Latest blog articles

The coronavirus pandemic is certainly the greatest crisis that most of us here in Europe have been confronted with in our lifetime. It affects the lives of every one of us, our families, loved ones, our colleagues and neighbours. The fact that this is a new virus which leads to a contagious disease...

There seems to be only one topic in the media these days—the new coronavirus and the disease it is causing, COVID-19. In addition to television, the internet and the newspapers, we are being bombarded with opinions and news on social media. Our recommendation is to read those with caution...

The very recent ruling of the CJEU in DK (C-653/19 PPU, 28 November 2019) came to verify two quite depressing suspicions about the current status of European criminal law. First, Directive 2016/343 on the presumption of innocence remains an instrument with staggeringly limited applicability...

Opening speech Opening Academic Year 2019-2020

The purpose of the opening of the academic year is to project optimism and discussing the way ahead. This is more  difficult this year as we have experienced or expecting some dramatic changes to the higher education landscape in the Netherlands. First...

This summer we have witnessed the birth of the “European university”. In June, the European Commission announced the 17 successful bids for this status from consortia of institutions across the continent. Given that UK universities are among the best in the world, you would have expected them to be...

It would have been rather uncomfortable for the Court to rule that the Italian limitation periods for serious VAT-fraud cases should be set aside, wouldn't it? Can Taricco II be, after all, just a temporary (and unstable!) bridge over the troubled waters of the EU’s financial interests, soon to be...

Sinds 1 juli 2017 is prof. Teun Dekker hoogleraar Liberal Arts and Sciences Education. Zijn hoofdtaken worden het Liberal Arts-woord verspreiden in Nederland en in het buitenland en onderzoek doen naar Liberal Arts education in Europese context, maar ook naar de sociale, politieke en educatieve...

On 1 July 2017, Prof. Teun Dekker became the first Professor in Liberal Arts and Sciences Education in Europe. His main duties will be creating public awareness of Liberal Arts in the Netherlands and abroad, and conducting research on Liberal Arts education in the European context as well as its...

According to Martin Paul the Brexit is a step back for Europe, but not the end of the world. The biggest threat is falling back to a form of “European Kleinstaaterei”. It is up to universities to build bridges and keep the European academic space alive.

The Dutch binary system with a distinction between research-oriented education at research universities and professional higher education at universities of applied sciences is a good thing, says Martin Paul.