With the appearance of COVID-19, a disease caused by a novel coronavirus, we need to search for magic bullets, because there is currently no known treatment for the cause of the disease and the therapies being used are focused on treating the symptoms.
Yesterday I was in Maastricht at the Belgian border which is no more than 1 km behind my house. I wanted to see it with my own eyes: the border was closed. The Belgian government has put up barriers to prevent us from entering their country. For five years we at ITEM...
Last Sunday, when we all got the government alert on our mobile phones to stay at least 1.5 metres away from each other, we were reminded to ensure ‘social distancing’ as a measure to prevent the spread of COVID-19. We must follow this advice as it is in our common interest. Although, I don’t like...
The coronavirus pandemic is certainly the greatest crisis that most of us here in Europe have been confronted with in our lifetime. It affects the lives of every one of us, our families, loved ones, our colleagues and neighbours. The fact that this is a new virus which leads to a contagious disease...
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...
There seems to be only one topic in the media these days—the new coronavirus and the disease it is causing, COVID-19. In addition to television, the internet and the newspapers, we are being bombarded with opinions and news on social media. Our recommendation is to read those with caution...
It was an inspiring morning on an early December day at Maastricht’s industrial-charm Eiffel-building. A spacious and pleasant environment, framed with an engaging meeting format, invited the participants to find collaborators, promote their initiatives or simply brainstorm ideas about community and...
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...
In its judgment of 19 September 2019, the ECJ ruled that Dutch legislation excluding frontier workers residing in the Netherlands but working as a mini-jobber in Germany from the Dutch social security system is compatible with EU law. If the Hoge Raad follows the approach taken by the ECJ, the...
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...
