Latest blog articles

  • The European Union (EU) and Turkey have a long and multifaceted relationship. In this entry (based on a recent longer analysis) we focus on Turkey’s involvement with the EU’s decentralised agencies, and more particularly on whether and to what extent this involvement can be viewed as a part of a...

  • The Boards of Appeal established for the decision-making agencies perform a function that lies between exercising administrative review, at the one end, and offering judicial review, at the other. It is still unclear in which direction they will ultimately move, and more research in this fast...

  • by Trym Nohr Fjørtoft

    In 2015, many European states experienced a massive influx of migrants and refugees seeking protection within their borders. The European Refugee crisis was a crisis in many respects—first and foremost for the people forced to flee their homes, but also for the institution...

  • EU agencies are now at the forefront of policy implementation in EU’s migration, asylum and external border control policies for two primary reasons: to overcome the policy implementation gap and enhance interstate solidarity.

  • When the three main institutions adopted the Common Approach on EU Decentralised Agencies in 2012 one of the few innovative elements in this otherwise disappointing non-binding interinstitutional agreement were the provisions dedicated to the selection of the seat of EU agencies. As many EU-watchers...

  • The statutory pension of civil cervants in Belgium is on de verge of a reform. The legislative proposal ‘mixed pension’ will soon be introduced by law, after being the centre of intense debate for nearly a year. What exactly does ‘mixed pension’ mean?

  • Union citizens have the right to be accompanied by their ‘spouse’ when exercising their mobility rights. But what if your spouse is denied right of residence because the destination Member State does not recognise your marriage?

  • After more than seventy years of the trials in Neurenberg and Tokio, and more than twenty years since the set up of the ad hoc-tribunals for former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, we wonder wether something is wrong with the International Criminal Court? (Dutch only)

  • ‘Follow your heart.’ Anyone who faces an important choice, will undoubtedly hear this advice at times. Trust your gut feeling and everything will be all right. However, very often our intuition is wrong.  (Dutch only)