Latest blog articles

In this entry I want to mention four considerations that suggest that human rights lawyers should be cautious in embracing basic income as a replacement for human rights. These reflections should be seen as merely exploratory. The basic income in full has never been put in practice, and consequently...

With the painful experiences of new Member States breaching the rule of law and democracy principles inside the EU and no tailor-made remedy to punish and enforce EU values, the Commission suggests in its Western Balkans strategy that future accession treaties could provide for such a mechanism to...

In May 2018 the European Commission presented the plan of a new financial framework for 2021-2027. In which is stated that the European Commission, among other things, aims to make the subsidies which are given to the countries, conditional upon the level at which a member state complies with EU...

It is a done deal, the Netherlands will join the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO). At 3 and 17 April, the Upper House debated with minister Grapperhaus of Security and Justice about a possible participation in the EPPO.  ^{Only available in Dutch.}

When a marriage no longer works, you break up. Divorce proceedings are started and if all goes well, both partners can go on to live their own lives. At least, that is how it works with a civil marriage. What kind of problems do women encounter in a religious divorce?

Innovation is stimulated by a well designed regulatory framework as well as a balanced and effective Intellectual Property (IP) protection. IP protection gives the innovator an exclusive right on his innovation and allows a fair sustained return for his investment. In agricultural industry, plant...

The recent ECJ’s judgment identifying Uber’s activities as transport services can be seen as a victory of the taxi sector against new business models. It affects the future of the platform economy in Europe by providing that certain composite services fall under the regulations governing the...

How the Puigdemont Affair demonstrates the relevance of the European Arrest Warrant.

Nowadays, companies let consumers ‘play’ with their trademark: in the ‘Your Nutella – your way’ campaign the customer is invited to create his name label on a Nutella jar in the classic design of the Nutella logo. Nevertheless, there is an enhanced risk of trade mark dilution.

How do we explain a decision made by a machine-learning algorithm? Do works of art created by artificial intelligence enjoy copyright protection? If intelligent games gather data of their users, who is liable if users are harmed by such games?