Book Launch
Book Launch | EU External Relations Law: Research Meets Practice
- Date
- Tuesday 19 May 2026
- Time
- Explanation
- Followed by a drinks reception
- Location
-
Spui Campus
Spui 5
2511 BL The Hague - Room
- SPUI 5B.30
About the event
Under the pressure of geopolitical instability, the European Union is rapidly evolving as a global actor. A wave of new legislation, sanctions, and financing instruments aims to bolster the EU’s “strategic autonomy,” while debates on constitutional reform have been reignited to make the Union more agile and less prone to gridlock. At the same time, trade policy, partnerships with like-minded states, and enlargement are being rethought in what increasingly looks like a transitional moment—between a fading liberal international order and an emerging, still fluid new one.
It is in this context that the third edition of EU External Relations Law: Text, Cases and Materials has been published. Edited by Ramses Wessel and Joris Larik, and featuring leading contributors from across the field, the book captures key developments in legislation, treaty-making, case law, and practice over the past five years. It adopts a dual lens: EU constitutional law (principles, competences, institutional roles) and international law (the EU’s place in the international legal order and the domestic effects of international law). Core policy areas – including trade, security and defence, environment, and enlargement – are explored through a distinctive “text, cases, and materials” approach, offering readers a comprehensive and accessible guide.
This launch event brings together contributors to the volume alongside perspectives from Dutch government legal practice, engaging the wider Hague community of students, researchers, practitioners, and policymakers.
Programme
Welcome & Introduction:
- Prof. Giles Scott-Smith (Dean of Leiden University College The Hague)
- Prof. Armin Cuyvers (Director of the Europa Institute; Leiden Law School)
Authors panel:
- Prof. Ramses Wessel (University of Groningen)
- Dr. Joris Larik (Leiden University)
- Prof. Andrea Ott (Maastricht University)
- Dr. Tamás Molnar (University of Vienna)
- Dr. Jed Odermatt (City St George's, University of London)
- Prof. Peter Van Elsuwege (Ghent University)
Distinguished practitioner's perspective:
- Dr. Marianna Gijzen, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, representative of the Netherlands before the Court of Justice of the EU