European Law LL.M. opening lecture by Bartjan Wegter, EU Counter-Terrorism Coordinator
On 12 September 2024, the official ceremony opening the academic year 2024-2025 for students of the European Law master’s programme took place at Leiden Law School, organised by the Europa Institute.
After a warm welcome from Dr Ben Van Rompuy, Academic Coordinator of the European Law LL.M., Professor Stefaan Van den Bogaert, Director of the Europa Institute, delivered the official opening remarks. He provided an overview of the upcoming academic year for the 71 new students that join the 19 students who began the programme in February. Together, this cohort represents over 20 countries both within and outside the EU.
This was followed by an award ceremony for the best student submissions in the academic year 2023-2024.
The 15th Europa Institute thesis prize went to a recent graduate of the European Law LL.M., Natálie Dřínovská, for her thesis 'Powerful Rulers or Principled Leaders? Patterns of Case Assignment at the Court of Justice in the hands of its President and the First Advocate General (evidence from 2013-2023)'. Her ambitious and expansive research delved into how Advocates General and Judge-Rapporteurs are appointed to cases in the Court of Justice of the European Union. Ms Dřínovská conducted empirical research into around 5000 cases spanning 11 years and concluded that more objective case assignment criteria should be introduced to ensure that some court members do not get disproportionately assigned more cases or cases on more prominent issues.
The best paper of the inter-disciplinary undergraduate lecture series 'Europa in de Praktijk' was written by Kees van Tilburg ('Dreiging van hybride oorlogsvoering voor offshore-windenergie in de Noordzee') – a very topical examination of the threat of hybrid warfare concerning wind energy in the North Sea, with the conclusion that the Netherlands is insufficiently prepared for such an eventuality.
Leiden alumnus Mr Bartjan Wegter, a seasoned Dutch diplomat with a distinguished career in international security and cooperation, delivered the annual opening lecture. Mr Wegter has served in key roles at organisations such as the Netherlands’ defence intelligence agency, NATO and the UN, and recently assumed the position of EU Counter-Terrorism Coordinator.
Mr Wegter’s lecture centreed on the link between terrorism and geopolitics and their intertwined influence on the EU security agenda, emphasising that both internal as well as external factors undermining the EU’s security must be tackled.
Starting with a historical perspective on the evolution of peace and security action within the EU and its institutions, Mr Wegter considered the EU today to be a 'responsible actor ready to carry its share in the burden of peace', having evolved beyond its market economy and free trade origins. Touching on crucial recent historical moments that impacted the EU internal and external security, from terrorist attacks in the early 2000s to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Mr Wegter made it clear that the EU has received a wake-up call, and the policy agenda now firmly includes a focus on European security. His own role, the position of EU Counter-Terrorism Coordinator, was set up as a response to this realisation back in 2004, and its key function is to maintain a coordinated overview of the counter-terrorism efforts undertaken at various levels by different actors within the EU and beyond. This ensures that the fight against terrorism and the EU’s counter-terrorism strategy, and any impact on EU security is sufficiently taken into account in policymaking and legislative proposals.
Mr Wegter further discussed what he considered to be key challenges today from a counter-terrorism perspective. Alongside the role of state actors in using terrorist tactics to undermine our society, he emphasised that jihadism remains the most important threat given the continued risk of re-emergence of the Islamic State, compounded by the impact of online radicalisation and the lack of regulation of online spaces. Mr Wegter underscored that the rule of law must also be imposed and upheld online, noting the EU’s pioneering role in this sphere.
There was also a fruitful Q&A session with the students, particularly with regard to online regulation and the impact and power wielded by social media companies.
All in all, Mr Wegter emphasised that he remains optimistic about the European project, considering only further integration as the way forward, and concluded with the words: 'For us to build Europe, young people must see it as a collective project and as a vision of your own future.'