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. 

A new 4-year research project entitled “Policy integration: decarbonisation and security of supply in the European Union's external energy policy” is currently taking off at the IES’ cluster on Environment and Sustainable Development. The project explores varying levels of integration of the key policy objectives of decarbonisation and security of supply into the European Union’s external energy policy toward third countries. It specifically focuses on the EU’s external energy policy toward and gas relations with key partner countries (Russia, Norway, Algeria/Azerbaijan).

After her hearing at the European Parliament in December 2018, Trisha Meyer (Assistant Professor at Vesalius College and Postdoctoral Researcher at the Institute for European Studies) returned to Strasbourg to present the results of her study on the use of artificial intelligence to combat disinformation online at the Council of Europe on 28 February 2019. The study was commissioned by the European Parliament’s Panel on the Future of Science and Technology (STOA) and was co-authored with Prof. Marsden (Professor of Internet Law at the University of Sussex). The study focuses on the consequences of automated content moderation for freedom of expression and media pluralism and warns against use of artificial intelligence without human intervention and appeal mechanisms as a solution to disinformation. Prof. Meyer is grateful for the opportunity to exchange views on information disorder and media (dis)trust at the Council of Europe.

What impact will the fascinating, but also challenging drone technology have on our daily lives in Europe? This was only one of many questions discussed during the international conference “The Drone Age: Issues, Actors and Perspectives”, held at the IES on Friday, 22 February 2019. With speakers and participants from Belgium, France, Italy, Spain, The Netherlands, Denmark, Norway and Germany, this conference provided a great occasion for both academics and stakeholders from different backgrounds to exchange their views on challenges and concerns, but also potentialities of drones today. 

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.

On 12 February, Jamal Shahin spoke about the GIPO project at a workshop hosted by the European Cyber Security Organisation, specifically their subworking group on telecom, media and content (SWG3.8). There, Jamal talked about the importance of bringing together different stakeholders in shaping the future of internet governance.

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.

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.

Alexander Mattelaer and Jordan Becker contributed to a new report by former U.S. Permanent Representatives to NATO Ambassadors Douglas Lute and Nicholas Burns, entitled "NATO at Seventy: An Alliance in Crisis." The report coincides with NATO's 70^th anniversary, as the world’s most successful alliance faces perhaps the most daunting and complex set of challenges in its history. 

NATO Photo