Latest blog articles
-
With its judgment in case Stichting Rookpreventie Jeugd and Others (C-160/20) of 22 February 2022, the Grand Chamber of the Court of Justice of the European Union (Court of Justice) has set a fundamental milestone on the legal status and consequences of incorporating global standards in EU...
-
The completion and consolidation of the EU internal market has relied on the rule-making activities of private actors for more than three decades now. Following the regulatory technique of the New Approach, EU institutions have entrusted standard-setting organisations, composed of experts and...
-
Comparing figures on corona infections and mortality can be misleading
The number of people dying in Belgium from the effects of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) is higher than in neighbouring countries. This high mortality rate makes it seem as if Belgium is not doing as well as its neighbours. The...
-
With the prevailing Coronavirus (COVID-19) it is recommended to work from home as much as possible. For frontier workers, however, working from home can be disadvantageous. This is because they then work in another country from one day to the next. International and European rules on the...
-
The European Environmental Agency (EEA) has recently published its latest ‘State of the Environment’ report (SOER 2020). Published every 5 years as part of the tasks of EEA’s mandate, the report contains a comprehensive assessment on the state of, trends in, and prospects for the protection of the...
-
More than ten years after the European Court of Justice ruled that the German Eigenheimzulage was in breach of European law, the EC also started questioning its successor, the Baukindergeld. ITEM had previously concluded that the Baukindergeld was in breach of European law. We now await the...
-
In its judgment of 19 September 2019, the ECJ ruled that Dutch legislation excluding frontier workers residing in the Netherlands but working as a mini-jobber in Germany from the Dutch social security system is compatible with EU law. If the Hoge Raad follows the approach taken by the ECJ, the...
-
Things aren't going so well on Earth. We are suffering from systemic problems. Resource wastage, ecosystem collapse and climate change make it impossible to claim that things on Earth are working efficiently. But the Gnomes have solved all of these problems.
-
The public-private divide is one of the 21st century’s flat earth theories. Its conceptions of private rights and obligations and limitations on state power are commonly used in corporate law, contract law and numerous other fields of legal, political, economic and other social scientific research...
-
The EU is negotiating trade agreements in secret because orthodoxy, mysticism and a wishful thinking-based approach to policymaking have returned to power in Europe.