Research projects funded by the Faculty of Law

The EU’s Rights and Duties in Putting a Carbon Price on Imports (2021-2025)

This PhD research focuses on the efficient and morally responsible legal design of a European Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). The project analyzes how the CBAM can be designed to balance and maximize compliance with international and European law, economic expediency and efficiency, and moral responsibility for current and future generations.

Researchers: Mareike Moraal, supervised by Edwin Woerdman and Boudewijn de Bruin, in collaboration with the Faculty of Philosophy

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Maritime Emissions Trading in the EU: A Law and Economics Perspective (2021-2025)

This PhD research focuses on the inclusion of the maritime sector in the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS). The project analyzes how maritime emissions trading can be legally designed and implemented in the EU in a way that ensures a cost-effective reduction of GHG emissions from international shipping, while minimizing carbon leakage and competitive distortions.

Researchers: Manolis Kotzampasakis, supervised by Edwin Woerdman and Frans Nelissen

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Microgrids and EU Law: An Empirical Analysis of Regulatory Barriers (2021-2025)

This PhD project aims to contribute to the EU's 2050 carbon-neutrality target by providing a legal characterisation of microgrids in order to facilitate their implementation. The goal is to create a legal design for the use of microgrids that empowers consumers in managing the energy transition. This requires more regulatory certainty in the EU, which will enable consumers to generate electricity as efficiently as feasible at the lowest possible level of transaction costs. The main barriers for microgrids will be identified, among other things, based on interviews with the developers (which can include consumers, grid operators and electricity producers) of a selected number of electricity distribution systems across Europe that label themselves as microgrids.

Researchers: Jamie Behrendt, supervised by Edwin Woerdman and Hans Vedder

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Securing Offshore Energy Finance (2014-2018)

This project focuses on legal issues in relation to the financing and ownership of offshore energy activities with the aim of increasing legal certainty for investor. PhD candidate Jaap Waverijn addresses issues of public international law, such as the extent of coastal state legislative jurisdiction to introduce property laws governing installations on its continental shelf and in its exclusive economic zone. It also concerns the competence, application and influence of EU law to these maritime zones and property law. Finally, issues of national property law are analyzed for several states bordering the North Sea in relation to the possibility of establishing security rights, such as mortgage against installations in these maritime zones.

Researchers: Jaap Waverijn, supervised by Martha Roggenkamp and Frank Verstijlen

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A Lifecycle Approach in EU Energy Law (2013-2019)

This project aims at implementing a lifecycle approach in EU energy law to internalize the external effects of energy production, which would contribute to climate change mitigation. PhD candidate Renske Giljam analyzes the rules regarding the use of biomass for energy production and the possibility of expanding the concept of ‘best available techniques’ (BAT) as used in industrial emissions abatement.

Researchers: Renske Giljam, supervised by Hans Vedder and Martha Roggenkamp

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Behavioural Law and Economics of End-user Emissions Trading (2011-2015)

This project aims to analyze the behavioural conditions of efficiently expanding the EU Emissions Trading System to new sectors, in particular households in the form of personal carbon trading. Based on legal and economic theory, an experiment was conducted - in collaboration with the Faculties of Economics and Psychology - to assess whether individual behaviour (using green food choice as a proxy) is influenced by ‘earned’ carbon allowances as against ‘free’ carbon allowances.  

Researchers: Suryapratim Roy, supervised by Oscar Couwenberg and Edwin Woerdman