News

The Dutch Ministry of Finance has updated the guideline on the tax qualification policy of foreign social security schemes. According to expertise centre ITEM, the addition concerning certain German social insurances is a positive development, which is in line with their vision and commitment in respect of cross-border pension regulations. The tax treatment of, among others, liberal professions and professional soldiers is addressed.

The consultation round on the upcoming ITEM Cross-Border Impact Assessment 2021 is herewith launched! Grab the opportunity to share your experiences with ITEM! Dossier suggestions can be made up to and including 18 January 2021.

The project is funded by the Civil Justice Programme of the European Commission for a duration of two years and has the objective of familiarising future practitioners and judges with EU Private International Law.

In border regions, national approaches to managing the corona crisis sometimes seem absurd. This is shown by the Cross-Border Impact Assessment 2020 that expertise centre ITEM publishes today. The report on the cross-border coordination, or non-coordination, of crisis response during the ‘first wave’ of the COVID-19 pandemic is one of six dossiers that examine the impact of policy and legislation on cross-border regions.

DigiD is known as the quick and easy identification system for use of government websites. Sadly, in the past frontier workers seemed to be excluded from this service. In accordance with the ruling of the Council of State, the Dutch government has officially expanded the DigiD provision. Meaning that, as of today, frontier workers are able to apply for a DigiD. ITEM reports how this decision came about and what it means.

Discoordination at the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak caused numerous bottlenecks in the border regions, which proved to have negative effects on Euregional cooperation. The PANDEMRIC project (Interreg V-A Euregio Maas-Rijn), aimed at promoting Euroregional cooperation in the field of health care, may offer opportunities for optimal cross-border crisis management.

The NWO has awarded two grants to projects of the Maastricht Law and Tech Lab under its Idea Generator Programme.

In an ideal European Union everyone should be able to work and study in a Member State of their choice. This is difficult in practice, according to research by lawyer Lavinia Kortese, a researcher at ITEM. Lavinia dived into the maze of rules and has written recommendations that benefit mobility in the EU.
 

The Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience at Maastricht University has appointed a new Professor. Prof. Kai J. Jonas will take up the chair “Applied Social Psychology with special focus on LGBTQI+ Diversity and Health”. In the coming year he’ll be structuring his game plan and preparing his inaugural lecture.

Anne's extra mile in health: Training your mind for sustainable weight loss

The “Eat-Lab” –officially the Research Group Eating Disorders & Obesity – which is headed by Anne, conducts different kinds of research into behaviour and psychological processes in relation to abnormal eating and obesity (www.eetonderzoek.nl). One particular research project is aimed at developing a personalised and self-learning app for people who are overweight or obese.