Latest blog articles

  • EC proposal for a Directive COM(2023) 516/4 on a European cross-border association: Citizens will get an instrument to establish associations across the border; Finally!

    Last September, the European Commission adopted a proposal for a Directive on European cross-border associations (COM(2023) 516 final). “The proposal aims to improve …  the conditions for establishing and operating European cross-border associations (ECBAs)”. According to the Commission, the current...

    item
  • Cross-border cooperation during a cross-border pandemic

    Not out of possibility, but out of necessity

     

    The last couple of weeks of 2021 were dominated by the cross-border nature of the COVID-19 crisis, and the fight against it. While the Netherlands went into the holiday season under a lockdown, complete closures were largely absent in Germany and...

  • Why do Dutch entrepreneurs just across the border not receive corona benefits?

    During the corona crisis, national measures in the three countries on the Limburg borders are not coordinated equally well. As a result, there is currently a situation in the border region where certain border entrepreneurs fall between the cracks, such as in the Dutch newspaper NRC on April 2nd ("E...

    corvers-grenskannemaastricht-2020.jpg
  • Not crossing the border: recommendation or ban?

    During the Easter weekend there was a lack of clarity about what the rules are at the German-Dutch border. What is actually still allowed when it comes to travelling from the Netherlands to Germany and vice versa? Both the government in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and in the Netherlands have...

    Traffic sign
  • Escape from EU regulations is loss of leverage

    About 100 British officials will arrive in Brussels today to start the mammoth negotiations on the future relationship between the EU and the UK. The two sides are poles apart. The UK wants regulatory detachment from the EU while the EU insists or regulatory alignment.

    Igir_law_blog_nicolaides_phedon
  • “Member State v Member State” and other peculiarities of EU Law

    The European Union prides itself for being based on the rule of law. Indeed, the success and longevity of the EU as an integration project can be partly explained by, on the one hand, the willingness of Member States to abide by the obligations that stem from the Treaties and, on the other, the...

    LBM blog Phedon Nicolaides EU member states