Latest blog articles

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...

Is it legally possible for Trump to invoke an emergency in order to avoid Congress and obtain the necessary funds to build his wall? Or put differently: is it possible under US law to undo the refusal of Congress to appropriate the necessary funds?

Dat is de titel van de laatste State of the Union op 12 september van Jean-Claude Juncker. Daarmee ligt de focus op de eenheid van de EU en niet alleen intern, maar vooral ook als internationale actor.

In May 2018 the European Commission presented the plan of a new financial framework for 2021-2027. In which is stated that the European Commission, among other things, aims to make the subsidies which are given to the countries, conditional upon the level at which a member state complies with EU...

Yelling, offensive language, indecent sounds, and to a certain extent even behaviors are being protected as ‘speech’ or as ‘symbolic speech’ by Article 7 of the constitution. If we believe criminal justice is an appropriate instrument, an intervention is only allowed on the part of the national...

No headscarves or other religious expressions in the police, in this way we impair the 'neutral' image associated with the police. ^{(Dutch only)}

Does Spain have a stong case from the perspective of the decentralised unitary state, to prevent Catalonia from the opportunity to gain independence, and therefore take numerous measures? ^{(Dutch only)}

Nederland raakt niet uitgepraat over referenda. En dat is niet zo gek, gezien de recente ervaringen uit het Verenigd Koninkrijk, Spanje en natuurlijk het Oekraïne-referendum. In het regeerakkoord staat dat de Wet raadgevend referendum wordt ingetrokken. Wat moeten we nou van referenda vinden?

A new perspective? What specific plans and suggestions has Juncker to encounter a more united, stronger and more democratic Europe? Are his plans realistic and do these proposals respond effectively to the issues of democracy and legitimacy? ^{(Dutch only)}