Latest blog articles

May the US President appoint his son in law as advisor to the White House? For quite a lot formal appointments the President needs the advice and consent (permission) from the senate, but not here. Is it permissible? 

Recently it was brought in the news that families of Americans killed by ISIS in Belgium and France sued twitter for allegedly failing to keep members of the terrorist organisation of its platform. Lawsuits concerning American victims who were killed in Europe raise a number of interesting and legal...

The European Union and its member states have failed to comply with their extraterritorial human rights obligations to provide humanitarian aid and fulfil the subsistence rights of asylum-seekers.

Recently one of my foreign network partners (from France) requested me to assist him in advising and assisting one of his clients in a take over of a Dutch company. He was asked to provide expertise and guidance in the areas of employment law and employee benefits taxation (wage withholding taxes...

German Commissioner Guenther Oettinger is facing hearings in the European Parliament this week regarding his promotion to the budget and human resources portfolio.

Nuclear accidents such as the one in Fukushima; or potential nuclear incidents/accidents in Belgium nuclear plants such as the one close to Maastricht in Tihange. One of the questions that always arises in the context of a nuclear accident of the Fukushima type is why nuclear operators are largely...

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

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

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

I knew the letter would arrive in June. Every day I walked towards the front door and quickly glanced at the mailbox. No letter. Then, on a sunny Saturday morning, it was there. I felt like all those high schoolers from all those movies who applied for these fancy universities, waiting for their...