Who followed the news in recent weeks might get the impression that a change is afoot in attitudes towards multinational corporations. In the Netherlands, an environmental organization won a lawsuit against Shell, forcing it to start reducing its carbon emissions with immediate effect. Last month, the leaders of the G7, the world’s richest states, agreed…

The largest farmers’ demonstration in postwar European history, in protest against reform of the Common Agricultural Policy, turns 5o today. Alessandra Schimmel argues in this blog that it prompts us to consider other groups’ criticism of this policy as well. Since the early 1970s, European consumer groups have repeatedly raised their concerns about the Common Agricultural Policy, addressing its failure…

As tests for several vaccines against the corona virus enter their final stages, sceptics raise concerns about the vaccine’s safety. They argue that the unprecedented speed with which the vaccines have been developed and the commercial interests that are at stake may come with risks to public health. In this context, one historical scandal continues…

In the blog series #UUFutureEurope member of this project team dr. Koen van Zon elaborates on the past and future of democracy in the European Union. The 70 year anniversary of the Schuman Declaration, on the 9th of May, was supposed to be the starting signal of the Conference on the Future of Europe : a Europe-wide…

In the wake of controversies over the Dutch ratification of the CETA trade deal between Canada and the EU, Koen van Zon asks where concerns over hormone-raised beef originated. This blog goes back to the events leading up to the European Community’s ban on growth hormones in the meat industry in 1985. Koen shows that…