Regulatory Interaction and Multi-level Governance
The research programme Regulatory Interaction and Multi-level Governance focuses on the interaction between legal orders and legal disciplines, with specific emphasis on Europeanisation and globalisation of law. Not only is domestic law increasingly influenced by European law (“top-down” Europeanisation), national law and policy also affects European law through “bottom-up” Europeanisation. In turn, both European law and domestic law are shaped by international law-making, while at the same time international law is transformed by European law and Europeanisation. In this research programme, we study processes of regulatory interaction and multi-level governance to better understand the creation, interpretation and application of legal regulation.
Research objectives
The scientific aim of this research programme is to better understand how vertical and horizontal interaction between legal orders and legal disciplines affect the creation, interpretation and application of legal regulation, and to contribute to both theory-building and practical applications in the relevant legal-academic literature.
The societal aim of the programme is to contribute to contemporary public debates about the salience and consequences of regulatory interaction and multi-level governance for citizens, economic actors and society as a whole, especially in the context of the ESG goals.
Research questions
This research programme is structured around the following research question:
How do the vertical and horizontal interaction between legal orders and legal disciplines affect the making, interpretation and application of legal regulation?
Sub-questions
In order to contribute to answering the central research question, research within this research programme focuses particularly, though not exclusively, on the following sub-questions:
What is the influence of legal globalisation and Europeanisation on the separation of power between the legislature, executive and judiciary?
To what extent has interaction between legal orders resulted in regulatory convergence, and what can we learn from such convergence or lack thereof?
How do supranational and international governance institutions deal with differences in legal culture and economic interests between states?
To what extent have globalisation and Europeanisation of law led to higher or lower degrees of protection of legal rights?
To what extent does legal regulation developed in one legal domain conflict with legal rules developed in other legal domains, and how can such conflicts be resolved?
To what extent do regulatory interaction and multi-level governance contribute to a fairer society and the ESG goals?
Key areas
Through the lens of regulatory interaction and multi-level governance and the abovementioned research (sub-)questions, the researchers within this programme presently focus on five key areas:
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Constitutional aspects of Europeanisation
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Rights protection in multi-level governance
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Human and corporate mobility
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Digital economy
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Corporate Social Responsibility
Research approach and methodology
The research programme Regulatory Interaction and Multi-level Governance looks across borders between legal order and legal disciplines. Consequently, research within this programme goes beyond legal phenomena entirely confined to a single jurisdiction.
In our research, we therefore study the vertical and horizontal interaction of laws as self-standing phenomena, but we also use more traditional comparative law methods. Legal-doctrinal research is also done, albeit not as applied to only one legal order. Interdisciplinary research methodologies are generally not part of this research programme. For some key areas of study, however, multidisciplinary research – thus using the insights of e.g. economics, philosophy and sociology – is an important part of our research approach.
Relevant links
Contacts
Prof. dr. I.J.J. (Irene) Burgers
Mr. dr. J. (Justin) Lindeboom
| Last modified: | 14 March 2024 09.39 a.m. |