontiers and the Limitations of Armed Force”, “Best Practices in Science Diplomacy: leading examples from North America, Europe and Asia.”

In March, Klaudia Majcher, a PhD researcher in the Economic Governance Cluster, was invited by the Law Faculty of the University of Zagreb to teach few sessions of the seminar ‘European Public Law and Global Mobility’ to a group of international students. The seminar is part of the Jean Monnet Chair called ‘Global Effects of EU Law’. The sessions discussed a range of contemporary legal issues such as Brexit, competition law enforcement in the technology sector, and protection of personal data in the age of digital globalization.

IES Executive Director Anthony Antoine gave a keynote opening speech at the fifth series of workshops of the EU-LEAD project in Ankara, held on 1-5 May at the Middle-East Technical University (METU). The sessions hosted over 60 European and Chinese university leaders and key staff members to discuss university governance structures and university leadership. LEAD, or in full ‘Governance and Academic Leadership of Chinese and European Universities in the context of Innovation and Internationalization’ is an Erasmus+ Capacity Building Project sponsored by the European Commission. 

The draft programme of the #EUIA18 conference is now published and available here. From May 16-18th, academics and policy-makers will discuss the international role of the EU. Around 290 academic papers will be discussed in the course of these three days. #EUIA18 will also feature a range of policy-link panels gathering senior policy-makers and EU politicians to discuss issues such as EU-UN relations, the future of European defence policy or the EU’s standing in the world. 

Science Diplomacy as a practice has a long past but only a short history. It became a policy concern of Foreign Affairs only recently. This article points to the strengths and weaknesses of Science Diplomacy as a soft power instrument aimed at improving International Relations. It also lists a number of threats coming from populist and protectionist forces that hinder the further development of Science Diplomacy. At the same time, the current situation also bears opportunities such as the potential to develop a scientist-driven Science Diplomacy aimed at safeguarding the values of science and at strengthening the input of science in humanity coping with global problems. This can best be realised by establishing mission-driven networks of state policy-makers, scientists and relevant stakeholders.

In the framework of his MSCA research project “The role of national parliaments in the Arab transformation processes”, IES researcher Dr Jan Claudius Völkel spent two weeks for research in Egypt recently. Besides meetings and discussions with high-level observers of, and experts on, the Egyptian parliament, the main purpose of his stay, he also gave two lectures on different topics at prestigious Political Science departments.

Korea-Foundation-VUB Korea Chair Dr. Ramon Pacheco Pardo has been invited to teach a course on 'EU and Asia' as part of Seoul National University's International Summer Institute. SNU is Korea's top university. As South Korea's first national university, Seoul National University has a tradition of standing up for democracy and peace on the Korean peninsula. Graduates have long served as public servants in key positions of the Korean government. In teaching, research, and public service, Seoul National University continues to set the standard of excellence. If you would like to find out more about the courses of the Seoul National University International Summer Institute, please visit this website.

Ólöf Söebech, Irina van der Vet and Florian Lang participated as project leaders from the IES at the SOURCE project review meeting at the European Commission Research Executive Agency on 7 March. The aim of the SOURCE Network of Excellence is to create a robust and sustainable virtual centre of excellence capable of exploring and advancing societal issues in security research and development.

The arrival of GDPR, the growing EU involvement in cybersecurity, and the regulation of ‘fake news’ are but a few examples of the rapidly increasing importance of data law in society. As a frontrunner in international and European law, the Institute for European Studies now offers its LLM students the opportunity to specialise in this exciting area of law (starting in the 2018-19 academic year).

The IES Doctoral researcher Matilda Axelson has been involved in the development of a recently launched report by IISD (International Institute for Sustainable Development) and the i24C (the Industrial Innovation for Competitiveness initiative), titled “Low-carbon innovation for sustainable infrastructure – The role of public procurement”.

Public procurement is a powerful tool which can be used to generate demand for innovative, low-carbon solutions that go in line with governmental goals, such as employment, sustainable development and a low-carbon transition for infrastructure. The public purse has a particularly strong impact on European goods, services and infrastructure, and can, if wisely managed, act as an enabler for driving markets towards more sustainable production patterns.

On 22 March, IES Academic Director Luk Van Langenhove will act as discussant to Prof. Luc Soete’s talk on “Europe’s future R&I policy – Visions and values for Openness”.

This event is the last of a Tour d’ Europe, organized by the E.C., in the 28 capitals of the EU in order to discuss the outcome of a report prepared by the RISE independent expert advisory group to Commissioner Carlos Moedas. 

Prof. Florian Trauner has signed contracts for two publication projects of Oxford University Press (OUP). He was asked to write articles for the ‘Oxford Encyclopaedia of European Union Politics’ , dedicated to the study of EU politics, and to ‘Oxford Bibliographies’, a peer-reviewed online reference resource meant to guide researchers through the literature. The theme of both contributions will relate to the field of EU Justice and Home Affairs.

On Tuesday 15 May at 17:00, the day before our EUIA conference, UNU Rector and Under-Secretary General of the United Nations Prof. David Malone will give a keynote lecture entitled "The UN Security Council, at Grips with Tectonic Geo-Strategic Change". The lecture is followed by a high-level academic panel on "Shifts in Global Power Relations, the European Union and the United Nations" with panelists including UNU-CRIS Director Madeleine Hosli, International IDEA EU Director Andrew Bradley, Prof. Helen Nesadurai (Monash University), Prof. Katie Laatikainen (Adelphi Unversity), Prof. Spyros Blavoukos (Athens University of Economics and Business) and Prof. Sieglinde Gstöhl (College of Europe, Bruges Campus).