Edwar Elgar just published a book edited by CERiM members Bruno De Witte, Andrea Ott & Ellen Vos. Entitled “Beween Flexibility and Disintegration: the Trajectory of Differentiation in EU Law”, the volume discusses the particularly timely topic of EU differentiation in times of crises.

Differentiation was at first not perceived as a threat to the European project, but rather as a tool to promote further integration. Today, more EU policies than ever are marked by concentric circles of integration and a lack of uniform application. As the EU faces increasingly existential challenges, the book considers whether the proliferation of mechanisms of flexibility has contributed to this newly fragile state or whether, to the contrary, differentiation has been fundamental to integration despite the heterogeneity of national interests and priorities.

The Maastricht Journal of European and Comparative Law has switched publishers to Sage Publishing in January 2017. As part of this move, all copies of the MJECL will be available online for two months. For more information, please visit the following website.

From 3 to the 5 December 2016, almost 200 memory scholars as well as practitioners from many different countries came together in Amsterdam for the Inaugutal Conference of the Memory Studies Association in Amsterdam. 

The conference organized by CERiM Member Aline Sierp and Jenny Wüstenberg (York University, Toronto, Canada) welcomed leading figures in the field of memory studies, including Michael Rothberg, Astrid Erll, Ann Rigney, Daniel Levy, Jan Kubik, Erica Lehrer, William Hirst, Siobhan Kattago, Jeffrey Olick, Wulf Kansteiner and Vered Vinitzky-Seroussi. Hosted at De Nieuwe Liefde, the conference included three roundtables with well-known scholars, thirteen panels, as well as two professional development events.

A full report of the event can be downloaded as a pdf file. 

Conference Report: “Thinking Through the Future of Memory”, Inaugural Conference of the Memory Studies Association, 3-5 December 2016, Amsterdam

On Monday, 16th January 2017, Professor Michelle Cini, one of the leading scholars on the EU and author of one of the first articles on the Brexit result will give a lecture entitled: ‘The post-referendum Brexit debate in the UK: politics, expertise and influence’.

The event is scheduled to take place from 18.00 – 19.15 at the UCM Lecture Hall.

Following the lecture, Roy Kenkel and Bert de Wilde from the Department of European Integration at the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs will give a presentation and hold a discussion on the approach of the Dutch Government to Brexit.

Attendance is free and open to all.

Last Friday, 9 December 2016, leading politicians, scholars and interested parties followed the invitation of the municipality of Maastricht to attend the 25th anniversary of the Maastricht Treaty. Among the many speakers to attend, the city was not only honoured to welcome President of the European Commission Jean- Claude Juncker, President of the European Parliament Martin Schulz  but also the Dutch Minister of Finance and President of the Eurogroup Jeroen Dijsselbloem as well as Herman van Rompuy, former President of the European Council. 

During the event, several  MCEL and CERiM members were given the opportunity to reflect on the past and the future of the EU. As one of the panelists during the second round of discussion, Prof. Bruno de Witte reflected on current shortcomings and challenges for the future of the EU, while Matteo Bonelli and CERiM member Marie-Therèse Gold interacted with Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, and Dutch Minister of Finance Jeroen Dijsselbloem. 

Commission President Juncker opened the summit by stressing his pride at having been among among those to have signed the Treaty, and deems it even more important for the public to remember that an Economic and Monetary Union among more than two dozen sovereign nation states, has and will never be “something obvious, evident to realise”. To envisage a future for the Union, the European project, cannot simply be explained by evoking history but necessitates for it to be explained by what it is “today and what it can be tomorrow”.

Putting great emphasis on the value and importance of the treat Treaty, Martin Schulz’ speech invited the audience to have to look back to the historical context in which it was concluded in order to not let the dramatic developments of the past years undermine the fundamental values upon which the European Union was founded, as ” these values are the glue of our European societies, the glue that has kept us together over more than half a century already and that is the guarantee for peace on our continent and within our societies”.

Concluding, Dutch Minister of Finance Dijsselbloem sought to remind the audience during his talk that the interests Europeans share are more vital than the subjects that could possible divide them. As the process of integration within the Eurozone has restarted, it needs to advanced and for that, it is indispensable to “finish what we started … and to put stability, security and opportunity in the lives of people at the heart of our work again”.

Access to information is vital to the exercise of democratic scrutiny. At the same time, some democratic policies require secrecy. Particularly in the realm of security policy, to ensure that democratic principles are heeded, parliaments are informed behind closed doors. In the area of foreign policy, some parliaments choose to refuse access to secret information to retain their freedom to debate matters openly, whilst others have established ‘gangs’ of various sizes that get privileged access to information, but with heavy strings attached. We invite Papers analysing the practice and consequences of closed oversight.

What characterises such procedures, what causes variation, and how do closed procedures impact on the ability and willingness of actors to exercise scrutiny and control?​ This panel is Chaired by Dr Vigjilenca Abazi and is part of the Section ‘Behind Closed Doors Re-Visited: Exploring the Transparency-Accountability-Representation Nexus’ organised by Dr Guri Rosén (University of Oslo) and Dr Anne Elizabeth Stie​ (University of Agder).

On 09 December 2016, the Province of Limburg and the municipality of Maastricht will organise a conference to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the Maastricht Treaty. Among others, the city of Maastricht will welcome the President of the European Parliament Martin Schulz, Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and the former Commission President Herman van Rompuy as key note speakers.

The event will take place from 09:00 hrs to 18.30 hrs at the MECC Maastricht. CERiM members have provided three policy briefs to stimulate discussion in the panel debates. On the topic of citizenship in the European Union, Prof. Christine Neuhold and CERiM Co-Director Prof. Thomas Christiansen will contribute with a policy brief entitled ‘Bridging the gap between citizens and the European Union? The Role of National Parliaments after the Lisbon Treaty’. 

CERiM Member Prof. Maarten Vink and Prof. Gerard-René de Groot from the Faculty of Law will shed light on Achievements and Challenges of European Union Citizenship Law by contributing with a piece on Union Citizenship in the Maastricht Treaty. The third contribution entitled ‘Democracy and Accountability in the European Union: Great Leaps forward since the Maastricht Treaty?’, will be presented by  Dr. Vigjilenca Abazi, Prof. Monica Claes and CERiM Co-Director Prof. Ellen Vos.

Moreover, Prof. Bruno De Witte will sit on the panel chaired by European Parliament President Martin Schulz together with the former EU Commissioner for ICT and Telecommunication, Neelie Kroes. More information and the full schedule can be accessed via this link.

On 4 May 2016, CERiM research coordinator Vigjilenca Abazi presented at the European Parliament the draft directive for whistle-blower protection across the European Union.

Dr. Abazi was one of the drafters of the draft directive and offered legal advice on the matter. This draft directive is an initiative by the Greens/EFA group in the European Parliament to inspire the European Commission for a possible legislative proposal. More information, including the recoding of the event, may be found here: http://bit.ly/1UvfUQt

On May 2nd 206, CERiM research coordinator Vigijlenca Abazi has published a blog on leaked transparency and whistleblowers on Verfassungsblog.de.

The Panama mega leak and LuxLeaks expose tax heavens and show the salience of whistleblowers for triggering accountability. Yet, in Europe little or no whistleblower protection exists.

As leaks are becoming the new norm of transparency and perhaps the main source of informed public debate, Dr. Abazi discusses the mismatch between whistleblowing and legal protection and argues that the time is ripe for a change on the scene.

CERiM’s predecessor, the Maastricht Centre for European Governance (MCEG) has been selected as a “Success Story” by a panel of experts from the Directorate-General for Education and Culture of the European Commission.  It has also been highlighted as such on the Erasmus+ Project Results Platform.“Success Stories” are finalised projects that distinguished themselves with their impact, contribution to policy-making, innovative results and/or creative approach and can be a success inspiration for others.

While the activities of MCEG contributed to put Maastricht on the European map in many ways, the organization of two events particularly stands out. MCEG hosted the first ever European presidential debate, bringing together four of the Spitzenkandidaten on stage in Maastricht in the run-up to the European elections on the 28th of April 2014. The broadcasted event not only reached out to students and the academic community, but also engaged the broader public in EU politics. Furthermore, MCEG also organised the first European teaching and learning conference in June 2014. This large-scale conference enabled lecturers in European studies, politics and international relations to meet and exchange ideas about best practices.

CERiM – also recognised as a Centre of Excellence by the European Commission – continues to build upon this success with a new series of Jean Monnet Lectures and a second edition of the Teaching & Learning Conference. Through conferences, workshops and public lectures as well as salient scientific publications, CERiM aims to cement the strong tradition of European research and teaching in Maastricht.