Upcoming Events
| 10 Dec 2019 : Chinese migration policy and the dynamics of the admission and integration of international migrants into China’s society | 13 Dec 2019 : Brexit and a Disunited Kingdom |
| 13 Dec 2019 : What if Mayors Ruled Migration? | 27 May 2020 : The European Union in International Affairs #EUIA20 |
Marco Giuli spoke about the challenges and opportunities with the energy transition in Italy in light of the EU's climate objectives at the annual Vanvitelli Forum, organised in The Hague by the Clingendael Institute and the Istituto Affari Internazionali with the support of the Dutch and Italian Ministries of Foreign Affairs.
Marie Lamensch, Research Professor of International and European Tax Law at the Institute for European Studies and the Law Faculty of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, has co-authored the second edition of the book “Taxing Global Digital Commerce”, with Arthur Cockfield (Queen’s University) and Walter Hellerstein (Georgia Law School). This new book includes a detailed and up-to-date analysis of income tax and VAT developments regarding digital commerce under the OECD and G20 Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) reforms.
Professor Richard Higgott of the IES produced a major report entitled “Civilisations, States and World Order: Where are We, Where are We Heading”. This new publication was commissioned by the Berlin based think tank Dialogue of Civilisation Research Institute in anticipation of the Rhodes Forum on 11-12 October 2019. The theme of the Forum is “ Global (Dis)Order: Towards Dialogue-Based World Views".
On 2 October 2019, the EU Commission’s Director General for Taxation and Customs has reappointed professor Marie Lamensch as effective member of the European Commission VAT Expert Group for the next three years. Marie Lamensch has been a member of this expert group since 2016. The task of the VAT Expert Group is (1) to advise the European Commission on the preparation of legislative acts and other policy initiatives in the field of VAT; and (2) to provide insight concerning the practical implementation of legislative acts and other EU policy initiatives in the field of VAT.
In her speech to the European Parliament on 27.11, Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen highlighted the need to make the European internal market work better. She highlighted the need to open up the markets, while at the same time not leaving anyone behind. The challenge is to support a better functioning EU market, in particular on services, while making sure that the workers’ rights and professions are governed in fair and transparent fashion. A balance needs to be struck between the free movement of workers, services and establishment, on the one hand, and the regulation of professions, on the other. These themes were explored in great detail in two 2-day training sessions on Free movement in the context of Professional Qualifications, offered by IES Professor Harri Kalimo, Professor Vassilis Hatzopoulos (Pantheion University, Athens) and research Lea Mateo, on 22.-23.10. and 4.-5.12. at the IES. The trainees were experts from the SOLVIT network, established by the Commission in 2001 to help companies and individuals with problems to operate across the borders. ...
On Thursday 14 November, IES PhD candidate Stephan Klose defended his doctoral thesis on role theory’s added value for International Relations and EU studies. In his dissertation, Stephan addresses two shortcomings in the role theory literature – role theory’s conceptual ambiguity and the lack of engagement of role theorists in relevant disciplinary debates – which together have obscured role theory’s value for the study of international affairs. 
On October 18, the EDGE Programme organised a full day of presentations, discussions and conversations on long-term challenges to democracy. The agenda included many activities to foster research creativity and intellectual exchange, from an academic speed-dating to the launch of the first ‘EDGE Book’, i.e. the edited volume on 
On 24 October, Ilke Adam gave a keynote speech at the landmark European Conference ‘From Tampere 20 to Tampere 2.0. Towards a new programme (2020-24) for EU migration and asylum policies 20 years after the Tampere conclusions’. This conference brought together high-level policy makers, experts, academics and civil society leaders reflecting on the 20 years of European immigration policies and the way forward. 
Europe’s energy transition will require higher quantities of metals. Non-ferrous metals represent the building blocks of every conceivable climate technology including batteries, clean mobility, energy-efficient buildings, solarpanels, and wind turbines. In this respect, we are delighted to share a new publication “Metals for a Climate Neutral Europe: A 2050 Blueprint”, by IES Senior Researcher Tomas Wyns and IES Doctoral Researcher Gauri Khandekar. This comprehensive report looks at the non-ferrous metals industry’s unique profile (especially achievements in electrification and circularity), potential in the transition to climate-neutrality, and the challenges and constraints that will be faced along the way.
On 28 October and 1 November 2019, Prof. Luis Simon and Linde Desmaele presented their research on balance of power theory and regional prioritisation in US grand strategy at the Saltzman Institute for War and Peace Studies (Columbia University) and the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs (Harvard University). The presentations were hosted by Prof. Robert Jervis (Columbia) and Prof. Steven Miller (Harvard) respectively.
For the next Multiannual Financial Framework, the Commission has proposed a new mega instrument in the area of external action that will make migration a key focus of the EU’s development cooperation. The nexus between migration and development will thus take centre stage in the EU’s engagement with third countries. In this context, it is interesting to look at current policies combining external migration governance with development cooperation. While the EU seems to assume that policies concerning migration and development cooperation are coherent, a closer look reveals that this is not always the case. Particularly concerning aid conditionality and the emphasis on short-term versus long-term goals, development cooperation and migration policies have different objectives, at times leading to incoherence in the EU’s external policies. 
The Jean Monnet network ‘Governing the EU’s Climate and Energy Transition in Turbulent Times’ (GOVTRAN), to which the IES-VUB serves as leading coordinator, held its second international workshop under the overarching theme ‘Climate and Energy Governance and the Future of Europe’ at the Istituto Affari Internazionali in Rome on 30 September – 1 October 2019. Seventeen researchers from across Europe presented twelve draft papers examining how various aspects of EU climate and energy policy interact with some of the underlying causes of the current crisis of European integration. Topics included, inter alia, the impact of rising populism, the role of Central and Eastern European Member States, the effectiveness of EU policies to promote renewable energy, the role of the European Parliament and of the Commission, and changes in EU international climate and energy governance. 
Prof. Dr. Caterina Carta (Director of Master Studies at Vesalius College and former project researcher at the IES) together with Prof. Dr. Richard Higgott (Emeritus Professor at the University of Warwick and Research Professor at the IES), have published a new book that explores European cultural diplomacy, a topic of growing interest across the scholarly and applied public policy communities. 
On 16 October 2019 the VUB International Relations office organised its first Europe Day. The theme of the day was the 15th anniversary of the EU’s biggest enlargement, when 10 countries joined the European Union: Cyprus, Malta, Czech Republic, Hungary, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia. Part of the EU day programme was an academic panel debate, organised in cooperation with the Institute for European Studies at VUB (IES), the Jean Monnet Chair and International Relations Office.
Effective 1 October 2019, the Institute for European Studies (IES) at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) and Vesalius College (VeCo) have appointed Luc Soete as their new Dean. The appointment goes hand in hand with a change of statutes, which are now embedded in the VUB’s statutes thus enabling an alignment of management roles. Two other new appointees include Alexander Mattelaer who will take up the new function of Vice-Dean for Research of both institutions, while Sven Van Kerckhoven will take up the new role of Vice-Dean for Education. The IES-VeCo joint management team further consists of Executive Director Anthony Antoine and Assistant Executive Director Jacintha Liem.
On November 9th, 2019, the world will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall and all eyes will be on the German capital. Around this historical event the city will host an international Summit from November 6th-10th, 2019. On the evening of November 9, world-renowned singers and bands will perform a peace concert, paying tribute to the past 30 years without the Wall. Former IES Academic Director Prof. Dr. Luk Van Langenhove has been invited to deliver a keynote Address to this Summit. He will speak about “The Psychology of Walls and the need for Windows of Dialogue”.
On Thursday 14 November IES-VUB hosted the first discussion in academia of the ‘Scaling Fences. Voices of Irregular African Migrants’to Europe’ report by UNDP-Africa. The report was presented by Ms. Ahunna Eziakonwa, UNDP assistant secretary-general and Mohamed Yahja, research director of the Scaling fences project. Almost 2000 irregular migrants in Europe were surveyed, from 39 different countries. 
The Security and Defence subcommittee (SEDE) of the European Parliament is organizing a public hearing on “Opportunities and challenges of the use of Artificial Intelligence - enabled systems in security and defence”. The aim of the hearing is to assess the possible impact of AI on security and defence. AI is viewed as a new strategic enabler that can present a number of opportunities, but also challenges. In CSDP missions and operations, AI-enabled systems can be used in multiple ways to enhance EU’s capabilities. At the same time, the use of AI-systems in defence can also have non-desirable legal and ethical implications, in particular the potential lack of human oversight on the functioning and use of AI-enabled weapons could lead to actions violating international norms, and raise accountability concerns. The hearing will therefore look into ways on how to ensure ethically and legally sustainable use of AI in security and defence, taking into account recent EP’s call for the prohibition of lethal autonomous weapons.
Three years into the Trump administration’s “America First” approach to foreign policy, the president’s repeated criticisms of alliances, muddled messaging, and policy confusion have placed the trans-Atlantic and trans-Pacific alliance systems under strain. On October 29, scholars from the Brookings Institution, Institute for European Studies at Vrije Universiteit Brussel, and the Asan Institute discussed the impact of these policies on America’s allies and examine the shifting geopolitical dynamics. 
The Institute for European Studies (IES), Vesalius College (VeCo) in Brussels and the Department of Politics and International Studies (PAIS) of the University of Warwick in the UK are offering a joint training programme on the Politics of International Development. 
In the context of a thematic 'research' week, the Spanish high school Institut Vall de Llémena has invited experts from different research areas to explain to the students how to conduct scientific research. Davesa disentangled the rationale behind social sciences research based on his own experience at the Institute for European Studies (IES) at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB).IES in the media...
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Sebastian Oberthür
Momentum of minimum in Madrid?
2 Dec 2019
In: De Standaard
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Sebastian Oberthür
Interview with Sebastian Oberthür on Madrid climate conference
2 Dec 2019
In: NPO Radio1
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Alexander Mattelaer
La tâche de Michel sera beaucoup plus difficile que celle de Van Rompuy
28 Nov 2019
In: L'Echo
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Ramon Pacheco Pardo
[Peace & Prosperity] Ep.35 - 2019 ASEAN-ROK Commemorative Summit: Future of multilateral diplomacy (from 22:56)
22 Nov 2019
In: ARIRANG TV
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IES is a Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence at the 