On Sunday 18 June 2017 Melanie Fink, Postdoctoral Researcher at the Europa Institute, held a lecture on Schengen and the new European Border and Coast Guard Regulation in the framework of the ‘Open Doors’ Summer School on Migration, (Sea) Border Control and Human Rights.

On 1-2 November, Professor Luuk van Middelaar spoke at the Academic Conference “EU Constitutional Imagination: Between ideology and utopia” at the University of Copenhagen.

Horizon2020 is the European Union’s research and innovation programme. Now that this programme has almost ended, it is time to think about its successor. Excellence must be at the forefront of this new programme, says the League for European Research Universities (LERU).

In an op-ed for EU Law Live, Joris Larik (Leiden University College The Hague and Europa Institute) stresses that delays to the Mercosur and India agreements risk undermining Europe’s economic competitiveness and global credibility.

The conference 'The

Ahead of the new Multi-Annual Financial Framework (MFF), the entire European academic world is calling upon Brussels to double the budget for education, research and innovation.

On 4 July, Jorrit Rijpma participated in a roundtable event hosted by the European Policy Centre (EPC) in Brussels.

On 18th to 20th May Aalborg University hosted the MIDA Closing Conference (Migration and Inclusion in the Labour Market) in Copenhagen. The conference focused on the changes, challenged and advantages of cross-border labour mobility within the EU.

The German Archaeological Institute is a world leading research institute, which conducts and facilitates research in the archaeological sciences and classical studies. Professor David Fontijn was appointed for his work on the European Bronze Age.

LERU, the League of European Research Universities, celebrated its fifteenth anniversary on 7 March in Brussels. The network of leading European universities has now grown to include 23 universities.

On 26 October 2023, Olga Ceran spoke at the inaugural conference of the newly founded ICON-S Benelux Chapter, hosted by Maastricht University, Faculty of Law. The overarching theme of the conference was Crises, Challenges, and the Future of Public Law. Olga joined the panel on Power, knowledge, and…

During the 57th Leiden-London meeting, held on 30 June 2018 in Leiden, the Editorial Board of the Common Market Law Review awarded the 2017 Common Market Law Review Young Academics Prize to Dr Ermioni Xanthopoulou, for her article entitled “Mutual Trust and Rights in EU Criminal and Asylum Law: Three…

Bart Schuurman sheds light on the alarming trend in both the frequence and geographical spread of these incidents with The Parliament Magazine.

The Common Market Law Review's 2023 Prize for Young Academics has been awarded to Friso Bostoen and David van Wamel for their co-authored article: ‘The Digital Markets Act: A Partial Solution to Antitrust’s Remedy Problem’. Their winning paper will be published in an upcoming issue of the Review.

On 28 May 2021, Melanie Fink spoke at the conference ‘Twenty years of Regulation 1049/2001 on Public Access to EU Documents: Taking Stock and Looking Ahead’

Dr Olga Ceran has been selected as one of the re:constitution fellows of 2023/24. This distinguished group comprises 15 early-career scholars and practitioners, all set to work on diverse research projects on the rule of law and democracy in Europe. The fellowship will allow her to work on her project…

The Asser Institute organised an interdisciplinary conference on ‘Law and ethics of artificial intelligence in the public sector: From principles to practice and policy’ that took place from 10 to 11 March 2022. Melanie Fink presented a paper co-authored with Michèle Finck.

Following her appointment to the Chair in EU External Economic Law earlier this year, Prof. dr. Freya Baetens addressed the academic community of Leiden University with her inaugural lecture on 27 October 2023. In a highly topical lecture, Prof. Baetens examined the EU’s Anti-Coercion Instrument (AC…

On Saturday 25 June, the Europa Institute of Leiden University hosted the 61st Leiden-London Meeting, an annual event organized jointly by the Europa Institute and the British Institute of International and Comparative Law (BIICL). This year’s meeting had “Interdependence, cooperation and strategic…

Maarten Aalbers was invited as a guest speaker by the University of Bergen (Norway) to present his views on the joint application of state aid law and free movement law concerning the adoption of sugar taxes.

Few problems occupy the minds of European policy and lawmakers as much as the impending Brexit. With developments moving fast and insecurity rising, national parliaments are taking on an increasingly assertive role. The Europa Institute therefore organised a Leiden Law Exchange on Brexit, parliaments…

Psychologist Ellen de Bruijn studies the effects of hormonal fluctuations on behaviour and on the brain over a woman's life course. With an ERC Consolidator grant, she and 3 PhDs and a postdoc will further her EEG research on the different stages at which girls and women experience strong hormonal f…

In April 2018, Melanie Fink was elected as a member of the Coordinating Committee of the ESIL Interest Group ‘The EU as a Global Actor’. For the next four years, she will work in that function alongside Christine Kaddous (University of Geneva), Anne Thies (University of Reading), and Ramses Wessel (University…

'The EU should not give way under pressure as the war continues,' writes Joris Larik, assistant professor of European law, in an opinion piece that was recently published in Dutch newspaper FD.

During the Dies Natalis for alumni, February 11 2017, the annual university thesis awards ceremony was held. The winner of 2017 is Erik Kroon, of the Faculty of Archaeology. His thesis featured innovative research on changes in the technology of Neolithic ceramics.

Nu in heel Europa rechtse partijen hoog scoren in de peilingen is de verwachting dat de discussie omtrent migratie flink opgeschud gaat worden. Desondanks maant hoogleraar Sarah Wolff tot kalmte.

The EU is aiming to deter economic coercion with a new legal instrument. Freya Baetens will elucidate this in her inaugural lecture on October 27th.

How is the EU transforming from a soft power to a geopolitical actor, and what does this mean for the EU’s partners and global security? On Friday 13 December, a roundtable discussion offers students insights into these evolving dynamics, bridging theory and practice.

Jorrit Rijpma was invited to teach at a number of summer schools this year. He lectured at the CLEER summer school on External Relations, the ICPMD summer school on migration and asylum and the Odysseus summer school.

On 26 January 2023, a conference was held at Leiden Law School on children’s rights and migration. The conference, organised by Stichting Migratierecht Nederland (SMN) and the Europa Institute of Leiden University, was attended by academics, lawyers, judges, policymakers, and other legal professionals…

Oxford University Press has published the edited volume based on the European Law Institute's (ELI) project 'Rescue of Business in Insolvency Law'. The project ran from 2013 to 2017 under the auspices of the ELI and was conducted by Bob Wessels and Stephan Madaus, who were assisted by Gert-Jan Boon.

Are you worried about your smartphone addiction? Trust us, it could have been far worse… A shocking discovery, by an interdisciplinary team of specialists from Leiden University, revealed that Neolithic people were heavily addicted to stone axes. The axes were produced under horrific circumstances in…

The Leiden Centre for East African Law (LEAC) has been awarded a grant of €25.000 by the EU delegation to the East African Community (EAC) and the Secretariat of the EAC.

The design for the METIS instrument for the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) is final. The European Southern Observatory (ESO) has given the green light for production of all parts of the instrument. It is the first ELT instrument, designed and to be built under Dutch leadership, to formally pass the…

The lecture series

Op papier in acht dagen duidelijkheid over asiel, maar in de praktijk duurt de IND-procedure gemiddeld 67 weken. De IND wil de procedure versnellen, mede door nieuwe Europese regels die in juni in werking treden. Mark Klaassen, universitair docent migratierecht duidt de zaak in een uitzending van Ni…

On 28 and 29 August, Dr. Ben Van Rompuy and Dr. Armin Cuyvers gave a two-day training to the Competition Commissioners of the newly established East-African Competition authority.

Last week, Dr. Larik’s article entitled

On 10 January, Ben Van Rompuy spoke at the New Year's meeting of the Dutch Competition Law Association in Amsterdam.

Voorafgaand aan de begrotingsonderhandelingen riep Marjolein Faber, Minister van Asiel en Migratie, officieel een asielcrisis uit. Is daarmee mogelijke wetgeving op komst? En gaat Brussel daarmee akkoord? Mark Klaassen, universitair docent bij het Europa Instituut, hierover aan het woord in Metro.

University lecturer Casper Wits wrote an opinion piece on the ongoing diplomatic tensions between the European Union and China for POLITICO. In this article, he argues that 'rather than shrinking from the fight, the EU must develop a China policy that prioritizes progressive values and human rights.…

The League of European Research Universities (LERU) was launched in Leiden 20 years ago. LERU is a partnership of 23 leading research universities, including the universities of Oxford, Cambridge, Leiden, Leuven and Heidelberg. It celebrated this anniversary last week with a multi-day conference in…

Archaeologist Frans Theuws, Buddhism specialist Jonathan Silk and mathematician Ronald Cramer have each been awarded an ERC Advanced Grant of 2.5 million euros.

The United States and the European Union need to work together more closely in the field of the law to fight terrorists and criminals who are operating increasingly internationally. This was the advice given by American Minister of Justice Loretta Lynch during her visit to Leiden University on 1 Jun…

To what extent does exoplanet Proxima b resemble our Earth? And is there some form of life present? Astronomers hope to find answers to these questions with the new European Extremely Large Telescope (ELT). An NWO research grant of €18 million will allow a Dutch consortium to continue building instruments…

On Wednesday 13 December, Melanie Fink will defend her doctoral thesis ‘Frontex and Human Rights: Responsibility in “Multi-Actor Situations” under the ECHR and EU Public Liability Law’. The defence will take place at 10.00 hrs at the Academy Building of Leiden University, Rapenburg 73. The supervisors…

Europe must be prepared to stand up for its values in its relationship with China, argues University Lecturer Casper Wits in an article in Politico.

The newly created European Law Unbound Society (ELU-S) held its inaugural conference on 25-26 September 2025, at the Charles University in Prague. Vincent Delhomme presented a paper and chaired a panel, both dealing with contemporary challenges in EU internal market law.

On 7 and 8 July 2016 the T.M.C. Asser Instituut and the Law Faculty of Leiden University organise a two-day symposium on EPPO.