We are looking for an enthusiastic, dedicated and well-organized PhD researcher, preferably a graduate of a research master, who is specialized in European law and will contribute to our a 3-year international project on the division and interaction of the different powers (legislative, executive, judiciary) in the context of EU international trade agreements.

Project description

SepaRope (Separation of Powers for 21st Century Europe) is the first empirically-grounded and comparative project rethinking the theory and practices of separation of powers in present-day European Union. Separation of powers, the classic model of decision-making, entrusts different state functions to different branches (legislative, executive, judiciary) and serves the double purpose of ensuring collective will-formation and control of those in power. The polyarchic and multilevel nature of the EU is not easily reconciled with the separation-of-powers-model, either at EU or national level. SepaRope demonstrates in combined horizontal and vertical inquiries how recent economic and political developments affect the EU’s institutional framework and the anchoring of EU decision- making in national legitimacy. It combines conceptual constitutional analysis with empirical research in three fields (Economic and Monetary Union, migration, trade), in which EU decision-making is controversial, rights-sensitive and illustrative of recent power shifts. Based on a joint conceptual framework for identifying and examining will- formation and control structures, SepaRope conducts autonomous but interlinked empirical and legal-analytical studies of the three branches in the three policy fields, respectively, exposing ever-increasing ‘grey areas’ of diffuse, ring-fenced, and informalised public power. The research team of the Amsterdam Centre for European Law and Governance (ACELG) at the University of Amsterdam will be engaged with the study focused on the executive.

The project engages with several legal subdisciplines including constitutional law, EU law and international law. It applies social science methods of collecting and evaluating empirical data.

Tasks

The successful applicant will be working in the sub-study on the executive within the SepaRope project. S/he will investigate the division and interaction of the different powers (legislative, executive, judiciary) in the context of EU international trade agreements. In her/his research, the applicant will be expected to engage with issues of general constitutional and democratic importance, such as transparency/secrecy of international negotiations; legislative oversight; limits and reach of judicial control of external actions; as well as checks and balances emerging from the interaction of the national and European spheres within the EU’s polycentric and multilevel structures. S/he should specialise in EU trade law, but engage in a comparative exchange with EU migration law, or EMU law. Issues of interest for this PhD project include but are not limited to:

• division of powers and control mechanism between EU and national actors and between different EU actors in the negotiation, conclusion, and implementation of trade agreements;
• the European Parliament’s direct and indirect influences over negotiating and concluding trade agreements examining a number of case studies.

You will:

• execute your PhD research in close collaboration with the other project team members and under the supervision of Professor Christina Eckes, leading to completion and publication of a dissertation;
• engage autonomously in the collection of empirical data (interviews; document analysis);
• present intermediate research results in internal discussions and potentially at workshops and conferences and
• participate in the overall work on the SepaRope project by e.g.contributing to the organization of meetings and events.

The doctoral positions are open to persons not yet accepted for a PhD programme.

An applicant meets the general eligibility requirements for doctoral studies (third-cycle studies) if s/he:

• has a law degree, master’s level or equivalent; a research master will be an advantage;
• is specialized in the field of European law;
• has a strong motivation to do PhD research;
• is proficient in English;
• has excellent scientific writing, planning and communication skills;
• has an interest in, or potentially experience with methods of adjacent disciplines and their respective methods (i.e. history, philosophy, political economy, political science, etc.).

The employment contract will be initially for the period of one year and will be extended for another two years upon favourable evaluation. There is no possibility for a permanent position. The position as PhD researcher will start on 1 September 2020 or, if particular reasons justify it, as soon as possible thereafter.

The gross full-time monthly salary will be in accordance with the salary scales for PhD researchers at Dutch universities, scale P (Collective Labour Agreement of Dutch Universities) ranging from €2,325 to €2,972 gross per month. Secondary benefits at Dutch universities are attractive and include 8% holiday pay and an 8.3% end-of-year Bonus.

What else do we offer?

Your research will be carried out within the Amsterdam Centre for European Law and Governance under the guidance of ACELG director and project leader Prof. Christina Eckes. ACELG unites a diverse group of researchers with an interest in the institutional, constitutional and economic law of the European Union. The centre has a strong track-record of excellent research and sustains a dynamic research culture through a series of events and intiatives.

Additonally, you will be profit from the collaboration in an international team that consists of researchers from the Centre for European Research (CERGU) at the University of Gothenburg and the Erik Castrén Institute of International Law and Human Rights (ECI) at the University of Helsinki.

The successful applicant will have the opportunity to participate in the Law School’s PhD training programme and be part of the PhD community of the Amsterdam Law School.

The positions are first and foremost research positions; yet the successful applicant will incidentially have the opportunity to be involved in teaching in the field of European law.

University of Amsterdam

With over 5,000 employees, 30,000 students and a budget of more than 600 million euros, the University of Amsterdam (UvA) is an intellectual hub within the Netherlands. Teaching and research at the UvA are conducted within seven faculties: Humanities, Social and Behavioural Sciences, Economics and Business, Law, Science, Medicine and Dentistry. Housed on four city campuses in or near the heart of Amsterdam, where disciplines come together and interact, the faculties have close links with thousands of researchers and hundreds of institutions at home and abroad.  

The UvA’s students and employees are independent thinkers, competent rebels who dare to question dogmas and aren’t satisfied with easy answers and standard solutions. To work at the UvA is to work in an independent, creative, innovative and international climate characterised by an open atmosphere and a genuine engagement with the city of Amsterdam and society.

Amsterdam Law School – Department of Public International Law and European Law

The Amsterdam Law School prides itself on its international orientation and strong social commitment. This is reflected by both its research and educational activities. The Amsterdam Law School offers three Bachelor’s programmes, including the interdisciplinary English-language Bachelor Politics, Psychology, Law and Economics (PPLE) in cooperation with two other Faculties, as well as a variety of Master's programmes, several of which are taught exclusively in English (i.e. International and European Law, European Private Law, International Criminal Law, and Law & Finance). The Amsterdam Law School prepares students for a wide variety of legal careers including law firms, government, business and industry, the national and international judiciary, public service, human rights advocacy, and academia. With 3,700 students and over 400 staff members, it is one of the largest law faculties in the Netherlands.

The Amsterdam Centre for European Law and Governance (ACELG) is one of the leading researcher centres within the Law School. It is nationally and internationally recognized as a research centre that makes high level contributions to the academic and policy debate on legal and governance processes in Europe. ACELG ensures the quality of its research by providing for a vibrant environment, in which our researchers are encouraged to pursue excellence, seek recognition in the scholarly discourse, both internationally and nationally, attract external research funding, and publish in the leading peer reviewed journals.