Latest blog articles

  • European academia pays the price for Brexit

    Almost 20 years ago, in 2002, I had the honour to give one of the “William Harvey lectures” at the University of Padua, celebrating the 400th anniversary of the Englishman’s graduation with a degree in medicine from the famous Italian university.

    brexit blog Martin Paul
  • The coronavirus crisis and EU adequacy decisions for data transfers

    The coronavirus crisis has given rise to numerous initiatives by governments around the world to combat the pandemic by gathering, sharing, and transferring data, both personal and anonymized. A great deal of attention has been given to proposals for increased data gathering within the EU, and many...

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  • Corona virus and online higher education: the technology fallacy

    The corona virus is causing education to move from offline to online. In the Netherlands, the government and higher education institutions announced last Thursday (12 March 2020) that all in-person education has to be replaced by online education. Online means more reliance on technology. So here...

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  • The impact of Brexit on the Community Plant Variety Unitary Right

    On February 1st, the UK has left the EU. This (has had or) will inevitably have an impact on unitary IP rights at EU level. Unitary IP rights such as the Community Plant Variety Right will no longer be valid after the transition period in the UK. What does this mean for holders of a Community Plant...

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  • With or without you: a new Commission with or without the UK?

    When the European Council, on 29 October 2019, decided to extend the withdrawal negotiation period until the 31st of January 2020, it became clear that this extension would bear implications also for the composition of the new Commission. Indeed, in recital 11 of the European Council’s decision, it...

  • Brexit and data protection: what happens in case of a deal

    Earlier today, the European Union and the United Kingdom reached agreement on a revised customs plan for Brexit. If approved by the EU Member States, the European Parliament and the UK House of Commons, this deal would allow the United Kingdom to exit the European Union on 31 October 2019 in an...