Defending students

The end of the semester is the period where TILEC bids goodbye to those Ph.D. students defending their dissertation before embarking on new challenges. On 23 November 2009, TILEC member Eckart Ehlers successfully defended his dissertation about electricity and gas supply network unbundling, supervised by TILEC members Leigh Hancher and Pierre Larouche. Eckart's thesis analyzes the legality of supply network divestiture measures, as threatened by the European Commission, and the legislative unbundling measures which entered into force in Summer 2009, on the basis of European law and the constitutional framework of the United Kindgom, the Netherlands and Germany. On 1 December 2009 at 10 AM, TILEC member Alan Littler will defend his dissertation about the regulation of gambling, supervised by Tilburg University professor Cyrille Fijnaut and TILEC director Pierre Larouche. Alan´s thesis emphasizes that "although EU Member States take different approaches to regulating the supply of gambling services in many respects" their objectives are broadly similar and that coordination between national regulatory bodies is required to ensure that the national competence to regulate gambling does not undermine the internal market. Ph.D. defences always take place in the Aula of the university; the public is welcome.