The Right to Water in the European Blue Deal: A New Constitutional Challenge
There is a narrow catalogue of goods and values which represent fundamental importance for human survival, dignity and protection of life; consequently, these should be guaranteed and respected within international...
Beyond Bogus Self-Employment: the EU Platform Work Directive’s Presumption of Employment, and its Implications for the Future of Employment Rights in the Gig Economy
On 11 March 2024, the European Union’s employment and social affairs ministers voted to adopt the Platform Work Directive (‘PWD’). First proposed by the Commission in December 2021, the Directive...
Waiting for Godot No More: The Climate Crisis and the New European Asylum Pact
To many born in the 1990s, climate change was akin to Godot: the figure conjured by Beckett whose influence was omnipresent, but whose appearance, anticipated as it was, never came...
Greece Achieves Marriage Equality: What About Full Parental Rights for LGBTQI Persons?
LGBTQI rights are far from being universally accepted. On 16 February 2024, a new bill for LGBTQI rights was voted by the Greek Parliament allowing same-sex couples to marry and...
AI and Global Development: The Role of Economic and Social Rights
As policymakers in the Global North prepare to introduce binding horizontal AI regulation, increasing attention is also being paid to the promises and pitfalls of AI for developing countries. Although...
How can we guard against AI-generated discrimination?
One of the most commonly expressed concerns about AI systems is their capacity to produce unfairly discriminatory outputs and decisions. Well-known examples abound: for instance, in healthcare, AI-enabled decision support...
La Belgique criminalise l’écocide: une (imparfaite) première européenne
Le 22 février 2024, la Belgique a marqué l’histoire en adoptant un nouveau code pénal criminalisant l’écocide dans son droit interne. Il s’agit de la première fois qu’une telle interdiction...
Belgium Recognises the Crime of Ecocide: A (Lukewarm) European First
On 22 February 2024, Belgium made history by adopting a new penal code that criminalises ‘ecocide’ at the national level. This marks the first time that such a domestic prohibition...
EU Artificial Intelligence Act Approved: What Remains Missing from this Compromise?
“We had one goal: to develop legislation that would ensure that the AI ecosystem in Europe develops with a human-centered approach respecting fundamental rights and European values, building trust, creating...
Are we Missing Women in (AI) Healthcare Again? The EU’s Thoughts on AI-Empowered Medical Diagnosis
With the recent trilogue concluding in the European Parliament concerning the Artificial Intelligence Act (AIA), along with the increasing involvement of Big Tech in the healthcare sector, we must maintain...
Is Mandatory Human Rights and Environmental Due Diligence a Paper Tiger? Lessons from the French Experience (Part I)
In 2017, France became the first country to enact a due diligence law, the Law on the Duty of Vigilance, requiring large French companies to identify risks and prevent serious...
Is Mandatory Human Rights and Environmental Due Diligence a Paper Tiger? Lessons from the French Experience (Part II)
France was the first country to enact a due diligence law with its Law on the Duty of Vigilance. While the Law has faced challenges in implementation, outlined in a...
