Armin Cuvyers is full Professor of European Law at the Europa Institute of Leiden University, where he holds the chair in EU Constitutional Law and Comparative Regional Integration. He is also the head of the department of European law and Director of CompaRe, the Leiden Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence on Comparative Regional Integration. He previously was a visiting researcher at a.o. Berkeley, Stanford, Sydney University, The Singapore Management University, Hastings Law School and Bilgi, as well as a visiting fellow at the European Political Strategy Centre (EPSC) the in-house think tank of the European Commission President. His research focusses on European constitutional law, sovereignty, Brexit, and (con)federalism, often in a comparative perspective and in collaboration with social psychologists to integrate their empirical insights into EU law. Armin regularly provides legal advice to public and private parties on different fields of EU law and gives guest lectures in the Netherlands and abroad.

More information about Armin Cuyvers

‘What is the EU? What can or should the EU be to effectively address challenges like climate change, the digital revolution, competetiveness and defense? And what can Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin-America learn from each other in designing regional systems that work? For in a world where US hegemony is rapidly declining,  all regions must find ways to work better together, and to stand strong in an increasignly hostile and power-based global reality. Yet how can countries collaborate effectiely whilst also respecting national sovereignty, democracy and human nature? For even if countries must collaborate to serve their citizens, states remain the primary emotional, social and political homes of people. Finding ways for countries to effectively and legitimately collaborte: that is the question that drive me.’

Armin Cuvyers is full Professor of European Law at the Europa Institute of Leiden University, where he holds the chair in EU Constitutional Law and Comparative Regional Integration. He is also the head of the department of European law and Director of CompaRe, the Leiden Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence on Comparative Regional Integration. He previously was a visiting researcher at a.o. Berkeley, Stanford, Sydney University, The Singapore Management University, Hastings Law School and Bilgi, as well as a visiting fellow at the European Political Strategy Centre (EPSC) the in-house think tank of the European Commission President. His research focusses on European constitutional law, sovereignty, Brexit, and (con)federalism, often in a comparative perspective and in collaboration with social psychologists to integrate their empirical insights into EU law. Armin regularly provides legal advice to public and private parties on different fields of EU law and gives guest lectures in the Netherlands and abroad.

Armin Cuyvers graduated cum laude from Leiden University in Civil Law (burgerlijk recht) and Legal Philosophy, where he also received his certificates, cum laude, in Public International Law and European Law. He was a visiting student at Harvard College and Harvard Law School and in 2005 received his Magister Juris degree from Oxford, Exeter College, with distinction. In 2013, Cuvyers received his PhD, jointly in European law and in Legal Philosophy with his thesis: ‘The EU as a Confederal Union of Sovereign Member Peoples’. This thesis, in a comparative perspective with the US, explores a confederal structure for the EU. As of 2011, Cuyvers was respectively an Assistant Professor and Associate Professor of EU Law at Leiden Law School.

In his research on EU constitutional law and theory, Armin combines traditional legal-constitutional methods with two innovative approaches. Firstly, he compares the EU with other regional organisations in the world such as ASEAN, MERCOSUR, CARICOM and the EAC. Contrary to the standard approach, he thereby also looks at what the EU can learn from other organisations, instead of assuming the EU is the gold standard. Secondly, he collaborates with social psychologists to integrate empirical insights into EU constitutional law. For the EU as well, feelings are facts. European integration must therefore adapt to human nature, as the opposite will not happen. So how can states and peoples collaborate effectively without sacrificing their own identity and democracy? In addition to his constitutional experience, Cuyvers also holds special expertise in the free movement of complex services, especially games of chance.

In Leiden, Cuyvers lectures on EU law and regional integration at bachelor's, master's and advanced master's level. In addition, he regularly acts as a guest lecturer in the Netherlands and abroad, also providing professional courses for lawyers, judges and public officials. In 2013, Cuyvers won the faculty teaching award for best lecturer, and became one of the founding members of the Leiden Teachers Academy. As such, he is actively involved in teaching innovation at faculty and university level. 

Key research areas

• The constitutional nature of the EU, and the evolution of its constitutional nature.
• Comparative regional integration, especially focussing on ASEAN, the EAC, MERCOSUR and the AfCFTA.
• Social Pscychology and EU law; empirical research into the legitimacy of EU law.

Publications