Latest blog articles

  • On 30 May 2024, the Council of the European Union announced its final approval of the Union’s long anticipated withdrawal from what can fairly be labelled as the most controversial international treaty ever, the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT).

  • Last year’s COP28 has resulted in a ‘historic’ mention of fossil fuels in its final decision, be it in a rather limited way. Where does the EU, the forerunner in climate action, stand when it comes to the elimination of fossil fuels? This post highlights a few problematic features of the EU’s policy...

  • What does the term ‘MOCCA’ evoke in your mind, a kind of coffee or a specific brand? This Kat randomly asked this question to her friends currently at the Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition Munich. Most of them regarded ‘MOCCA’ as a kind of coffee instead of a specific brand except...

    by:
    in Law
  • Nobuki Yamamoto, a Japanese contemporary artist, made an eye-catching work of ‘goldfish swimming in a phone booth’ (‘Work 1’) by December 2000 at the latest. In October 2011, a student organisation called ‘Goldfish Club’ at Kyoto University of Art and Design produced Work 2 and exhibited it for a...

    by:
    in Law
  • During my lunch break or in the evening, it is a pleasure to take a walk and visit the border crossing, because I want to know how our southern neighbours have cordoned off the border. The Dutch-Belgian border is about 300 meters away from me. Only recently I realised that my father once guarded...

  • Recently, Chanel Co., Ltd. lost a trade mark infringement case regarding its ‘Double C’ logo in China. The full text of the decision can be visited via here (Google translatable). The case has drawn wide attention and, mostly, negative comments. Does this seemingly-counterintuitive loss indeed, well...

    by:
    in Law
  • This blog is only available in Dutch.

    Als je woont of werkt in een grensregio zijn daar zowel voor- als nadelen aan verbonden. Laat ik met het belangrijkste nadeel beginnen: Voor landelijke gebeurtenissen ben je een eind weg van daar waar het meest gebeurt. Dat zijn de grote Randsteden: als je pech...

  • ​On 6 June, IGIR fellow Dr. Iveta Alexovičová, Assistant Professor of International Economic Law, Faculty of Law, Maastricht University, delivered a lecture entilted "Substance alongside procedure - a lesson learned?".