Nuclear accidents such as the one in Fukushima; or potential nuclear incidents/accidents in Belgium nuclear plants such as the one close to Maastricht in Tihange. One of the questions that always arises in the context of a nuclear accident of the Fukushima type is why nuclear operators are largely protected as a result of outdated international conventions that seriously limit their exposure to liability. Those conventions, but also many national legislations, in fact provide a hidden subsidy to the nuclear industry as a result of which they only pay for a small amount for the losses they cause.

Published on MLR blogs. Conflicts of interest of high-ranking civil servants that leave their EU post are currently again subject to critical discussion. This blog will examine how conflicts of interests are dealt with in selected European agencies.

The European Union’s Court of Justice finally rendered its judgement in the famous Banco Santander and Autogrill cases on 21 December 2016. For state aid specialists and tax lawyers this decision was bound to be a landmark case whatever way it would turn out.

Published on LBM. Rutte has managed it eventually. The European council has adopted a legally binding document for the 28 member states in its decisions, on December 15^th, 2016. The document relates to the EU-Ukraine association agreement that would help alleviate some concerns of those who voted against the plan. This article is only available in Dutch.

I knew the letter would arrive in June. Every day I walked towards the front door and quickly glanced at the mailbox. No letter. Then, on a sunny Saturday morning, it was there. I felt like all those high schoolers from all those movies who applied for these fancy universities, waiting for their letter. Opening it slowly and knowing that the first sentence would say it all. The first sentence of my letter started with: “We are pleased to inform you…”. My heart beated faster than during the run I did the previous day.

On March 9, the European Commission has presented the 2015 Justice Scoreboard, an information tool that monitors national justice systems developed and managed by DG Justice. This year marked the third edition of the Scoreboard, which was created in 2013 with the aim to assist EU institutions and Member States in achieving ‘more effective justice’. Efficiency of the justice systems is considered crucial, on the one hand, to restore economic growth and foster competitiveness, and on the other, to preserve and promote the rule of law as a value common to the EU and the Member States. In particular, it is underlined how national justice systems have a key role in applying EU law and guaranteeing its effectiveness: for this reason, “shortcomings in the national justice systems are … not only a problem for a particular Member State, but can affect the functioning of the Single Market and, more generally, the whole EU”.

Published on LBM. Social dumping is a difficult issue at present in political institutions, both national and European. In short, social dumping, workforce in most cases are working under appalling conditions by being seconded in other countries.  This blog is only available in Dutch.

The aim of this contribution is to assess what has been achieved since the adoption of the 1986 Limburg Principles on the Implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights for the realisation of these human rights.

Published on LBM. To an increasing extent many EU Member States are victim of a variety of natural disasters, including heavy rainfall, flooding, earthquakes, volcano eruptions and tsunamis. A major problem is that after every new natural disaster politicians often have the tendency to play Santa Claus and provide substantial amounts of compensation to victims.

Published on LBM. As the attack on the Twin Towers on 9/11 has shown, terrorism can lead to large-scale damage, massive property damage, thousands of cases of personal injury, pain and suffering and enormous consequential damage, including billions in lost profits. Can the security industry be liable?