Institute for European Studies Annual Report 2021

INSTITUTE FOR EUROPEAN STUDIES ANNUAL REPORT 2021

MISSION STATEMENT

As a Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, the Institute for European Studies aims to provide research, education and academic services that are focused on the European Union in an international setting and recognised for their quality, multidisciplinarity and policy relevance. Since February 2021, the Institute for European Studies is part of the Brussels School of Governance (BSoG) alliance, which carries out interdisciplinary research, organises fully accredited higher education programmes and delivers a broad range of academic services in various policy-relevant fields, including energy & environment, security & diplomacy, migration & diversity, and digitalisation & democracy.

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

Dear reader,

I would have liked to address you with great joy and pride over the accomplishments of our Institute over the past year. I would have liked to say how thrilled we are about our first ERC Grant, about our four new H2020 research projects, about the 1.9M euros external funding, the 50 MA graduates and the 6 finalised PhDs. About the record soaring media appearances, and the high publishing output, about our EUIA conference, and our numerous online and hybrid events …

Unfortunately, recent geopolitical events cast a shadow over this joy: at the time of this writing, bombs are falling over the EU’s closest neighbor, Ukraine, and an unprecedented refugee crisis is about to unfold. The costs on the economy are yet to be calculated, and the effects on policy and diplomacy are still shaping. The biggest victims, however, are the people, who - and most deplorably - suffer the loss of numerous innocent lives, displacement and families rupture, while the indescribable horror of war leaves scars beyond imagination. It is difficult to be openly jubilant in face of these dark circumstances.

In these unstable times, it is however vital that scholars and academia can share their reflections and give informed guidance to the political realm and the public alike, averse of fake news, digital overload and country propaganda. I am proud to be able to say that our Institute has been doing just that – even long before the Russian-Ukrainian war. With almost daily interventions in the media, on vital issues such as environmental policy and the Green Deal, immigration, global security and digital policy, our academics have been active in news and journals, and not merely in the scholarly publishing field. It proves that the Institute has established itself as a much sought-after policy think-tank, as well as an academic beacon. With over 50 externally funded projects, I can only commend our academic team and its supporting staff for a job “more than well done”!

With our roots in Europe but our vision on the World, we have been fortunate to organize the 7th EU in International Affairs Conference, albeit in a digital version, and we have hosted both a Microsoft Chair in Digital Sovereignty, a Korea Chair and a Japan Programme – the latter bound to change into a Chair as well. Our international scope also translated in continued collaboration with the United Nations University (UNU-CRIS) and Warwick University.

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

The alliance with Vesalius College under the Brussels School of Governance umbrella also proves to be successful in terms of recognition and visibility. The number of researchers in the alliance also grew, and ample synergies were made between the two partners, optimizing cost efficiency to a large extent, even though a lot of synergetic work is unfinished due to COVID.

And there we have it. The word was bound to fall. COVID. Now that the pandemic is slowly but steadily fading away, we are eager to return “back to business”. Not that we were ever away – on the contrary. The above successes prove that we were resilient and able to adapt to even the most extreme circumstances. Yet giving our students a once-in-a-lifetime experience at the heart of Europe goes smoother when these students can actually be here and interact ‘in person’ with our top scholars.

But the pandemic has also leant us that the new and interactive tools can actually help us progress and be even more creative. Unfortunately, it sometimes needs a crisis to realize how to go forward – something that the Ukraine crisis is also strikingly exposing … In view of the threat, and as a new world order might emerge, the EU has never been more coherent in its actions than today. It’s maybe the sole positive news that might be derived from this crisis, but it is news that we will follow very closely at the Institute for European Studies. We will keep you informed. Meanwhile, enjoy browsing through the many achievements of our Institute.

Karel De Gucht IES President

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Recovering from the first shock of the COVID-pandemic of 2020, 2021 promised to be a better year - and it was. The pandemic, however, was not gone, and thus 2021 became a year of home-work, tele-conferences and hybrid courses. Despite the transition to a "new normal" and all the inconveniences this encompasses, the Institute's scholars peformed very well, giving rise to six new large EU-funded projects, amongst which an ERC grant and five H2020 projects, and multiple research grants from various national, international and multinational instances.

Our four newly established research centres were pivotal in obtaining these new grants. Their researchers published more than 130 book chapters, policy briefs and journal articles, and were working on 23 self-funded and 47 externally funded research projects - an all-time high. This resulted in a record 1,9 M euros external project funds (as opposed to 1,4 M last year) on a total turnover of 4,97M.

All these new research projects also gave rise to new hirings. The number of people directly on the IES payrol increased from 106 to 107 (excluding job student), and from 52,9 to 57,6 FTE. Including associates, interns, jobstudents, non-paid personnel and VUB-paid staff working for the IES, the institute now includes 153 staff members.

Researchers of the Centre for Migration, Diversity and Justice, the Centre for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy, the Centre for Environment, Economy and Energy, and the Centre for Digitalisation, Democracy and Innovation were also very visible in the media, with a total of 287 recorded media appearances over the past year. On average, the IES is thus in the news every weekday! This proves that once again, our Institute is of high relevance in the policy and research community and a much sought-after public source for scientific and policy-oriented information.

In 2021, a lot has been happening on the education front too. After almost 10 years of service, the directorship of the LL.M. programme switched from Harri Kalimo to Liliana Lizarazo Rodriguez. She will have the formidable task to reform the programme in the near future, so that the number of students can increase again to a sustainable level. With the 50th anniversary of the programme starting this academic year, the upcoming months promise to be festive and invigorating (due to COVID, festivities were postponed to 2022).

The Postgraduate Programme on European Policy Making also changed programme Director. Silviu Piros left the IES in the fall of 2021 after having served as PGC coordinator since the inception of the programme more than six years ago. He is succeded by Elie Perot, who is about to finalize his PhD at the IES. Silviu leaves a succesful programme behind, with flourishing spin-offs such as the Summer and Winter schools on European Policy Making (academically headed by Prof. Trisha Meyer).

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Our Advanced MSc Programme on European Integration (Euromaster) suffered less from pandemic-related measures. The students had to endure wearing masks during courses, and many would have liked to come more to campus more than was permitted, but the nature of this high-level evening-programme, combined with the excellent services of our OTLI team (Office of Teaching and Learning Innovation) made the programme a very positive experience for the MA students. Student numbers for the Euromaster programme remained stable.

The two advanced (MANaMA) programmes combined were able to award 50 diploma's in total: 12 students graduated from our LLM programme and 38 from our EuroMaster programme. With 11 newly enrolled students in our LLM programme and 63 in EuroMaster in the academic year 2021-22, the IES is set to continue to reach the target of delivering 50 diplomas per year on average.

The government agreement not only stipulates targets concerning advanced Master programmes, it also requires initiating two new PhD projects a year. We did so in 2021, following a call for projects in both the digital policy field as well as the migration field. More PhD researchers joined on externally-funded projects. We were also particularly proud to see five of our PhD students graduate: Inan Izci, Zana Abdallah Kurda, Sevgi Temizisler, Lingyu Xu, Laura Iozzelli, and Linde Desmaele all successfully submitted and defended their doctoral theses at the Institute.

As was mentioned last year, internationally-oriented institutions such as ours are hit hard by the pandemic. We had to cancel our exchange programmes (mainly with overseas partners) and temporarily put our global partnerships on hold. That our friends at the University of Southern California, Seoul National University, Hankuk University for International Studies, Vienna's Diplomatic Academy, Warwick University, United Nations University and many other close partners suffered the same fate was of little consolation. However, we are looking beyond the pandemic in 2021, and all of our partnerships are still 'alive and kicking'.

Last but not least, 2021 not only marked the start of a new 5-year government agreement, but it also constituted the official birth of the Brussels School of Governance (BSoG). Inaugurated by Rector Caroline Pauwels and Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, the BSoG brings together the expertise of the IES and Veaslius College in a single alliance, creating synergies on both the operational and the academic sides. It combines interdisciplinary research with a wide range of educational programmes and academic services focused on European and global challenges. Together IES and VeCo combined host more than 220 staff members and 450 students from all over the world.

HIGHLIGHTS 2021 Institute for European Studies and Vesalius College launch Brussels School of Governance

In February 2021, thanks to the initiative of VUB Rector Caroline Pauwels, the IES and Vesalius College launched an alliance called Brussels School of Governance (BSoG). This new entity combines interdisciplinary research with a wide range of educational programmes and academic services focused on European and global challenges, including energy & environment, security & diplomacy, migration & diversity, and digitization & democracy. The new school hosts more than 220 staff members and 450 students from all over the world.

EUIA21 conference: Assessing the EU’s Capacity to Act

The ‘European Union in International Affairs’ (EUIA) Conference took place from 26 May to 28 May 2021. It provided a major forum for academics and policymakers to debate the role of the EU in the turbulent realm of international affairs. This year's theme was 'Assessing the EU’s Capacity to Act’.

After a postponement due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the seventh edition of this event took place in a hybrid format, where day 1 was held physically for all speakers at the KVAB (Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Science and the Arts), with the audience attending digitally through our dedicated EUIA21 platform. On days 2 and 3, all panels took place digitally with a physical livestreaming studio at the Brussels School of Governance's premises in Brussels in order to connect all sessions.

The new educational and research institute aims to take the study of the main European and international challenges to a higher level. It will not only discover solutions for contemporary societal challenges, but also train the next generation of policymakers. During the online opening of the Brussels School of Governance on Tuesday the 9th of February, keynote speeches included a contribution by VUB Rector Caroline Pauwels and by Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo.

The conference was formally opened by Prof. Florian Trauner, the #EUIA21 Conference Chair. The opening keynote was provided by Ms. Margrethe Vestager, the Executive Vice President of the European Commission in charge of the political priority ‘Europe Fit for the Digital Age'. She outlined the EU’s international capacity to act in areas such as the regulation of artificial intelligence or competition.

HIGHLIGHTS

Six new PhD graduates promoted 2021 was a very fruitful year at the IES regarding new PhD degrees. Inan Izci, Zana Abdallah Kurda, Sevgi Temizisler, Lingyu Xu, Laura Iozzelli, and Linde Desmaele all successfully submitted and defended their doctoral thesis. The series of doctoral defenses was kicked off by Inan Izci who was promoted on 2 March 2021 on the subject of “Metropolitan Governance in Digital Age: The EU's Influence on Local Governing of Istanbul.” The degree was co-promoted by Prof. Jamal Shahin (VUB-BSoG) and Prof. Ayhan Kaya (Istanbul Bilgi University).

On 23 April 2021, Zana Abdallah Kurda obtained his doctorate. His dissertation offered a comprehensive analysis of the performance of the European Union as an actor in the Kurdish issue. It was supervised by Prof. Luk Van Langenhove (VUB-BSoG).

About two months later, on 21 June 2021, Sevgi Temizisler successfully defended her PhD thesis on the politicization of EU migration policies and its effect on European integration. Sevgi’s supervisors were Prof. Trisha Meyer (VUB-BSoG) and Prof. Jamal Shahin (VUB-BSoG).

Just before the start of the Summer, on 28 June 2021, Lingyu Xu successfully defended her PhD thesis entitled “Which factors have driven China's development of a more comprehensive policy approach”. Lingyu’s cosupervisors were Professors Florian Trauner (VUBBSoG) and Ilke Adam (VUB-BSoG). Only a few days later, on 1 July 2021, Laura Iozzelli successfully defended her PhD thesis on the topic “Regulating Climate Change Transnationally: Assessing and

Explaining Transparency and Participation in Climate Governance Initiatives”. Laura’s promoters were Prof. Sebastian Oberthür (VUB-BSoG)) and Prof. Amandine Orsini (Université Saint-Louis, Bruxelles).

And last but not least, on Friday 8 October 2021, Linde Desmaele obtained her doctorate with a dissertation entitled ‘Not Whether but How Europe Matters: A Neoclassical Realist Analysis of the Evolution of the Role of Europe in US Grand Strategy (2001-2020)’. Her promotor was Prof. Luis Simon (VUB-BSoG).

IES appoints two new Programme Directors

HIGHLIGHTS

2021 saw the IES appoint two new Programme Directors in its postgraduate programmes.

Successful first Winter School on EU Policy-Making

Prof. Liliana Lizarazo Rodriguez is now the new head of the LLM in International and European Law programme, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. Elie Perot was appointed as the Director of the Postgraduate Certificate in EU Policy Making. Prof. Lizarazo Rodriguez is a Research Professor in sustainable development law at the Brussels School of Governance. She is also an expert in the areas of Business & Human Rights, law and sustainable development and judicial adjudication. Elie Perot is a PhD Researcher at the Centre for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy (CSDS) of the Brussels School of Governance. His research focuses on NATO, the EU and the return of collective defence as a strategic challenge in Europe.

From February 1 to 12 2021, the IES, in collaboration with the Vienna School for International Studies organised its first Winter School on EU Policy-Making. The Winter School is the virtual counterpart of our longstanding Summer School on EU Policy-Making. Nineteen participants joined the two-week intensive online course to learn more about EU policy-making, governance and law, and its relation to other international organisations. The Winter School had a special focus on digital rights, touching on policy discussions related to freedom of expression, data protection, disinformation resilience and cyber-diplomacy. A special feature of the Winter School during the first week was the simulation exercise. We invited students from our partner universities in the EUTOPIA alliance to join our exercise and simulated the EU ordinary legislative procedure for two days with more than thirty students online. The Winter School and simulation exercise are prime examples of our School’s aim to provide in-depth theoretical knowledge combined with practiceembedded and experiential learning, even amidst a global health crisis. Both the Winter School and EUTOPIA project are made possible with the support of the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union.

HIGHLIGHTS

50 years of LLM in International and European Law

Created in 1971 as the Programme on International and Legal Cooperation (PILC), our LLM in International and European Law is one of the most established LLMs of its kind. 2021 marked the 50th anniversary of this internationally renowned programme. In the last 50 years, more than 1300 lawyers from 110 countries graduated from the LLM, creating a vast alumni network. Some of our alumni continued their careers in prominent positions in various European and international institutions as well as private companies and governments as prime ministers, judges and even presidents.

"PILC was for me an eye-opener as to the importance of the law for the orderly conduct of affairs between individuals and states and sparked a profound life-long interest in EU law", said Eugene Regan, Judge at the European Court of Justice, who graduated in this programme in 1979. In its 50th year, international reviews and the leading positions of its graduates in various international organisations attest to the programme’s excellence. Headed by a new Programme Director Liliana Lizarazo Rodriguez, this Brussels based LLM programme continues to be an important choice for ambitious lawyers who seek top-quality legal education together with colleagues from international backgrounds and aim for a career in the global job market.

12 researchers of Centre for Migration, Diversity and Justice contribute to new book on EU asylum, EU border management and anti-racism

12 IES/BSoG researchers and more than 80 VUB academics and co-authors joined forces to create the book ‘Migration, Equality & Racism. 44 opinions.’ Philosophers, lawyers, psychologists, health scientists, sociologists, geographers, criminologists, communication and political scientists all look at migration, equality and racism from different disciplinary angles. Together they contributed to an exercise of humanism as a praxis of criticism or a ‘technique of trouble-making’, in the words of Edward Said. Through 44 thought-provoking and informed opinion pieces, they question widespread beliefs on migration, equality and racism and propose solutions that might disturb. Their wish is to let this book be a source of inspiration for those who want to spark an informed debate on the ever more salient issues of migration, equality and racism, and for those who want to learn more on how and why humanism has often remained an empty box for migrants and racialised groups. Or for those who are in search of inspiration for a just future for all. The book was launched on Thursday the 21st of January 2021 during an online event presented by Yasmina El Messaoudi, with author interviews, a dance performance by Mouss Sar, slam poetry by Sakina El Kaddouri and pictures by Esma Alouet.

HIGHLIGHTS

Centre for Digitalisation, Democracy, and Innovation (CD2I) leads European Commission appointed hub on factchecking and media

In June 2021, a VUB-led consortium, including IES/ BSoG’s Centre for Digitalisation, Democracy and Innovation (CD2I) and Studies in Media, Innovation and Technology (SMIT), was selected to set up a hub on research, fact-checking and media literacy on online disinformation in Belgium and Luxembourg. The consortium joined the European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO), a network of hubs on digital media contributing to the fight against disinformation across Europe. The Director of the CD2I Research Centre, Prof. Trisha Meyer, is the principal investigator of the project.

In addition, through media literacy campaigns, EDMO BELUX will raise awareness and build resilience among citizens and media to combat disinformation. Finally, the hub will embed its disinformation monitoring, analysis and awareness into a multidisciplinary research framework on the impact of disinformation and platform responses on democratic processes.

This 30-month project entails the creation of a Belgian and Luxembourgish hub for research on digital media and disinformation (EDMO BELUX). It brings together an unprecedented, experienced and extensive network of fact-checkers, media, disinformation analysts, media literacy organisations and academics to detect, analyse and expose emerging harmful disinformation campaigns. Through rapid alerts in the network, fact checks and investigative reporting will reach first responders to disinformation (media, civil society, government) in order to minimize the impact of disinformation campaigns.

HIGHLIGHTS

Centre for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy (CSDS) organises high-profile Conversation Series

Throughout 2021, our Centre for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy (CSDS) organised the CSDS Conversation Series, high-level seminars designed to bring together leading academics, think-tankers and public policy practitioners. The 11 closed-door sessions organised in 2021 focused on tackling both global and regional issues. They included Sino-American competition, the future of the transatlantic relationship, Europe’s role in US grand strategy, EU-China trade relationships, UK in the post Brexit world, South Korean security policy, Germany’s foreign and security policy after Merkel, strategic cooperation in the Indo-Pacific and the Russian challenge to European security.The speakers hosted by the CSDS included Enrique Mora (Deputy Secretary-General for Political Affairs, EEAS), Marina Henke (Professor of International Relations, Hertie School), Stephen Brooks (Professor, Dartmouth College), Sabine Weyand (Director-General of DG Trade, European Commission), Tom Codrington (UK FCDO’s Head of Policy Planning), Yoichi Funabashi (Chairman of the Asia Pacific Initiative, Tokyo), Eric Edelman (Former Undersecretary of Defense, US), Kim Hyoung-zhin (Deputy ROK National Security Advisor), Claudia Major (Head of the International Security Division, SWP), Caroline Millar (Australian Ambassador to Belgium, EU and NATO), and Tomasz Szatkowski (Permanent Representative of the Republic of Poland to the North Atlantic Council).

Centre

for

Environment, Economy and Energy (3E)’s GOVTRAN

project organises high-profile conference series and launches MOOC on European climate and energy policy

As of 21 June 2021, a free online, self-paced MOOC course on EU climate and energy policy was made available in the framework of the GOVTRAN network. It was perfectly shaped for students to obtain a comprehensive overview of EU climate and energy governance and energy policy. The course addressed some fundamental questions regarding European climate and energy policy: How did we get here? Where are we heading? What are the ambitions? What are the policy (and other) tools being suggested and implemented to reach those ambitions? The JeanMonnet network ‘Governing the EU’s Climate and Energy Transition in Turbulent Times’ (GOVTRAN), headed by the IES/BSoG, brought together senior and early career scholars working in a broad range of fields. The network’s activities focused on two key aspects of recent EU climate and energy policy: the EU climate and energy policy framework for 2030; and the impact of the European Union’s climate and energy policy/governance on, and contribution to, the longer-term future of Europe, European integration, and the EU. With record publishing (4 special issues in 2 books and several peer reviewed articles), its final event series attracting 343 participants, and its videos reaching 2700 views, GOVTRAN was a very successful project.

EUIA21 Conference Chair Florian Trauner introducing the conference's keynote speaker Ms Margrethe Vestager.

RESEARCH PORTFOLIO

RESEARCH - STRATEGIC GOALS

The Strategic Plan 2021-2025 outlined several research objectives:

• Updating the IES research agenda around four new research centres: a Centre on Digitalisation, Democracy and Innovation; a Centre on Environment, Economy and Energy; a Centre on Migration, Diversity and Justice; and a Centre on Security, Diplomacy and Strategy.

The preparations for the creation of these four research centres, and the update of the IES research agenda around them, were started in late 2020. The four new centres became operational shortly after that but their launch towards their wide range of stakeholders coincided with the launch of the Brussels School of Governance (BSoG) on 9 February 2021, which is the alliance between the Institute for European Studies and Vesalius College. Since then, each of these centers has developed its own subbrand, under the umbrella of the BSoG, and with accompanying publication and project acquisition strategies.

• Maximising the intrinsic synergies between the educational offers of the IES and the VUB’s ES and RC faculties, Vesalius College, and the partners in the European university alliance, EUTOPIA.

The creation of the Brussels School of Governance was a significant step in maximising the synergies between the educational offering of IES and Vesalius College. Various elements of both institutions’ programmes were aligned. Since then, both faculty and support staff across IES and Vesalius work as one integrated team. As regards the VUB’s ES and RC faculties, a process of streamlining the complementarity in MA-level programmes has been initiated. This included reviewing the IES LLM curriculum and consolidating the Euromaster as a MaNaMa-level successor to the ES-led MSc in European and International Governance (in which IES staff act as service providers). Collaboration with the EUtopia network has increased in 2021, e.g. with the joint IES-EUtopia simulation exercise during the first edition of the IES’ Winter School in February 2021.

• Within each research centre, the aim is to deliver one doctorate per year, and therefore to start a total of at least 20 doctoral projects over the full management period (at least 10 of which are to be launched using Flemish government funding).

In 2021, the IES delivered a total of six doctorates, two of which were delivered by the Centre for Digitalisation, Democracy and Innovation, two by the Centre for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy, one by the Centre for Environment, Economy and Energy, and one by the Centre for Migration, Diversity and Justice.

RESEARCH - STRATEGIC GOALS

• Achieving at least one large-scale research project (e.g. ERC, Horizon Europe or Chair) per centre

In 2021, each of the four research centres was involved in at least one, and in most cases several, largescale research projects. Examples include the ERC-funded Curiae Virides project, that conceptualises the transformation of human rights litigation into ecocentric litigation, aimed at filling ecological governance gaps an led by professor Liliana Lizarazo Rodriguez (C3E); the setting up of EDMO BELUX, a European Commissionfunded joint venture between the CD2I and Imec-SMIT investigating media literacy and online disinformation in Belgium and Luxembourg; the CSDS-led VUB Japan programme set up to explore geostrategic developments in Asia and the Indo-Pacific region; and the H2020-funded BRIDGES project aimed at assessing the production and impact of migration narratives (CMDJ). The new Brussels School website features up-to-date overviews of all major projects per research centre.

• Annually: publication of an average of 50 scientific publications with peer review, one to two books and 20 policy papers.

IES-affiliated scholars collectively published a total of 5 books, 58 academic journal articles, 26 book chapters –amounting to 89 peer-reviewed publications – and 27 policy reports. For a detailed overview, see our list of 2021 publications in the annex. Full and multiannual bibliographical data is stored in the researchportal.vub.be – thus permanently accessible – and automatically synced with ORCID. With our own policy report outlets (Centre-led Policy Briefs as well as In-Depth long read formats) we ensure that our cutting-edge research findings are made available in open-acccess formats and tailored to a diverse audience including policymakers and media as well as academics.

LIST OF PhD BURSARY PROJECTS

Drawing on its own core resources and income generated from external projects, the IES sponsors a large cohort of PhD bursaries. These bursary projects are recruited via open competitive calls for projects. In line with the obligations in the government agreement, the Institute launches a minimum of two calls every year, supplemented by external project-based calls. In 2021, the Institute provided an academic home to the following bursary projects:

• Competition versus co-operation in multistakeholder internet governance The EU’s role, values, and interests, Orsolya Gulyás, November 2018 - October 2022

• Cooperation beyond borders: explaining EU migration cooperation with third countries

Philipp Stutz, October 2017 - September 2021

• Governmental Responsiveness to Black Lives Matter in Europe

Fọláṣadé Ajayi, February 2020 – March 2024

• "Safe" third countries: The heterogeneous application of a controversial concept, Gaia Romeo, October 2021 - September 2025

• On the outside looking in: Goal achievement of EU Arctic policies

Aslak Veierud Busch, October 2019 – September 2023.

• EU climate and energy governance: how myopic is it?

Jana Gheuens, January 2019 – December 2022.

• EU Policy Instruments on Sustainable Trade Simon Happersberger, October 2020 – September 2024

• Explaining the Response of the EU and of NATO to the Ukraine Crisis

Elie Perot, October 2016 - September 2020

• Explaining military innovation in military applications of artificial intelligence

Maaike Verbruggen, November 2017-April 2022

• Testing the East Asian Paradox: A study of East Asian nations' economic and security relations with a focus on Northeast Asia, Maximilian Ernst, October 2018-September 2022

• Historical narratives in Russian governmental discourse on domestic and foreign policy decisions 1991-2018, Laura Vansina, October 2019 - September 2023.

LIST OF PhD BURSARY PROJECTS

• Great Power Competition in the Indo-Pacific: the Mekong Region

Fabio Figiaconi, October 2020 – September 2024

• Legitimacy of multistakeholderism in Internet Governance

Nadia Tjahja, September 2020 – August 2022 – funded by project

• Multistakeholderism in international trade governance

Diana Potjomkina, December 2017 – November 2021 – funded by project

• Prevention of securitisation of contentious content through architectural interventions on online platforms

Nathalie Van Raemdonck, September 2020 – June 2024 – funded by project

• The politics of (return) migration in the Gambia

Omar N. Cham, October 2018 – August 2023 – funded by project

• Business Model Transitions for Enabling Deep Emission Reductions in the EU Energy Intensive Industries

Matilda Axelson, February 2017 - January 2021 – funded by project

• The integration of climate and energy security objectives in the EU's external energy policy, Marco Giuli, September 2019 – August 2023 – funded by project

• Product-Service Systems for the Circular Economy: Policy Implications under the WTO Law

Eleonor Mateo, December 2017 – November 2021 – funded by project

• Theoretical and Empirical Foundations of Value Chain Due Diligence in Transnational Ecological Conflicts

Joao Teixeira de Freitas, March 2021 – February 2025 (ERC Str. Grant 949690 Curiae Virides) – funded by pr.

• Gauging how Sustainable Development Law is performed by Transnational Ecocentric Networks in (the process leading to) an Ecocentric Litigation Virides Xavier Farré Fabregat November 2021-October 2025 (ErC Str. Grant 949690 Curiae) – funded by project

• Who Shapes Whom? Transatlantic Relations in the Asian Century

Linde Desmaele, April 2017-March 2021 – funded by project

• The role of the changing character of war for the US-led alliance system

Octavian Manea, October 2021- September 2025 – funded by project

The following researchers who successfully defended their doctoral thesis in 2021 were supported by the IES Research Enhancement Fund, a fund that was created to help junior researchers in the transition period from PhD to postdoctoral researcher:

• Understanding policy frames in ethno-racial inequality Dr Laura Westerveen, January - August 2021

• The evolution of the role of Europe in US grand strategy, Dr Linde Desmaele , October - December 2021

LIST OF EXTERNALLY-FUNDED PROJECTS

International organisations and foreign governments

Collaborative Doctoral Partnership – Digital Governance

October 2021 – October 2026

Funding organisation: Joint Research Centre | European Commission

The importance of science-based evidence for policy making is increasingly recognised by decision makers and finds resonance in research and academia. In order to enhance the science-policy link, the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission concludes collaborative doctoral partnership (CDP) schemes with higher education institutions. Vrije Universiteit Brussel replied to the call for expressions of interest in the fields of ‘digital governance' and ‘secure and sustainable supply of raw materials for strategic value chains’ and was selected by the JRC. Within this project, the Centre for Digitalisation, Democracy and Innovation (CD2I) at the Brussels School of Governance, the Centre for Studies in Media, Innovation and Technology (SMIT) and the HUMAINT project of the Digital Economy Unit, Joint Research Centre site in Sevilla co-supervise a doctoral student in the field of digital governance, on the topic of trustworthy artificial intelligence. The collaborative doctoral partnership is co-funded by JRC and VUB and runs for a period of five years (20212026).

EDMO: Belgium-Luxembourg Research Hub on Digital Media and Disinformation

October 2021 – March 2024

Funding organisation: European Health and Digital Executive Agency | European Commission

This project sets up a Belgian and Luxembourgish hub for research on digital media and disinformation (EDMO BELUX). It brings together an experienced

and extensive network of fact-checkers, media, disinformation analysts, media literacy organisations and academics to detect, analyse and expose emerging harmful disinformation campaigns. Through rapid alerts in the network, fact checks, and investigative reporting will reach first responders to disinformation (media, civil society, government) in order to minimize the impact of disinformation campaigns. In addition, through media literacy campaigns, EDMO BELUX will raise awareness and build resilience among citizens and media to combat disinformation. Finally, the hub will embed its disinformation monitoring, analysis, and awareness into a multidisciplinary research framework on the impact of disinformation and platform responses on democratic processes.

Contribution to ENISA Research and Innovation Annual Report

March 2021 – September 2021

Funding organisation: European Union Agency for Cybersecurity

The overall focus of the work of this contract is to support the RIT defining the scope, take stock of existing research and innovation projects and produce advice on future needs and priorities as part of the vision for team’s 3-year program. Article 11 of the Cybersecurity Act states that ENISA should advise the Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies and the Member States on research needs and priorities in the field of cybersecurity. The aim of this advice is to enable effective responses to current and emerging risks and cyber threats, including those respecting new and emerging information and communications technologies, and with a view to using risk-prevention technologies effectively.

LIST OF EXTERNALLY-FUNDED PROJECTS

Europe Explained – Inter-University Summer School on EU Policymaking

September 2019-August 2022

Funding organisation: European Commission | Jean Monnet Module

The Summer School on European Policymaking is an intensive two-week study programme with a strong multidisciplinary character, developed and delivered by the Institute for European Studies (IES) at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, in close cooperation with the Vienna School of International Studies and the University of Vienna, for the past fifteen years. Since 2013, this is a compulsory component of the IES postgraduate certificate on EU policymaking.

In 2021, the Flemish Ministry of Education and Training and the Flemish Higher Education Council (VLUHR) provided additional funding for the virtual summer campus, allowing us to waiver two extra tuition fees for participation in the summer school.

BRIDGES: Assessing the production and impact of migration

March 2021 – February 2024

Funding organisation: European Commission | H2020

The project aims to understand the causes and consequences of migration narratives in a context of increasing politicisation and polarisation by focusing on six European countries: France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom. To do so, BRIDGES adopts an interdisciplinary and coproductive approach and is implemented by a diverse consortium of 12 institutions formed by universities, think tanks and research centres, cultural associations, and civil society organisations from all over Europe.

FAIRNESS: Implementation of Stockholm's roadmap in cases of terrorism and radicalisation

July 2019 – March 2022

Funding scheme: European Commission | Justice Programme (JUST)

The FAIRNESS project aims at promoting a balanced harmonization of the Member States’ legal practices in relation to the implementation of several EU Directives (2016/343, 2016/800, 2016/1919, 2013/48/EU) when suspected or accused persons are involved in terrorrelated crimes or radicalisation. Further, it aims at exploring the coherence between the ‘spirit’ and provisions of the ‘Stockholm’s Roadmap’ contrasted with investigative and preventive practices (including Directive 2014/41/EU, and Council Framework Decisions 2002/584/JHA) involving suspects or accused persons for crimes related to terrorism in the pre-trial stage.

INDEED: Strengthening a comprehensive approach to preventing and counteracting radicalisation based on a universal evIdeNce-based MoDEl for Evaluation of raDIcalisation prevention and mitigation

September 2021 – August 2024

Funding organisation: European Commission | H2020

INDEED aims to strengthen the knowledge, capabilities and skills for preventing violent extremism (PVE) / countering violent extremism (CVE) and deradicalisation for first-line practitioners and policymakers in designing, planning, implementing and evaluating initiatives in the field through an evidence-based approach. INDEED builds from the state-of-the-art, utilising the scientific and practical strengths of recent activities – enhancing them

LIST OF EXTERNALLY-FUNDED PROJECTS

with complementary features to drive advancements and curb a growing rise of radical views and violent behaviour threatening security.

EXPAND: Explaining Resilience in EU Justice and Home Affairs

September 2020 – September 2023

Funding organisation: European Commission | Jean Monnet Chair

The EXPAND Jean Monnet Chair will work towards advancing research-led teaching and the public debate on the resilience of the EU in general and in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice in particular. The objective of EXPAND is to engage students, academics and policy-makers/practitioners in a dialogue on: (1) the ways in which the European integration project has – or has not – become more resilient; (2) the ways in which the EU and its member states have incorporated lessons from previous crises and seek to reform their JHA policies in formal and informal ways; (3) the international channels of influence that the EU has fostered in the JHA field to develop a more comprehensive approach, notably in the migration field. The Jean Monnet Chair EXPAND will make an essential and substantiated contribution to understanding the changing nature of the EU’s integration process and its impact in and beyond the EU with regard to Justice and Home Affairs policies.

JP-COOPS: Judicial and Police cooperation preventing radicalisation towards terrorism

January 2019 – June 2022

Funding scheme: European Commission – Justice Programme (JUST)

JP-COOPS, funded by DG JUST, focuses on the expansion of the network of trainers, national contact points, e-contents, and platforms established by previous projects. Its main contribution will be the establishment of one network of networks comprising 26 Multiagency National Contact Points, all using an up-scalable and modular Toolkit of all available Toolkits, which expands the knowledge on counterradicalisation strategies and practices through the use of judiciary and police cooperation as part of new situational prevention strategies.

Whole-COMM: Exploring the integration of post2014 migrants in small and medium-sized towns and rural areas from a whole of community perspective

January 2021 – April 2024

Funding organisation: European Commission | H2020 After 2014, the number of migrants in barely prepared small and medium-size towns and rural areas has grown, affecting local social cohesion and challenging Europe’s future integration. The EU-funded WholeCOMM project will contribute to the scientific knowledge and theorisation on the dynamics and causal mechanisms that impact the relationship between immigrant integration policy and community cohesion. The research method used by this project perceives migrant integration as a community-making process. Whole-COMM will use a cross-country and cross-locality comparative methodology comprising 8 EU and 2 non-EU countries and 40 localities, mixed methods matching qualitative and quasi-experimental approaches, and quantitative analysis to investigate the impact of policies on social cohesion and immigrants’ integration trajectories..

LIST OF EXTERNALLY-FUNDED PROJECTS

4I-TRACTION: Innovation, Investment, Infrastructure and sector Integration: Transformative policies for a ClimaTe-neutral European UnION

June 2021 – May 2024

Funding organisation: European Commission | H2020

The overall goal of 4I-TRACTION is to develop and assess transformative policy avenues for the 2020s, and an effective governance framework to implement them, aligned with the EU’s long-term objective of climate-neutrality by 2050 as the EU’s contribution to achieving the objectives of the PA and the implementation of the SDGs.

BFSJ: Production of fully synthetic paraffinic jet fuel from wood and other biomass

January 2015 - June 2022

Funding scheme: European Commission |FP7

In the Aviation Biofuels project, IES analyses as a part of an engineering project the globally most innovative policies to promote the uptake of sustainable aviation biofuels, as regards fully synthetic paraffinic jet fuels. The IES also scrutinizes how such innovative policies interact with European and international (WTO) economic law.

LIST OF EXTERNALLY-FUNDED PROJECTS

Funding organisation: European Research Council

This project conceptualises the worldwide progressive transformation of human rights litigation into ecocentric litigation that, by triggering activist courts, aims at filling ecological governance gaps with the expectation to provide effective remedy to victims of transnational ecological harm.

GOVTRAN: Governing the EU’s Climate and Energy Transition in Turbulent Times

September 2018-December 2021

Funding organisation: European Commission | Jean Monnet Network

Funding organisation: European Commission | H2020

AID-RES: Advancing industrial decarbonisation by assessing the future use of renewable energies in industrial processes

December 2020 – December 2022

Funding organisation: European Commission

Directorate General for Energy

The aims and objectives of the project are to provide a timely and uninterrupted service to the European Commission in carrying out an analysis to understand the effectiveness, efficiency and cost of potential innovation pathways for achieving carbon neutral processes in the steel, chemical, cement, glass, fertilizer and refinery sectors in the EU 27 by 2050. The analysis shall cover the associated energy needs of said industrial sectors, the geographical distribution of these needs, as well as potential symbiosis with other sectors. The results of this study shall serve as the data input basis for data visualisation (by the JRC).

BNB: Beton Naar Hoogwaardig Beton

Funding scheme: European Regional Development Fund (Interreg)

March 2018 – February 2021

In this project, concrete is recycled through a crushing process, where the concrete rubble is separated into its original components – cement stone, sand and gravel. After a dehydration process, the cement stone can be used as a new binder in new high-quality concrete products, with very low environmental impact. In the project, the IES conducts an economic analysis and assesses the business model(s) arising from the new value chain. Project partners are the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (coordinator), VITO, MEAM, CBS Beton, KU Leuven, SCC, SGS INTRON, Concrete Valley Group B.V. and Innovatie Centrum Duurzaam Bouwen.

CURIAE VIRIDES: How the third wave of global judicial (and social) activism is filling ecological governance

January 2021 – December 2025

The overarching aim of GOVTRAN is to provide a platform to bring together the European and global community of senior and early career scholars in the field of climate and energy, and to actively foster this community’s engagement with policymakers and the broader public.

KITUPO: The Circular Economy and Product Policy

March 2020 – May 2021

Funding organisation: Finnish Prime Minister’s Office

The KITUPO project investigates the possibilities for further developing the ecodesign principles and extended producer responsibility as well as the use of other potential product policy instruments to promote the circular economy. The project formulates suggestions for developing product policy in Finland and Finnish product policy internationally.

NDC ASPECTS: Assessing Sectoral Perspectives on Climate Transitions to support the Global Stocktake and subsequent NDCs

May 2021 – March 2024

The Paris Agreement on climate change includes a five-year global stocktake (GST). Ending in 2023, the global situation will be analysed, and countries will be provided information to prepare updated nationally determined contributions (NDCs). The EU-funded NDC ASPECTS project will provide inputs to the GST and support the potential revision of NDCs, including the development of new NDCs for the post 2030 period. The project will focus on four key sectors: transport, emission intensive industries, buildings, and agriculture (including forestry, land-use, and interaction with the energy conversion sector). For each sector, the project will formulate evidence-based narratives that can be translated into global and national pathways.

SOLVIT 7: Training on the EU free movement of goods and mutual recognition

February 2021

Funding organisation: The Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises

Two-day ‘Fit for Business’ training programme for members of the SOLVIT centres in the legal area of the free movement of goods, on the mutual recognition of goods, in the EU.

SOLVIT 8 & 9 : Training on the EU free movement of persons and social security

September 2021 – November 2021

Funding organisation: The Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises

Two-day ‘Fit-for Business’ training programme for members of the SOLVIT centres on the EU law on the free movement of persons, specifically on the topic of social security coordination, free movement of

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workers and posted workers.

EU Policy and Outreach Partnership (EUPOP) in the Republic of Korea

December2019–January 2022

Funding organisation: European Commission EuropeAid

The project supports the European Union in carrying out public diplomacy activities in the Republic of Korea with a specific focus on youth. The Model European Union (MEU) is a simulation on the decision-making processes within the Council of the European Union and aims at increasing understanding of the EU's institutions and processes for students. The MEU took place on 30 Oct 2020 and Oct 14-15 2021, hosted by the EU Delegation and co-hosted by the three Jean Monnet EU Centres of Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (HUFS), Yonsei University and Korea University.

The QUAD and the rise of minilateralism in the IndoPacific: what role for Europe?

June 2021

Funding organisation: Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

CSDS organised a closed-door expert workshop and a public event to stimulate policy and scholarly debate with a view to discussing the advantages of minilateralism vs. multilateralism and identifying concrete avenues for interaction between the EU, NATO and the Quad. These events gather key policymakers and experts from the EU, NATO, Australia, Japan, the United States and India. A policy brief and a podcast episode dedicated to the QUAD's desired role in the Indo-Pacific complements the project's

outreach component.

European Defence Cooperation: What Role for Partnerships?

June–October 2021

Funding Organisation: UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office

In drafting its Strategic Compass, a key task for the EU is to clarify how it will seek to deepen existing partnerships and create new strategic initiatives with like-minded partners around the world: the United Kingdom, Norway, the United States, Japan, Korea, Canada, India, Australia and others, but also international organisations such as NATO, ASEAN, the AU and the UN. How will the EU strike a balance between inclusivity and ambition in reconciling different priorities and perspectives in this regard?

CSDS organises a closed-door expert workshop between policy-makers and experts to discuss these questions.

Japan Program’s related activities

November 2020-October 2021

Funding organisation: Mission of Japan to the EU and Japanese Embassy to NATO and Belgium

In addition to the course offered under the Japan Foundation funding scheme, the Mission of Japan to the EU and the Japanese Embassy to NATO and Belgium have funded four events (with public and private sessions each) through the year. In November 2020, the first event look at maritime security in the Indo-Pacific and opportunities for Japan, Australia and the EU; the second group of events took place in March 2021 and focused on the post-Covid world and EU and Japan cooperation on disinformation

and the resilience of supply chains. The third event (held in May 2021) revolved around Europe, Japan and India cooperation. The final event (held in October 2021) examined regional and multilateral security architectures and the potential collaboration between the EU, Japan and ASEAN.

Bridging Allies

November 2021-December 2022

Funding organisation: Japanese Embassy

The CSDS launched a new expert dialogue to explore ways to strengthen practical cooperation between the ‘core’ alliances of the Euro-Atlantic and the IndoPacific, namely NATO, the US-Japan Alliance and the US-Australia Alliance. CSDS conducts this project in collaboration with the Asia-Pacific Initiative (API) in Japan, the United States Studies Centre (USSC) in Sidney and with experts from IISS and the University of Waterloo (Canada). The first seminar took place in November 2021, and it served to feed into the emerging debate around NATO’s Strategic Concept, especially on those aspects related to the challenges posed by China’s strategic rise, and the Alliance’s broader engagement in the Indo-Pacific region. The next seminar will be held in London in March 2022 and the following one in Tokyo in Autumn 2022.

Other organisations

Chair in Digital Sovereignty

May 2021 – May 2023

Funding organisation: Microsoft

The Chair is a joint venture between the Brussels School of Governance, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (BSoGVUB) and the United Nations University – Institute on Comparative Regional Integration Studies (UNU-CRIS). The primary goal of the Chair will be to reflect on the emergent and divergent meanings of sovereignty in the 21st Century. It will specifically focus on the role of technology (in the widest meaning of the word) in affecting and effecting change in political institutions.

COVID-19 Research Hub

February 2021 – May 2021

Funding organisation: EU DisinfoLab

As COVID-19 virus sweeps across the world, EU Disinfolab compiles essential resources for those interested in tackling the coronavirus ‘infodemic'. It maps how online platforms are combatting coronavirus mis- and disinformation, publishes content on the narratives, trends, and strategies defining the infodemic, and produces dedicated sections on free tools to use, commentary on the infodemic, as well as its impact on our societies. Within this project, the Centre for Digitalisation, Democracy and Innovation (CD2I) at the Brussels School of Governance monitors platform policies and responses to disinformation, with a focus on COVID-19 related topics, and reports regularly through blogposts or additional research that is published on EU Disinfolab’s website. The project receives funding from the Omidyar Network.

LIST OF EXTERNALLY-FUNDED PROJECTS

DSV: De Staat van Vlaanderen

February 2021 – May 2021

DSV is an annual survey of a sample of Flemish voters about the political situation in Flanders and Belgium. The purpose of the survey is to gain insight into (evolutions in) political preferences and attitudes for the news coverage of the VRT and De Standaard. The Vote 2021 follows the survey of 2020 (DS2020). This new wave DS2021 has two objectives: (1) Re-survey respondents from DS2020, to map changes at the individual level, and (2) carry out a new representative sample for 2021 as well. to be able to make statements that can be generalized to the inhabitants of the Flemish region.

Syria: Risks and Opportunities For EU-Turkey

Cooperation

September 2020 – December 2021

Funding organisation: German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) | CATS Network Grants 2020

This project aims at identifying opportunities and constraints for EU-Turkey cooperation in Syria, specifically on the Turkish sphere of influence in northern Syria and on the broader peacebuilding efforts in Syria.

EMPOWER-YOUTH: Obstacles et leviers à la participation sociétale et citoyenne des jeunes

Bruxellois défavorisés

November 2017 – January 2022

Funding scheme: Innoviris Brussels – Anticipate programme

“Empower Youth project” is a four-year research programme conducted by Géraldine André (IES-VUB) and Alejandra Alarcon (GERME-ULB) on societal and

civic participation of young disadvantaged people from Brussels. Through a mixed-method design (qualitative and quantitative), Empower Youth investigates: 1)

Why and when do youngsters not utilise, or even reject structures that aim at developing their participation;

2) When and how does the institutional complexity of Brussels influence the relationships of young people from Brussels with those structures; 3) How does discrimination and assignment to disadvantaged social categories such as gender or alleged race (as well as their interactions) shape the relationships of youngsters with different institutions in Brussels;

4) In which ways do the existing instruments and programmes aiming at the encouragement of civic participation of young people from Brussels meet their expectations (or not);

5) What are the links between different forms of societal and civic participation?

Escaping gridlock through financial instruments?

Analyzing change in EU funding for migration and asylum

November 2021 – August 2025

Funding organisation: Fonds Wetenschappelijk

Onderzoek – Vlaanderen (FWO)

The increase in migration flows since 2011 has plunged the EU in its second existential crisis in the space of five years after the Eurozone crisis. In contrast to a stalemated policy-making process in the realm of migration and asylum, the financial responses have been remarkable. The EU substantially increased the budget allocated to migration, launched new instruments such as the EU Trust Fund for Africa, restructured its financial toolbox several times, and recently created for the first time a targeted budgetary heading under the Multiannual Financial Framework

LIST OF EXTERNALLY-FUNDED PROJECTS

2021-2027. What explains this dynamism of the EU instrumentation process? The project addresses this puzzle. By integrating EU politics theorizing, the theories of instrument choice, and policy change, it gauges the extent and the direction of change in EU funding tools for migration and asylum and sets theoretical expectations to understand the combination of causes affecting change in financial instrument mixes across time. The project brings about theoretical and empirical innovation. Theoretically, it advances the theorization of policy instrument change, by inductively combining theories of instrument choice, policy change, and EU integration theories. Empirically, it unpacks and studies the complex landscape of EU funds for migration which has been, with few exceptions largely neglected by the literature.

The immigration-federalism nexus: taking the subnational level seriously

October 2020 – September 2023

Funding organisation: Fonds Wetenschappelijk

Onderzoek – Vlaanderen (FWO)

In many federal states, subnational governments are increasingly involved in immigration policymaking, which has resulted in powers and resources decentralization, and policy development at the subnational scale. This project aims at opening the black box of the vibrant subnational policy variation when it comes to immigration and immigrant integration matters in 4 federal states (Belgium, Canada, the United States, and Switzerland). The innovative character of this research is to look more closely at the subnational level, taking into account the diversity and the asymmetry that exist inside each federation.

Who wins the legislative battle? Tracing legislative change and policy ideas in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice

October 2017 – September 2021

Funding organisation: Fonds Wetenschappelijk

Onderzoek – Vlaanderen (FWO)

This FWO project aims to understand the balance of powers between the main European institutional actors in context of legislative decision-making in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (AFSJ). First, it investigates what changes legislative acts undergo during the legislative process from the text proposed by the European Commission to the final version published in the Official Journal of the European Union and which policy ideas, defined as policy provisions contained in the law, end up in the adopted document. Second, it accounts for the mechanisms and causal factors behind the influence of certain institutional actors and ideas on the development of legislation adopted in the AFSJ field. To do so the project relies on an application prototype of data mining and data processing, which allows a large-N systematic approach to track, visualise and analyse all legislative activity in AFSJ between May 1999 and December 2016. By tracing who ‘wins’ in the ‘legislative battle’, the project does not only fills an important gap in the literature on the AFSJ decision-making dominated by small-N and qualitative studies, but it also fuels the ongoing theoretical debates on the influence of institutional actors and on the impact of ideas on the European legislative outcomes. Moreover, the application of data mining and data processing techniques to legal text can contribute to test the efficiency of different computational modeling methods.

LIST OF EXTERNALLY-FUNDED PROJECTS

The creation of a dataset on coercive EU mobility rules

April 2021 – March 2025

Funding organisation: Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek – Vlaanderen (FWO)

The EU is interested in regulating as to where and how long migrants may remain on its territory. If deemed necessary, the EU rules regulating the mobility of migrants can be enforced by coercive means e.g. through a forcible return procedure or a Dublin transfer of asylum seekers back to their point of entry in Europe. The ERC runner-up-project will be ground-breaking as it analyses and critically reflection upon the application of these rules. It will create a unique dataset featuring country-to-country cooperation patterns on coercive mobility within Europe (on Dublin transfers) and from Europe to the rest of the world (on return cooperation) over a period of twenty-one years (1999-2020). Different statistical methods, first and foremost regression analyses, will help explain the patterns of cooperation (and non-cooperation) over time and across all regions in the world. This will determine the impact of factors such as a third country’s democratic standards or administrative capabilities. The dataset on coercive EU mobility rules will also assess the extent to which incomplete or unreliable data distorts our knowledge and understanding of migration governance in Europe. No-one has yet systematically compared and complemented European and national data on migration even though complaints about the quality of the data are frequent. By making the dataset open access, the ERC runner-up-project will have a high public impact and strengthen the capabilities of policy-makers and academics.

CONNECT: Understanding the international context for Norway’s low- emission economy transition

September 2017-August 2021

Funding organisation: CICERO – Research Council of Norway

CONNECT will provide policymakers with insights into how the framework Paris Agreement will developed into more detailed rules and procedures for global climate cooperation and national policy approaches in the years leading up to 2018. It further examines how international climate policy changes influence EU climate policies in the period from 2015 to 2018, and the consequences for EU-level decisionmaking processes. The project will also look at how changes in the international context impact Norway's climate policy development up to 2018, and what the implications may be for a long-term low-carbon transition in Norway

Policy integration: decarbonisation and security of supply in the European Union's external energy policy

January 2019 - December 2022

Funding organisation: Fonds Wetenschappelijk

Onderzoek – Vlaanderen (FWO)

This FWO-funded project aims to examine levels of policy integration and to identify related main drivers and barriers as a contribution to a general theory of (climate) policy integration. It specifically explores varying levels of integration of the key policy objectives of decarbonization and security of supply into the European Union’s external energy policy toward third countries. Based on existing literature on policy coherence and (environmental/climate) policy integration, it develops a novel framework

LIST OF EXTERNALLY-FUNDED PROJECTS

for assessing the level of policy integration of the two policy objectives and applies this framework to the EU’s external energy policy towards three partner countries (Russia, Norway, Algeria or Azerbaijan).

GST: Global Stocktake: An Opportunity for Ambition

July 2021 – December 2021

Funding organisation: Centre for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES)

C2ES and EDF are undertaking a joint initiative to help shape and support the Paris Agreement’s global stocktake (GST) process by ensuring a strong focus on opportunities to scale up climate ambition in line with its long-term goals. This three-year initiative will engage governments and a broad array of experts and stakeholders to develop and build support for an “opportunities framework” that will facilitate inputs to, and outputs from, the first of the Agreement’s periodic GSTs, to be concluded in 2023. The overarching aim is to better equip Parties and non-Party stakeholders (NPS) to strengthen ambition in their next round of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and through strategically targeted collective efforts.

PLATON: PLATform for Open and Nationally accessible climate policy knowledge

January 2019 – December 2022

Funding organisation: The Research Council of Norway, KLIMAFORSK Programme - Fridtjof Nansen Institute (FNI)

PLATON is Norway's largest social science climate research project and will help politicians and businesses in their efforts to make Norway a lowemission society. The project will build an openlyavailable knowledge platform on climate policy and how it affects the economy, behavior and emissions. In

addition to researching new knowledge, PLATON will gather and systematize knowledge that already exists. Data, statistics and model tools that form the basis of the knowledge will be part of the platform.

PROCURA: Power to X and Carbon Capture & Utilization Roadmap for Belgium

March 2020 – February 2025

Funding organisation: Belgian Directorate-General for Energy, Federal Energy Transition

Scenario studies worldwide show that Power-to-x (gas (e.g. H2, Methane), chemicals, liquid fuels) and Carbon Capture and Utilisation (CCU) can become crucial technologies in achieving decarbonisation of our energy system by 2050 and increasing security of supply. This project will deliver a roadmap for these novel technologies for all sectors in Belgium, giving a clear view what steps are needed by 2030 to reach carbon neutrality by 2050. Solar fuel technology and a demonstrator for CO2 co-reduction will be explored.

ROLECS: Roll-Out of Local Energy Communities

January 2019 – September 2021

Funding organisation: Agentschap Innoveren & Ondernemen (VLAIO)

ROLECS project is a unique cooperation between all Flemish research institutes active in the energy sectors and 25 companies all working towards gaining a deeper understanding and maximizing the potential of Local Energy Communities (LECS). These communities, following up from EU policies on energy, create a landscape that is more sustainable and with active participation of the end-consumer/ producer (the so-called prosumer).

LIST OF EXTERNALLY-FUNDED PROJECTS

KF-VUB Korea Chair

September 2017 – August 2025

Funding organisation: Korea Foundation

KF-VUB Korea Chair is the primary contact point in Europe on policy issues related to the Korean Peninsula. The Chair conducts research in three areas, EU-ROK relations, security on the Korean Peninsula, and South Korean foreign policy. Its output consists mainly of publishing academic and policy relevant material, the organisation of public conferences and expert workshops, and the dissemination of research findings. In 2021, the Chair received generous funding from the ROK Embassy to Belgium and Mission to the EU, the Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs to organise the Korea-Europe Policy Dialogue conference in Brussels (4-5 November 2021), and Korea Foundation to organise the Brussels Korea Forum conference in Brussels (14 October 2021) and a research report on South Korea-Europe Cooperation in Global Governance (December 2021).

Japan's Foreign and Security Policy

September 2020 - August 2022

Funding organisation: Japan Foundation

The Japan Program serves as an independent platform to advance academically rigorous discussions on the major foreign and security policy questions Japan and Europe are currently facing and seeks to inform and shape the policy agenda confronting the Japanese and European leadership. It offers a course on Japan's Foreign and Security Policy (6 ECTS). The course follows an intensive, executivelike format, combining traditional academic lectures with practical insights through interactive seminars and discussions with experts and policymakers from Japan, the EU and NATO.

The lectures cover a vast array of topics, from Japan’s contemporary foreign policy and security priorities, regional security concerns, to its evolving relationship with the EU and NATO.

Projects funded by VUB

GREMLIN: The Contribution of ‘regional’ multistakeholders mechanisms in improving global governance

October 2017 - September 2022

Funding organisation: VUB OZR Grant

The GREMLIN project aims to investigate multistakeholderism in regional and global governance. It examines two different policy areas where multistakeholderism has become a defining norm: internet and trade governance. Questions of legitimacy and effectiveness are key to debates on multistakeholderism and thus are also central to the theoretical framework of the project. GREMLIN brings together researchers from the IES and the Centre for European Union Studies (CEUS) at the University of Ghent in a project that will produce two PhDs, several policy briefs and a workshop on ‘building better multistakeholderism’ at its end.

BIES: Brussels Institute for European Studies

March 2018-March 2022

Funding organisation: Vrije Universiteit Brussel

In this initiative endorsed by the Research Council of both VUB and ULB, the two institutes join forces and search to intensify the cooperation in a series of areas, such as the setup of a joint platform for EUfunded bid submissions.

LIST OF EXTERNALLY-FUNDED PROJECTS

BIRMM-VUB: Brussels Interdisciplinary Research centre on Migration and Minorities, Vrije Universiteit Brussel

January 2018 – October 2024

Funding organisation: Vrije Universiteit Brussel

Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) conducts a wide variety of research on migration and diversity, spread over many disciplines, departments and research institutes. This interdisciplinary group was been created in January 2018. It joins over 100 VUB researchers from 11 disciplines (including political science, law, sociology, criminology, geography, medical sciences, communication sciences, linguistics, psychology and educational sciences, philosophy, and history) working on migration and diversity related topics.

BIRMM is coordinated by Prof. Ilke Adam and Prof. Florian Trauner (both IES-VUB) and a board of delegates withone representative per research centre or department.

BIRMM-VUB was accepted as an institutional member of the network in early July 2018. Our expertise on migration and diversity will contribute to IMISCOE's success.

EDGE: Evaluating Democratic Governance in Europe

November 2017-October 2022

Funding organisation: Vrije Universiteit Brussel

The work conducted during the second phase of EDGE is organised in three work packages. Each work package focuses on big challenges that democracies face today. The three work packages are not mutually exclusive, i.e. there are obvious overlaps across work packages, allowing us to consciously and actively develop cross-fertilisation and collaboration. The first

work package deals with time and sustainability, the second with gender and diversity and the third with contestation.

StepChem

January 2020 – December 2024

Funding organisation: Vrije Universiteit Brussel

In the transition towards a climate neutral society, chemical industry is facing huge challenges. In order to limit consequences of global climate change, it is paramount to develop new and intensified technologies that allow reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, lower energy-intensity, contribute to carbon neutrality and allow replacement of traditional fossil-based feedstocks by renewable production pathways. Therefore, the project GreenChem (IOF GEAR-program) aims at the valorisation of VUB’s innovative generic research in the field of sustainable chemistry and intensified separation technology through collaboration with chemical industry. The project combines the expertise of CHIS in the field of chemical engineering with the know-how of the IES team in the field of environment and sustainable development to achieve an integrated approach, which not only considers technological challenges but also the economic and legislative framework, such that feasible solutions can be proposed to meet the demands of our society and industry.

LIST OF EXTERNALLY-FUNDED

PROJECTS

Summer schools

Europe Explained – Inter-University Summer School on EU Policy-making

September 2019-August 2022

Funding scheme: European Commission – Jean Monnet Module

The Summer School on European Policy-making is an intensive two-week study programme with a strong multidisciplinary character, developed and delivered by the Institute for European Studies (IES) at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, in close cooperation with the Vienna School of International Studies and the University of Vienna, for the past sixteen years. Since 2013, this is a compulsory component of the IES postgraduate certificate on EU policy-making.

Selection of our prominent externally-funded projects.

CENTRE FOR ENVIRONMENT, ECONOMY AND ENERGY CENTRE FOR ENVIRONMENT, ECONOMY AND ENERGY

The 3E Centre focuses on the international and European governance of the environmental, economic and energy transitions and their interactions. It analyses and develops innovative legal and policy instruments and approaches to govern the transitions in the EU and beyond.

Personnel

In 2021, professors Harri Kalimo and Sebastian Oberthür co-directed the Centre, which included also profs. Liliana Lizarazo and Sven Van Kerckhoven, post-doctoral researchers Ingmar von Homeyer, Brendan Moore, Afaf Rahim and Stijn Van der Perre project researchers Gauri Khandekar, Simon Otto, Olof Soebech and Tomas Wyns as well as ten pre-doctoral researchers. The latter included Matilda Axelson (industrial decarbonisation), Aslak Veierud Busch (EU in Arctic governance), Xavier Fabregat (Judicial activism in ecocentric networks), Joao De Freitas (value chain due diligence), François Gardin (sustainable investments), Jana Gheuens (‘democratic myopia’ in EU climate and energy governance), Marco Giuli (EU external energy policy), Simon Happersberger (sustainable trade agreements), Eleanor Mateo (sustainable ‘product service systems’ and trade) and Ernesto Roessing Neto (deforestation in developing countries).

Laura Iozzelli defended her PhD (legitimacy of transnational climate governance), while IES alumni Álvaro Herrero and Selçukan Ünekbas worked on SOLVIT7 training. 3E (senior) associates included: Dave Anderson, Claire Dupont, Lisanne Groen, Laura Iozzelli, Kati Kulovesi, Andrea Mairate, Klaudia Majcher, Paolo Pasimeni, Michael Ristaniemi, Michael Rupp and Carlos Soria Rodríguez.

Events

• International expert workshops on Circular Product Policy

• (KITUPO) Mobility as a Service (19.1), Eco-Design (16.3)

• Green marketing claims (31.3) and Circular Product Policy (13.4)

• Trade Defense Instruments (TDI) Yearly 2020 and 2021 Conferences (19.2 and 18.11)

• Roundtable on Hydrocarbon exporters and the EU’s decarbonization (4.3)

• Webinar on Governing the Amazon Region (4.5)

• Webinar on EU and India Climate Action (5.5)

• Competition Law Turns Green – seminar series (15.6, 6.10, 10.11, 9.12)

• EU Expert workshop on Green Public Procurement (16.6)

• Workshop on Economics of (Dis)integration (27.-28.6)

• Final conference series of Jean Monnet Network GOVTRAN: 2 keynotes, 5 roundtable events and 1 closed expert workshop (15.09-07.10)

• Webinar on Transboundary Water Governance in Africa (14.10)

• Webinar on the European Green Deal after COP26 (18.11)

Teaching

3E professors gave courses in the IES’ PILC and EuroMaster programmes on environmental law; public international and EU law; climate and energy governance; the greening of the European economy and the EU internal market and competition policy. The Centre further contributed to Vesalius College BA courses ‘Capstone in Business Studies’ and ‘Thesis in Business and Economics’, and continued inter-university seminars on legal and political theory (“Virtuosi”). Within the GOVTRAN project, a MOOC course on the EU’s climate and energy transition was created and launched. 3E researchers lectured in e.g. the Brussels & Vienna Summer and Winter Schools, the College of Europe and the University of Eastern Finland. 3E Professors also served as the Vice Dean Education and the Directors of PILC.

Visibility

In addition to many 3E events and the flagship Jean Monnet Network GOVTRAN on climate and energy governance, the centre members made various public appearances as keynote speakers, presenters, panellists and conference participants and appeared in Flemish, national and international media.

Main projects

• 4I-TRACTION. Innovation, Investment, Infrastructure and Sector Integration: Transformative Policies for a Climate-neutral European Union (Horizon 2020), 2021-24

• BFSJ. Production of fully synthetic paraffinic jet fuel from wood and other biomass (“Aviation Biofuels”) (Commission FP7), 2015-22

• Curiae Virides. How the Third Wave of Global Judicial (and Social) Activism is Filling Ecological Governance Gaps and Challenging the Liability-Remedy Paradigm (ERC), 2020-25

• EDGE. Evaluating Democratic Governance in Europe, with ES faculty (VUB Strategic Research Programme), 2017-22

• GEAR. Technological and Socio-Economic Strategies for a Sustainable Chemical Industry (GreenChem) (VUB IOF), 2020-24

• GOVTRAN. Jean Monnet Network Governing the EU’s Climate and Energy Transition in Turbulent Times, (Erasmus+) 2018-21

• HILMI. Carbon and Environmental Footprint in Public Procurement (VN-TEAS Finnish Prime Minister’s Office), 2020-21

• Jean Monnet Module: The Economics of European (Dis)Integration, 2019-22

• KITUPO. The Circular Economy and Product Policy. (VN-TEAS Finnish Prime Minister’s Office), 2020-21

• NDC ASPECTS. Assessing Sectoral Perspectives on Climate Transitions to Support the Global Stocktake and Subsequent Nationally Determined Contributions (Horizon 2020), 2021-24

• Policy integration: decarbonisation and security of supply in the EU's external energy policy (FWO), 2019-23

• PROCURA Roadmap for ‘power to x’ in Belgium (Energy transition fund (ETF)), 2020-2025

• ROLECS. Roll out of Local Energy Communities: a cooperative research project (flux50 programme), 2019-21

• SOLVIT. SOLVIT3 (Online training platform), SOLVIT7-9 trainings on free movement, mutual recognition and social security) (EASME & DG GROW), 2019-21 (respectively)

• The Centre was involved in a number of further, smaller projects.

CENTRE FOR MIGRATION, DIVERSITY AND JUSTICE CENTRE FOR MIGRATION, DIVERSITY AND JUSTICE

The Centre for Migration, Diversity and Justice (C-MDJ) focuses on migration, immigrant integration, justice and home affairs as well as diversity policies (from the local level to the EU and UN). In 2021, we concentrated on the following sub-themes: EU Justice and Home Affairs, migration and border control, equality and anti-racism.

The C-MDJ hosts and coordinates the ‘Brussels Interdisciplinary Research centre on Migration and Minorities’ (BIRMM), which is a recognized VUB Interdisciplinary Centre of Expertise. Bringing together around 100 VUB researchers from 11 disciplines, BIRMM is the central point of reference for VUB research on migration and minorities-related topics.

Personnel

Profs. Ilke Adam and Florian Trauner jointly lead the centre. Kristin Henrard is a Professor for International Law specialised in human rights (with a specific focus on minorities). Together with Dr. Hannah Vermaut, BIRMM coordinator, and Dr. Serena D’Agostino, coordinating the VUB’s Programme on ‘Evaluating Democratic Governance in Europe’ (EDGE), they constitute the centre’s coordination team. Richard Lewis, who was the originator of this centre, and Prof. Alison Woodward (emeritus professor) act as advisers. Dr. Angela Tacea implements an FWO post-doctoral project in the field of EU Justice and Home Affairs. Dr. Catherine Xhardez works on an FWO project on comparative immigration federalism. Other postdoctoral researchers include Dr. Irina Van der Vet, who works on 3 EU-funded projects on counter-radicalization and EU policing (FAIRNESS, JPCoops, Mindb4Act), and Dr. Mohammad Salman, who analyses refugee integration policies in higher education. Dr. Andrew Crosby implements the Empower-Youth project, funded by Innoviris. Together with project researcher Louise Hantson, Dr. Laura Westerveen works on the EU-funded project Whole-COMM. Fatma Sevgi Temizisler and Lingyu Xu successfully defended their PhD projects in 2021, on, respectively, differentiation and politicization in EU Justice and Home Affairs and the reform of Chinese immigration policies. Gaia Romeo joined as a new PhD bursary.

The center includes 10 doctoral candidates: Fọláshadé M. Ajayi, Omar N. Cham, Yijia Huang, Jimmy Hendry Nzally, Xiu Ling Ye, Gaia Romeo, Hanna Schneider, Philipp Stutz, Sibel Top and Zoran Nechev.

Publications

In 2021, the researchers of the C-MDJ published 2 books, 15 peer-reviewed journal articles, 19 book chapters, 13 policy briefs, 7 research reports, and several other (such as blogposts).

Teaching

Profs. Ilke Adam and Florian Trauner jointly teach the course ‘European Immigration Policy’ for the IES's Euromaster. Prof. Adam is also the convenor of this programme’s course on 'Diversity Policies in the EU'. Prof Kristin Henrard is the Programme Director of the BA in International and European Law at Vesalius College and teaches courses such as ‘Introduction to International and European Law’, ‘Human Rights’ and 'Legal Aspects of Migration'. Dr. Angela Tacea teaches ‘Democratic theory and practice’ for the BA in Social Sciences. Ilke Adam and Hannah Vermaut also co-organised the VUB interdisciplinary course 'Reason and Engage' around the BIRMM book 'Migration, Equality and Racism. 44 Opinions'. Outside of VUB, the centre engaged in teaching and training activities a.o. with the University of Ghent, the University of Antwerp, the College of Europe and Sciences Po Paris.

Visibility and Events

Even during the Covid-19 pandemic, the center’s research themes have not lost public salience. Hosted at the C-MDJ, the BIRMM group co-organised a summer school for PhD students on ‘contemporary forms of racism and discrimination’ in September 2021. Other activities included two BIRMM Research Days in June and December 2021; an international workshop on antiracist activism in Europe; a public debate with the new EU antiracism coordinator Ms. Michaela Moua; a high-level debate on EU-Turkey migration cooperation; trainings on violent extremism for Belgian stakeholders; and the organisation of a European Consortium for Political Research ‘Joint session’.

Main projects

• Work Package Leader in the H2020 project ‘BRIDGES: Assessing the production and impact of migration narratives’

• Consortium partner in the H2020 Project ‘WHOLE-COMM’: Exploring the Integration of Post-2014 Migrants in Small and Medium-Sized Towns and Rural-Areas from a Whole-of-Community Perspective

• Work Package Leader of the EU H2020 project INDEED on De-radicalisation .

• Jean Monnet Chair ‘EXPAND: Explaining Resilience in EU Justice and Home Affairs’, EU Marie Curie Programme.

• ‘EMPOWER-YOUTH’ project on leviers and obstacles to societal and civic participation by disadvantaged youngsters in Brussels, granted by Innoviris (Anticipate program).

• ERC Runner-up Project ‘The creation of a dataset on coercive EU mobility rules’, funded by the Flemish Research Fund FWO.

CENTRE FOR SECURITY, DIPLOMACY AND STRATEGY CENTRE FOR SECURITY, DIPLOMACY AND STRATEGY

The Centre for Security, Diplomacy & Strategy (CSDS) seeks to enhance the understanding of the key contemporary security and diplomatic challenges – and their impact on Europe – while reaching out to the policy community. It builds on a critical mass of scholars with expertise in the areas of security, diplomacy and strategy, and an ample network of policy-makers and experts from Brussels and beyond. CSDS aims to establish comprehensive theoretical and policy coverage of strategic competition and its impact on Europe, whilst paying particular attention to the transatlantic relationship and the wider Indo-Pacific region. It hosts a Japan Program and a Korea Chair.

Personnel

CSDS is headed by Prof. Dr. Luis Simón and Dr. Giulia Tercovich. It includes Prof. Dr. Alexander Mattelaer, Prof. Dr. Caterina Carta, Prof. Dr. Olesya Tkacheva, Prof. Dr. Tongfi Kim, Prof. Dr. Luk van Langenhove, Dr. Carolin Liss, Distinguished Prof. Dr. Richard Higgott, Distinguished Dr. Michael Reiterer, Dr. Eva Pejsova, Dr. Ramón Pacheco Pardo, Dr. Daniel Fiott, Dr. Carolin Liss and Celine Pajon. CSDS activities are supported by two Project officers: Paula Cantero Dieguez and Natalia Martín

In 2021, CSDS included two associates, Dr. Benedetta Berti and Dr. Liviu Horovitz a senior fellow, Dr. Michito Tsuruoka, a distinguished fellow, Dr. Robert Bell and one guest professor Dr. Raluca Csernatoni Dr. Jordan Becker, Dr. Stephan Klose, and Dr. Antonio Calcara also contribute to the activities of the centre. In 2021 the centre welcomed two Visiting Fellows with the Korea Chair: Prof. Sung Kyoo Ahn and Young-In Lee.

In 2021, CSDS also included the following PhD fellows: Asma Akbar, Linde Desmaele, Maximilian Ernst, Fabio Figiaconi, Jihye Kang, Octavian Manea, Elie Perot, Laura Vansina and Maaike Verbruggen.

Events

The main flagship activity of 2021 was the CSDS Conversation series. 11 closed-door sessions organised throughout 2021 focused on pressing global and regional issues, including Sino-American competition, the future of transatlantic relationship, Europe’s role in US grand strategy, EU-China trade relationship, UK in the post Brexit world, South Korean security policy, German foreign and security policy after Merkel, strategic cooperation in the Indo-Pacific and the Russian challenge to European security.

In 2021 CSDS launched the Bridging Allies project, an expert dialogue to explore ways to strengthen practical cooperation between the ‘core’ alliances of the Euro-Atlantic and the Indo-Pacific, namely NATO, the US-Japan Alliance and the US-Australia Alliance.

Due to the pandemic, closed-door and public events took place virtually. CSDS co-organised with LSE Ideas a oneday workshop on A New Diplomacy for the Emerging Global Binary, a public conference on the regional security implications in the Asia-Pacific and a public conversation with Gunnar Wiegand, EEAS Managing Director for Asia and the Pacific.

The KF-VUB Korea Chair and the Japan Programme also organised multiple private and public panels, conferences and activities.

Teaching

CSDS members taught several courses this year. Luis Simón, Alexander Mattelaer, Raluca Csernatoni and Elie Perot taught courses on 'EU External Relations' and 'European Security', on 'Political Structures and Processes of the European Union' and on 'International Security and Strategic Studies' at the VUB.

Caterina Carta, Tongfi Kim, Olesya Tkacheva, Carolin Liss, Giulia Tercovich, Stephan Klose and Antonio Calcara contributed to the course offerings of Vesalius College (VUB). They taught courses offered in the BA programme in International Affairs, in the MA programmes in 'Global Peace, Security & Strategic Studies' and 'Diplomacy & Global Governance' and the Post-graduate certificate in Global Risk Analysis and Crisis Management.

Giulia Tercovich remotely coordinated the 2021 Model European Union (MEU) in the Republic of Korea sponsored by the EEAS.

Visibility

CSDS members made various public appearances as keynote speakers, chairs, panellists and conference participants and appeared in national and international media. The Korea Chair and the Japan Programme are the flagship projects of the CSDS that contributed to further enhance its visibility in 2021.

In 2021, CSDS launched its CSDS Policy Brief series and published over 26 briefs.

In collaboration with Asia Matters, CSDS published a series of podcast episodes to enhance the understanding of Asia's security challenges in Europe.

CSDS members also published peer-reviewed journal articles, chapters, books, as well as policy briefs and commentaries in leading journals in International Relations and Security Studies and policy-focused prestigious outlets. CSDS members also played an important role in supporting and advising policy-makers, governments and international bodies.

CENTRE FOR DIGITALISATION, DEMOCRACY AND INNOVATION CENTRE FOR DIGITALISATION, DEMOCRACY AND INNOVATION

The Centre for Digitalisation, Democracy and Innovation (CD2I) conducts cutting-edge academic and policyrelevant research on the ongoing digital transformation of society. We critically examine the evolution of new (digital) modes of governance from an interdisciplinary perspective, specifically multistakeholder and democratic processes that involve private, public, and civil society actors, whilst paying attention to issues of power and participation.

Personnel

Prof. Trisha Meyer leads the research centre. Prof. Munira Aminova, Dr. Ferran Davesa, Prof. Marie Lamensch, Prof. Jonas Lefevere, Prof. Maja Micevska, Prof. Jamal Shahin, Prof. Luc Soete and Prof. Georgios Terzis contribute as senior/postdoctoral researchers, while Silviu Piros was our inhouse expert on research in European and global higher education. The centre includes five doctoral candidates: Orsolya Gulyás, Isaïa Jennart (joint VUB-University of Antwerp), Diana Potjomkina (joint VUB-Ghent University), Nadia Tjahja and Nathalie Van Raemdonck.

In summer 2021, Ferran and Silviu started new chapters of their careers in Spain and the Netherlands, while we welcomed Dr. Tom Willaert and Samuel Cipers as postdoctoral and project researchers on online disinformation.

Toon Van Overbeke (London School of Economics) braved a visiting research fellowship with the centre during the pandemic and CD2I now counts senior associate researchers: Dr. Mihalis Kritikos (European Parliament), Dr. Clément Perarnaud (CEPS), Dr. Julia Pohle (WZB Berlin Social Science Centre), Prof. Gianluca Sgueo (Italian Ministry of Technological Innovation and Digital Transition) and Dr. Sevgi Temizisler (VUB).

Events

Highlights for our centre were the public PhD defences of Inan Izci on Metropolitan governance in the digital age: the EU's influence on local governing of Istanbul in March 2021 and of Sevgi Temizisler on Politicization of EU migration policies and its effect on European integration in June 2021. CD2I organised a monthly Digital Services Act in perspective seminar series on online content moderation and regulation of internet platforms, in collaboration with the Fundamental Rights and the Digital Transformation Chair at VUB-LSTS and the Brussels Privacy Hub, from October 2020 through June 2021. Next, the centre partnered with the AWS Institute to offer an executive training on digital transformation of the European Union in September and October 2021 and published a popularizing video series afterwards. As part of the Digital Sovereignty Chair in CD2I, and in collaboration with the Digital Governance cluster at UNUCRIS, virtual roundtables to define and discuss digital sovereignty among academia, civil society and policy makers took place.

Finally, in collaboration with the Communication and Public Relations department at Vesalius College, and as part of the EDMO BELUX project, we also organised several lectures on political communication, future of Europe and online disinformation.

Teaching

CD2I provides substantial contributions to the educational programmes in managing and teaching functions: Marie Lamensch teaches a course in the LLM in International and European Law. Trisha Meyer coordinates the Jean Monnet Summer and Winter Schools on EU Policy-Making. Jamal Shahin is Programme Director of the Advanced MSc in European Integration and also teaches two courses in the programme. Until September, Silviu Piros was Head of Programme for the Post-Graduate Certificate in EU Policy-Making.

Other centre members also contributed to the Jean Monnet Summer School, and hold teaching positions in the VUB Law Faculty, Communication Studies Department, VECO Communication and Public Relations Programme and at other universities (Ghent University, KU Leuven, UC Louvain, Cyprus International Institute of Management, IBFD’s International Tax Academy, University of Amsterdam).

Visibility

In 2021 members of the CD2I were invited to provide commentary for the media, expert lectures, speak at and moderate policy panels, advise policy makers and act as evaluators for HorizonEurope proposals.

To provide examples, Nathalie Van Raemdonck has on numerous occasions shared her expertise on disinformation on online platforms on Flemish media. One such occasion is her appearance in the podcast series titled ‘Conspiracy against the truth’ launched by De Standaard and the Hannah Arendt Institute. Mihalis Kritikos is principal digital adviser to MEP Eva Kaili, Chair of the Future of Science and Technology Panel in the European Parliament (STOA) and the Centre for Artificial Intelligence (C4AI) and Gianluca Sgueo is part of the Italian Ministry of Technological Innovation and Digital Transition.

Centre members also published in high-quality journals (e.g. Cambridge Review of International Affairs, Journal of European Public Policy, Internet Policy Review), delivered papers at international conferences, edited special issues (Telecommunications Policy), sat on conference programme committees (GIG-ARTS, GIGANET) and chaired conference standing groups (ECPR Standing Group on Political Communication). Finally, they were visible on social media and through the publication of blogposts and policy briefs (e.g. UNU-CRIS and EU Disinfolab).

TEACHING PORTFOLIO

EDUCATION - STRATEGIC GOALS

The strategic plan 2021-2025 described a number of education objectives:

• Maximising synergies between the educational offers of the VUB (ES and RC faculties), Vesalius College, and the IES with regard to European studies;

The creation of the BSoG, which was launched on 9 February 2021, was a significant step in allowing to maximise the synergies between the educational offering of IES and Vesalius College. Various elements of both institutions’ programmes have been aligned, ensuring the highest educational quality. Since then, both faculty and support staff across IES and Vesalius work as one integrated team. Cooperation has also continued with the faculties at the VUB (in particular ES and RC) with the aim to ensuring complementarity and coherence across all educational offerings.

• Developing specialised (advanced) Master’s programmes based on the Institute’s research competences to supplement or modernise/replace the current portfolio;

The IES is currently preparing the development of these specialised Master’s programmes (one for each of its four research centres).

• Maintaining and modernising the LLM International and European Law programme to ensure that it is attractive and competitive;

After a number of measures in recent years to modernise the programme (adding a Data Law option and a Moot Court special course), the IES is currently preparing a more thorough review of the programme’s curriculum.

• Developing a flexible learning system that enables face-to-face or online teaching, as necessary. Thorough digitisation of the existing educational package, underpinned by a high quality educational methodology and the widest possible interactivity, will form the basis for this;

The Office for Teaching and Innovation (OTLI) plays a pivotal role in the Institute’s successful efforts to develop a hybrid learning system that enables the flexibility that today’s students need. In 2021, OTLI, in collaboration with our teaching staff, was able to further develop our hybrid and online courses. Our online learning environment Canvas was rebranded and updated. The physical classroom infrastructure at the IES saw an expansion of setups for online teaching. Over the course of 2021, our lecture streaming infrastructure downtime was limited to less than 1% of classes.

LLM INTERNATIONAL AND EUROPEAN LAW (PILC) EDUCATION STRATEGIC GOALS

• Delivering the number of post-initial degrees each year, as set out in the management contract;

In 2020-2021, 12 students graduated from our LLM programme and 38 from our EuroMaster programme (total: 50). With 11 enrolled students in our LLM programme and 63 in EuroMaster in the academic year 2021-22, the IES is set to continue to reach the target of delivering 50 diplomas per year on average.

• Offering Executive Master programmes in IES research fields, individually or in collaboration with other high-quality partners;

At the same time, the Institute has been active into expanding its executive programme offering. Currently, the last steps are being taken to offer a new Post Graduate Certificate in collaboration with an international expert partner.

• Ensuring the financial viability of the programmes, with a ‘self-supporting’ principle;

In recent years, the IES has significantly restructured the financial sustainability of its programmes. As of the academic year 2021-22 onwards, they operate according to the ‘self-supporting’ principle: each programme has a number of costs allocated to it (overhead, teaching staff, marketing, etc.) as well as an income from tuition fees. The aim is that as of now, every programme reaches at least a break-even.

• Keeping the courses attractive and up-to-date (through programme reviews, benchmarking with stakeholders, quality control, etc.);

The IES has a strong reputation in keeping programme content in line with the latest developments in the programmes’ focus areas. Its prominent position as a cutting-edge research institute and the many cross-links between its research and educational activities, allow the IES to ensure that programmes are continuously revised, and have a direct link to the work field.

Aims, objectives and developments

The LL.M. in International and European Law of the IES (“PILC”) has over the past 49 years educated more than 1300 law graduates from 110 countries. The programme is tailored for demanding global careers in law, as the impressive positions and profiles of the PILC alumni demonstrate. PILC is developed continuously and systematically on this legacy. The Programme underwent a peer review in February 2021, and received a very positive endorsement from the committee. The demand for a post-graduate education in law that is specialised yet broad, covering key areas and essential transitions in European and international law, remains strong.

The shifts in the global political economy and the challenges posed to a rules-based multilateral world order are fundamental. The EU is implementing an ambitious strategic approach in response to these challenges under the banner of the European Green Deal. PILC thus focuses in areas such as sustainability (e.g. the climate change, the circular economy, Sustainable Trade Agreements and fight against racism) and digitalisation (e.g. Artificial Intelligence, data transfers, and Digital Services (“GAFA”) Tax). The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and the WTO reform highlight areas of emphasis on international law.

The global context remained however also tainted by the less welcome development of COVID. With the leading expertise that the BSoG has in online training, PILC was able to offer a seamless learning experience and frequent virtual get-togethers throughout year. The students thus were able to flexibly – and safely – enjoy their international PILC experience despite the very difficult circumstances. Those who in the end could not join in person completed the Programme fully online. With the enhanced online experience, PILC looks confidently into the future, although the uncertainties of COVID, created by the health concerns and widely diverging travel requirements, obviously will continue to affect PILC as a Programme to which students travel from abroad.

Programme

PILC offers a truly international group of lawyers a carefully designed LLM programme that combines essential areas of European and international law. The curriculum consists of a broad array of compulsory courses, four specialisation options (Business Law, Data Law, Public Law and in 2020-2021 a Moot Court) of which the students choose one, and a Master’s thesis.

LLM INTERNATIONAL AND EUROPEAN LAW (PILC)

Staff and teaching

Excellence in teaching is another core part of the Programme’s vision. The PILC staff is renowned for its dedication, and offers student-centric education of the highest quality in an environment characterized by active interaction, critical thinking and a convivial atmosphere. Prof Kalimo’s term as the PILC Director of the programme came to an end during the year. “Working with PILC students and colleagues are absolute top-notch experiences, year after year”, he stated while rotating the task to Prof. Liliana Lizarazo, who has joined the BSoG as an ERC-grant holder. Marleen Van Impe’s role as the “Mother Goose,” i.e. the Programme Secretary, also came to an end after almost two decades. Prof. Joris continued as the co-director, while PILC alumnus Selçukan Ünekbas provided precious academic assistance for the Programme management, in particular in student selections.

Students

PILC students remained valiant in adjusting to the demanding COVID-circumstances in 2020-21. As much of the teaching was offered in class as the Belgian COVID-rules allowed for, and that could be safely arranged. Still, parts of the year were marked by periods of fully online experiences. Besides the students’ own fora and social media connections, a specific “PILC Community” was set up and convened weekly, with the students meeting with the Programme Director and the Secretary to offer one another updates on the situation, and simply to bond. The traditional visit to the CJEU, hosted by President Lenaerts, and the career preparation meetings with PILC alumni were also organised online. PILC students of the year before (2019-2020), whose visit had regrettably been cancelled due to the first COVID wave, joined virtually in the CJEU as well.

LLM INTERNATIONAL AND EUROPEAN LAW (PILC)

The new Moot Court course was attended by two PILC students, selected on the basis of an internal competition. The Moot Court Team, a joint effort by PILC and the VUB’s Law faculty, performed brilliantly. It finished in top 10% of the Teams, coming just short of making it to the final round in the tough Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court competition.

In academic year 2020-2021, twelve students graduated from the programme, five of them with the grade greatest distinction. Three graduates obtained the grade Summa Cum Laude from their theses, which entitled them to the Outstanding Master Thesis Award. A cheerful speech by the top graduate was a part of the memorable graduation ceremony in July 2021, which was arranged as a real-time hybrid event. Each graduate was promoted individually, whether in Brussels or online. Excellent effort by the BSoG Events and Online teams! In distance, the IES alumni, professors and management also offered their greetings.

LLM INTERNATIONAL AND EUROPEAN LAW (PILC)

As for the academic year 2021-22, the COVID pandemic and the ensuing travel restrictions further tightened their grip. In the end, 11 students were able to come to Brussels. With the fluctuating COVID situation over autumn 2021, different scenarios that PILC had prepared for came to play from “hybrid” and fully online teaching. The diversity of the current 2021-2022 remains rich, however, with students from ten countries. Five come from the EU, the rest from the UK, South America, Africa and Asia.

LLM students per specialisation option enrolled in 2021-2022

Geographical spread of LLM students enrolled in 2021-2022

LLM INTERNATIONAL AND EUROPEAN LAW (PILC)

COMPULSORY COURSES

COURSE LECTURER

EU Institutional Framework and Judicial Protection Prof. Dirk Arts, Prof. Youri Devuyst

International and Comparative Law Prof. Ricardo Gosalbo Bono, Prof.Stefaan Smis

Globalisation, International Law & Sustainable Development Prof. Servaas van Thiel

International and European Protection of Human Rights Prof. Serge Gutwirth

EU Economic Law Prof. Tony Joris

International Economic Law and Organisations Prof. Frank Hoffmeister

International and EU Competition Law Prof. Ben Smulders

EU External Relations Prof. Karel De Gucht

SPECIALISATIONS

Public Law Option Business Law Option Data Law Option

COURSE LECTURER COURSE LECTURER COURSE LECTURER

Case Study on Public International/EU Law

Prof. Harri Kalimo

EU Environmental Law in an International Context Prof. Harri Kalimo

International and European Criminal Law Prof. Paul de Hert

Case Study on European Competition Law Prof. Tony Joris

International and European Data Protection Law Prof. Hielke Hijmans

European and International Private Law Prof. Arnaud Nuyts Data Policies in the European Union Prof. Gloria Gonzalez Fuster

International and European Taxation Prof. Marie Lamensch

Case Study on Global Privacy and Data Protection Prof. Joris Van Hoboken

A voluntary course on “Legal research” that supports the thesis writing process. Prof. Harri Kalimo & Prof. Carlos Soria

MASTER THESIS

MSC EUROPEAN INTEGRATION (EUROMASTER) Programme

Our EuroMaster programme has been tailored to give international postgraduate students and professionals the opportunity to combine a demanding and rewarding study programme on European Integration with their professional activities. Lectures are organised in the evenings and the programme can be completed over either one or two years.

The programme comprises 60 ECTS and starts with a common core of courses on the essential features of European Integration and research skill development. After this, students can choose two options out of four specialisation streams, in Economics, Environment, Migration, and Security. The programme ends with a Research Methods Lab, worth 3 ECTS, and a 15,000-word thesis worth 15 ECTS, allowing the students to engage in an exciting intellectual journey on the topic of their choice, with a supervisor from the VUB. In 2020-2021, students wrote theses about a wide range of topics on a number of aspects of contemporary European policymaking.

Euromaster in times of COVID-19

As with all programmes at our mother university, the VUB, the dramatic impact of the Coronavirus in 2020 continued through to 2021. 2021 was a tough year for students and staff alike, with increased fatigue due to the demands being placed on individuals undergoing social isolation and uncertainty as to the future sanitary situation. Our student body was hit very hard by the continuing restrictive measures particularly concerning social interaction. The first half of 2021 saw many challenges for students and staff alike. We were amazed at the resilience, perseverance, and resolve that most of our students and colleagues showed during that very uncertain period.

Classes were moved onsite at the beginning of the academic year 2021-2022 and then had to move back online. Our students and teaching staff then settled into a ‘hybrid’ situation, where classes were held both simultaneously onsite and online. Our students were able to continue to benefit from an excellent learning environment, facilitated by flexible teachers and a solid learning platform. Despite the challenges and the uncertainty, the courses ran smoothly, with webinars and online simulations replacing traditional teaching formats. Our students continued to stay in touch with each other via social networks. The platform we had designed specifically for 'community development' was used to keep the students abreast of new developments. Meeting for ad hoc and one-on-one sessions in our digital spaces became the norm, as professors and students alike adapted to the new working environment.

We continuously fine-tuned our online education infrastructure and services, so that students were able to flexibly – and safely – get the most out of their ‘EuroMaster’ experience. The quality of the theses remained solid despite the challenges faced by many of our students. Three EuroMaster students were awarded a Thesis Prize for high quality theses submitted in the first examination session, and other the entire year, nine students graduated with summa cum laude (greatest distinction). Our graduation ceremony in the summer of 2021, for the students who had finished their studies earlier on that year also brought together the graduates from the first and session session exams (due to uncertainty, we had postponed the first session’s graduation ceremony). This then also allowed for students to graduate either onsite or online, in a hybrid ceremony which physically brought together a number of students who had not even met during the previous academic year.

MSC EUROPEAN INTEGRATION (EUROMASTER)

MSC EUROPEAN INTEGRATION (EUROMASTER)

As the academic year 2021-2022 continued under the same uncertainty that launched the previous academic year, teaching started in an onsite context. However, our previous experience with online teaching meant that we were able to cater onsite for students who had been unable to move to Belgium, due to travel restrictions. This allowed us to continue our teaching and learning innovation, as we adapted our teaching programmes.

In both the hybrid and purely online situations that we saw in 2021, our students and teachers were able to make really positive and constructive steps towards making the challenging learning environment a creative and fruitful one. Once again, despite the covid-fatigue that faced us all, our teaching staff, and our student body were able to tackle the learning environment with enthusiasm and optimism.

Despite the repercussions of Brexit for the wider EU, the EuroMaster programme continues to participate in a double degree partnership with the University of Warwick, which allows students to combine the Warwick Master programme in Politics with our EuroMaster programme. Students who follow the double degree track only need to submit one thesis for both degrees. Similarly, we saw increased cooperation with the Faculty of Social Sciences and Solvay Business School at the VUB, where an increasing number of students chose to take the EuroMaster programme after having studied on the MA in European and International Governance.

Numbers

A total of 38 students graduated in 2021. The EuroMaster Programme has always boasted a versatile, international selection of students from all around the world, and taken into account a balanced

representation of geographic regions, including, when possible, support for students from developing countries.

In September 2021, 38 new students started the programme, and 25 students re-enrolled from previous academic years to continue their part-time studies. We thus had a total number of 63 students enrolled in the programme in 2021.

As perhaps reflecting the shift in broader EU policymaking, with the emphasis at the EU level on the flagship policy for the European Green Deal, the most popular combination of choice for specialisation in our EuroMaster programme in 20212022 was Environment and Security. Last year’s most popular specialisation, Security and Migration, was also a popular choice amongst our new students.

The graphic below highlights the breakdown of the combination of our different specialisations for the 2021-2022 academic year.

MSC EUROPEAN INTEGRATION (EUROMASTER)

COMPULSORY COURSES

COURSE LECTURER

Economics of the European Union Prof. Caroline Buts

Policymaking and Interest Representation in the EU Prof. Jamal Shahin

History and Law of the European Union Prof. Youri Devuyst

Research Methods Lab Prof. Jamal Shahin

SPECIALISATION OPTIONS

European Economy Migration and Europe

COURSE LECTURER COURSE LECTURER

European Monetary and Fiscal Policy

Prof. Leo Van Hove, Prof. Loïc Debels Diversity Policies in the EU Prof. Ilke Adam

EU Internal Market & Competition Policy

Prof. Harri Kalimo

European Immigration Policy

European External Relations and Security Policy

Prof. Ilke Adam, Prof. Florian Trauner

European Environmental Governance

COURSE LECTURER COURSE LECTURER

European Security and Counter terrorism

Prof. Raluca Csernatoni

The Greening of the European Economy Prof. Harri Kalimo

European External Relations Prof. Luis Simon Navarro

MASTER THESIS

European Climate and Energy Governance Prof. Sebastian Oberthür

POSTGRADUATE CERTIFICATE IN EU POLICY-MAKING POSTGRADUATE CERTIFICATE IN EU POLICY-MAKING

Objectives and pedagogy

The Postgraduate Certificate (PGC) in EU policymaking, launched in 2013, aims to provide students and professionals with a sound knowledge of the functioning of the main EU institutions, the history and theories of European integration, the principles of EU decision-making and law, and the main aspects of selected EU policies.

This academic programme is centred on active learning through the integration of asynchronous aspects of online learning with interactive assignments, collaborative problem-based learning, and peer feedback.

Curriculum

The PGC on EU policy-making combines a number of compulsory and optional online courses, together with the Jean Monnet Summer School or Winter School on EU policy-making (see the dedicated section for further details).

The programme offers more specifically the following three compulsory courses, as well as the following four optional courses (from which students must choose two):

Compulsory courses:

• European Union Institutions (First Term, September-December, 4 ECTS)

• History and Theories of European Integration

(First Term, September – December, 4 ECTS)

• European Union Decision-making and Law

(Second Term, February – April, 4 ECTS)

Elective courses:

• European Public Policy Analysis

(Second Term, February – April, 4 ECTS)

• European Union Foreign Affairs (Second Term, February – April, 4 ECTS)

• EU Justice and Home Affairs

(Second Term, February - April, 4 ECTS)

• Terrorism and Counter-terrorism in Europe (Second Term, February - April, 4 ECTS)

Students have the possibility to complete their curriculum over the course of one year (full-time) or two years (part-time).

Students

A total of 16 new students enrolled in the programme at the start of academic year 2021-2022. Among them, 13 enrolled as full-time students and 3 as part-time. In addition, 10 second year part-time students re-enrolled from the 2020-21 academic year.

The students of the PGC on EU policy-making come from a wide range of backgrounds. In 2021, the programme thus brought together a total of 13 nationalities, spread across five continents: Africa (Cameroon), Americas (United States), Asia (Armenia, Georgia), Europe (Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Netherlands, Spain) and Oceania (Australia).

A total of 21 students graduated from the programme in August 2021.

Staff

In terms of human resources, the programme director was Silviu Piros during the academic year 2020-2021, managing the academic aspects of the programme as well as its curriculum development and teaching (together with associate researchers and invited experts).

IIn October 2021, Elie Perot was appointed as the new programme director of the PGC on EU policy-making. Student registration officer Marion Tomsett handles the administration of the programme.

SUMMER SCHOOL ON EU POLICY-MAKING

The Inter-University Summer School on EU Policy-Making is an intensive short study programme, developed and delivered by the Brussels School of Governance, the Vienna School of International Studies and the University of Vienna. Since 2013, this course is a compulsory component of the Post-Graduate Certificate for EU Policy-Making. It is also an Erasmus+ Programme Jean Monnet Module.

The programme runs over two weeks, the first one taking place in Brussels at the Brussels School of Governance and the second one in Vienna at the Vienna School of International Studies. Like last year, this year was organised online due to social distancing restrictions. This two-week intensive programme was held from 5-16 July 2021. In 2021, the thematic focus of the Summer School was civil rights.

Thirty-four international students completed the 2021 edition of the summer school. The participants came mainly from Europe, with a few courageous students participating from the United States despite the time zone difference.

The group of participants includes both students and professionals, who wish to deepen their knowledge and understanding of the EU. The summer school has also been designed with interdisciplinarity in mind. The focus on European Union policy-making means that this summer school is mainly situated in political science, international relations and law. This is also reflected in the participants' disciplines.

SUMMER SCHOOL ON EU POLICY-MAKING

However, because it offers a crash course in EU policymaking, it is also very attractive for students outside these disciplines who want to gain knowledge about the European Union. Students in economics as well as humanities also participated in large numbers in the 2021 summer school.

The summer school curriculum consists of lectures, workshops, a simulation game, exclusive insights with EU staff and optional social interaction moments.

During the summer school, participants first receive a general introduction to EU institutions, policy-making processes and select key policy areas, before delving into the thematic focus of the programme. The start of weeks 1 and 2 is lecture-intensive in order to impart a lot of knowledge in a short period. Students are expected to read a brief introductory text before each lecture. We also offer more in-depth texts on the student platform, should students wish to delve further into a particular theme.

We then process the knowledge gained from the lecture series in workshops and the simulation game. In the simulation game this year, the students, as representatives of the European Commission, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union, negotiated several articles of the (controversial) amended proposal for a regulation on the European Union Agency for Asylum and repealing Regulation (EU) No 439/2010. We offer the structure for the negotiations, but it is important for the learning process of the participants to apply their knowledge and the rules of policy-making themselves.

The European Commission's support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

They always do this with great enthusiasm, making it a very enriching experience for students.

Finally, every day there are (optional) social interaction moments. During the morning break, students are invited to participate in a challenge of the day. For this they can earn a 'badge'. If they complete more than five challenges, we send them a surprise (Belgian chocolate or book about the EU!) after the summer school. We played music during the breaks and did five minutes of office yoga at the end of the lunch break. There were also informal interaction moments twice a week at the end of the day (peer exchange and end-of-week drinks).

The Summer School on EU Policy-Making is made possible with the support of the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union, the Flemish Ministry of Education and Training and the Flemish Higher Education Council (VLUHR). With the subsidy from the Erasmus + Programme (Jean Monnet Module) we can always reserve one place for a student in financial need. With the subsidy from VLUHR, we were able to make two extra places available in 2021.

WINTER SCHOOL ON EU POLICY-MAKING

From 1-12 February 2021, the Brussels School of Governance, in collaboration with the Vienna School for International Studies, organised its first Winter School on EU Policy-Making. The Winter School is the virtual counterpart of our longstanding Summer School on EU Policy-Making.

WINTER SCHOOL ON EU POLICY-MAKING

A special feature of the Winter School during the first week was the simulation exercise. The programme’s students had the opportunity to team up with their peers from the EUTOPIA university network. EUTOPIA is an alliance of six European universities, one of which is VUB, chosen by the European Commission in 2019 as one of the seventeen pilot projects for developing a ‘European university’. The students took on alter-ego roles as European commissioners, national ministers, members of the European Parliament, tech executives and media and negotiated three articles of the proposed EU Digital

Services Act for two days. In the second week, winter school participants had the opportunity to interact with practitioners in the EU institutions.

The Winter School and simulation exercise are prime examples of our School’s aim to provide in-depth theoretical knowledge combined with practice-embedded and experiential learning, even amidst a global health crisis. Both the Winter School and EUTOPIA project are made possible with the support of the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union.

Nineteen participants joined the two-week intensive online course to learn more about EU policy-making, governance and law, and its relation to other international organisations. The Winter School had a special focus on digital rights, touching on policy discussions related to freedom of expression, data protection, disinformation resilience and cyber-diplomacy.

The European Commission's support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

OFFICE FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING INNOVATION

OTLI’s mission in a nutshell

The OTLI facilitates the further development and implementation of the Brussels School of Governance’s educational strategy by serving as a knowledge hub - focusing on pedagogical innovation and the use of technology to enhance learning - for management, teaching staff and researchers in the School. Our expertise and experience ranges from pedagogical (policy) advice, to professional development, quality assurance, Canvas support, classroom infrastructure and educational projects.

Personnel

The OTLI is directly supervised by the Vice Dean for Education and in 2021 the team consisted of Chris Janssens (Teaching & Learning Innovation Officer), Jelle De Smet (Teaching & Learning Innovation Officer) and René Hermens (Senior Expert Teaching & Learning Innovation).

Activities and accomplishments

Continuing the team’s mission set out in 2020, with the pandemic still impacting on our day-to-day activities, we focused on consolidating know-how with regards to online teaching and learning. At the same time, we managed to provide high quality services and ensured continuity for both teaching activities and student learning. This way, we followed through on the promise we made as a School; no matter what type of learning experience students will have with us, face-to-face, blended or fully online, it will always be personal, flexible, interactive and high-quality!

After a phase of ‘emergency remote teaching’, the team adopted a more future-oriented perspective. We have advised the Education Council on some of the essential elements that need to be considered to build sustainable educational programmes and courses after the COVID-19 pandemic subsides. This led to an initial analysis of the potential risks, benefits, costs and opportunities and a concrete action plan for stakeholders.

Together with our teaching staff, we were able to further develop the School’s hybrid and online courses, building on the foundations of the courses implemented during the early stages of the pandemic. All BSoG courses are now available to students in the new course format.

A student community version 2.0 was presented to the Education Council as we feel that both online and offline communities will facilitate student interaction. We strive for an all-inclusive community, where every student at our School connects to others in a way that feels secure and that offers a sense of belonging.

Building on the foundations of the work done by the team in 2020, we continued providing training and (onsite) support for hybrid and online teaching, for both current and new faculty. In the second half of 2021, we slowly shifted our focus to on-demand support and training.

The team regularly monitors quality of services provided and received an average rating of 4.6 out of 5 in 2021. The team also presented their services to the accreditation committee for the VeCo MA programme and left the panel of experts impressed by the scope and impact of their work.

OFFICE FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING INNOVATION

The online learning environment Canvas was rebranded, and we have removed some old tools and frameworks to ensure that the learning environment stays user-friendly and intuitive to use. The physical classroom infrastructure at the BSoG saw an expansion of arrangements for online teaching. Over the course of 2021, our lecture streaming infrastructure downtime was limited to less than 1% of classes.

With regards to projects, we have contributed to the design, development and launch of the School’s first ever MOOC within the GOVTRAN project, with over 500 participants from all around the world. The team also prepared, directed and edited a video series for Amazon Web Services on ‘Digital Transformation in the EU’, this in cooperation with the CD2I cluster. In addition, we have started working on the development of a new PGC in Public Procurement and an interdisciplinary course on Sustainability and Trade: A European Narrative (SUSTAEN). We have also successfully supported the further development of the PGC course ‘EU Justice and Home Affairs’.

Focus and future

In 2022, we will focus on supporting the further implementation of the educational concept (STEP) in the different programmes of the School, the development of a common quality assurance framework and new professional development initiatives focused on more advanced teaching and learning strategies. Together with our teaching staff, this will allow us to build an ever better learning journey for students at the Brussels School of Governance.

The team at the OTLI has focused their efforts on the following domains in 2021:

COMPLETED PhD PROJECTS

The PhD defence started with a welcome note by the Chair, Prof. Alexander Mattelaer, Vice-Dean for Research at the Brussels School of Governance (BSoG).

2 March 2021 Zana

On 2 March 2021, Inan Izci successfully defended his PhD thesis on “Metropolitan Governance in Digital Age: The EU's Influence on Local Governing of Istanbul.” The PhD defence started with a welcome by the Chair, Prof. Trisha Meyer, Director of the Research Centre for Digitalisation, Democracy and Innovation at the Brussels School of Governance. Members of the PhD jury were Prof. Delfina Soares from the United Nations University Operating Unit on Policy-Driven Electronic Governance (UNU-EGOV), Prof. Em. Matthias Finger from the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Prof. Philippe De Lombaerde from the United Nations University on Comparative Regional Integration Studies (UNU-CRIS) and Prof. Leo Van Audenhove from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (SCOM/SMIT). The PhD thesis was supervised by Prof. Jamal Shahin, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (supervisor) & Prof. Ayhan Kaya, Istanbul Bilgi University (co-supervisor). Due to social distancing measures, the PhD defence took place online.

Zana’s supervisor was Prof. Luk Van Langenhove, and the jury consisted of the following members: Prof. Caterina Carta (BSoG), Prof. Philippe De Lombaerde (UNU-CRIS), Dr Hemin N. Jameel (University of Soran), Prof. Fredrik Söderbaum (University of Gothenburg) and Prof. Olesya Tkacheva (BSoG).

Due to circumstances, the PhD defence took place online.

Lingyu Xu

23 April 2021

On 23 April 2021, Zana Abdallah Kurda successfully defended his PhD thesis on the European Union and the Kurds: an in-depth analysis of the EU’s actorness in the transnational Kurdish issue.

21 June 2021

On 21 June 2021, Sevgi Temizisler successfully defended her PhD thesis on politicization of EU migration policies and its effect on European integration. The PhD defence started with a welcome note by the Chair, Prof. Ilke Adam (Brussels School of Governance).

Sevgi’s supervisor were Prof. Trisha Meyer and Prof. Jamal Shahin. Sevgi’s PhD presentation was followed by questions from the jury which consisted of the following members: Prof.Pieter de Wilde (Norwegian University of Science and Technology), Prof. Katjana Gattermann (University of Amsterdam), Prof Jonas Lefevere (Brussels School of Governance), VUB and Prof. Florian Trauner (Brussels School of Governance, VUB). Due to current circumstances, the PhD defence took place online.

On 28 June 2021, Lingyu Xu successfully defended her PhD thesis entitled “Which factors have driven China's development of a more comprehensive policy approach”. The PhD defence started with a welcome note by Prof. Trisha Meyer who acted as a Chair. After Lingyu’s presentation of her PhD, the jury proceeded with their questions. Members of the jury were Prof. Eric Florence (Université de Liège), Prof. Stefanie Weil (Antwerp Management School & University of Antwerp), and Prof. Kristin Henrard (Brussels School of Governance), while Lingyu’s co-supervisors were Professors Florian Trauner and Ilke Adam. The PhD defence was concluded by a speech from Lingyu in which she thanked her supervisors, colleagues and her family.

28 June 2020 Laura

On 1 July 2021, Laura Iozzelli successfully defended her PhD thesis on the topic entitled “Regulating Climate Change Transnationally: Assessing and Explaining Transparency and Participation in Climate Governance Initiatives”. The PhD defence started with a welcome note by Prof. Jamal Shahin (Brussels School of Governance) and with introduction by Prof. Benjamin Denis (Université Saint-Louis, Bruxelles).

Laura’s promoters were Prof. Sebastian Oberthür

(Brussels School of Governance) and Prof. Amandine Orsini (Université Saint-Louis, Bruxelles). Other Phd jury members were Prof. Philipp Pattberg (Vrije Universiteit Brussel), Prof. Katja Biedenkopf (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven), and Prof. Claire Dupont (Universiteit Gent).

8 October 2021

On 8 October 2021, Linde Desmaele successfully defended her PhD thesis entitled: “Not Whether but How Europe Matters: A Neoclassical Realist Analysis of the Evolution of the Role of Europe in US Grand Strategy (2001-2020)”. The PhD defence started with a welcome note by the Chair, Prof. Florian Trauner (Brussels School of Governance). After her presentation, Linde answered questions from the jury which consisted of Prof. Jennifer Sterling-Folker (University of Connecticut), Prof. Barry Posen (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), Prof. Ramon Pacheco Pardo (Brussels School of Governance, VUB), Prof. Alexander Mattelaer (Brussels School of Governance, VUB), and Prof. Olesya Tkacheva (Brussels School of Governance, VUB). After that, Linde’s PhD Promotor Prof. Luis Simon (Brussels School of Governance, VUB) gave a speech reflecting on their excellent collaboration over the years and on Linde's academic versatility. Finally, the PhD defence was concluded by Linde’s speech in which she thanked her supervisors, members of the jury, family and friends, for their support.

PUBLICATIONS

2021 Publications at a glance

• Books: 5

• Book chapters: 26

• Journal articles: 58

• Unpublished papers: 8

• Policy reports: 27

• Other contributions: 4

EU Security Policy After COVID: Walking the Talk or Losing Credibility

The EU’s Strategic Compass for Security and Defence: What Type of Ambition is the Needle Pointing to?

POLICY BRIEFS

The Biden Administration’s North Korea Policy Review: Old Wine in New Wineskins?

The Security Challenge of Food (In)security

The Benefits of the US–South Korea Alliance Beyond Deterring North Korea

POLICY BRIEFS

CSDS POLICY BRIEF • 12/2021 • SPECIAL EDITION By Franz Fischler

for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy

CSDS POLICY BRIEF • 13/2021 By Tongfi Kim Centre for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy, KFVUB Korea Chair

The EU and the US in search of Common Ground: Extending the Transatlantic to an Indo-Pacific Partnership?

Taking stock of EU climate governance: key challenges

The other Frontex debate: how border geopolitics will define the future of Schengen

EU-Japan Relations: Moving Forward

and the EU’s Role in the World

An arms control deal with North Korea? The good, the bad, the realistic

•

•

The Geopolitics of Multilateralism: What Role for the EU in the IndoPacific?

A Region of Flashpoints? Security in the Indo-Pacific

CSDS POLICY BRIEF • 14/2021 • SPECIAL EDITION By Luis Simon

CSDS POLICY BRIEF • 15/2021 • SPECIAL EDITION

for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy

A Gap in Governance? Politics and Society in the Indo-Pacific

Geo-economic megatrends in the Indo-Pacific: Integration or (partial) decoupling?

Knowledge is Power? Technology and Innovation in the Indo-Pacific

Beyond Unhelpful Metaphors: The Influence of Think Tanks on U.S. Foreign and National Security Policy

NATO Nuclear-Sharing: Options for the New German Coalition

CSDS POLICY BRIEF • 16/2021 • SPECIAL EDITION

CSDS POLICY BRIEF • 17/2021 • SPECIAL EDITION

CSDS POLICY BRIEF •

CSDS POLICY BRIEF •

By Stephen J. Del Rosso

CSDS POLICY BRIEF •

POLICY BRIEFS

A Boat with a Vengeance: Could France Sell NuclearPowered Submarines to South Korea?

Minilateralism: an opportunity for the EU’s engagement in the IndoPacific

The Need for Cooperative Security In Europe

With new middle power comes great responsibility for South Korea

Measures to reduce the environmental impacts of public procurement

South Korea’s Foreign Policy after the March 2022 Election: Between Washington, Beijing, Tokyo, and Pyongyang

Australian Strategic Approaches to the Indo-

CSDS POLICY BRIEF •

By Mason Richey Centre for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy

KF-VUB Korea Chair reports

• Exploring Trade Cooperation Between the Pacific Alliance and South Korea, February 2021

CSDS

CSDS POLICY BRIEF • 24/2021 By Ramon Pacheco Pardo

C3E

Centre for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy, KFVUB Korea Chair

• The EU's Indo-Pacific Strategy: Prospects for Cooperation with South Korea, September 2021

• South Korea-EU Cooperation in Global Governance, December 2021

CSDS POLICY BRIEF • 25/2021 By Linde Desmaele and Maximilian Ernst

CSDS

•

IES IN THE MEDIA

TITLE

IES IN THE MEDIA IN 2021

SOURCE PUBLISHED

Killer Robots: Why international agreements are needed (in Dutch) Rathenau Instituut 04/01/2021

Ep.124 Iran seizes S. Korean vessel, how should S. Korea respond? Arirang TV 06/01/2021

South Korea in dilemma over joint military drill The Korea Times  09/01/2021

Kim Jong-un Announces Expanding Nuclear Weapons Programme In Warning To Biden (in Spanish)

[Global Insight] South Korea in 2021: Can country make strong recovery from COVID-19 pandemic?

North Korea's Kim Yo Jong calls South Korean government a 'truly weird group' as key political meeting ends

Time to shift focus on arms control with North Korea: experts The Korea Times 14/01/2021 For Info: 2021, the highlights of the political year (in French)

‘Beleidsteksten Vlaamse overheid negeren probleem van racisme’ Apache

Kim Jong Un Offers a Rare Sneak Peek at North Korea’s Weapons Programme The Wall Street Journal

North Korea's Kim Yo Jong calls South Korean government a 'truly weird group' as key political meeting ends

Pyongyang catches Biden's attention with a new missile (in Spanish)

Cancel Keystone XL (in Italian) Limes

Biden's focus on rebuilding allies to impact Korea-US relations The Korea Times

Is the time for the digital euro coming? (in Hungarian) mandiner 22/01/2021

Biden Started Sharply. Even with China (in Slovak) Správy 22/01/2021

VN-verdrag voor verbod op kernwapens treedt in werking, zonder

België: "Niet geschikt voor reële ontwapening"

Alexander Mattelaer commenting on the TPNW Radioplus

A digital euro - could it happen?

Kim Jong Un faces Covid dilemma of isolation or vaccination Financial Times 24/01/2021

IES IN THE MEDIA IN 2021

Is it vaccination or isolation...Kim Jong-un faces a dilemma (in Korean) Dong-A Ilbo

Vaccination or Isolation... Kim Jong-un Faces a Dilemma (in Korean)

[Global Insight] Can South Korea score another round of U.S.North Korea talks?

North Korea is reluctant to get vaccines from China or Russia" Open the border to the WHO (in Korean)

IES IN THE MEDIA IN 2021

What is the "diplomatic incentive" for North Korea mentioned by Blinken? (in Korean)

Nuclear plant row may increase US concerns over inter-Korean projects

The memorandum on the Dostluk field: new opportunities for Turkmenistan and the region (in Russian)

Expert: "Blinken mentioned diplomatic incentives for North Korea to normalize diplomatic relations" (in Korean)

Privacy in

'Op den duur zijn we niet meer veraf van Chinese toestanden'

[ANALYSIS] 'Moon, Biden urged to narrow differences on North Korea'

faces growing calls to join Quad plus

renewed tensions in the seas surrounding the

Korea's human rights issue most divisive for South Korea, US

Vaccins

van Vladimir Poetin: is dat wel zo verstandig? De

IES IN THE MEDIA IN 2021

"The Moon government is considering participation in the Quad+" member of presidential committee (in Korean)

The Moon government is struggling over whether to participate in the Quad+" Leverage to improve inter-Korean relations? (in Korean)

South Korea Has a Plan to Influence Biden on North Korea: Join the Quad?

"The government is considering participation in the antiChina 'Quad Plus'"... revealed by a member of the presidential organization (in Korean)

President Policy Planning Committee member, to US press: "Korea's, Quad+ struggle" (in Korean)

Member Suggests Seoul Considering Quad-Plus Membership

S. Korea considers joining Quad Plus to steer U.S. toward talks with N. Korea: policy adviser

"North Korea diplomatic ties, helping North Korea-US ties is possible" (in Korean)

Coming Soon: Joe Biden's North Korea Policy

Blue House: "South Korea's participation in the Quad to be decided with transparency, openness and inclusion" (in Korean)

(LEAD) U.S., S. Korea share many interests in Indo-Pacific: State Dept. spokesman

"The government is considering participation in the Quad-Plus to support the ROK-US alliance"

The US asks South Korea to participate in the Quad, "An alliance of shared interests in the Indo-Pacific" (in Korean)

IES IN THE MEDIA IN 2021

Anti-China alliance to be top agenda item in Korea-US meetings next week, according to experts

15/03/2021

N Korea warns US to ‘avoid causing a stink’ if it wants peace Aljazeera 16/03/2021

Kim's sister tells Biden govt to cease war games with S. Korea The Straits Times 17/03/2021

Lo stop di AstraZeneca rallenta piani vaccinali ma l’Ue dice no alla sospensione dei brevetti: «Un autogol spaventoso»

„Expert: US-South Korea 2+2 Conference demonstrates that the US-Japan-Korea alliance is the centre for building an East Asian order“ (in Chinese)

The new kid on the block

“US-South Korea 2+2 Conference demonstrates that the USJapan-Korea alliance is the centre for building an East Asian order" (in Chinese)

fight against racism isn’t working

"Biden profileert zich als de anti-Trump"

digital euros a miracle or a flop? (in Dutch)

Korea, China reviving economic cooperation

future ahead for US-North Korea dialogue

In this store you pay for your new handbag with bitcoins (in Dutch)

Radio Free Asia, 'What is Biden's response to rising tensions with North Korea?' (In Korean)

Biz

Quad and ‘Quad Plus’ mechanism (in Spanish) KBS World Radio

North Korea executes lockdown violators fleeing starvation: UN Nikkei Asia

North Korea tells new U.S. administration to cease war games if wants to 'sleep in peace'

Laura Vansina: “Kremlin’s ability to deal with the vulnerabilities of its foreign policy will determine whether the Russian ‘Phoenix’ will continue to fly”

North Korea's withdrawal from Tokyo Olympics dashes South's hopes for cross-border talks

IES IN THE MEDIA IN 2021

The Tokyo Olympics will be without North Korean athletes [French]

[Global Insight] Seoul citizens welcome back two-time Seoul Mayor for third run

Reducing dependence on China has already become the way of survival for South Korea’s chip industry [Chinese]

IES IN THE MEDIA IN 2021

[Global Insight] Japan pushing neighbors away with plans to release radioactive water

BEKIJK - Vrouw van Belgische ambassadeur in Zuid-Korea slaat winkelbediende in gezicht, ambassadeur biedt excuses aan (In Dutch)

climate match (in Italian)

The village without an ATM: 'An hour on the road for cash is out of date' (In Dutch)

against the truth podcast

is building a tank that can pick its own targets. What could go wrong?

A radio interview on the Russian sanctions towards the EU (in Dutch)

Korea warns of 'very grave situation' after Biden called it a security threat

Episode 32: Dealing with Disinformation: A Global Challenge

EU efforts to ratify China investment deal ‘suspended’ after sanctions

Matters

Koreans attended virtual seminars with outside world:

'Role of Media' International Forum to be held on the 21st in commemoration of the P4G Seoul Summit (in Korean)

As Europe's interest in the Indo-Pacific grows, is Japan ready to lead the way?

"Fear of crypto regulators is exaggerated" (In Dutch) De Tijd

Flemish public opinion is not satisfied with the corona approach of the Flemish and federal governments, major concerns about economic recovery (In Dutch)

Military Is Creating a ‘Gig Eagle’ App to Uber-ize Its Workforce Vice

IES IN THE MEDIA IN 2021

South Korea’s balancing act will test Biden’s plan to get tough with China The Guardian 20/05/2021

Biden wants a "strong policy" from President Moon..."Korea has a 'Thaad retribution' nightmare" (In Korean)

South Korea rebuffed Trump. Here's why it might cooperate with Biden The Washington Post 21/05/2021

Vlaams Belang remains the largest party, Prime Minister Alexander De Croo (Open VLD) the most popular: this is what "De Stemming" says (In Dutch)

"Biden emphasizes cooperation rather than anti-China...increasing the likelihood of Korea participating in the Quad" (In Korean)

"Korea has already chosen the US despite its refusal to join the Quad...relations between Korea and China have worsened" (In Korean)

On North Korea denuclearization, yet another diplomatic dance for the U.S.

VRT

IES IN THE MEDIA IN 2021

kanarie in de koolmijn van onze nationale veiligheid

Public investment is desperately needed to achieve climate goals (in

South Korea-US alliance expands beyond security The

"In spite of the ROK-US summit's outreach to North Korea, North Korea may not be able to respond" (In Korean)

Young people believe more in fake news than older people, rightwing voters more than left-wing voters (In Dutch) VRT NWS 25/05/2021

Interview with Laura Vansina about the situation in Belarus Terzake 25/05/2021

US experts: "North Korea Will Not Respond to Diplomatic Efforts from South Korea and the US" (In Korean) NewsPim 25/05/2021

China’s cobalt mines in spotlight as DRC seeks to renegotiate deals South China Morning Post 25/05/2021

Interview with Prof. Ramon Pacheco Pardo on 'Biden and North Korea' (In Spanish)

Will the Tokyo Olympics be canceled due to COVID-19? La Croix

Will the West’s answer to China’s belt and road lead anywhere?

IES IN THE MEDIA IN 2021

Episode 37: How the EU Fits into Asia’s Security Puzzle Asia Matters

Is North Korea really shutting the door on dialogue or is it simply playing hard to get?

North

policy failures causing food shortage: experts

sector zich wapent tegen hackers

Vaccine Urgency, Despite New Virus Woes

will ‘emaciated’ Kim Jong-un ride out a famine in North Korea? With China’s help

[The Point] What will be S. Korea’s role and responsibility after the status upgrade?

VUB

hub to fight fake news (in Dutch)

Covid-19 Go-To Move—Finger Wagging

famine that stalks North Korea (in Spanish)

North Korea's food shortages 'but better than during the Arduous March'... China will provide support (in Korean)

Interview about the EU Commission’s proposed ‘Fit for 55’ package of measures to achieve EU climate goals towards climate neutrality in 2050

The EU Green Proposal (in italian)

Ramon Pacheco Pardo on Korean New Deal 2.0, South Korea's place in Europe and the World

Wendy Sherman's Asia Tour: Japan, S. Korea, China Analyzed with Dr. Ramon Pardo

North and South Korea agree to talk again, restore cross-border hotline

of phones? Experts assess the first inter-Korean call in over a year

Two Koreas Agree to Rebuild Ties in Possible Opening for Biden

When will North and South Korea restore communications office and will the liason office re-open? (in Korean)

IES IN THE MEDIA IN 2021

The change in North Korea's attitude is due to economic hardship ... if it becomes enemy with South Korea it cannot negotiate with the US (in Korean)

are talking again — Moon is for real, but what about Kim?

Jong-un may be sincere...there is an opportunity thanks to a combination of progressive governments in South Korea and the US plus COVID-19 (in Korean)

Jong slams US-South Korea joint drills, casts doubt on leader

Will daily calls build momentum to a summit? Nikkei

Prosperity] Will the restored inter-Korean hotlines

"At any time, the situation can degenerate": high risk mission for the Belgian soldiers in Afghanistan (in French)

split over impact of US pullout from Afghanistan on N. Korea issue

Taliban fighters also govern? (in Dutch)

"A traffic jam is forming in front of the emergency exit. Not everyone will get away" (in Dutch)

[The Point] S. Korea’s global status and role as a developed nation Arirang Issue

to combat climate crisis (in German) ORF

Dynamite and Kalashnikov: Russia Today publishes, then deletes, edited photo of Afghans arriving in Belgium (in French)

Satellite photos show movement at North Korea's main nuclear reactor (in Spanish)

Yongbyon site, jewel of North Korea's nuclear program (in French) France24 30/08/2021

IES IN THE MEDIA IN 2021

Are military extractions from Kabul a good idea? All it takes is one operation to go wrong (in Dutch)

'Afghanistan shows what you can achieve with military power as a foreign policy tool' (in Dutch)

Phased approach to North Korea's nuclear program gaining traction

"The US is likely to stick to its position amid Chinese and Russian calls to ease sanctions on North Korea" (in Korean)

IES IN THE MEDIA IN 2021

across South and North Korea heightens arms race tension (in Spanish)

"North Korea's missile test is to pressure the US...but there will be no reaction" (in Korean)

The arms race on the Korean peninsula is intensifying

Warm autumn also for the bills (in Italian)

The EU and the North Korean Conundrum: Supporting Reconciliation and Denuclearization

and Future War: Dissecting the Hype

A resettlement programme for Afghan refugees? (in German)

deal: why China's growing influence in the Indo-Pacific worries Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom (in Spanish)

Defense: neglected by America, Europe must learn to fight on its own (in French)

Taking South Korea-Europe Security Cooperation to the Next Level Korea on Point

IES IN THE MEDIA IN 2021

Interview for Radio Radicale

South Korea’s Mud-Slinging Primary Campaign Nears End

Former Foreign Minister Kim Sung-whan: "Korea and the EU must strengthen cyber security cooperation" (in Korean)

Something Strange Is Happening With North Korea’s Currency

IES IN THE MEDIA IN 2021

Frontier Forum Closes: Discussion of ASEANKorea Cooperation Initiatives

North Korea against South Korea, the spiral of the arms race (in French) France 24

Is discussion of end-of-war declaration gaining momentum?

with North Korea

The new center of gravity of world geopolitics is the Indo-Pacific (in Spanish)

'Sanctions on North Korea have failed,' says expert after launch of new missile (in Spanish)

Small Island States are canaries in the coalmine for global warming (in Dutch)

take on President Moon Jae-in's trip to Europe Arirang News

Cop26, the two concrete commitments that can keep heating below 2 degrees (in Italian)

New proposal to relieve UN sanctions on North Korea: What do experts think?

energy has earned the label green or sustainable?

In Europe, President Moon Sought Support for Inter-Korea Peace Process The

Peninsula Peace Forum Held in London: 'Europe's strategy is not to contain China'

toujours en état de "mort cérébrale"?

likely to be under continuous pressure to choose between Washington, Beijing

pays attention to the importance of the Korean Peninsula: 'We want to be participants, not spectators' (in Korean)

Social media and universal appeal: how Korean culture grew from a regional to a global powerhouse

S. Korean Conservatives Vow to Get Tougher on China VOA News

with Europe’s racist colonial past must go beyond history books

"How Did Korean Culture Become the Strongest in the World Beyond Asia?" (in Korean)

"The European Union must play a role in improving relations with North Korea" (in Korean)

[NEWS IN-DEPTH] Climate Set to Dominate G20 Summit Ahead of COP26: S. Korea's Attendance

years of Kim Jong Un: What was his best decision so far?

After ten years in power, Kim Jong-un restores his power base by restoring relations between North Korea and China (in Korean)

take on latest state of play on Korean Peninsula Arirang

sneller en veiliger dan de banken

“When Coercion Fails, Then What? An Analysis of Chinese Balancing Responses to THAAD Deployment in the Republic of Korea”

HUFS Jean Monnet EU Centre Holds its 10th Anniversary Ceremony and an International Academic Conference (in Korean)

The engine driving culture and fashion (in Korean)

Ramon Pacheco: "The situation in North Korea is bad" (in Spanish)

Korea 2021 Economy

Onderzoek VUB: “Washington beschouwt Europa niet langer als prioritaire regio”

Onderzoek VUB: Washington beschouwt Europa niet langer als prioritaire regio, maar als instrument om andere belangen te dienen

'België moet nu kiezen: meestappen in Bidens verhaal of een autonome koers varen'

Experts' take on President Moon's state visit to Australia

10 years of Kim Jong Un: Where will North Korea be 10 years from now?

N.Korea after 10 years of Kim Jong Un - better armed but more isolated than ever

North Korea under Kim Jong-un's regime, its shape in 10 years (2031) - four bold predictions

ACADEMIC SERVICES

ACADEMIC SERVICES

European Union in International Affairs #EUIA21

The ‘European Union in International Affairs’ (EUIA) Conference aimed at providing a major and multidisciplinary forum for academics and policy-makers to debate the role of the EU in the turbulent realm of international affairs.

In autumn 2019, the organisers disseminated widely disseminated an open “call for papers and panels” for the EUIA conference. A total of 54 full panel and 295 individual paper proposals were submitted. In March 2020, the Belgian government imposed a lockdown. A physical organisation of the conference became impossible and the organisers decided to postpone the conference. In September 2020, it was decided for a conference to move to a hybrid format.

The seventh edition of this event, initially scheduled for 27-29 May 2020, eventually took place from 26-28 May 2021. Most participants had to follow the conference in a virtual mode. Only some key panels (such as the opening keynote) could take place in a physically way. The theme of #EUIA21 was ‘Assessing the EU’s Capacity to Act’.

The Opening Ceremony and High-level Policy Link Panels took place in the Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Sciences and the Arts (KVAB) on Wednesday 26th May 2021. Only a very small number of participants were allowed to come in-person to this venue due to the sanitary measures still in place in late May 2021. A professional film crew live streamed these events to all participants.

The conference was opened with a keynote delivered by Ms. Margrethe Vestager, the Executive Vice President of the European Commission. Following her speech, Ms. Vestager discussed the theme of the conference with the Presidents of

the EUIA organising institutes as well as with the audience. The keynote was followed by two High-Level Policy Link Panels. The first was entitled “Charm or Chasm – How Europe can deal with China”. Moderated by Sven Biscop of the Egmont Institute, it featured Dr. Eva Gross, a senior official of the European External Action Service and Roberto Zadra, head of Global Partnerships of NATO (together with two academics of the EUIA organising institutes). The second panel concerned “The EU and the EU: Shared Challenges, Same Vision?”. It was chaired by Prof. Philippe de Lombaerde, director of the United Nations University (UNU- CRIS) and featured Ms Veronika Boškovič Pohar, Slovenian ambassador of the Political and Security Committee as well as Barbara Pesce-Monteiro, the UN Secretary-General’s Representative towards the EU. The other panellists were Felix Fernandez-Shaw, a Director-General of the European Commission, and Mario Telò, a Professor of ULB.

The academic panels of Day 2 and Day 3 of the conference all took place on our virtual conferencing platform. The conferencing platform providers also developed a special ‘EUIA21 App’ which allowed for networking and tailor-made programme planning. And we created a virtual lobby livestream with interviews and engaging conversations to ensure the virtual audience had a place to go to between panels.

The conference also closely cooperated with several academic journals. It organised a ‘journal editors’ panel’ that welcomed the editors of four leading academic journals in the field of EU studies (Journal of Common Market Studies, Journal of European Integration, European Security, and Global Affairs). #EUIA21 established a particularly close relationship with the Journal of European Integration (JEI), which agreed to engage in a competition for the ‘EUIA Best Paper Award’. The best conference paper was published in a fast-tracked publication process.

ACADEMIC SERVICES

In total, the EUIA21 conference featured 300 speakers and 177 non-presenting participants from 28 different countries as well as 58 virtual academic panels on all aspects of EU foreign policy making, each of which saw the presentation of 4-5 conference papers. The Organising Institutes also introduced a new EUIA podcast series, which discussed different aspects of the EU’s international standing and role and can be found on the BSoG’s website.

Overall, the conference was characterized by several new features, partly been triggered/imposed by the context of the Covid-19 pandemic (notably moving to a hybrid format for opening keynote and high-level policy link panels and organising the academic panels virtually). The EUIA organising institutes have embraced the challenge of moving online (to a large extent) as reflected, for instance, by the new EUIA podcast series and the optimal use of a customised virtual conferencing platform. The feedback from the conference participants showed a high level of satisfaction even in view of the altered context.

We are already looking forward to the next EUIA conference in May 2023. Stay tuned!

Public Events in 2021

21/01/2021 BOOK LAUNCH "Migration, Equality & Racism. 44 Opinions" hybrid

26/01/2021 CPDP Opening Event: Who is sovereign in the digital world? digital

28/01/2021 Insights into subnational immigrant integration policies worldwide digital

09/02/2021 Launch of the Brussels School of Governance digital

19/02/2021 TDI YEARLY 2020 – Key developments in the EU’s Trade Defence Policy of the past year. digital

23/02/2021 Trade Cooperation Between Pacific Alliance Members and South Korea: Main Findings digital

25/02/2021 DSA in Perspective Seminar Series.

DSA #5 Data Egalitarianism and the Digital Services Act digital

25/02/2021 A New Age in Transatlantic Relations: Renewal, Risks and Responsibilities digital

02/03/2021 Public Ph.D. Defence of Inan Izci, METROPOLITAN GOVERNANCE IN DIGITAL AGE: The EU's Influence on Local Governing of Istanbul digital

03/03/2021 Towards the decolonization of (EU) migration studies digital

04/03/2021 Japan Program - Public Lecture series Module 2. Japan's “Free and Open Indo Pacific”: from vision to practice digital

04/03/2021 Hydrocarbons exporters and the EU’s decarbonization plans: what coping strategies? digital

IES PUBLIC EVENTS IN 2021

08/03/2021 The EU and Japan in a post-Covid world: the resilience of supply chains digital

10/03/2021 North Korea Beyond the Six Parties: Examining ties with Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Southeast Asia digital

12/03/2021 Japan Program - Public Lecture series Module 2. Japan - China relations: geopolitical competition and shifting identities digital

18/03/2021 Public Guest Lecture: "The European Green Deal and Eastern Partnership countries" digital

18/03/2021 Japan Program - Public Lecture series Module 2. Japan - US relations: an alliance for stability in East Asia? digital

18/03/2021 Transatlantic Relations and the Indo-Pacific: Implications for Japan and Korea digital

22/03/2021 Decolonising the University digital

23/03/2021 The last fighters standing: Turkey, the Assad government and the Kurdish YPG in the Syrian conflict digital

24/03/2021 Moving beyond bipolarity? Regional Responses to US-China Competition in East Asia digital

24/03/2021 Peacebuilding on the Korean Peninsula: U.S. and European Perspectives digital

25/03/2021 DSA in Perspective Seminar Series.

DSA #6 (Platform) Data Access for Researchers digital

25/03/2021 Japan Program - Public Lecture series Module 2. Japan and India: a strategic partnership for a new era digital

13/04/2021 EUTOPIAn Futures digital

20/04/2021 The EU and the Indo-Pacific: A Conversation with Gunnar Wiegand digital

23/04/2021 Public Ph.D Defense Zana Abdallah Kurda digital

26/04/2021 Public Guest Lecture: Social media, politics and democracy: What's new, what's not and why it matters digital

27/04/2021 Protected Areas: Human right perspectives on environmental degradation and the rights of indigenous people digital

27/04/2021 Connecting Eurasia: Views from Europe, Korea and Asia digital

29/04/2021 DSA in Perspective Seminar Series.

DSA #7 Before and After Disinformation: The Normative Framework for Platform Regulation in Brazil

digital

IES PUBLIC EVENTS IN 2021

04/05/2021 Protecting the Amazon Region: Governance Gaps digital

05/05/2021 The EU and India: Climate Action - State of Play digital

10/05/2021 Europe, Japan and India in the Indo-Pacific: exploring convergences digital

11/05/2021 Japan Program - Public Lecture series #Module3 Japan and the European Union: An evolving partnership digital

18/05/2021 Japan Program - Public Lecture series #Module3 Japan and NATO: Engaging for global security digital

20/05/2021 Japan Program - Public Lecture series #Module3 Japan's Evolving Role in Global and Regional Security Multilateralism digital

26/05/2021 The European Union in international affairs #EUIA21 hybrid

27/05/2021 "DSA in Perspective Seminar Series.

DSA #8 Safeguards for Freedom of Expression in the DSA digital

28/05/2021 REPAST International Workshop - Negotiating Troubled Pasts: History, Politics, Arts and the Media digital

01/06/2021 The Road to the Future: The role of youth in the Future of Europe Conference digital

03/06/2021 North Korea Beyond the Six Parties: Examining ties with Central Asia, Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa digital

08/06/2021 BIRMM Research Day digital

17/06/2021 A New Diplomacy for the Emerging Global Binary: Digitalisation, Pandemics and the Search for a Reset digital

21/06/2021 Public Ph.D defense of Sevgi Temizisler: Politicization of EU migration policies and its effect on European integration hybrid

23/06/2021 Competition Law Turns Green – Seminar Series

# 1 Focus on the State of the Debate digital

IES PUBLIC EVENTS IN 2021

01/07/2021 Public Ph.D defense of Laura Iozzelli: Regulating Climate Change Transnationally: Assessing and Explaining Transparency and Participation in Climate Governance Initiatives

hybrid

09/07/2021 Jean-Monnet Summer School Keynote Lecture: European Parliament's Role in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice digital

15/09/2021 GOVTRAN network event series.

Fit for 55% and climate neutrality: The future of Europe in the World digital

16/09/2021 GOVTRAN network event series.

Aligning EU Climate Change and Trade Policy: Achievements and Challenges Ahead"

digital

17/09/2021 EuroMaster & LLM Graduation Ceremony hybrid

21/09/2021 White Privilege and Racism in Higher Education - an evening with Kalwant Bhopal digital

21/09/2021 GOVTRAN network event series.

Citizen Participation & the European Green Deal digital

27/09/2021 GOVTRAN network event series.

A ‘climate-resilient’ Europe by 2050: what implications for politics and policy? digital

29/09/2021 The Ins and Outs of 2021 Legislative Elections in Russia digital

30/09/2021 GOVTRAN network event series.

Post-Brexit UK and EU action to deliver long-term climate objectives digital

04/10/2021 GOVTRAN network event series.

Role of the European Climate Law in governing the EU’s Climate and Energy Transition

06/10/2021 GOVTRAN network event series.

digital

25/06/2021

16th Jeju Forum for Peace & Prosperity: Reconsidering Arms Control with Nuclear North Korea digital

28/06/2021 Public Ph.D defense of Lingyu Xu: Changing China's immigration policy: Which factors have driven China's development of a more comprehensive policy approach

hybrid

The role of social science and governance research in the EU’s climate transition hybrid

06/10/2021 Competition Law Turns Green – Seminar Series

#2 Focus on Legal: Hold or Move? digital

08/10/2021 Public Ph.D Defense of Linde Desmaele: Not Whether but How Europe Matters: A Neoclassical Realist Analysis of the Evolution of the Role of Europe in US Grand Strategy (2001-2020)

hybrid

IES PUBLIC EVENTS IN 2021

11/10/2021 The EU, Japan and ASEAN: Re-assessing multilateralism in the Indo-Pacific digital

12/10/2021 Understanding Contemporary Democratization Processes in Africa: is the democratic change in The Gambia standing for a wider dynamic? hybrid

14/10/2021 Water Rights and Water Fights: Transboundary Water Governance in Africa digital

14/10/2021 Brussels Korea Forum hybrid

15/10/2021 Avenues of Cooperation between the European Union and Turkey in the Area of Migration hybrid

15/10/2021 Negotiating Troubled Pasts: History, Politics, Arts and the Media digital

26/10/2021 Sino-American Competition: regional security implications in the Asia-Pacific digital

27/10/2021 JP-COOPS-FAIRNESS Final Conference: Crime – Terror Nexus: legal perspectives from the EU Member States hybrid

29/10/2021

EDGE: Superordinate Intersectionality Contributions to the Critical Analysis of Extreme Right Metapolitics hybrid

10/11/2021 Competition Law Turns Green – Seminar Series #3 Focus on Environmental Economics digital

12/11/2021 Communicating (the Future of) Europe digital

18/11/2021 The European Green Deal: Where Are We Headed After COP26? digital

18/11/2021 TDI YEARLY 2021 hybrid

24/11/2021 Opinion 1/19 on the EU’s accession to the Istanbul Convention: Is there light at the end of the tunnel yet? hybrid

01/12/2021 The European Union’s response to foreign disinformation digital

01/12/2021 One year after the adoption of the EU anti-racism action plan. A Panel Conversation with Ms. Michaela Moua - EU Anti-Racism Coordinator digital

03/12/2021 Empower Youth Project (Innoviris) Conference hybrid

08/12/2021

EDGE: Violence against women in Belgian politics. An in-depth analysis of the experiences of Belgian female politicians with violence digital

09/12/2021 Competition Law Turns Green – Seminar Series

# 4 Focus on Agency/Government Action and Advocacy with the Private Sector digital

17/12/2021 BIRMM Research Day digital

xenophobia: safeguarding the human rights of migrants in times of global financial crisis and recession

STRUCTURE AND MANAGEMENT

The IES is a ‘special university institute’ with functional autonomy within the VUB. Since its inception, the institute has been governed by its own Board, whose members are proposed by the Rector and appointed by the University Council, following the provisions written down in the IES statutes (Organiek Reglement) that were updated in 2019. The management structure of the Institute is the following:

Board

The IES Board is the highest authority of the Institute and is responsible, inter alia, for approving the general strategy, policy plan, budget, and annual report. The Board also decides on research strategy and gives its final approval to the appointment of senior staff (ZAP).

The Board consists of 14 members: 6 external (to the VUB), 4 VUB faculty, the Rector (or his/her representative), a representative of the ZAP members of the IES and two students. In addition, one member of the junior academic personnel, one member of the administrative personnel, a representative of the faculty of Economics and Social Sciences and one of the faculty of Law and Criminology, the Vice-Rector for Education and Student Affairs and the Vice-Rector for International Affairs attend the Board meetings with a consultative vote. Members of the Executive Committee (see below) are also invited.

Executive Committee

Daily management is the responsibility of the Executive Committee (ExCom), consisting of five members: the Dean (Luc Soete), the two Vice-Deans (Alexander Mattelaer and Sven Van Kerckhoven), the Executive Director (Anthony Antoine) and the Head of Secretariat (Jacintha Liem). They were appointed by the Board in September 2019.

Research Centres

Research management at the IES is primarily done through four research centres with a certain degree of managerial authority and led by a centre director (a full professor).

All members of the academic staff belong to one or more centres where they report and organise their activities.

STRUCTURE AND MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE AND MANAGEMENT

There are four centres at the Institute:

- CMDJ - The Centre for Migration, Diversity and Justice (Co-Directors Ilke Adam and Florian Trauner)

- CD2I - The Centre for Digitalisation, Democracy and Innovation (Director Trisha Meyer)

- CSDS - The Centre for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy (Director Luis Simon, Asst. Dir. Giulia Tercovich)

- C3E - The Centre for Environment, Economy and Energy (Co-Directors Harri Kalimo and Sebastian Oberthür)

Research / Education Councils

Under the auspices of the Vice-Dean for Research, a Research Council discusses all research-related issues at the IES. As a consultative body, it advises the ExCom and/or the Board on all research-related matters. It consists of all ZAP members of the IES.

Under the auspices of the Vice-Dean for Education, an Education Council discusses all education-related issues. It consists of the (teaching) programme directors of the IES and of Vesalius College. Similar to the Research Council, it advises the ExCom and/or the Board on education-related matters.

Board members

Karel De Gucht (president)

Former European Commissioner

Sarah Engels

L'Oreal

Leo Van Audenhove

VUB Professor

Sandra Gallina

Director-General

European Commission

Eddy Bonne

Past Chairman

Flemings in the World (VIW)

Frank Hoffmeister

Head of Unit, DG Trade, EC

Caroline Buts VUB Professor

Tony Joris

VUB Professor

Nic Van Craen

Algemeen Beheerder VUB

Representative of the Rector

Trisha Meyer

ZAP Representative

Smiljana Ćujić

Student representative

Freddy Van den Spiegel

Former Bank Manager

Karen Donders

VUB Professor

Jonas Weinberger

Student representative

GENDER & DIVERSITY

GENDER AND DIVERSITY

Gender and diversity are important elements of VUB’s overall policy. The university’s Gender Action Plan, launched in 2014, is a case in point. In 2018, the university’s statutes were amended to strive for a more balanced gender representation in policy bodies and academic committees. The IES, which in 2016 had already changed its regulations to this end, ensures that at least one third of the members of its Board and recruitment committees are from both genders. In the Board, six out of 14 members are women. Each of the Research Centres, is led by one or two Centre Directors. Out of the total of seven Centre Directors, three are women.

Several members of the IES play a pivotal role in the university's interdisciplinary groups on gender (RHEA) and on migration and minorities through BIRMM, the Brussels Interdisciplinary Research Centre on Migration and Minorities (led by the IES). Moreover, in our Research Centre for Migration, Diversity and Justice, scholars contribute to the university's Interdisciplinary Master's on Gender and Diversity. Overall, the Institute employs 120 people (54 women and 66 men), yet in full-time equivalents, the rate is different: 57,6 FTE in total, of which 30,1 FTE women and 27,5 FTE men (or a ratio of 52,3% women and 47,7% men). The explanation is that many professors, who only teach one course in the IES programmes (0,1 FTE) are men, while many full-time researchers are women.

The Institute's management consists of five men (President, Dean, Vice-Dean for Research, Vice-Dean for Education, and Executive Director) and one woman (Head of Secretariat). There are six female senior scholars among the 25 senior researchers that hold a ZAP mandate. The LLM programme now also has a female Director, whilst the total number of teaching professors in the programme is only one out of 16. A change in this balance is difficult to achieve, as most teaching staff have long-term or tenured contracts. In the EuroMaster programme, the gender balance is more equal, six male versus four female.

Since 2018, the IES is a member of the Brussels Binder (www.brusselsbinder.org), the go-to database of female policy experts. The Brussels Binder was officially launched in the presence of Frans Timmermans, First Vice President of the European Commission, and to date includes over 57.000 entries (Brussels Binder Beyond) of women-experts who can be contacted for policy advice or as members of debate panels.

OUTREACH

OUTREACH

The IES communicates with the outside world by targeting the general public, Brussels-based policymakers, academics and researchers interested in the EU, as well as potential applicants (both students and professionals) for its various educational programmes.

2021 was a special year for IES outreach, in the sense that on 9 February 2021, the IES created an alliance with Vesalius College and as of then on promoted its activities under the joint Brussels School of Governance (BSoG) brand. A new website (www.brussels-school.be) and new social media channels were created for the BSoG alliance, meaning that both IES and Vesalius College had to build up their followers base on social media from scratch. The new website attracted more traffic in 2021 than the aggregate of its two predecessors the year before:

Brussels-school.be in 2021 ies.be + vesalius.edu in 2020

New users 213,520

161,919

The IES/BSoG sends out monthly newsletters to a broad target audience. At the end of 2021, its newsletter mailing list comprises approximately 3,600 recipients. eight editions were sent out in 2021. Average open rate in 2021 was 20.1% (in 2020: 17.5%).

As regards social media, IES and Vesalius College accounts were not deleted, in order not to lose the legacy content. Instead, new BSoG social media channels were created and previous followers were invited to follow the new channels. At the end of 2021, these channels had already attracted a decent fan base only 11 months after their creation:

Together, this new fan base accounted for more than 11,000 engagements with IES/BSoG posts on aggregate, across the different channels:

In addition, some of the IES’ research centres have their dedicated social media channels, which are also very active and are building up their fan base day by day. The Centre for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy is the most prominent one in this respect, with a very active Twitter account that had about 2,400 followers at the end of 2021, and the Centre for Migration, Diversity and Justice with a Twitter account for its BIRMM project that ended 2021 with about 470 followers.

ACADEMIC COLLABORATION

In the context of its academic programmes and research activities the IES collaborates daily with universities and institutions around the world. In this section we first zoom in our unique relationship with Vesalius College within the framework of the Brussels School of Governance. Second, we turn to our longstanding partnerships with UNU-CRIS, the University of Warwick, the University of Southern California, and the the Vienna School of Internationnal Studies - Diplomatische Akademie Wien. Finally, we list a representative sample of operational collaboration with various partners in the framework of projects, publications, and events. Due to the ongoing COVID19pandemic, international mobility was naturally reduced to a bare minimum, but collaboration nonetheless went ahead in different virtual formats.

The structural alliance with Vesalius College

The Brussels School of Governance constitutes an alliance between the Institute for European Studies and Vesalius College, with the former focusing on research and postgraduate education and the latter on undergraduate and graduate education. As such, academic collaboration is the most intense in this unique framework – with the research activities of Vesalius staff feeding into the research architecture offered by the IES. To this purpose, the older research clusters of the IES were transformed into research centres with a wider remit in the autumn of 2020. With a formal launch event of the School in February, the year 2021 marked the first year of operational activity for this new structure, with the numbers of research staff, project applications and publications all rising markedly. More detailed overviews of centre activities can be found elsewhere in this report.

Longstanding partners abroad

Within the framework of the EUtopia European university alliance that VUB is part of, the IES has develop a close working relationship with the Department of Politics and International Studies (PAIS) of the University of Warwick. Collaboration is built on the EUtopia co-tutelle PhD programme, of which the IES hosts a junior scholar (Laura Vansina), a double MA-degree (combining the Warwick MA trajectory with the advanced MA in European Integration at the IES) and a joint BA programme being developed between PAIS and Vesalius College.

Furthermore, IES professors Trisha Meyer and Sven Van Kerckhoven act as learning community members in the ‘Europe in the World’ EUtopia-module set up at the University of Gothenburg. Throughout the year, IES staff continued monitoring developments within the EUtopia alliance, which expanded in September 2021 with three new European university members (Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia, Technische Universität Dresden and Universidade NOVA de Lisboa) and four international partners (Université Internationale de Rabat, Kyungpook National University, Monash University, and Stellenbosch University).

multistakeholderism in EU trade policy and Nadia Tjahja on internet governance, and the wider GREMLIN project investigating multistakeholderism in regional and global governance (co-led by IES professor Jamal Shahin and UGent professor Jan Orbie). From November 2020 onwards, UNU-CRIS director Philippe De Lombaerde joined the IES ZAP cadre as 10% research professor, hence enabling close operational collaboration between team UNU-CRIS and team IES.

Operational collaboration in projects, publications and events

Together with the University of Ghent, the VUB partners with the United Nations University in operating the UNU Centre for Comparative Regional Integration Studies of the United Nations University (UNU-CRIS). Based in Bruges, UNU-CRIS conducts research and provides services in the field of regional integration in general, and on regional public goods and the role of regional organisations in globalisation more specifically. As the IES team constitutes the VUB lead element in shaping this relationship, several professors and researchers are closely involved in joint projects with UNU-CRIS staff. This includes, amongst others, the new Unit on Non-Traditional Diplomacy (UNTRAD) that was setup in 2021 by IES professor Luk Van Langenhove, the joint PhD projects of Diana Potjomkina on

Due to the ongoing pandemic, the IES Summer School on EU Policy Making in co-organisation with the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna and the University of Vienna, took place in a virtual setting from 5 to 16 July 2021. In 2021, the theme of the Summer School was civil rights in today’s EU. Packed with interactive seminars, the programmes focused on civil rights, touching on policy discussions related to human security, migration, anti-discrimination, and diversity. Due to the great success of the virtual Summer School format, an alternative Winter School edition was introduced for the first time from February 1 to 12 with the same partners. At this occasion, we invited students from our partner universities in the EUTOPIA alliance to join our online simulation exercise on the EU ordinary legislative procedure. Our in-person summer programmes with the University of Southern California and with Seoul National University could not take place due to the pandemic but are set to restart in 2022.

IES researchers continued engaging with colleagues in a wide variety of international networks in various projects, publications, and events. The geographic range of the network is visualised in the figure below. Noteworthy highlights include the organisation of the Korea-Europe Policy Dialogue in November 2021, (jointly organised with the Sejong Institute), a special issue published in Politics and Governance on Climate Change Governance and the European Green Deal (part of the Jean Monnet-funded GOVTRAN network)

and the #BridgingAllies project furthering relations with partners in Australia, Japan, and South Korea. Our CD2I team took the lead in setting up a new consortium on online disinformation in Belgium and Luxembourg which is part of the European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO), a network of hubs on digital media contributing to the fight against disinformation across Europe. In the framework of the H2020 Bridges project, IES researchers engage in the analysis of migration narratives as part of a 12-member strong consortium led by the Barcelona Centre for International Affairs (CIDOB).

Centre for Digitalisation, Democracy and Innovation (CD2I)

NAME PARTNER COUNTRY COLLABORATION* COMMENTS

Cyprus University of Technology Cyprus R Partner in REPAST project, CD2I member (Georgios Terzis) is member of the consortium and WP Leader in the project

EU Disinfolab Belgium R Partner in EDMO BELUX project

KU Leuven Belgium B CD2I member (Jonas Lefevere) supervises PhD at university, has ongoing collaboration with Excellence of Science project (NOTLIKEUSI)

Maastricht University Netherlands B CD2I member (Luc Soete) holds professional position (honorary professor) at university

Universiteit Gent Belgium B Partner in GREMLIN project, visiting lectures, courses, CD2I member (Diana Potjomkina) pursues joint PhD at university, CD2I member (Jamal Shahin) is co-promotor

University of Amsterdam Netherlands B CD2I member (Jamal Shahin) holds an assistant professor position at university

University of Antwerp Belgium R Partner in De Stemming, CD2I member (Isaïa Jennart) pursues joint PhD at university, CD2I member (Jonas Lefevere) is co-promotor

University of Warwick United Kingdom B CD2I member (Trisha Meyer) was Fernandes Fellow, and the Politics Department hosts a double degree agreement with the EuroMaster programme

UNU-CRIS Netherlands R Partner in GREMLIN project, CD2I members are research and professorial fellows (Diana Potjomkina, Nadia Tjahja, Trisha Meyer, Jamal Shahin)

Vesalius College Belgium B Partner in Brussel School of Governance, CD2I members (Jonas Lefevere, Georgios Terzis, Trisha Meyer) hold professorial positions at College

Vienna School of International Studies–Diplomatische Akademie Wien

UCLouvain Université SaintLouis Bruxelles

Austria E Partner in Jean Monnet Winter/Summer School on EU Policy-Making

Belgium R Partner in EDMO BELUX project

AFP France R Partner in EDMO BELUX project

RTL Luxembourg Luxembourg R Partner in EDMO BELUX project

ATC Greece R Partner in EDMO BELUX project

WZB Social Science Centre Germany R CD2I Senior Associate Researcher (Julia Pohle) is member of research staff

CEPS Belgium R CD2I Senior Associate Researcher (Clement Perarnaud) is member of research staff

RTL Luxembourg Luxembourg R Senior Associate Researcher (Gianluca Sgueo)

Centre for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy (CSDS)

NAME PARTNER COUNTRY COLLABORATION* COMMENTS

University of Southern California (USC) USA E Partner in Programme on EU Foreign Policy

Warwick – PAIS UK B Member of EUtopia network

Seoul National University (SNU) South Korea E Partner in SNU in the EU summer school

* Collaboration in research (R), education (E), or both (B)

Centre for Migration, Diversity and Justice (MDJ)

NAME PARTNER COUNTRY COLLABORATION* DETAILS

Warwick – PAIS UK B Member of EUtopia network

Vesalius College Belgium B College of Europe Poland E

Institute for Social Research Norway R Partner in H2020 project Bridges

CIDOB Spain R Partner in H2020 project Bridges

Erasmus University of Rotterdam Netherlands R Partner in IMISCOE network

Hertie School of Governance Germany B Special Issue Project and PhD jury member

Ecologic Institute Germany R Partner in several projects, incl. 4I-TRACTION

Energyville Belgium R Industrial decarbonisation

European Climate Foundation Belgium/EU R Industrial decarbonisation

Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE) Finland R EU environmental law and policy

Fridtjof Nansen Institute Norway R EU/international climate policy

Ghent University Belgium R Partner in GOVTRAN/FWO project

Lund University Sweden R Circular Economy

Tampere University Finland B EU law; human rights

University of East Anglia UK R Partner in GOVTRAN project

COLLEGIO CARLO

ALBERTO – Turin Italy R Partner in H2020 Project WHOLECOM

Migration Policy Group (MPG) & Barcelona

Centre for International Affairs (CIDOB)

Belgium & Spain R Partner in REGIN Project: data collection on Belgium’s regions

Centre for Environment, Economy and Energy (C3E)

NAME PARTNER COUNTRY COLLABORATION* COMMENTS

Adelphi Germany R Decarbonisation and EU Foreign Policy

CICERO Norway R Partner in CONNECT project

University of Eastern Finland Finland B Partner in several projects, incl. GOVTRAN/NDC ASPECTS/4ITRACTION; climate, trade energy

University of Oslo Norway R GOVTRAN and general

College of Europe Poland E

University of Turku Finland R EU and international economic law

Wuppertal Institute Germany R Partner in COP21 RIPPLES/NDC ASPECTS

Yale University USA R Circular Economy; Industrial ecology

* Collaboration in research (R), education (E), or both (B)

PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT

The Board is responsible for the appointment of all staff at the IES. However, substantial ZAP appointments and tenure must be confirmed by the Academic Board of the university. Appointments of administrative staff are undertaken by daily management (the ExCom).

The total number of people directly paid by the IES in 2021 amounted to 57.6 full-time equivalents (as opposed to 52.3 FTE the year before). The total number of IES staff (headcount), including jobstudents and those not paid directly by the IES (i.e. associated fellows, the Dean, the Advisor, one Senior Academic, and all VUB-paid teaching and support staff) was 153.

23 people were associated with the Institute (as either associate fellow or visiting fellow). 14 different job students helped with basic research tasks and administration and we welcomed 6 interns. In 2021, 17 people left the Institute, while 18 new people joined the IES staff.

The Institute is headed by a Dean, who is assisted by two vice-Deans, an Executive Director and a Head of Secretariat.

Junior academic staff members are managed by their supervisors (in the case of PhD researchers) and/or by the project coordinators (in the case of project researchers). Progress and functioning of PhD researchers on the IES budget is presented annually and scrutinized by the Board. Other PhD researchers follow the procedures of the VUB and are assessed by their respective faculties.

The management of the Secretariat falls under the authority of the Executive Director and the Head of the Secretariat. Benchmarks are set for all secretariat personnel and an evaluation is conducted every year. Secretariat cluster coordinators serve as intermediaries between IES management and staff.

OVERVIEW OF PERSONNEL AT THE IES

Departures

• Koji Yamauchi ended his short term contract and took up a position as Teacher Support Officer at Eindhoven University of Technology.

• Enrico Barranu decided to terminate his PhD contract and moved back to Italy.

• Project researcher Raul Rios joined the United Nations Volunteers as Associate Programme Officer.

• Senior researcher Zafer Kizilkaya and Mohammad Salman finished their project on the Syrian conflict.

• Selçuk Unekbas left the Institute to start a PhD at Oxford University.

• Silviu Piros joined Leiden University in the Hague as Senior Grant Manager.

• Postdoctoral Researcher Ferran Davesa left the IES to become a high school teacher in Spain.

• Professor Servaas van Thiel reached the lawful age of retirement at the end of September but stayed at the IES to continue teaching one course.

• Laura Iozzelli left the Institute after her PhD graduation to become a Lecturer in International Relations at Saint-Louis University in Brussels.

• Andrew Crosby ended his contract as Postdoctoral Researcher in the Migration, Diversity and Justice Research Centre.

• Postdoctoral researcher Linde Desmaele left the IES to join the Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies at Columbia University (United States) as a Belgian-American Educational Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow.

• Louise Baduel left the Institute after a short-term contract to support the GovTran Project.

• Matilda Axelson, Philip Stutz, Lea Mateo and Diana Potjomkina ended their PhD contract but stayed at the IES to finalize their PhD.

Newcomers

• In January, Liliana Lizarazo Rodriguez started as a research professor at the IES to carry out the Curiae Virides project, funded by the European Research Council.

• In February, Stijn Van der Perre joined the Environment, Economy and Energy research centre as a postdoctoral researcher to work on a project on chemicals.

• Hielke Hijmans started in February as LLM guest professor in the Data Law course.

• From March onwards, Afaf Rahim joined the IES as a postdoctoral researcher working on the ERC Curiae Virides Project.

• João Teixeira de Freitas also started at the IES as a PhD Researcher to work on the ERC Curiae Virides Project.

• The Institute also welcomed Laura Iozzelli again as a project researcher to help us on the Rolecs/ GovTran projects for 6 months.

• Simon Otto started as a project researcher to work on the NDC Aspects project in the Environment, Economy and Energy research centre.

• Omar N. Cham joined the Migration, Diversity and Justice research centre as a PhD researcher as part of the BIRMM-VUB team.

• Louise Hantson started as a project researcher in the Migration, Diversity and Justice research centre to work on the Whole-COMM project.

• Following the annual IES call for new PhD projects, Gaia Romeo started in October as a PhD researcher Migration, Diversity and Justice research centre.

• October also saw the arrival of Brendan Moore who joined the Environment, Economy and Energy research centre as a postdoctoral researcher to work on the H2020 4i-Traction project.

OVERVIEW OF PERSONNEL AT THE IES

• Tom Willaert joined the Research Centre for Digitalisation, Democracy and Innovation as a postdoctoral researcher and project coordinator of EDMO BELUX.

• Natalia Martin joined the Centre for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy and the Japan Program for project support.

• The Centre for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy also welcomed Octavian Manea as a PhD researcher.

• Louise Baduel rejoined the Institute to strengthen the GOVTRAN Project.

• Elie Perot took up a role as Programme Director of Postgraduate Certificate in EU Policy Making.

• In November, Xavier Farré Fabregat started as a PhD Researcher in the Environment, Economy and Energy research centre to work on the ERC Curiae Viridies project.

• After a short internship in February, Samuel Cipers made a return to the Research Centre for Digitalisation, Democracy and Innovation as a research assistant in November.

Management

• President: Karel De Gucht

• Dean: Luc Soete

• Vice Dean for Research: Alexander Mattelaer 80%

• Vice Dean for Education: Sven Van Kerckhoven 20%

• Executive Director: Anthony Antoine 100%

• Head of Secretariat: Jacintha Liem 100%

• Teaching programme management (LLM): Harri Kalimo (until September),

Liliana Lizarazo Rodriguez (since October)

• Teaching programme management (MSc programme): Jamal Shahin

Admin staff

• Finance: Anne Sterckx 75%

• HR: Pascale Sas 100%

• Communication & Marketing: Jurgen Smet 100%

• Communications Officer: Maja Kovacevic 100%

• Education: René Hermens 100%

• Teaching and Learning Innovation: Koji Yamauchi 55% (until January)

• Events Officer: Jessica Callebaut 100%

• Events logistics assistant: Jelle De Smet 80%

• Student Registration Officer & Administrative Assistant: Marion Tomsett 100%

• LLM Secretariat: Marleen Van Impe 50% (80% until June)

• IT: Peter Menke 60%

• Research Project Officer: Sara Silvestre 100%

• Project Officer: Paula Cantero Dieguez 100%

• Research support: Natalia Martin 50% (since October)

• UNU-CRIS: Noël Neven 100%

• UNU-CRIS: Andrew Dunn 100%

• UNU-CRIS: Ajsela Masovic 80%

• GOVTRAN Project: Louise Baduel 10% (October/ November), 80% (December)

OVERVIEW OF PERSONNEL AT THE IES

Professors and Postdoctoral researchers

• Ilke Adam 100%

• Dirk Arts 5%

• Caroline Buts 10%

• Caterina Carta 20%

• Andrew Crosby 50%

• Raluca Csernatoni 10%

• Serena D’Agostino 90% (since October – formerly 80% January - June and 60% July - September 2021)

• Ferran Davesa 60% (until September)

• Karel De Gucht 10%

• Paul De Hert 10%

• Philippe De Lombaerde 10%

• Linde Desmaele 100% (since October)

• Youri Devuyst 10%

• Daniel Fiott 10%

• Ricardo Gosalbo Bono 5%

• Serge Gutwirth 10%

• Kristin Henrard 20%

• Hielke Hijmans 10% (since February)

• Frank Hoffmeister 10%

• Tony Joris 25%

• Harri Kalimo 100%

• Tongfi Kim 20%

• Zafer Kizilkaya 30% (until May)

• Stephan Klose 40% (since October, formerly 30% until September)

• Marie Lamensch 10%

• Jonas Lefevere 20%

• Richard Lewis*

• Liliana Lizarazo Rodriguez* (since January)

• Alexander Mattelaer 80%

• Trisha Meyer 60%

• Brendan Moore 100% (since October)

• Arnaud Nuyts 10%

• Sebastian Oberthür 60%

• Afaf Rahim 100% (since April, formerly 50% since March)

• Mohammad Salman 30% (until May)

• Jamal Shahin 60%

• Luis Simon 100%

• Stefaan Smis 10%

• Ben Smulders 10%

• Angela Tacea*

• Olesya Tkacheva 20%

• Florian Trauner 70%

• Stijn Van der Perre 100% (since February)

• Irina Van Der Vet 100%

• Leo van Hove 10%

• Sven Van Kerckhoven 20%

• Luk Van Langenhove 10%

• Servatius van Thiel 10% (until September)

• Johan Verbeke 10%

• Hannah Vermaut 100%

• Ingmar Von Homeyer 50%

• Laura Westerveen 100% (since July, formerly 70% February – June, 40% until January)

• Tom Willaert 100% (since October)

• Catherine Xhardez*

*Supported by other funds

OVERVIEW OF PERSONNEL AT THE IES

Project researchers and PhD students

• Folashade Ajayi 100%

• Matilda Axelson 100% (until January)

• Enrico Barranu 100% (until February)

• Aslak Busch 100%

• Omar Cham 100% (since September)

• Samuel Cipers 100% (since November)

• Linde Desmaele 100% (until March)

• Maximilian Ernst 100%

• Xavier Farre Fabregat 100% (since November)

• Fabio Figiaconi 100%

• Jana Gheuens 100%

• Marco Giuli 100% *

• Orsolya Gulyas 100%

• Louise Hantson 100% (since October)

• Simon Happersberger 100%

• Laura Iozzelli 50% (July-September, formerly 70% April-June)

• Gauri Khandekar 100%

• Octavian Manea 100% (since October)

• Lea Mateo 100% (until November)

• Simon Otto 100% (since September)

• Elie Perot 50% (since October)

• Silviu Piros 100% (until September)

• Diana Potjomkina 100% (until November)

• Raul Rios 100% (until March)

• Gaia Romeo 100% (since October)

• Olöf Söebech 90% (since December, formerly 80%)

• Philipp Stutz 100%

• João Daniel Teixeira de Freitas 100% (since March)

• Nadia Tjahja 100%

• Selçukhan Ünekbas 20% (until September)

• Laura Vansina 100% *

• Maaike Verbruggen 100%

• Tomas Wyns 100%

*Supported by other funds

PhD researchers supported by other funds

• Zana Abdallah

• Akbar Asma

• Berdak Bayimbetov

• Cem Yigit Emirkadi

• François Gardin

• Isaïa Jennart

• Inan Izci

• Jihye Kang

• Young-in Lee

• Maarja Meitern

• Jimi Hendry Nzally

• Giuseppe Luca Polizzi

• Ojeaku Nwabuzo

• Ernesto Roessing Neto

• Hanna Elisabeth Schneider

• Fatma Sevgi Temizisler

• Fausta Todhe

• Sibel Top

• Fabian Tudor Petru

• Selçukhan Ünekbas

• Lingyu Xu

• Rui Yan

• Huang Yijia

• XiuLing Ye

• Ma Zonglyu

• Nechev Zoran

QUALITY ASSURANCE

QUALITY ASSURANCE

Quality control is measured ex ante as well as ex post at various levels and in different formats. In terms of attracting academic staff and administrative personnel, the IES applies the highest standards through a quality control procedure. The IES Board, the Research Council, the Education Council, and the Executive Committee safeguard the overall quality of their respective areas. In its financial management, the IES implements both internal and external control; equally in its services, the IES delivers the best possible services and tries to improve them through feedback from its clients.

Quality of personnel

Quality is aimed for through competitive, open and international recruitment procedures and through a monitoring system of benchmark meetings and student feedback (for the academic staff) and performance reviews (for the administrative staff).

Selection of senior academic staff is done on the basis of interviews and selection by an independent selection committee that also includes external experts. Potential teaching staff who will be in front of a class for the first time must also give a test lecture that is assessed by both colleagues and students. Teaching staff are further assessed by the Academic Council of the university before a final appointment is made. Candidates for professorships (ZAP) also follow VUB university appointment procedures.

For research, special attention is paid to the recruitment of doctoral students. Every year, the IES makes a competitive selection in which the best projects (coupled with excellent CVs of potential researchers) are selected. Doctoral students are primarily monitored by his/her promoter and the doctoral committee, but the (doctoral) research is also structurally embedded in to one of the Institute's research centres. In addition, periodic research colloquiums are organised (mandatory for doctoral researchers), in which the researcher is subjected to peer review.

In 2021, the IES launched two PhD calls: one in the field of migration, diversity and justice and one in the field of digitalisation and democracy. The vacancies attracted a large number of candidates, who were scrutinised by a diverse team of scholars. After interviews with the most promising candidates by the research centre coordinators and a team of scholars and staff, eventually three PhD researchers were appointed by the IES Board and awarded a scholarship for a maximum duration of four years.

The quality of personnel is further monitored through periodical evaluations. For IES ZAP professors, individual benchmark meetings are conducted every two years with the Vice-Dean for Research (which took place in Spring 2020). PhD researchers meet their promoter and supervisory committee at least twice a year, while all other academic personnel are assessed on a yearly basis. At Secretariat level, administrative staff are evaluated through the VUB’s TEO assessment procedure. In 2021, the individual meetings took place in November.

QUALITY ASSURANCE

In addition, sustainability is achieved by efforts to retain excellent staff. Attention is paid not only to the possibility of promotion, but also to flexibility alternatives (such as teleworking). In the framework of lifelong learning, a modest budget foresees support for individual or collective training sessions and/or extra courses.

Quality of research

PhD and senior researchers are appointed after a thorough selection procedure involving an international call for applications, including external scrutiny and interviews (see above). Research progress of PhD students is monitored continuously by the promoter, the doctoral committee (twice per year), the responsible senior IES researcher, and the Vice-Dean for Research in accordance with IES PhD Guidelines (incorporated in the Guidelines for Academic Staff). In the process of this quality control, junior researchers present a state of affairs of their findings at least once per year at research colloquiums (held biweekly). There is a close collaboration with the Doctoral School in Social Sciences, organised by the university as a whole.

Quality of education

Teaching staff are recruited through international vacancy announcements, subject to external scrutiny, interviews and trial lectures. Students annually assess the quality of the teachers / courses through feedback forms. The Dean, the Vice-Dean for Education, as well as the Programme Directors of the respective programmes oversee the follow-up of programme questions relating to teaching, learning and the overall learning objectives of both modules and programmes. In addition, by

monitoring a central database, the VUB ensures quality control when entering course descriptions, exam methodology, and student guidance.

Quality of students

The IES ensures a strict selection of students, with a high level of student intake. Student selection is monitored and analysed by Programme Directors and the respective programme boards. In addition, its educational programmes are accredited and subject to periodical VUB and student evaluations. To this end, the LLM programme was evaluated by the university in 2021.

Students in the Advanced Master programmes, the Postgraduate programmes and in the IES Summer School are carefully selected, based on their study background and results, their command of English, their suitability and motivation, as well as the contact details of referees who are available for feedback on the candidate. Applicants for the Advanced Master programmes need to have a Master's degree before starting their studies at the IES. Exceptionally, highly motivated BA students are admitted, but only if they have a study background of at least 240 ECTS (which equals a Belgian Master programme) and work experience that is compatible with the programme.

Quality of services

The IES monitors the quality of its services (events) through a combination of research centre processes, by measuring marketing efforts, and by conducting post-event evaluations. For all relevant major physical

QUALITY ASSURANCE

or digital activities organised at the IES, an evaluation (by form, email, or phone conversation) is done after the event to assess the quality of the service. Bases on this feedback and experience, regular internal reviews are carried out where strengths and weaknesses are assessed in order to identify potential for improvement. In terms of quality and maintenance of our equipment, the technical team carries out checks prior to the event. For catering services, the IES works with ‘green’ suppliers that comply with standard hygiene and service regulations. Extensive online and social media evaluations of all major activities lead to optimal analysis of the impact of events on different target groups. This monitoring process is currently assessing visibility of research, societal relevance, and knowledge transfer.

Quality of finances

The Finance Officer is supervised by the Executive Director, who in turn reports to the Board of the IES. An external auditor annually vets the overall finances (currently BDO Auditors). Following EC rules, European-funded projects of a certain magnitude (FP7 and H2020) are individually scrutinised by an auditor prior to submitting the periodic financial figures to the Commission.

FINANCIAL REPORT

The IES increased its turnover in 2021 from 4,4 M to 4,9 M Euros and closed its accounts with a (predicted) loss of € 101,626. The negative figure is still mainly due to the impact of COVID-19 that continues to have an impact on student numbers. As an international frontrunner (with international students and projects), the Institute has been very much affected by measures with an international impact. Travel bans and quarantine measures continued throughout 2021, leading to the cancellation of two summer schools with foreign partners, as well as to the withdrawal of some Advanced Master students who had already enrolled.

Research-wise, however, 2021 was much better than 2020. The IES was able to increase its income from externally funded projects from 1,2M to 1,9M - an all-time high - and this because of the start of several new European projects (amongst which one ERC and four new H2020 projects). The new projects inevitably led to more expenditure too, as new researchers were employed and project running costs increased.

Despite the pandemic, the IES could also organise a number of events - whether physical or virtual. Its biggest endeavour, the organisation of the 7th issue of the biennial international EUIA conference (originally scheduled for May 2020) took place in a hybrid (albeit mostly digital) format in May 2021. Yet with the necessary safety precautions, other conferences, colloquia, Summer and Winter Schools, were organised too. The digital winter school on EU policy making, organised for the first time in February 2021, proved to be that succesful that a second version is scheduled for 2022. The digital school will continue to exist next to the predominantly physical variant that takes place in the Summer.

For the 5th year, the IES served as the running point for the agreement between the VUB, UGent and the Flemish Government regarding the United Nations University and its centre for Comparative Regional Integration Studies in Bruges. Four collaborators of UNU-CRIS, amongst which its Director, are associated with the Institute and/or are on its payroll. The IES also runs two research projects at UNU-CRIS, involving six additional researchers, most of which are on the IES payroll. This results in a financial flow between IES and UNU-CRIS of ± € 400K.

In 2021, VUB and IES scrutinised their financial flows, resulting in a proposal to simplify the financial transactions between both organisations as of 2022, as announced in the Budget for 2022. This should not only simplify the processes (resulting a time and energy gain) but also render the financial transactions more transparent. This report, however, is still concluded under the current regime.

Despite the loss, IES finances are in good shape, and the many new projects combined with the return of international students following the loosening of the pandemic-measures at the beginning of 2022 promises a positive result in the years to come.

IES Accounts 2021

IES Accounts 2021

Income:

Expenses:

PUBLICATIONS

Books

• Adam, I., & Hepburn, E. (Eds.) (2021). Intergovernmental Relations on Immigrant Integration in Multi-Level States. Routledge.

• Adam, I., Adefioye, T., D'Agostino, S., Schuermans, N., & Trauner, F. (2021). Migratie, Gelijkheid & Racisme. 44 Opinies. Brussels: VUBPRESS.

• Adam, I., Adefioye, T., D'Agostino, S., Schuermans, N., & Trauner, F. (Eds.) (2021). Migration, Equality, Racism – 44 Opinions. VUBPRESS. https://doi.org/10.46944/9789461171061

• Fiott, D. (2021). Yearbook of European Security 2021. Paris, France: EU Institute for Security Studies .

• Soria Rodriguez, C., & Martín López, M. A. (Eds.) (2021). Cuestiones transversales en la innovación de la docencia y la investigación de las Ciencias Sociales y Jurídicas. Especial referencia al impacto del COVID-19, las nuevas tecnologías y metodologías, las perspectivas de género y la diversidad. Dykinson.

Book chapters

• Adam, I., & Kalonji, B. (2021). Yes, Mr Charles Michel, Apologizing for Colonial Atrocities is One of the Tools to Combat Underemployment Among Afro-descendants. In I. Adam, T. Adefioye, S. d'Agostino, N. Schuermans, & F. Trauner (Eds.), Migration, Equality and Racism. 44 Opinions. (pp. 121-127). Brussels: VUBPRESS.

• André, G., Charafi, S., Westerveen, L., & Bourabain, D. (2021). Brussels is Tarred with Racism. In I. Adam, T. Adefioye, S. D'Agostino, N. Schuermans, & F. Trauner (Eds.), Migration, Equality & Racism: 44 Opinions (pp. 199-202). Brussels: VUBPRESS.

• Bodle, R., Stockhaus, H., Wolff, F., & Oberthur, S. (2021). The Future of International Soil Governance. In International Yearbook of Soil Law and Policy 2019 (Vol. 2019, pp. 155-176). (International Yearbook of Soil Law and Policy). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-52317-6_9

• Bourabain, D., Westerveen, L., Charafi, S., & André, G. (2021). Tackling Racism in Brussels: Yes We Can! In I. Adam, T. Adefioye, S. D'Agostino, N. Schuermans, & F. Trauner (Eds.), Migration, Equality & Racism: 44 Opinions (pp. 220-223). Brussels: VUBPRESS.

• D'Agostino, S. (2021). Anti-Gypsyism: When a ‘Specific’ Form of Racism Is Considered ‘Reasonable’. In S. D'Agostino, I. Adam, F. Trauner, N. Schuermans, & T. Adefioye (Eds.), Migration, Equality and Racism - 44 Opinions (pp. 206-209). Brussels: VUBPRESS.

• Devuyst, Y. (2021). The European Union's Community Method: Foundations and Evolution. In F. Laursen (Ed.), The Oxford Encyclopedia of European Union Politics (Vol. 2, pp. 982-1002). (Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

• Ernst, M., Thornton, S. (Ed.), & Lee, J. (Ed.) (2021). When Coercion Fails, Then What? An Analysis of Chinese Balancing Responses to THAAD Deployment in the Republic of Korea. In Next Generation Perspectives on Korean Peninsula Security: Policy Recommendations from an Emerging Leaders Workship (pp. 113-129). New York.

• Giuli, M. (2021). Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean Energy Resources. In R. Mason (Ed.), Transnational Security Cooperation in the Mediterranean (pp. 115145). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-54444-7

• Kalimo, H. (2021). Knowledge as a Multi-Sided Market – Universities at the Intersection of Knowledge and Policy-Making. In S. Van Puyvelde, & C. Buts (Eds.), Critical Contributions to Economics and Beyond (pp. 91-111). BERLIN: Lexxion.

• Kizilkaya, Z. (2021). Conflict, Poverty and Human Rights Violations. In M. Davis, M. Kjaerum, & A. Lyons (Eds.), Research Handbook on Human Rights and Poverty (Research Handbooks in Human Rights) (pp. 521-535). Edward Elgar.

• Lefevere, J. (2021). Migration and the radical right: a catch-22 for journalists. In I. Adam, T. Adefioye, S. D'Agostino, N. Schuermans, & F. Trauner (Eds.), Migration, Equality and Racism (pp. 92-96). Brussels: VUBPRESS.

• Libicki, M., & Tkacheva, O. (2021). Cyber Escalation Ladder or Lattice? In T. Stevens, K. Floyd, & P. Pernik (Eds.), Cyber Threats: Horizon Scanning and Analysis (pp. 6073). Tallinn, Estonia: NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence.

• Marsden, C., & Meyer, T. (2021). A coregulation model to advance the standards. Introduction. In L. Fraesen, A. Klimburg, S. van Hoeve, & T. Sweijs (Eds.), Red lines and baselines. Towards a European multistakeholder approach to counter disinformation (pp. 56-58). The Hague: The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies.

• Mattelaer, A. (2021). Afschrikking en verdediging: de militaire strategie van de Navo. In T. Francken, H. Bogaert, & P. Buysrogge (Eds.), Navo: Hersendood of klaar voor de toekomst? (pp. 113-133). Antwerpen: Doorbraak.

• Mattelaer, A. (2021). Back in Fashion? The Resurgence of Bilateral Diplomacy in Europe. In E. Opiłowska, & M. Sus (Eds.), Poland and Germany in the European

Union: The Multidimensional Dynamics of Bilateral Relations (pp. 42-54). (Routledge Advances in European Politics). Abingdon: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.

• Mattelaer, A. (2021). Europe-Russia Relations: Reciprocity Is Key. In M. Franco (Ed.), How to reverse in a one-way street (Vol. 114, pp. 10-12). (Egmont Papers; No. 114). Brussels: Egmont - Royal Institute for International Relations.

• Mattelaer, A. (2021). Nuclear Sharing and NATO as a ‘Nuclear Alliance’. In S. Frühling, & A. O'Neil (Eds.), Alliances, Nuclear Weapons and Escalation: Managing Deterrence in the 21st Century (pp. 123-131). Canberra: ANU Press. https://doi.org/,

• Meyer, T., & Alaphilippe, A. (2021). Platform (un)accountability. Reviewing platform responses to the global disinfodemic one year onward. In J. Bayer, B. Holznagel, P. Korpisaari, & L. Woods (Eds.), Perspectives on platform regulation. Concepts and models of social media governance across the globe (pp. 509-530). (Recht und Digitalisierung | Digitization and the Law; Vol. 1, No. 1). Baden-Baden: Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft. https://doi.org/doi.org/10.5771/9783748929789-507

• Soete, L., Schwaag Serger, S., Stierna, J., & Hollanders, H. (2021). 9. European Union. In S. Schneegans (Ed.), UNESCO Science Report 2021: the Race Against Time for Smarter Development (pp. 255-288). (UNESCO Science Report; Vol. 7th Report). UNESCO.

• Soria Rodriguez, C. (2021). El monitoreo de actividad de tratados como instrumento para la docencia del derecho internacional medioambiental. In Gutiérrez Castillo, V.L. (Coord.) Innovación docente y renovación pedagógica en derecho internacional y relaciones internacionales – el impacto de la investigación en la docencia. (pp. 60-69). Dykinson.

• Soria Rodriguez, C., & Manetsberger, J. (2021). Multi- and interdisciplinary aspects in European research projects with special relevance to the inclusion of public policy in Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions projects. In Martín López, M. A. & Soria-Rodríguez, C. (Coord.)., Cuestiones transversales en la innovación de la docencia y la investigación de las Ciencias Sociales y Jurídicas. Especial referencia al impacto del COVID-19, las nuevas tecnologías y metodologías, las perspectivas de género y la diversidad (pp. 962-973). Dykinson.

• Stutz, P., & Ahmad Yar, A. W. (2021). EU Migration Cooperation with Third Countries: A Flawed Approach. In Migration, Equality, Racism – 44 Opinions (pp. 62-66). VUBPRESS.

• Tacea, A. (2021). All buzz, no bite: the parliamentarisation of the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice. In Executivelegislative (Im)balance in the European Union (pp. 300-318). Oxford: Hart Publishing.

• Tacea, A., & Petrache Le Guern, L. (2021). When Border Enforcement Backfires: Alternatives exist. In Migration, Equality & Racism – 44 opinions (pp. 45-49). VUBPRESS.

• Van Langenhove, L., & eriksson, P. (2021). The role of Eutopean Unioin in creating Europe of knowledge. In P. Eriksson (Ed.), new movements in ACADEMIC ENTREPRENEURSHIP Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd..

• Weatherburn, A., & De Hert, P. (2021). Creating Legal Migration Channels Alone is Not Sufficient to Minimise the Risk of Labour Exploitation. In I. Adam, T. Adefioye, S. D’Agostino, N. Schuermans, & F. Trauner (Eds.), Migration, equality & racism (pp. 117-120). VUBPRESS.

PUBLICATIONS

ANNEX

PUBLICATIONS

Journal articles

• Axelson, M., Oberthur, S., & Nilsson, L. J. (2021). Emission reduction strategies in the EU steel industry: Implications for business model innovation. Journal of Industrial Ecology, 25(2), 390-402. https://doi.org/10.1111/jiec.13124

• Busch, A. V. (2021). Tall Tales from the High North: Contested Discourses of the Arctic as a Political Space. Geopolitics. https://doi.org/10.1080/14650045.2021.1 963956

• Cham, O. N., & Adam, I. (2021). The politicisation and framing of migration in West Africa: transition to democracy as a game changer? Territory, Politics, Governance, 2-20.

• D'Agostino, S. (2021). (In)visible Mobilizations. Romani Women’s Intersectional Activisms in Romania and Bulgaria. Politics, Groups and Identities, 9(1), 170-189. https://doi.org/10.1080/21565503.2019.1629307

• D'Agostino, S. (2021). (Un)Safe Spaces for Intersectional Activism. Romani Women’s Responses to Transnational Political Opportunities. European Journal of Politics and Gender, 4(2), 217-234. https://doi.org/10.1332/25151082 1X16135042771657

• Desmaele, L. (2021). Unpacking the Trump administration’s grand strategy in Europe: power maximisation, relative gains and sovereignty. European Security . https://doi.org/10.1080/09662839.2021.1987224

• Drieghe, L., Orbie, J., Potjomkina, D., & Shahin, J. (2021). Participation of Civil Society in EU Trade Policy Making: How Inclusive is Inclusion? New Political Economy, ahead of print, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1080/13563467.2021.1879763

• Ernst, M. (2021). Costs of Coercion: Predicaments of Chinese Statecraft in the Asia-Pacific. Global Politics Review, 7(1-2), 6-17. https://doi.org/10.5281/ zenodo.4540509

• Ernst, M., & Lee, S. (2021). Countering Cyber Asymmetry on the Korean Peninsula: South Korea's Defense against Cyber Attacks from Authoritarian Sates. Journal for Intelligence, Propaganda and Security Studies, 15(1), 165-179.

• Fernandez, R., Schoenefeld, J. J., Hoerber, T., & Oberthur, S. (2021). Europe’s Transition to Sustainability: Actors, Approaches and Policies. The International Spectator, 56(3), 1-6. https://doi.org/10.1080/03932729.2021.1966188

• Gheuens, J., & Oberthur, S. (2021). EU Climate and Energy Policy: How Myopic Is It? Politics and Governance, 9(3), 337347. https://doi.org/10.17645/pag.v9i3.4320

• Hancké, B., Overbeke, T. V., & Voss, D. (2021). Crisis and Complementarities: A Comparative Political Economy of Economic Policies after COVID-19. Perspectives on Politics. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1537592721001055

• Kalimo, H., Miettinen, M., Alhola, K., & Virolainen, V. M. (2021). Measures to reduce the environmental impacts of public procurement. IES Policy Brief, 2021(2), 1-8.

• Kim, T., & Simón, L. (2021). A Reputation versus Prioritization Trade-Off: Unpacking Allied Perceptions of US Extended Deterrence in Distant Regions. Security Studies, 30(5), 725-760. https://doi.org/10.1080/09636412.2021.2010889

• Kim, T., & Simón, L. (2021). Greater Security Cooperation: US Allies in Europe and East Asia. Parameters, 51(2), 61-71. [7].

• Kizilkaya, Z., Hamdi, S., & Salman, M. (2021). Turkey’s Game Plan in Northern Syria and its Implications for the EU. Athens Journal of Mediterranean Studies, 7(4), 233-252. https://doi.org/10.30958/ajms.7-4-1

• König, F., & Trauner, F. (2021). From Trevi to Europol: Germany’s role in the integration of EU police cooperation. Journal of European Integration, 43(2), 175-190. https://doi.org/10.1080/07036337.2021.1877694

• Meijer, H., & Simón, L. (2021). Covert balancing: Great Powers, secondary states and US balancing strategies against China. International Affairs, 97(2), 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiaa228

• Moore, B., Verfuerth, C., Minas, A. M., Tipping, C., Mander, S., Lorenzoni, I., ... Whitmarsh, L. (2021). Transformations for climate change mitigation: A systematic review of terminology, concepts, and characteristics. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, 12(6), 1-25. [e738]. https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.738, https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.738

• Obergassel, W., Hermwille, L., & Oberthur, S. (2021). Harnessing international climate governance to drive a sustainable recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Climate Policy, 21(10), 1298-1306. https://doi.org/10.1080/14693062.2020.18

35603

• Oberthur, S., & Claire, D. (2021). The European Union’s International Climate Leadership: Towards a Grand Climate Strategy? Journal of European Public Policy, 28(7), 1095-1114. https://doi.org/10.1080/13501763.2021.1918218

• Oberthur, S., Hermwille, L., & Rayner, T. (2021). A Sectoral Perspective on Global Climate Governance: Analytical Foundation. Earth System Governance, 8(8), [100104]. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esg.2021.100104

• Oberthur, S., Khandekar, G. A., & Wyns, T. (2021). Global governance for the decarbonization of energy-intensive industries: Great potential underexploited. Earth System Governance, 8, [100072]. https://doi.org/10.1016/j. esg.2020.100072

• Perot, E. (2021). Solidarity and deterrence in the Eastern Mediterranean: An analysis of the delicate question of collective defence between EU member states vis-à-vis Turkey. Recherches & documents (Fondation pour la recherche stratégique), 2021(13).

• Potjomkina, D. (2021). Inclusion in EU-Georgia Trade Relations: A Critical Institutionalist Analysis of the Georgian Domestic Advisory Group. European Foreign Affairs Review, 26(3), 416 – 436.

• Rayner, T., Oberthur, S., & Hermwille, L. (2021). A Sectoral Perspective on International Climate Governance: Key Findings and Research Priorities. Earth System Governance, 8(8), [100105]. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esg.2021.100105

• Ropianyk, A., & D'Agostino, S. (2021). Queer Asylum Seekers in Belgium: Navigating Reception Centers. DiGeSt. Journal of Diversity and Gender Studies, 8(2), 58-70.

• S'Jegers, R., Van Langenhove, L., Danckaert, J., Moriau, L., & De Potter, L. (2021).

EUTOPIA als praktijk van verbondenheid: Kennis en ervaring delen in Connected Learning Communities. Thema Hoger Onderwijs, 28(4), 61-64.

• Scartozzi, C. M., Orsi, R., Ernst, M., & Martin, H. (2021). Connecting Northeast Asia: Renewable Energy and Prospects for Cooperation. Asian Perspective, 45(4), 761783.

• Simón, L., Desmaele, L., & Becker, J. (2021). Europe as a Secondary Theater? Competition with China and the Future of America's European Strategy. Strategic Studies Quarterly 15(1), 90-115.

• Slominski, P., & Trauner, F. (2021). Reforming me softly: how soft law has changed EU return policy since the migration crisis. West European Politics, 44(1), 93-113.

https://doi.org/10.1080/01402382.2020.1745500

• Soete, L. (2021). How COVID-19 could trigger organisational innovation in education. Annals of social sciences & management studies, 6(3), 001-004.

https://doi.org/10.19080/ASM.2021.06.555687

• Soete, L. (2021). Learning from the COVID-19 pandemic: How to better prepare for the next global crisis. Frontiers Policy Lab, 2021.

• Soete, L., & Verspagen, B. (2021). Niet alle innovatie hangt direct samen met hogere welvaart. Economisch Statistische Berichten, 106(4800S), 067-071.

• Soete, L., Verspagen, B., & Ziesemer, T. (2021). Economic impact of public R&D: an international perspective. Industrial and Corporate Change, 2021, [dtab066]. https://doi.org/10.1093/icc/dtab066

• Soria Rodriguez, C. (2021). The international regulation for the protection of the environment in the development of marine renewable energy in the EU. Review of European, Comparative and International Environmental Law, 30(1), 4660. https://doi.org/10.1111/reel.12337

• Stutz, P., & Trauner, F. (2021). The EU's ‘return rate’ with third countries: Why EU readmission agreements do not make much difference. International Migration. https://doi.org/10.1111/imig.12901

• Sundberg Diez, O., Trauner, F., & De Somer, M. (2021). The Return Sponsorship-concept in the EU Pact on Asylum and Migration: High Stakes, Low Gains. European Journal of Migration and Law, 23(3), 219-244. https://doi. org/10.1163/15718166-12340101

• Tacea, A. (2021). A New Research Agenda: How European Institutions Influence Law-Making in Justice and Home Affairs. Politics and Governance, 9(3), 5-15. https://doi.org/10.17645/pag.v9i3.4081

• Tacea, A. (2021). From Legal to Political Reasoning: National Parliaments’ Use of Reasoned Opinions in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice. Journal of Common Market Studies, 59(6), 1573-1589. https://doi.org/10.1111/ jcms.13213

• Tacea, A., & Ripoll Servent, A. (2021). Resilient Institutions: The Impact of Rule Change on Policy Outputs in European Union Decision-Making Processes. Politics and Governance, 9(3), 1-4. https://doi.org/10.17645/pag.v9i3.4710

• Tacea, A., & Trauner, F. (2021). The European and national parliaments in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice: do more interparliamentary fora lead to stronger cooperation? Journal of Legislative Studies, DOI: 10.1080/13572334.2021.2015559 . https://doi.org/10.1080/13572334.2021.2015559

• Tjahja, N., Meyer, T., & Shahin, J. (2021). What is civil society and who represents civil society at the IGF? An analysis of civil society typologies in Internet governance. Telecommunications Policy, 45(6), [102141]. https://doi.org/10.1016/j. telpol.2021.102141

• Trauner, F. (2021). Das neue EU-Migrations- und Asylpaket : Wird es zu mehr Solidarität zwischen den Mitgliedstaaten führen? integration, 44(1), 40-52. https://doi.org/10.5771/0720-5120-2021-1-40

• Trauner, F., & Stutz, P. (2021). Hungary’s renationalisation strategies: how a populist radical right government may seek control over (EU) migration policy. Politique Européenne, 2021/2(72), 94-118. https://doi.org/10.3917/poeu.072.0094

• Van Kerckhoven, S. (2021). Post-Brexit Leadership in European Finance. Politics and Governance, 9(1), 59-68. https:// doi.org/10.17645/pag.v9i1.3705

• Van Kerckhoven, S., & O' Dubhghaill, S. (2021). Gamestop: how online 'degenerates' took on hedge funds. Exchanges, 8(3), 45-54.

PUBLICATIONS

ANNEX PUBLICATIONS

• Van Kerckhoven, S., & Odermatt, J. (2021). Euro clearing after Brexit: shifting locations and oversight. Journal of Financial Regulation and Compliance, 29(2), 187-201. https://doi.org/10.1108/JFRC-02-2020-0021

• Van Langenhove, L. (2021). The Entanglement of the Social Realm: Towards a Quantum Theory Inspired Ontology for the Social Sciences. Foundations of Science, 26(1), 55-73. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10699-020-09717-6

• Van Langenhove, L. (2021). Towards the Spoken World Theory: the contribution of om Harré to advancing social theory. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour, 51(2), 273- 290. https://doi.org/10.1111/jtsb.12288

• Van Langenhove, L., christensen, A., & moghaddam F. (2021). Harré and the study of personality. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour, 291-292.

• Van Langenhove, L., christensen, A., & moghaddam F. (2021). Revisiting Rom Harré in Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour, 51(2), 184-186. https://doi.org/10.1111/jtsb.12282

• Van Langenhove, L., moghaddam F., & christensen, A. (2021). ROM Harré: a brief biography. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour, 51(2), 187-191. https://doi. org/10.1111/jtsb.12283

• Von Homeyer, I., Oberthur, S., & Jordan, A. (2021). EU climate and energy governance in times of crisis: towards a new agenda. Journal of European Public Policy, 28(7), 959-979. https://doi.org/10.1080/13501763.2021.1918221

• Xhardez, C., & Paquet, M. (2021). Beyond the usual suspects and towards politicisation: Immigration in Quebec’s party manifestos, 1991-2018. Journal of International Migration and Integration, 22(2), 673-690. https://doi.org/10.1007/ s12134-020-00764-3

• Oberthur, S., Hermwille, L., & Rayner, T. (2021). Towards a Sectoral Perspective on Global Climate Governance. Earth System Governance, 8.

• Oberthur, S., Jordan, A. J., & Von Homeyer, I. (2021). EU Climate and Energy Governance in Times of Crisis: Towards a New Agenda. Journal of European Public Policy, 28(7), 959-979. https://doi.org/10.1080/13501763.2021.1918221

• Radu, R., Kettemann, M. C., Meyer, T., & Shahin, J. (2021). Normfare: Norm entrepreneurship in internet governance. Telecommunications Policy, 45(6), [102148]. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.telpol.2021.102148

Vulgarising

• Meyer, T. (2021). Better Late Than Never? A Call for Civil Discourse In Response to the Riots at Capitol Hill. Evaluating democratic governance in Europe (Blog).

• Meyer, T. (2021). Better Late Than Never? A Call for Civil Discourse In Response to the Riots at Capitol Hill [republished from EDGE Blog]. Cross-Current.

Unpublished papers

• Temizisler, F. S. (2021). Discursive shifts in migration during the ‘refugee crisis’.

• Klose, S., Perot, E., & Temizisler, F. S. (2021). Distinguishing two models of differentiation in the EU: Differentiated Integration vs. Differentiated Cooperation.

• Verbruggen, M. (2021). In Defence of Technological-Determinism. Paper presented at ‘Re-imagining Security: Between Science, Technology and Fiction.

• Lefevere, J. (2021). Is there clarity in ambiguity? Reconceptualising ambiguity in party discourse.. Paper presented at Politicologenetmaal 2021.

• Goldberg, A., & Lefevere, J. (2021). Party system polarization, voters’ positional extremity, and the impact of issue positions and competence perceptions on the vote. A comparative 10 country study.. Paper presented at EPSA (European Political Science Association) Virtual Conference 2021.

• Temizisler, F. S. (2021). Politicisation of migration in the EU during the refugee crisis.

• Lefevere, J., Goovaerts, I., & Turkenburg, E. (2021). Staying on Message, or on Topic? An analysis of candidates’ issue emphasis in Belgian election debates, 1985-2019.. Paper presented at ECPR General Conference 2021.

• Tjahja, N., Meyer, T., & Shahin, J. (2021). Who do you think you are? Individual stakeholder identification and mobility at the Internet Governance Forum. Paper presented at Global Internet Governance Academic Network (GigaNet) Symposium 2021.

Policy reports

• Ernst, M. (2021). Limits of Public Diplomacy and Soft Power: Lessons from the THAAD Dispute for South Korea's Foreign Policy. (Academic Paper Series). Washington, DC: Korea Economic Institute of America.

PUBLICATIONS

ANNEX

PUBLICATIONS

• Kautto, P., Kalimo, H., & Mateo, E. (2021). The Circular Economy and Product Policy. (47 ed.) Valtioneuvoston kanslia.

• Coenen, J., & Soete, L. (2021). BOVEN HET SPOOR: Een Masterplanvisie Stationsgebied Maastricht. Stichting DOC-C.

• van der Vet, I. (2021). Deliverable 1.1. Methodological Guidelines for Partners in Data Collection. H2020 INDEED project.

• van der Vet, I. (2021). Deliverable 5.12 Final Conference: "Crime – Terror Nexus: legal perspectives from the EU Member States". FAIRNESS project.

• van der Vet, I. (2021). Deliverable 5.6 Terms of Reference. FAIRNESS project.

• van der Vet, I. (2021). Deliverable 5.9 Training of Trainers in Belgium: Implementation of the Stockholm’s Roadmap in Cases of Terrorism and Radicalisation.

• van der Vet, I., & Rios, R. (2021). EU Fairness Project Deliverable 4.13 FACTSHEETS KIT FOR JUDGES, PROSECUTORS AND INVESTIGATORS.

• De Pauw, M., Zomignani Barboza, J., Weatherburn, A., D'Agostino, S., Catteau, F., Briere, C., ... De Hert, P. (Ed.) (2021). FRANET SR37 Contribution to Fundamental Rights Report 2021.

• Kalimo, H., Mateo, E., & Ünekbas, S. (2021). Hiili- ja ympäristöjalanjälki hankinnoissa – lainsäädäntö ja mittaaminen (HILMI). (2 ed.) Valtioneuvoston kanslia.

• Söebech, Ó., Iozzelli, L., Oberthur, S., Soria Rodriguez, C., Moreno Gonzalez, J. E., Derde, H., ... Haverbeke, D. (2021). Legislative Boundary Conditions and Contradictions for Energy Communities: The European Regulatory Framework for Energy Communities & Legislative Options and Obstacles for Energy Communities in Belgium. ROLECS - Roll out of local energy communities.

• Mattelaer, A. (2021). Readiness as a Mission: Implications for Belgian Defence. (Security Policy Briefs; No. 150). Brussels: Egmont - Royal Institute for International Relations.

• Kizilkaya, Z., Hamdi, S., & Salman, M. (2021). THE PYD/YPG IN THE SYRIAN CONFLICT Aspirations for Autonomy in North-eastern Syria. Brussels School of Governance.

PUBLICATIONS

• Kizilkaya, Z., Hamdi, S., & Salman, M. (2021). THE SYRIAN CONFLICT AFTER A DECADE: THE SURVIVAL STRATEGY OF DAMASCUS AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR THE EU. Brussels School of Governance.

• Fiott, D. (2021). Naval Gazing? The Strategic Compass and the EU's Maritime Presence. EUISS Briefs, (16).

• Meyer, T., & Alaphilippe, A. (2021). One Year Onward: Platform Responses to COVID-19 and US Elections Disinformation in Review. EU DisinfoLab.

• Sundberg Diez, O., & Trauner, F. (2021). Return Sponsorships – High Stakes, Low Gains? European Policy Centre.

• Fiott, D. (2021). Securing the Heavens: How can Space Support the EU's Strategic Compass? EUISS Briefs, (9).

• Desmaele, L., & Ernst, M. (2021). South Korea’s Foreign Policy after the March 2022 Election: Between Washington, Beijing, Tokyo, and Pyongyang. CSDS Policy Brief, 2021(25), 1-6.

• Fiott, D. (2021). Strategic Compass: New Bearings for EU Security and Defence? Chaillot Papers.

• Kim, T. (2021). The Benefits of the US–South Korea Alliance Beyond Deterring North Korea. CSDS Policy Brief, 1-4.

• Desmaele, L., Ernst, M., Kim, T., Pacheco Pardo, R., & Reiterer, M. (2021). The EU's Indo-Pacific Strategy: Prospects for Cooperation with South Korea. KF-VUB Korea Chair Report, 1-47.

• Meyer, T., Alaphilippe, A., & Pershan, C. (2021). The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: How Platforms Are Prioritising Some EU Member States in Their COVID-19 Disinformation Responses. EU DisinfoLab.

• Verbruggen, M. (2021). Drone swarms: coming (sometime) to a war near you. Just not today. Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.

• Kalajzic, E. (Ed.), Struye De Swielande, T. (Ed.), Biscop, S., Criekemans, D., Du Bois, C., Henrotin, J., Mattelaer, A., Resteigne, D., Vandamme, D., Wilen, N. & Zickgraf, C. (2021). Update of the Strategic Vision 2030: Recommendations. Royal Higher Institute of Defence - Belgium.

• Fiott, D. (2021). European Sovereignty: Strategy and Interdependence. Paris, France: EU Institute for Security Studies.

• Fiott, D. (2021). Strategic Compass: New Bearings for EU Security and Defence? Paris, France: EU Institute for Security Studies.

PUBLICATIONS

Other contributions

• Kim, T., & Lhotka, C. (2021, Nov 14). Japan and Germany Align on an Indo-Pacific Strategy.

• Kim, T. (2021, Jan 14). Tensions between Iran and South Korea.

• Kim, T. (2021, Apr 18). The US-Japan Alliance Continues to Stand for Democracy, Despite a Role Reversal.

• Mattelaer, A. (2021). Belgium. In A. C. Arndt, L. Horovitz, C. Major, J. Schneider, & L. Wachs (Eds.), Euro-Atlantic Concerns regarding a US »Sole Purpose« Policy (pp. 7-7). (SWP Working Paper - Research Division International Security; No. 4). Berlin: Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik German Institute for International and Security Studies. https://doi.org/10.18449/2021WP13