A new IES report to which our researchers Tomas Wyns, Gauri Khandekar and Matilda Axelson contributed, builds upon the growing momentum for an EU industrial transition to net-zero amongst policy makers and even industry, and sketches the blueprint of an industrial strategy towards climate neutrality. The report is unique in the sense that its industrial strategy proposal transcends the novelty of individual instruments towards a more integrated structure that scrutinizes a broad set of policy instruments and provides ideas for making the whole policy set as tangible as possible.

Dr Jan Claudius Völkel has successfully concluded his two-year research project on “The role of national parliaments in the Arab transformation processes” at the IES. With funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 706113, Jan has studied intensively the legislatures of Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia, conducting interviews with parliamentarians, diplomats, journalists and civil society representatives in all four countries, and also with representatives from the European Commission, the European Parliament, as well as EU Delegations. In addition, he spent prolongued research stays at the University of Warwick (UK) and the University of Southern Denmark (SDU) in Odense.

No less than three publications were recently published by our researcher Elie Perot. In the article published in the policy journal Survival: Global Politics and Strategy, Elie argues that the obscuring of the distinction between war and peace is not a distinctive feature of contemporary times, nor simply a conceptual conundrum. Rather, it is a systemic and strategic response to the persistent fear of a general war at the international level, a factor of crucial importance in the perspective of the growing antagonism characterizing US-China relations.

The Panel for the Future of Science and Technology (STOA) of the European Parliament has recently released a study on regulating disinformation with artificial intelligence. IES postdoctoral researcher Trisha Meyer has co-authored this study, along with Chris Marsden (University of Sussex). The study has a particular focus on the implications of use of AI on freedom of expression and media pluralism. It examines the trade-offs in using automated technology to limit the spread of disinformation online and presents options (from self-regulatory to legislative).

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.

In 2018, the Institute for European Studies was honoured to bring four PhDs to fruition: Ferran Davesa (PhD Political Science), Mathias Holvoet (PhD in Law), Carlos Soria Rodrigues (PhD in Law) and Serena D’Agostino (PhD Political Science). The IES organised 57 events and produced 211 publications. Among  these events were the biannual EUIA conference, which was a record-breaking edition, and the large-scale Transatlantic EuroSim (EU simulation) conference hosted by the IES.
The Institute continued to expand and now counts 104 people or 55.4 full-time equivalents. In 2018, IES scholars took part in a total of 131 media appearances. Moreover, the Institute was particularly successful in obtaining externally funded projects. At the end of the year, no less than 38 external projects were conducted by IES scholars, whereas an additional 15 projects were funded through our own budget.

On Monday 3 June the IES welcomed 18 students of the University of Southern California (USC), enrolled in the Brussels Programme on European Foreign Policy. They will spend their first week getting to know their individual internship places at various institutions. The students will be staying in Brussels for five weeks while attending lectures on topics such as European integration and foreign policy, European security challenges, and European trade and environmental governance. The programme is organized every spring. It is led by Dr. Daniel Fiott and Dr. Luis Simon.

After successfully hosting the 31st edition of EuroSim – a Model European Union that brings together around 200 students from the US and the EU to simulate the legislative process of the European Union – the IES participated with its own delegation of students in the US edition that was hosted at the St. John Fisher College in Rochester, New York between 28 – 31 March. Selected across its LLM, EuroMaster, and Postgraduate Certificate programmes, the Institute’s delegation negotiated together with peers from 20 different universities and colleges the EU’s next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF). 

After several years of declining attention for defence matters in the Belgian political debate, emerging international trends are putting the foundations of national security back on the agenda. Belgium has traditionally safeguarded its international interests within the framework of a strong transatlantic relationship that also supports European integration. NATO membership, in particular, is at the core the country’s security and defence policy and reflects its decision to guarantee security in a multilateral framework. But the balance of power between the world’s major powers is shifting and Belgian policy-makers are therefore compelled to reflect on how to continue to safeguard security and defence going forward. 

The ‘European Union in International Affairs’ (EUIA) conference provides a major forum for academics and policy-makers to debate the role of the EU in the turbulent realm of international affairs. The sixth edition of this event will take place from 27 to 29 May 2020 and focus on the theme ‘Assessing the EU’s Capacity to Act’.

Keep an eye on www.euia.eu for further updates. The Call for Papers and Panels will be launched next September.