Belle Beems is Assistant Professor of EU law at the Europa Institute of Leiden University. She specialises in competition law, the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Her research explores the interaction between different fields of law in regulating digital markets within the multi-level legal order of the EU. Belle is particularly interested in institutional questions and cooperation between enforcers.

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Belle Beems is Assistant Professor of EU (competition) law at the Europa Institute of Leiden University. She specialises in the regulation of digital markets, and in particular in competition law, the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Belle’s PhD – which will be defended in January 2026 – focused on the interaction between competition law, the DMA and the GDPR. The PhD assesses to what extent the institutional frameworks and cooperation mechanisms of national and EU competition law, the DMA and the GDPR can guarantee the coherent application of these instruments to personal data markets. Belle has published on various topics related to EU law, competition law and data protection law in several national and international peer-reviewed journals, including the European Competition Journal, SEW, the Competition Law Review and the European Data Protection Law Review. She presented her work at various academic events, among others, organised by ASCOLA, CLASF, NVER, iHub and the Sectorplan Digital Legal Studies. Furthermore, she served as a board member of the Dutch Association for European Law (NVER).

Before joining Leiden University, Belle was affiliated with Radboud University as a PhD Candidate and lecturer. Prior to that, she worked as a lecturer and junior researcher at KU Leuven and Utrecht University. During her PhD, she undertook research stays at Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona, Heinrich Heine University in Düsseldorf and the Vienna University of Economics and Business. She obtained her Bachelor’s degree (cum laude) at Utrecht University and holds a (cum laude) Master’s degree in European Law from the same university. During her Bachelor’s, she studied for one semester at University College Dublin.

Research interests

1. The interplay between competition law, the DMA, the GDPR and other instruments of platform regulation in the digital economy.
2. The interaction and cooperation among different enforcers regulating digital markets within the multi-level legal order of the EU.
3. Non-economic objectives of market regulation and competition law.