Latest blog articles

  • Three countries, three ways of counting?

    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...

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  • Border perils and the Hofstede dimensions

    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...

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  • Working from home: not a self-evident matter for frontier workers

    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...

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  • Towards the end of German housing (construction) subsidies?

    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...

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  • Buitenlandse Verassingen Vlak over de Grens

    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...

  • The duty to accommodate beyond employment in the EU

    Following the conclusion (ratification) of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), the EU is bound by the Convention to the extent of its competences, including in the field of non-discrimination.

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