Latest blog articles

  • The EU Directive on Administrative Cooperation (DAC), enacted in 1977 and – as a standard – most recently re-adopted in 2011, has been amended several times with its scope of application broadened over the years. The DAC and its amendments tend to follow discussions on transparency and exchange of...

  • Written by Yu Yan & Michael Faure.

    The Chinese word “economy” is originated from a famous idiom called “经世济民” (jing shi ji min), which suggests that a prosperous society is not only about economic success but also about the financial well-being of the general population. Microinsurance (the...

  • Recently it was brought in the news that families of Americans killed by ISIS in Belgium and France sued twitter for allegedly failing to keep members of the terrorist organisation of its platform. Lawsuits concerning American victims who were killed in Europe raise a number of interesting and legal...

  • Nuclear accidents such as the one in Fukushima; or potential nuclear incidents/accidents in Belgium nuclear plants such as the one close to Maastricht in Tihange. One of the questions that always arises in the context of a nuclear accident of the Fukushima type is why nuclear operators are largely...

  • Published on LBM. As the attack on the Twin Towers on 9/11 has shown, terrorism can lead to large-scale damage, massive property damage, thousands of cases of personal injury, pain and suffering and enormous consequential damage, including billions in lost profits. Can the security industry be...

  • Published on LBM. To an increasing extent many EU Member States are victim of a variety of natural disasters, including heavy rainfall, flooding, earthquakes, volcano eruptions and tsunamis. A major problem is that after every new natural disaster politicians often have the tendency to play Santa...

  • On 10 June 2016, France and Romania will be kicking off the first match of the European Cup 2016. The Netherlands will not be participating. Yet, the Euro2016 will be dominating the news during the month of June... This blog is only available in Dutch. 

  • Refugee crisis and migration may obviously have a lot of different sources. The current refugee crisis in Europe is obviously strongly related to the war in Syria. However, quite often migration and hence a stream of refugees, can also be caused by natural disasters, even by climate change. Some...

  • In communications the medium is the message. Don’t mail if you can call. Don’t call if you can visit. That is my motto, also in 2015. Of course you can wish your friends a happy New Year via a post on Facebook or LinkedIn, a 140 character Tweet, or by sending an e-mail to all your relations. Some...

  • In een nostalgische bui denk ik nog wel eens terug aan mijn eerste baantje. Vol jeugdig enthousiasme achter mijn stalen Gispen bureautje. Gewapend met telefoon, fax én een roestige typemachine waar ik mijn vingernagels op brak. Daarnaast rende ik (vaak letterlijk) het hele gebouw door om met collega...