Senior researcher Richard Higgott is the author of the EL-CSID report titled “Towards the Private Provision of a Public Good: Exploring the Role of Higher Education as an Instrument of European Cultural and Science Diplomacy with reference to Africa”. The European Union’s (EU) universities and their provision of higher education (HE) to international students remains one of its most powerful global development and cultural assets. The EU operates a wide-ranging set of strategies to assist Africa in enhancing the quality and quantity of its HE. Yet EU’s strategy towards HE in Africa fails to understand or to engage the private sector to help grow the number of Africans undertaking tertiary study. This study identifies the benefits and opportunities of international private provision and proposes a set of next steps as part of a targeted ‘strategy of engagement’ for greater international private involvement in higher education in...

On April 24-25, 2018, the Asan Institute for Policy Studies hosted the Asan Plenum 2018 in Seoul. The theme of this year’s Asan Plenum was “Illiberal International Order.” As in previous years, the Asan Plenum 2018 gathered leading experts from around the world, including the President of the Institute for European Studies Karel De Gucht, to engage in intensive discussions pertaining to this year’s theme. 

On Thursday 14 June, the KF-VUB Korea Chair and the CSIS Korea Chair jointly organized a high-level panel entitled “Towards Peace in the Korean Peninsula? Assessing a Spring of Summits.” In the aftermath of the meeting that took place between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, HE Kim Hyoung-zhin (ROK Ambassador to Belgium and the EU), Dr. Ramon Pacheco Pardo (KF-VUB Korea Chair, Institute for European Studies, VUB) and Dr. Victor Cha (CSIS Korea Chair) discussed the recent and upcoming development on the Korean Peninsula

The United Nations University Institute on Comparative Regional Integration Studies (UNU-CRIS), with which the IES has a close collaboration, cordially welcomes applications from outstanding (post)doctoral researchers looking to enhance their career development and prospects by working abroad. Located in the UNESCO World Heritage city of Bruges, close to Brussels and many institutions of the European Union, candidates at UNU-CRIS will not only find themselves embedded within the global United Nations University research network, which directly supports the broader UN system, but will also be able to take advantage of a unique partnership that UNU-CRIS has with both Ghent University and the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. Successful candidates will be supervised by the Director of the Institute, Professor Madeleine Hosli. They will furthermore be provided with an office, along with a computer and free access to both the UNU-CRIS library facilities and those of its partner universities.  

IES PhD Researcher Klaudia Majcher gave a presentation at 13th Annual Conference of the Academic Society for Competition Law (ASCOLA) on “The Effects of Digitalization, Globalization, and Nationalism on Competition Law”, which took place at NYU School of Law on 21-23 June. Klaudia’s presentation focused on the legal theory of coherence as a framework for analysing intersections between EU competition and data protection law in the digital marketplace.

Another #EUIA18 conference has come to an end. From 16 to 18 May, the 6th European Union in International Affairs conference (#EUIA18) took place in the Palace des Académies in Brussels. With 392 participants, #EUIA18 broke all previous attendance records. It has been wonderful to witness once again so many stimulating debates on the EU in International Affairs. Speaking for all organisers, we hope it has been a fruitful, value-adding and pleasant experience! We would like to thank our sponsors Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek - Vlaanderen (FWO), Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique (FNRS), and Embassy of the Republic of Korea to the Kingdom of Belgium. Special thanks to the Brussels Parliament for hosting an amazing EUIA dinner in an exquisite setting – and to the Korean Mission to the EU that provided the dinner. We hope to see you all at the next EUIA conference in 2020! #EUIA20

On Tuesday, 5 June, professor Caroline Pauwels, rector of Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) and professor François Germinet, rector of the French Université Paris Seine, signed a memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The same day, a previously signed MoU with the University of Warwick was ratified into a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA). In these agreements, the European universities commit to collaborate more closely with regard to research and education in the future. For the Institute for European Studies, this opens up new opportunities for collaboration both in research and education. The commitment is to be seen in light of the call made by the European Council to create a network of European Universities by 2024.

On 12 June 2018, the KF-VUB Korea Chair, with the kind support of the Embassy of the Republic of Korea (ROK) to Belgium and the EU, organized a conference on “Korea-EU Relations at 55: Leveraging ASEM in Uncertain Times.” As 2018 marks the 55^th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the EU and Korea, the conference provided an excellent opportunity to assess the current state of the EU-ROK relationship and to explore opportunities for further cooperation in the future. 

During the FIDE XXVIII Congress in Estoril, Portugal, IES Doctoral Researcher Fausta Todhe received the "Best Paper Award". She presented this paper, titled "Fiscal State aid: How far can it stretch" on 23 May, 2018 in front of a jury of three people as part of a PhD seminar on "Taxation, State aid, and Distortions of Competition". Congratulations, Fausta!

Every year, VUB awards the title of “VUB Fellow”, the highest grade of membership at the University, to a series of outstanding personalities. Throughout the year, VUB Fellows meet to discuss challenges facing Europe and education, share business tactics, and exchange ideas in order to improve society. On 21 June, several new Fellows will be inaugurated and welcomed in the VUB community at a VUB Fellowship ceremony in the Concert Noble. IES Academic Director Luk Van Langenhove, who acts as Faculty Fellowship Coordinator for the Faculty of Social Sciences, will present five new fellows. Amongst them is Ms. Shada Islam who receives the title of “VUB Solvay Fellow” on the proposal of the IES. 

On June 13, IES Academic Director Luk Van Langenhove presented a paper on “Multi-level Diplomacy in the Digital Century” at the Workshop “networks and the European Union: Threats and Opportunities if Complexity” organized by the European Joint Doctorate programme “GEM Stones” (Globalisation, Europe & Multilateralism - Sophistication of the Transnational Order, Networks, and European Strategies) at the Warwick Brussels Office.

On 6 & 7 June, IES professor Harri Kalimo, assisted by IES researcher Lea Mateo and Chris Yon (UPitt), gave SOLVIT experts from the Member States two days of intensive training on EU free movement of goods law. The training covered a wide range of scenarios of obstacles that companies (in particular SMEs) encounter with public authorities in the Member States when attempting to operate across the borders and market their goods. The impacts of SOLVIT’s reinforced legal expertise should improve the help they provide to companies to make the best use of the opportunities the  internal market has to offer, and hence contribute directly into a more efficient European economy.