Broad ‘EU-only’ trade agreements can constitute the new normal of EU external trade action, only if such agreements exclude portfolio investment and investor-state dispute settlement provisions from their scope.

The European Union is currently in the process of overhauling its anti-dumping regime, changing the methodology in a way that it hopes will appease China while preserving the effectiveness of the EU’s trade defence instruments. However, in his Master Thesis Olav de Wit, LL.M. of the Master International Laws points out major legal and political flaws in the EU’s current approach.

The apportionment of the EU’s tariff rate quotas is key when assessing the legal implications of Brexit for the UK's agricultural sector. It is unclear if the UK will manage to establish in-quota tariffs for the products of its interest that replicate the existing levels.

Asylum cases are characterized by a general lack of documental evidence to support the applicant’s identity, origin, and persecution story. As such, in deciding on a claim, government officials typically have to rely on the applicant’s own testimony and general information about the country of origin. PhD thesis by Tanja van Veldhuizen.

A law and economics analysis of corporate sustainable theories and practices. PhD thesis by Mengxing Lu.

After a gruelling year of ESST, marked by an especially challenging thesis-writing period, I am a graduate! In this post, I reflect on what ESST has done for me and answer the burning question that I get all the time: "So, what's next?"

​On 6 June, IGIR fellow Dr. Iveta Alexovičová, Assistant Professor of International Economic Law, Faculty of Law, Maastricht University, delivered a lecture entilted "Substance alongside procedure - a lesson learned?".

Was the original revised ISDS System not enough? It seems that the traditional international investment agreements (IIA) concluded by States do no longer enjoy the legitimacy from civil society and academics. Critique has especially been directed at Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS), which has been omnipresent in practically all IIAs. In his master thesis Mike van de Klundert, LL.M. of the master Globalisation and Law, wishes to join the debate on the controversial conclusion of CETA, as discussed in the literature and society in general.

“The fact that there is a maximum number of hours in a week that you are allowed to work, that web shops are compelled to provide you with the option to return your purchase within seven days, that our tap water must meet certain requirements. This all sounds very Dutch, but it is in fact European legislation. This European ‘origin’ gets lost in news coverage.”

At present, the Dutch integration policy is based on the Agenda for Integration which was launched in May 2013. According to Hague’s alderman Rabin Baldewsingh (PvDA) the national integration policy of the Netherlands has “failed miserably”, in that immigrants are less involved in society and are mainly living off social welfare benefits.