And here is the (other) big news of the day - Reykjavik will hold a referendum on 29 August, seeking a mandate to continue its negotiations on EU accession, which had stalled in 2014.
www.euractiv.com/news/iceland...
Trump's decision to bomb Iran is now the greatest windfall to the Russian war effort on record. If it continues, it might save the Russian war economy.
Over the past few months, I've been meeting Duncan Ivison, who in my view has the most important job in Manchester. I wanted to ask the vice chancellor of @officialuom.bsky.social about its reliance on China, the threat of AI and its relationship to the city.
manchestermill.co.uk/why-the-hell...
The impact of Brexit on UK immigration - new research by @johnspringford.bsky.social & me for @centreeuropeanref.bsky.social & @ukandeu.bsky.social
Brexit
a) reduced EU-origin employees by 785K (2.3% of workforce)
b) increased non-EU origin employees by 992K (2.95%)
www.cer.eu/insights/imp...
Casanova wandering London in the 18th century - theatres, taverns, the Exchange, and the curious manners of the English.
Read the full entry here: www.europeanliterarylondon.org/feature/f4b3...
@uclei.bsky.social
#EuropeanLiteraryLondon #London #CoventGarden #Casanova
Course slides discussing Dewey, Havel, and taking agency.
Taught Havel this year.
We all need to think more on taking agency.
By the excellent @timothysnyder.bsky.social
One neutral EU country wondering how it can (and whether it should) help another neutral EU country.
I have said for years that neutrality in Europe will come increasingly under pressure.
www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-41...
Bild einer Justitia-Statue mit dem Text “Bedrohte Justiz. Politisierung als Gefahr für den Rechtsstaat”
Power Point Folie mit dem Text: Von den Rändern in den Mainstream Delegitimierung als Bedrohung für die Justiz in Europa PD Dr. Philipp Köker Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg
Heute auf dem Weg zur Tagung “Bedrohte Justiz” an der @apbtutzing.bsky.social organisiert mit @verfassungsblog.de - freue mich sehr auf den Austausch und dass ich einen Impulsvortrag beisteuern darf! www.apb-tutzing.de/news/2026-02...
Magnificent lecture by @patporter76.bsky.social at the @mileendinstitute.bsky.social last night, on the 80th anniversary of Churchill's "Iron Curtain" speech.
It would have warmed Churchill's heart to see a speaker holding an audience rapt without notes or slides - just sheer rhetorical power!
The result is a piecemeal framework that risks creating second-class family relationships.
The Polish coalition has finally proposed legal recognition for same-sex couples – not through marriage, but by concluding a civil contract in front of a notary with a “closest person”.
ANNA ŚLEDZIŃSKA-SIMON highlights the array of problems behind the draft:
verfassungsblog.de/patchwork-la...
As far as I understand, this is not a Security and Defence Partnership (like the EU has with the UK, Canada, Norway, Japan or now even India) but in a classical Swiss style a part of a set of bilateral agreements, including for Swiss participation in EU military operations like in Bosnia-Herzegovina
„It is to be expected that Togo’s newly installed restitution committee will demand the repatriation.“ 👇🏾
A portrait of Helen Sharman. Credit: Thomas Angus, Imperial College Text below: In 1989 though the Berlin Wall was down, the USSR was still shut. Gorbachev decided to offer astronaut training for hard currency to Western countries. Helen applied to the British company set up to manage the mission. There were around 5,500 qualified applicants and the final two were selected live on British TV, and given 4 days' notice to go to Zvezdnyi gorodok, then a military facility with 3,500 inhabitants. Helen spent 8 days in space in May 1991 conducting a range of experiments.
💡 Did you know the first Briton in space, Dr Helen Sharman, studied at SSEES? Helen did her MA in Central and South-East European Studies, which allowed her to develop her interest in the East European languages she had encountered in the USSR.
#InternationalWomensDay #IWD2026 #WomensHistoryMonth
A screenshot of the HERJ deputy editor call for expressions of interest, spread over two pages and listing the duties and responsibilities, person specification, criteria and how to apply.
📢 @histedresearch.bsky.social is seeking Deputy Editors! 📢
History Education Research Journal (HERJ) is looking for active researchers to help shape open access history education scholarship and strengthen global debate.
More info: journals.uclpress.co.uk/herj/news/153/ @uclpressjournals.bsky.social
“In turbulent times, both the EU and the UK would benefit from overcoming the lack of trust that the Brexit process created.”
buff.ly/RoTYYsh
Coming up in just an hour: our next interactive masterclass for @laws.ucl.ac.uk students, with Luis González García of Matrix Chambers, on the legality and longer-term impact of using tariffs as tools of negotiating leverage, geopolitics, and economic security.
www.ucl.ac.uk/european-ins...
Applications are now open for the 13th Clara Marina O’Donnell fellowship, full details below.
Start date: October 2026 for six months
Pay: London Living Wage
Applications in by: 09/04/26
@centreeuropeanref.bsky.social @brookings.edu @kingscollegelondon.bsky.social
buff.ly/3vV64SZ
But what about international law – continued.
A new post at The Empty City on how Western one-sidedness in what they openly condemn as a breach of international law is neither coherent nor compelling
Personal blog: theemptycity.com/blog/2026/03...
Substack: emptycity.substack.com/p/but-what-a...
I have just held a call with President Pedro Sánchez to express the EU’s full solidarity with Spain.
The EU will always ensure that the interests of its Member States are fully protected.
It is quite astonishing to remember the Iraq war, the demise of a brutal dictator there, the principled opposition of France and Germany, the chaos and regional instability that followed vindicating French and German opposition - and to see only Sanchez have the courage to take a stance.
Bringing research to life 🤝
The [Black Europe] Think-Tank at UCL last month explored inclusive approaches to memory cultures, sharing ideas and best practices across disciplines and communities.
Read more: www.ucl.ac.uk/european-ins...
#UCL #BlackEurope #MemoryCultures
@laws.ucl.ac.uk @uclspp.bsky.social @uclpublicpolicy.bsky.social @uclssees.bsky.social @ioe.bsky.social @artshumsucl.bsky.social @uclpolicylab.bsky.social,
This event is led by our European Institute Student Ambassador, Jakub Dobosiewicz.
EU Migration Pact – a genuine reform or repackaged status quo?
Join us at UCL on 24 March, 6–8pm, for a student-led policy debate:
“Fortress Europe? The New EU Migration Pact Under Scrutiny.”
Registration required: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/fortress-e....
Professor Sir John Baker KC is standing at a lectern delivering an address to a packed lecture theatre.
Our #UCL200 celebrations began in spectacular style last week with the 75th Bentham Association Presidential Address and Dinner. 🎤 🥳
Prof Sir John Baker KC delivered an inspiring Address on ‘Sovereignty of Parliament and Legal History’.
🔗 Read more: www.ucl.ac.uk/laws/news/20...
Big trade news from Brussels as the Commission decides to provisionally apply the Mercosur trade agreement without European Parliament consent ec.europa.eu/commission/p...
And more relevant UCL research in the press - this time on rightwing rhetoric in the UK Parliament.
Delivered by the UCL Centre for Data Intensive Science and Industry working with @theguardian.com.
Excellent data visualisation, too.
www.ucl.ac.uk/data-intensi...
New from @uclpress.bsky.social, authored by academics from UCL - including the former director of the Centre for the Study of the Legacies of British Slavery - and the Open University.
@uclhistory.bsky.social, @ioe.bsky.social, @openuniversity.bsky.social
See also: www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/
Now that us peasants are allowed to see this treaty, here's some thoughts as I read through it.
The summary states that there is no effect on sovereignty and 'no direct application of EU law to Gibraltar through the Agreement or enforcement role for the [CJEU] in Gibraltar'
By 1878, UCL became the first university in England to welcome women to higher education alongside men – and English Literature was one of the first subjects they could study thanks to Henry Morley, one of our Faces of UCL.
buff.ly/hfZGWPx
Photo credit: UCL Art Museum
