Upcoming Events
On Tuesday 29 September, the ITU/UNESCO Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development launched their global report, “
Governments around the world are responding with extensive economic stimulus packages to the crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. The design of these economic stimulus packages will also determine central framework conditions for future climate policy: The stimulus packages can either provide a strong impetus for a climate-friendly economy or cement unsustainable economic practices. In their new article "
Prof. Florian Trauner was awarded a Jean Monnet Chair for the project ‘EXPAND: Explaining Resilience in EU Justice and Home Affairs’. Jean Monnet Chairs are funded by the European Union’s Erasmus+ Programme and aim at achieving research-led excellence in teaching and learning. The objective of the Chair ‘EXPAND’ is to contribute to the understanding of the changing nature of the European integration policies in and beyond the EU with regard to Justice and Home Affairs Policies. 
On 4 September 2020, IES PhD Candidate Klaudia Majcher successfully defended her PhD thesis on “Coherence between EU Data Protection and Competition Law in the Digital Market”. Klaudia’s PhD supervisors were Prof. Dr. Harri Kalimo (LLM Programme Director & Research Professor at the IES) and Prof. Ben Smulders (Director and Principal Legal Advisor in the European Commission). The committee was also comprised of VUB Prof. Caroline Buts and VUB Prof. Christopher Kuner, and jury members Dr. Orla Lynskey (Associate Professor of Law at the London School of Economics) and Prof. Peggy Valcke (Professor of Law at KU Leuven Center for IT & IP Law).
The GOVTRAN project partners are delighted to share the latest Review of European, Comparative & International Environmental Law (RECIEL) special issue on Assessing the EU 2030 Climate and Energy Policy Framework. The Special issue and the 10 articles, all of them open access publications until the end of November, is a result of a GOVTRAN workshop that was organised in Helsinki in the summer of 2019.
On 9 October, from 10.00 to 12.00, IES PhD Researcher Laura Westerveen will defend her PhD thesis. Laura’s thesis is entitled: "Ethno-racial (In)equality in Belgium and Germany: Understanding Policy Frames". Her dissertation explores the framing of inequalities along ethno-racial lines in policy discourses. In particular, it identifies different types of ‘policy frames’ surrounding these inequalities in Belgian and German education and employment policies.
From 1 to 12 February 2021, the IES will organise the very first edition of its online Jean Monnet Winter School on EU Policy-Making, in collaboration with its partners the University of Vienna and the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna. This Winter School will build on the long-standing expertise of the similar (offline) Summer School that the IES and its partners have organised for almost 20 years.
The Second 
The European legislation establishing the climate and energy policy framework for 2030 introduces 'energy communities' as a major innovation in order to advance renewable energy and the energy transition. Under the relevant EU Directives, the applicable provisions have to be transposed into national law this year. To support this process in Flanders and Belgium, part of the Flemish funded Flux 50 project called ‚ROLECS‘, or, 
In September 2020, Prof. Dr. Kristin Henrard joined the Institute for European Studies as Senior Researcher in its Migration, Diversity and Justice (MDJ) team. Kristin Henrard was also appointed at Vesalius College as a Professor of International Law and Programme Director of its BA in International and European Law. She has more than 160 publications, a substantial part of which pertain to the areas of human rights and minorities, ranging from educational rights, linguistic rights, to the prohibition of (racial) discrimination (the various dimensions of the right to equal treatment), socio-economic and political participation and religious fundamental rights.
On 1 October 2020, the newly established Japan Program officially started its activities at the VUB’s Institute for European Studies (IES). Set up with the support of the 
On 10 November the results of the study “How can we transform the Flemish industry, to ensure it can thrive in a climate-neutral Europe by 2050?” were presented to over 200 stakeholders in the presence of the Flemish minister of innovation Hilde Crevits. This study was performed by Climact, Deloitte, the Antwerp Management School and the Institute for European Studies (VUB). The study presents options to achieve deep emission reductions towards climate neutrality by 2050 by Flemish industry, a roadmap towards this goal, and the enabling policy framework.
The European Commission has selected the RePAST project as one out of 
On 9 October 2020 Laura Westerveen successfully defended her PhD thesis entitled "Ethno-racial (In)equality in Belgium and Germany: Understanding Policy Frames”. Laura’s dissertation explores the framing of inequalities along ethno-racial lines in policy discourses. In particular, it identifies different types of ‘policy frames’ surrounding these inequalities in Belgian and German education and employment policies. 
Established in 2018, the Brussels Interdisciplinary Research centre on Migration and Minorities (BIRMM) is recognized as the VUB’s Interdisciplinary Centre of Expertise on Migration and Minorities. Over 100 VUB researchers from 11 disciplines participate in it. The coordination is hosted at the IES’ MDJ research cluster, and directed by Prof. Ilke Adam and Prof. Florian Trauner. On 1 September Hannah Vermaut started as the new BIRMM coordinator. She will be assisted by PhD researcher Omar N. Cham. The new coordination team is set to boost BIRMM’s communication and activities.
At the beginning of our rather exceptional COVID-19 summer, thirty international students participated in the Inter-University Summer School on EU Policy-Making. This was the 17th edition of our long-standing summer programme, but different from previous years, the intensive two-week course was held online from 6-17 July 2020. 
With two new H2020 projects on migration and immigrant integration, one FWO postdoctoral project on immigration policies, and a European research project on the BLM movement, the IES’ Migration, Diversity and Justice (MDJ) research cluster has had a particularly successful year with respect to research grants. 
In September 2020, the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) published its Roma and Travellers Survey 2019, covering six countries: Belgium, France, Ireland, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the UK. The survey includes interviews with almost 4,700 Roma and Travellers, collecting information on more than 8,200 individuals living in their households. IES Postdoctoral Researcher Serena D’Agostino is the author of the Country Report on Belgium, in which she outlines that the access to both justice and education is particularly problematic for Roma and Travellers. Travellers children are, for instance, highly affected by the existing Dutch and French speaking education systems, where the lack of inclusive education based on case-by-case assessments contributes to their marginalisation. She also highlights that in the reported period the evictions of Travellers have repeatedly occurred in the three Belgian regions - such as in July 2019, when the commune of Anderlecht (Brussels) sent in police to clear out a site where some 30 people, including...IES in the media...
|
Ramon Pacheco Pardo
Will Kim Jong-un attend Tokyo Olympics?
23 Nov 2020
In: The Korea Times
|
Ramon Pacheco Pardo
Ministry of Unification holds 'Korea-Europe Remote Debate' on the International Peace Forum (in Korean)
23 Nov 2020
In: Newsis
|
|
Ramon Pacheco Pardo
What can Korea do to ensure Biden's enthusiasm on North Korea?
22 Nov 2020
In: The Korea Times
|
Ramon Pacheco Pardo
tbs eFM This Morning
20 Nov 2020
In: tbs eFM
|
2014 represents a strategic crossroads for NATO. To encourage debate in the policy and academic communities, the Institute for European Studies at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, the Royal United Services Institute and NATO’s Public Diplomacy Division organised a workshop on 30 June in Brussels. In discussing present challenges and paving a way forward for NATO, the workshop saw high-level participants come together for a stimulating and in-depth strategic debate. The event showcased a special feature that was published with the RUSI Journal in advance of the Alliance's Summit in Wales, 4-5 September 2014, with contributions from IES Researchers Alexander Mattelaer and Luis Simón.
IES is a Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence at the 