PhD defence Margot Van Leuvenhaege

• 16 december 2020 - 5 p.m.
• Supervisor: em. prof. dr. Bernard Hubeau

Abstract

Dit doctoraat behandelt de vraag naar de toegankelijkheid van het socialebijstandsrecht voor de kwetsbare burger. Het OCMW-recht, als onderdeel van het socialebijstandsrecht, is gericht op de realisatie van het recht op een menswaardig leven voor elke burger en komt pas op het voorplan wanneer iemand zich in een zeer precaire leefsituatie bevindt. Rechtstoegankelijkheid in dit domein is derhalve van fundamenteel (levens)belang voor de betrokkenen.

In het eerste deel zal blijken dat kwetsbaarheid, rechtstoegankelijkheid en OCMW-recht conceptueel nauw met elkaar verbonden zijn. Aan de hand van een grondige theoretische bespreking van voormelde begrippen worden een aantal concrete onderzoeksvragen geformuleerd. Vanuit deze onderzoeksvragen start het tweede deel met een rechtspraak- en praktijkonderzoek, bestaande uit een grondige studie van vonnissen, arresten en focusgesprekken. Zodoende komt men tot een overzicht van de belangrijkste knelpunten in de toegankelijkheid (meer specifiek de begrijpelijkheid) van het OCMW-recht. In een derde beweging wordt vervolgens nagegaan op welke wijze men het bestaan van voormelde knelpunten zou kunnen verklaren. Belangrijk is dat hier wordt gekozen voor een rechtssociologische – en niet zuiver juridische – integrale benadering. Het doctoraat sluit af met een algemene situering van de voorstellen, praktijken en evoluties voor een beter toegankelijk OCMW-recht.

PhD defence Jef Van Eyndhoven​

• 2 December 2020
  
• Supervisor: Prof. dr. Bruno Peeters
  

Abstract

Het Belgisch fiscaal recht is fundamenteel ‘gepenaliseerd’. Het strafrecht heeft een zeer ruim wettelijk toepassingsgebied ten aanzien van fiscale overtredingen op het vlak van inkomstenbelastingen en btw. Daardoor is er een grote overlapping van de mogelijkheden tot administratieve en strafrechtelijke handhaving van dezelfde fiscale overtredingen. Die overlapping geeft aanleiding tot een geheel van knelpunten en problemen. Niettemin ontbreekt op vandaag enige principiële beleidsmatige reflectie over de omvang van de fiscale strafbaarstellingen.

Het doel van dit proefschrift bestaat erin om op basis van een set van wetenschappelijk verantwoorde toetsingscriteria een kritische evaluatie te maken van de strafrechtelijke handhaving van fiscale verplichtingen en aanbevelingen te doen voor verbetering.

De onderzoeker ontwikkelt een toetsingskader aan de hand waarvan zowel evaluerend als aanbevelend onderzoek naar de strafrechtelijke handhaving van fiscale verplichtingen mogelijk is. Op basis van een grondige literatuurstudie en een schets van het relevant Europees rechtskader worden vijf toetsingscriteria geïdentificeerd die elk verband houden met actuele doelstellingen van repressieve fiscale handhaving: proportionaliteit, instrumentaliteit, rechtsbescherming, het lex certa-beginsel en handhaafbaarheid. Vervolgens wordt ruime aandacht besteed aan het beschrijven van het onderzoeksvoorwerp binnen zijn bredere context, dat wil zeggen de strafbaarstelling van fiscale overtredingen binnen de bredere context van de repressieve fiscale handhaving. Dit onderzoeksvoorwerp wordt vanuit drie verschillende invalshoeken beschreven: een rechtshistorische analyse, een positiefrechtelijke analyse en een analyse van de overlapping van verschillende mogelijkheden tot repressieve fiscale handhaving.

Vervolgens wordt een kritische evaluatie gemaakt van de vigerende fiscale strafbaarstellingen, waarbij de nadruk ligt op de artikelen 449 en 450, eerste lid WIB 1992 en de artikelen 73 en 73bis, eerste lid w.btw. De onderzoeker komt tot het besluit dat deze strafbaarstellingen niet volledig kunnen worden verantwoord in het licht van de vooropgestelde toetsingscriteria. Er worden positieve en negatieve deelconclusies getrokken die de basis vormen voor het formuleren van aanbevelingen in het laatste deel van het onderzoek. Die aanbevelingen nemen de vorm aan van ‘richtsnoeren’ op basis waarvan de wetgever concrete crimineel-politieke beslissingen kan nemen. Voor elke richtsnoer worden ook concrete bouwstenen aangereikt. De onderzoeker beveelt een doordachte ‘depenalisering’ aan, dat wil zeggen een inperking van de strafrechtelijke handhaving. Om die depenalisering te verwezenlijken moet zowel de wettelijke omschrijving van de fiscale strafbaarstellingen worden bijgesteld, als een coherent handhavingsbeleid ten aanzien van concrete fiscale overtredingen worden uitgewerkt.

PhD defence Vincent Bellinkx​

• 8 October 2020
  
• Supervisor: Prof. dr. Wouter Vandenhole

Abstract

The world is currently going through an era-defining energy transition. The two main challenges are (1) dealing with climate change and (2) providing adequate and secure energy access to all. Sustainable development law (SDL) is the legal crystallization of the broad change agenda of sustainable development that tries to address these two challenges. This leads to the overarching research: which role does SDL play in bringing about sustainability transition?

In four separate chapters this dissertation explores the relation between SDL as a normative legal framework and its influence on transitions. How does sustainable development law influence the law-making and legal decision-making processes in energy governance regimes and how does the operationalization of SDL contributes to building an alternative energy system? Chapter two identifies five energy governance challenges and outlines ways in which SDL principles and human rights principles can provide normative guidance to address these energy governance challenges. Chapters three, four and five discuss the operationalization of SDL in EU climate and energy policy, investment decision-making in the International Finance Corporation, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the Green Climate Fund and the role of public participation in the South African energy transition.

This has led to three insights on how law can offer a potential transformative role to accelerate a sustainability transition: Firstly, SDL brings in normativity in decision-making processes towards sustainability. Secondly, SDL provides a formal avenue for introducing multi-perspectivism in transition decision-making. Thirdly, more intricate understanding of law as part of a complex adaptive system improves lawyers’ abilities to understand where law responds to and how to mobilize law.

PhD defence Coralie Herijgers​

• 17 September 2020
  
• Supervisors: Prof. dr. Thierry Vanswelt, Prof. dr. Kristof Van Assche and Prof. dr. Filip Dewallens

Abstract

Het doctoraatsonderzoek “Artsen en Deontologie. Naar een basiscode voor medische deontologie” startte met de vaststelling dat de medische deontologie als afdwingbare zelfregulering voor artsen aan grondige kritiek onderhevig is. Onduidelijkheid en onzekerheid over de invulling van deontologische plichten, tegenstrijdigheden met wetgeving, onderlinge tegenstrijdigheden en een gebrekkige bescherming van patiëntenbelangen zijn slechts enkele voorbeelden van de kritiekpunten die de kop opsteken. Het privilege dat de medische beroepsgroep door de maatschappij krijgt toebedeel om zijn eigen deontologische regels op te stellen, staat hierdoor grondig op de helling. Biedt een beroepscodificatie van deontologische regels wel voldoende garanties op een goede medische dienstverlening door artsen?

Om op deze kritiek te kunnen inspelen werd er doorheen dit doctoraat op zoek gegaan naar die essentiële eisen waaraan een goede inhoudelijke medisch deontologische code moet voldoen. De beginselen van behoorlijke regelgeving functioneerde hierbij als uitgangspunt. Dit resulteerde uiteindelijk in een globaal kwaliteitskader voor een inhoudelijk deugdelijke medisch deontologische code. Dit kwaliteitskader is opgebouwd uit specifieke kwaliteitsgaranties en algemene principes die noodzakelijk zijn opdat een (medisch) deontologische code als inhoudelijk deugdelijk/goed kan worden aangezien. Het uitgewerkte kwaliteitskader kan bij een codificatie van een nieuwe code voor (medische) deontologie dan ook gebruikt worden als uitgangspunt. Op die manier kan er actief worden ingespeeld op verschillende kritiekpunten. Zo is het mogelijk om ze naar de toekomst toe te verhelpen. Als ultiem sluitstuk van het doctoraat wordt er eveneens een basiscode voor medische deontologie uitgewerkt.

PhD defence Ane Fernández de Aranguiz​

• 3 September 2020
  
• Supervisors: Prof. dr. Herwig Verschueren (Faculty of Law) and Prof. dr. Bea Cantillon (Faculty of Social Sciences)

Abstract

Anti-poverty strategies have been part of the EU agenda for decades. Perhaps most saliently, a decade ago Member States pledged to lift 20 million people out of poverty over the course of the next ten years. By 2020, having lifted ‘only’ 3.1 million people out of poverty, the results of what was once conceived as a major breakthrough for social Europe, remain underwhelming. Beyond policy strategies, the policy objective to fight poverty and social exclusion is also well-embedded, both in fundamental rights and the objectives of the EU. And yet, the most recent figures show that 113 million people still live at risk of poverty and social exclusion in the EU. For what is considered one of the most progressive societies in the world, this remains unacceptable. This begs the question of whether more, and if so what, can be done at the European level to improve the living standards in the EU.

Against this backdrop, this doctoral dissertation looks into the possible role of EU law in contributing to the policy objective of combating poverty and social exclusion. To this end, this dissertation looks into the current social policy context in order to understand its weaknesses and limitations. It follows an extensive analysis of fundamental rights that finds that while there are a number of fundamental rights provisions that entitle individuals to a certain standard of living that corresponds with living a life in dignity, these rights are for the most part not enforceable before a court. It then follows a discussion on the objective to fight poverty and social exclusion as enshrined in the Treaties as well as the competences of the Union to act on this matter. That section concludes by arguing that while the objective is well embedded in EU primary law and the EU has competences (even if limited) to act, these have only marginally been used for this purpose. The dissertation also studies a number of secondary instruments that, even if indirectly, have an impact on poverty and social exclusion. Even when this impact can overall be considered positive (although with some negative effects), the rules examined in the dissertation remain neutral, meaning that they mostly entitle individuals to equal treatment or some procedural safeguards, but that they do not ensure a certain standard of living. Considering the failure of policy instruments alone to combat poverty and social exclusion on the one hand, and the marginal involvement of EU law in spite of its capabilities on the other, the last Chapter of the dissertation discusses the legal, and to a lesser extent political, feasibility of potential instruments of secondary legislation that could more directly implement the policy objective of combating poverty and social exclusion and therefore substantiate the existing fundamental rights in the EU and live up to its objectives and the expectation of truly becoming a social market economy.

PhD defence Nola Cammu​

• 29 June 2020
  
• Supervisors: Prof. dr. Frederik Swennen and Prof. dr. Mariano Croce (Sapienza Università di Roma)

Abstract

PhD defence Jonathan Bernaerts​

• 25 June 2020
  
• Supervisors: Prof. dr. Jan Velaers (Universiteit Antwerpen) and Prof. dr. Marie-Claire Foblets (Martin-Luther-Universität, Halle-Wittenberg; Max Planck Institut, Halle)
• Joint PhD University of Antwerp and Martin-Luther-Universität,Halle-Wittenberg & Max Planck Institut for Social Anthropology, Department‘Law & Anthropology,Halle (Duitsland) - Public defence at University of Antwerp
  

Abstract

This empirical legal research looks into what occurs during interactions between civil servants and non-majoritarian language speakers, the reasons invoked to explain the language use in these contacts, and the needs formulated by the involved actors. When are languages other than the administrative language used in these interactions? In which situations are interpreters involved? What are the (legal) arguments and reasons invoked by the involved actors to justify their use of language? When is the use of other languages allowed or required from a legal perspective?

This research focuses on the Sorbian minority and Turkish-speakers in Germany as well as on French- and Turkish-speakers in the Dutch language area of Belgium. This selection includes (potential) ‘old’ and ‘new’ minorities, which enjoy a different legal protection, for example, in light of the Framework Convention on the Protection of National Minorities.

This research argues in favour of a minimum core stemming from general human rights that entails linguistic obligations if the right to life or physical integrity (Articles 2 and 8 ECHR) is at stake. These limited obligations within the international legal framework leave States a considerable legal discretion to develop their language policy regarding administrative interactions. The empirical findings show that the practice even under (strict) legal frameworks at the domestic level is not so rigorous or univocal. The interpretation of the legal framework by judicial and administrative supervising bodies already nuances the first impression of the applicable legal provisions. Subsequently, in practice, local language policies further soften or even replace these provisions with local approaches to language use in administrative interactions. During the actual interactions, there is often a perceived legal and a de facto discretion with and for the involved actors that generate the possibility of deviating from the prescribed norms.

The discrepancy between the domestic legal framework and the practice leads to legal uncertainty and differential treatments. In light of requirements of the rule of law, this research claims that legislatures should create a framework to enhance legal clarity within the current multilingual realities.

PhD defence Rik Smet​

• 23 June 2020
  
• Supervisors: Prof. dr. Bruno Peeters and Prof. dr. Anne Van de Vijver

Abstract

Component state autonomy, including fiscal and tax autonomy, is and remains a sensitive issue in many federations. This raises questions concerning the division of the competence and power to conclude treaties in those federal states, as well as questions about the legitimacy of the treaties concluded by that federation or its component states. The competence to conclude treaties in federations is typically allotted to the central, federal government. And when the component states are awarded treaty making competence, this is often subjected to several specific conditions, translating it into limited treaty making power.

Belgium appears to be the federal state which has attributed the largest treaty making competence and power to its sub-federal entities, based on the in foro interno et in foro externo principle. According to this principle, its Regions and Communities are granted not only the competence, but also the power to conclude treaties concerning the policy domains for which they are internally competent. One of those policy domains is taxation.

After establishing a theoretical framework based on the works of Jürgen Habermas, Ronald Dworkin and Pierre Rosanvallon, the relevant international, European and domestic legal frameworks are identified. The theoretical framework is of a general nature and can be applied to other areas of law than taxation. It particularly provides answers to questions such as the following. Which federal entity  should conclude which treaties? What code of conduct should the other treaty partner observe when concluding treaties with federations and/or their component states? How should legitimacy be judged at pivotal moments, such as the treaty’s conclusion, amendment or termination? How should a treaty’s legitimacy be judged between those pivotal moments?  These questions lead the author to in fact identify different kinds of legitimacy and relevant theoretical frameworks. The legal frameworks are specific to taxation.

The current Belgian tax treaty making practice is subsequently put to the practical test and analyzed in light of these frameworks. This dissertational research is at crossroads of legal philosophy, international, European and domestic constitutional as well as tax law. The combination with qualitative research methods to analyze how the aforementioned are translated in day to day treaty making, allows the author to reach some interesting conclusions, identify best practices and make pinpointed recommendations for realistic improvements.

PhD defence Yousra Benfquih​

• 19 June 2020
  
• Supervisors: Prof. dr. Wouter Vandenhole and Prof. dr. Daniël Cuypers

Abstract

European liberal democracies are characterized by an increasing religious (super)diversity. This is reflected in the often ill-informed, volatile and polarizing nature of the ensuing public debates on the place of religion in society (be it with regard to religious symbols, crosses, headscarves, turbans, minarets, face-veil and burkini bans, religious holidays, dietary requirements or ritual slaughter) as well as a proliferation of scholarly interest in the issue of (the right to) reasonable accommodation of religious difference, alongside an increase of such accommodation claims by individuals belonging to religious minoritized groups in spaces ranging from the school to the workplace.

The dissertation takes specific interest in the question of (the right to) reasonable accommodation of religious (and other intersecting difference) in the field of education. Schools, functioning as microcosms of society, indeed are the prime sites that are finding themselves grappling with the multifarious challenges and opportunities that the aforesaid increased religious diversity raises, and which are entangled with discussions about the role of (public) education, concerns of common civic values, social cohesion, integration, citizenship, non-discrimination and equal educational opportunities. This dissertational examination, which is both normative-constructive and critical-analytical, happens in a two-pronged manner, with the first (part of the) research question seeking to explore what legal principles can serve to underpin (the right to) reasonable accommodation of religious (and other) difference in the educational setting. More particularly, this exploration focuses on the principle of substantive equality, the right to (inclusive) education and the right to freedom of religion as potential legal bases on which duties of reasonable accommodation in the realm of education can be founded or from which they can be derived. The second (part of the) research question is concerned with examining the limitations of (the right to) reasonable accommodation as a framework for the adjudication and negotiation of claims concerning religious difference, deploying the principles of substantive equality, right to education, and freedom of religion, in addition to their aforesaid function as normative bases or constitutive principles of the right to reasonable accommodation, as lenses through which the inclusive egalitarian potential of the latter is critically assessed.

In going about this human rights integrative endeavor, the dissertation relies on an interdisciplinary range of theories and insights, including critical race theory, intersectional feminism, political and social justice theory, educational and pedagogical theories as well as religious studies, and ends up painting a nuanced picture of the right to reasonable accommodation of religious (and other) difference in the field of education and beyond.

PhD defence Liesbeth Todts​

• 10 June 2020
  
• Supervisor: Prof. dr. Ingrid Opdebeek

Abstract

PhD defence Glenn Heirman​

• 23 March 2020
  
• Supervisor: Prof. dr. Britt Weyts

Abstract

PhD defence Alexis Manirakiza​

• 12 March 2020
  
• Supervisors: Prof. dr. Frederik Swennen and Prof. dr. Wouter Vandenhole

Abstract

Le principe d’égalité et de non-discrimination connait au Burundi une double consécration normative. La première consécration est celle passant par la ratification par le Burundi des instruments internationaux et régionaux relatifs aux droits de l’homme contenant une ou plusieurs dispositions le proclamant. L’autre consécration est celle passant par les dispositions de la Constitution burundaise dédiées à ce principe.

En dépit de cette double consécration normative , le droit familial burundais, que ce soit dans sa dimension écrite ou dans sa dimension non-écrite, comporte des dispositions et pratiques consacrant des différences de traitement discriminatoires. Ces différences de traitement discriminatoires se remarquent à plusieurs niveaux : la transmission de la nationalité burundaise aux conjoints d’origine étrangère mariés à des Burundais, la transmission de la nationalité burundaise aux enfants dont un des parents a la nationalité burundaise, la détermination de l’âge de la majorité matrimoniale, la liberté de se remarier , la direction de la communauté conjugale, la régulation de la conjugalité en union libre, la réglementation des régimes matrimoniaux et celle des successions.

Dans la plupart des cas, ce hiatus trouve son explication dans les défis liés aux facteurs socioculturels prévalant dans le contexte burundais, comme la culture patriarcale, la surpopulation et la pénurie de la terre.

L’adoption d’une « approche positiviste rationnalisée » permet de faire face à cette problématique. Selon cette approche, les réformes législatives visant à éliminer toutes les discriminations que comporte le droit familial burundais s’imposent impérativement. Toutefois, à cause des limites de « l’instrumentalisme légal », les mesures concrètes prises dans le cadre de ces réformes législatives doivent intégrer une certaine dose de pragmatisme, en tenant compte des  réalités contextuelles.

The principle of equality and non-discrimination has a double normative recognition in Burundi. First, this principle is recognized by international and regional human rights instruments ratified by Burundi. Second, the principle is provided for in the Burundian Constitution.

Notwithstanding this double normative recognition, Burundian family law, whether in its written or unwritten dimensions, contains provisions and practices that establish discriminatory differences in treatment. These exist in many respects: the transmission of Burundian nationality to foreign spouses married to Burundians, the transmission of Burundian nationality to children when one of the  parents  is a Burundian national,  the determination of the age of matrimonial majority, the freedom to remarry, the management of the marital community, the regulation of non-marital cohabitations, the regulation of matrimonial regimes and the regulation of inheritance.

In most cases, this hiatus is explained by the challenges associated with sociocultural factors prevailing in the Burundian context, such as the patriarchal culture, the high population growth and the land  scarcity.

The adoption of a "rationalized positive approach" makes it possible to address this problem. According to this approach, legislative reforms aimed at eliminating all forms of discrimination in the Burundian family law are imperative. However, because of the limits of "legal instrumentalism", the concrete measures taken as part of those legislative reforms must entail some pragmatism, taking into account contextual realities.

PhD defence Shisong Jiang​

• 14 February 2020
  
• Supervisors: Prof. Koen De Feyter (UAntwerpen) and Prof. Andrea De Guttry (Scuola Superiore Sant'Ana)
• Joint PhD Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna (Pisa) and University of Antwerp - Public defence at Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna
  

Abstract

This Ph.D. dissertation is about the right to education and rural-urban migrant children in China. Rural-urban migrants have played a very significant role in China’s rapid development of industrialization and urbanization. However, they are often denied access to adequate health care and housing and are excluded from the vast array of state benefits available only to permanent urban residents. Rural-urban migrant children, in comparison with their urban peers, suffer substantial disadvantages and discrimination in their pursuit of education in terms of availability, accessibility, acceptability, and adaptability. Under international human rights law, education is an inalienable human right for all. The Chinese government, which has already ratified the principal international instruments concerning the right to education, is legally obligated to take measures to guarantee free, quality compulsory education for every child in China. The gap between China’s human rights commitments and the educational experiences of rural-urban migrant children on the ground deserve more scholarly attention.

This dissertation intends to explore the role of social networks in the process of localizing human rights in the context of the compulsory education of Chinese rural-urban migrant children. Against the backdrop of the increasing prevalence of applying network theory and methods to human rights research, this dissertation as a whole attempt to contribute to the literature of social networks and international (human rights) law. More concretely, taking Beijing as a case study, this study adopts a qualitative social network analysis approach to empirically investigate whether and to what extent social networks of rural-urban migrant households affect the local relevance of international human rights norms in relation to free and quality compulsory education. The findings generally demonstrate that international human rights standards are not relevant for rural-urban migrant households’ encounters with discrimination and inequality in education. From a social network perspective, the findings reveal that the excessive concentration of the family and kinship relations and the slippery weak ties in urban cities, which together constitute a passive human rights network, are the relational barriers to the process of localizing human rights in the Chinese context.

PhD defence Bartłomiej Bednarowicz

• 13 February 2020
  
• Supervisors: Prof. dr. Herwig Verschueren and Prof. dr. Daniël Cuypers

Abstract

Platform-mediated work in the gig economy dives headfirst into the quagmire of the EU social acquis. Nowadays, the traditional understanding of its main concepts are put under pressure with the core differences between workers and the self-employed fading away, making this a thorny topic. Yet, platform-mediated work only exemplifies challenges that precarious employment poses as such. Against that background, platform-mediated work merely casts a brighter spotlight on the debate relating to the scope of protections that labour and social law should guarantee.

In light of the foregoing, this thesis explores the main dilemma begging the question whether the current EU social acquis is still fit for its purpose to address the challenges and opportunities that the gig economy brought along. This study engages with the current legal issues regarding the personal and material scope of application of fundamental concepts of European Union internal market, employment and equality law. More specifically, this thesis seeks to establish the extent to which the current legal frameworks concerning labour, equality and social rights at EU level are capable of accommodating and offering adequate protection to platform workers in the gig economy.

Furthermore, this thesis also discusses the new regulatory approaches presented within the framework of the European Pillar of Social Rights. It addresses the recently adopted Directive on transparent and predictable working conditions in the EU and the Council recommendation on access to social protection for workers and the self-employed to assess their impact and added value. Finally, this dissertation offers some policy recommendations to achieve a sustainable equilibrium in the gig economy as far as decent working conditions including protection against discrimination and access to adequate social protection are concerned.

PhD defence Valerie Dehaeck​

• 12 February 2020
  
• Supervisor: Prof. Anne-Marie Van den Bossche

Abstract

De Europese beleidsmaker besteedt reeds meer dan veertig jaar bijzondere aandacht aan het beleid ten gunste van kleine en middelgrote ondernemingen (kmo’s), waardoor het Europese kader waarbinnen kmo’s hun activiteiten ontplooien een ‘wonderland’ voor kmo’s zou moeten zijn. Uit meerdere consultaties van kmo’s en kmo-stakeholders blijkt echter dat het kmo-beleid slechts in beperkte mate tegemoet komt aan de perceptie dat de Europese interne markt weinig kansen en/of mogelijkheden biedt aan kmo’s. Deze tegenstrijdige bevindingen vormen samen de zogenaamde ‘kmo-paradox’’.

Het onderzoek van de kmo-paradox gebeurt in twee luiken.

De eerste onderzoeksvraag peilt naar de fundamentele principes of elementen van het kmo-beleid en de implementatie van het kmo-beleid in de Belgische rechtsorde. Teneinde een antwoord te bieden op deze vraag, worden de standaardwerken van het Europees kmo-beleid tijdens de onderzochte veertigjarige periode geanalyseerd om de fundamentele elementen van het Europees kmo-beleid te identificeren.

In de tweede onderzoeksvraag wordt onderzocht of er een kern van waarheid schuilt in de stelling dat de Europese interne markt weinig voordelen en mogelijkheden biedt aan de Europese kmo’s, net name door te onderzoeken wat de werkelijke en/of gepercipieerde barrières zijn die kmo’s verhinderen om het potentieel van de interne markt ten volle te benutten. Het Europese en Belgische – federale en gewestelijke – kmo-landschap wordt in kaart gebracht aan de hand van een analyse van de praktische uitwerking van de fundamentele aspecten van het kmo-beleid.

Ondanks de aanzienlijke vooruitgang in het streven om een kmo-vriendelijke interne markt tot stand te brengen, blijven een aantal struikelblokken hardnekkig overeind. In het derde onderdeel van het proefschrift worden op basis van deze vaststellingen concrete aanbevelingen geformuleerd om de doelmatigheid van het Europese kmo-beleid, zoals dit geïmplementeerd wordt op Europees niveau en in de Belgische rechtsorde, te verhogen.