Among the objectives composing the 2018 UN Global Compact for Migration, Objective 21 deals with the return of migrants to their countries of origin. This objective includes a reference to sustainable reintegration occurring when returnees have access to psycho-social assistance, justice and occupational prospects. The policy objective of sustainable reintegration apparently enjoys broad support in the face of some countries increasingly opposing the global governance of migration. Such support can be explained by making reference to sustainable reintegration’s potential to accommodate diverse interests and the limited monitoring of the programmes it underpins. 

On Wednesday 28 August, Ms. Carla Mascia successfully defended her PhD on the implementation of (family) migration policies. It was a joint PhD between IES, Vrije Universiteit Brussel and GERME, Université Libre de Bruxelles, co-supervised by Prof. Ilke Adam (IES-VUB) and Prof. Andrea Rea (GERME, ULB). Further members of the jury were: Prof. Dirk Jacobs (ULB), Prof. Florian Trauner (VUB), Prof. Dirk Jacobs (ULB), Prof. Saskia Bonjour (University of Amsterdam) and Prof. Sylvie Saroléa (Université Catholique de Louvain).

The public defence of the PhD in Law by Max Jansson will take place on Saturday 24 August 2019 at 11:15 CET. This is a joint PhD with the University of Turku. After an internal defense at the IES, the public defense will take place in Turku. The title of the PhD manuscript is "Value Reconciliation in Trade Law in Light of Criteria on Process and Production Methods – A Comparative study on the EU, the U.S. and the WTO". The Opponent in the public defense will be Prof. Dr. Gareth Davies from Tilburg University. The promoters of the thesis are Prof. Dr. Harri Kalimo (IES-VUB) and Prof. Dr. Tuomas Mylly (University of Turku).

The first joint publication of the EDGE Programme is finally out! The book “The Edges of Political Representation. Mapping, Critiquing and Pushing the Boundaries”, edited by VUB researcher Mihnea Tanasescu and former IES researcher Claire Dupont, provides a nuanced overview of what political representation means today and how it can be approached from an academic perspective. In line with one of the main scopes of the EDGE programme, namely building bridges between the Department of Political Science and the Institute for European Studies, this books collects a series of essays and reflections on political theory, political philosophy, party politics, electoral politics, feminism, European politics, minority politics and online governance.

The ‘European Union in International Affairs’ (#EUIA20) conference invites paper abstracts and panel proposals. It will be the seventh edition of the EUIA conference, focusing on the theme ‘Assessing the EU’s Capacity to Act’. The EUIA biennial conference provides a major forum for discussion and exchange of ideas amongst academics and policy-makers who engage with these issues. We encourage the submission of paper abstracts and panel proposals that focus on the EU’s capacity to act internationally.

On Saturday 24 August, IES and University of Turku Joint-PhD candidate Max Jansson defended his doctoral thesis publicly on the legal aspects of PPMs in interstate trade at the University of Turku. In his work, Jansson examined specifically the environmental PPM-criteria on renewable energy implemented by the EU Member States and U.S. states from the perspective of rules on free trade. Jansson argued that under WTO law, EU free movement law and U.S. constitutional law, PPM-criteria can indeed be adopted both for in-state production and imported goods, as long as the criteria are carefully designed. Max’s findings and conclusions provide valuable insights to stakeholders that design and apply sustainability criteria and programs on essential products such as biofuels or electricity from renewable resources.

On 24 June, students of the University of Southern California (USC), enrolled in the Brussels Programme on European Foreign Policy at the IES, visited part of the Parliament building, invited by Valentina Papa, (Parliamentary Assistant - Head of Office to Anna Maria Corazza Bildt, Swedish EPP MEP) who kindly gave them an overview presentation of the workings of the EP within the workings of the Parliament the Council and the Commission.