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.

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. 

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.

On Tuesday February 27 policy think tank Public Policy Exchange arranged a full day conference in downtown Brussels on “Fostering the Transition towards a Circular economy in Europe: Turning Waste into a Resource”.  The conference was quite suitably arranged at the very moment that the COREPER reached an agreement on the “classic hard core” of the Circular Economy package: four pieces of waste legislation. 

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.

On 2 March 2018, Mathias Holvoet defended his PhD thesis entitled “A policy to commit atrocity, understanding the “policy element” for the purpose of defining crimes against humanity”. His promotors were Prof. dr. P. De Hert and Prof. dr. S. Smis.

As a PhD researcher at the IES, Mathias was affiliated with the Faculty of Law and Criminology.  He was a member of the IES’ Migration, Diversity and Justice Cluster. Within the field of International Criminal Law, his work focused on the law of crimes against humanity, the relationship of International Criminal Law with neighbouring fields such as International Human Rights Law, International Humanitarian Law and International Refugee Law and the continuing relevance of hybrid or internationalized criminal mechanisms within International Criminal Justice.

Curious to learn more about sustainability from an interdisciplinary perspective? The Sustainability Bootcamp combines lectures from both academic and operational experts from different disciplines, and will bring you in 4 days (from 9 - 12 April 2018) at the state-of-the-art in sustainability. Getting inspired for innovation and meeting peers in an open atmosphere at our green campus in Brussels is the ultimate goal of this bootcamp. The combination of academic lectures pointing out the latest knowledge in the field together with professionals sharing their experiences is a unique and enriching concept.

The Institute for European Studies and the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy organize a lecture series entitled "Masterclass Middle East: Geopolitics in Europe's Neighbourhood". The first lecture will take place on February 21 with Peter Frankopan (Professor World History, Oxford University) who is the author of the book "The Silk Roads". Introduction will be given by VUB Rector, Caroline Pauwels. The full programme can be found by visiting this link. Participation is free. Please register here or by sending an e-mail to: office@timep-europe.org

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.

IES researcher Jan Claudius Völkel has published a new analysis of “Geostrategic, political and socio-economic interests and stragies of regional actors in North Africa and the Sahel” for the Bundeszentrale für Politische Bildung (BpB, Federal Agency for Civic Education, in German language).

The paper examines the evolution of Europe's geopolitical architecture, and its fit within the broader transatlantic/Western system. The central argument is that all the media buzz about Europe's many crises (financial, migration, populism, Brexit) may have prevented Europeans from appreciating the most geopolitically significant crisis the old continent is undergoing: a balance of power crisis. The author argues that Europe's balance of power crisis is animated by three structural developments that are testing the fabric of the postwar European geopolitical architecture: US retrenchment from Europe, Germany's emerging leadership position within the EU, and Russia's attempts to recreate a sphere of influence in Eastern Europe. 

The IES has been selected to assist the Flemish government with the development of an exploratory study for the development of industrial low-carbon roadmaps. 
This research will analyse emissions and economic performance of Flemish energy intensive industries and will asses existing sectoral low-carbon roadmaps (at EU level), including their relevance for Flanders. The IES will next, with the input of stakeholders, outline how one or more industrial low-carbon roadmaps can be developed  and implemented for Flanders. 
 

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.

On Friday 29 September the IES celebrated its 15th anniversary. Our institute started off as an initiative by our former President Prof. Dr. Em. Bart De Schutter with a handful of people involved. Today, we are an established player in the area of European studies, involved in dozens of prestigious research projects and with 121 people directly associated. 

The shared threat emanating from Pyongyang creates a centripetal force that binds Washington, Tokyo, and Seoul because the three partners need mutual assistance. On the other hand, however, the high stakes involved in the North Korea policy of these states also intensify discord over the means to address the threat, thereby producing a centrifugal force. Policies that hurt each other’s fundamental security interests have to be pursued only with careful consultation with the partners, for both the policies’ effectiveness and for the maintenance of the partnerships. For effective cooperation, the U.S., Japanese, and ROK governments must all embrace the centripetal force of the North Korean threat while being mindful of the centrifugal force.

Interested in a trip to the Big Apple that will offer you first-hand experience in Transatlantic relations? And in a unique opportunity to work and learn in an exciting multicultural environment? And what about a visit to UN HQ? Then enroll in one of our 1- or 2-year study programmes and we might choose you to join nine fellow students for a trip you will never forget!

On 26 September, IES Executive Director Anthony Antoine delivered a keynote speech on "the salient role of the universities in implementing the UN 2030 Agenda and the particular importance of societal impact of multidisciplinary research in developing sustainable and global solutions" at the Helsinki Challenge Global Impact Camp in Brussels. The Global Impact Camp in Brussels was a two-day intensive co-creation session focusing on societal impact of research, funding and collaboration with international experts and EU decision-makers.