Hi,

My name is Thomas Verellen. I research, teach, and advise on how geopolitical shifts are reshaping the EU’s trade and investment policy.

I am a tenured Assistant Professor of EU and International Law at Utrecht University, where I coordinate and teach a range of EU law courses and co-lead the “EU Values in International Trade” research theme at the Utrecht Centre for Regulation and Enforcement in Europe (RENFORCE). I also serve as Managing Editor of the Utrecht Law Review. Starting in 2026, I co-teach a module on the law and economics of EU trade policy at the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB).

My research examines how EU trade policy responds to geopolitical change. Drawing on prior experience as a practicing trade attorney, I have been a close observer of how the EU has been transforming its trade policy toolbox, using traditional instruments in new ways, reforming existing tools, and introducing entirely new mechanisms to safeguard the EU’s strategic autonomy and economic security. These transformations, however, increasingly test the EU’s constitutional commitment to values like the rule of law, human rights, and democracy—tensions that sit at the heart of my research and normative critique.

I hold a PhD in law from KU Leuven, where I defended my dissertation on EU foreign relations federalism in 2019. My monograph on the subject was published by Oxford University Press in 2023. I also hold an MSc in Global Politics from the London School of Economics. I’ve held visiting positions at KU Leuven, the University of Michigan Law School, and the Université de Montréal, and previously trained at the Court of Justice of the European Union and at the Brussels offices of two international law firms.

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Recent Blog Posts

Blog
How Federalism Shapes Critical Minerals Policy in Canada and the EU
How Federalism Shapes Critical Minerals Policy in Canada and the EU

This week I’m in Victoria for the 2026 ECSA‑C Biennial Conference, where I’ll be presenting a new paper titled “Strategic Minerals, Divided Powers: Resource Federalism and Economic Security in Canada and the EU.” I thought I’d use this space to briefly introduce the paper and explain what I’ll be talking about on the panel.

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Beyond CETA: The Limits of Bilateralism and the Case for Canada–EU Multilateral Leadership
Beyond CETA: The Limits of Bilateralism and the Case for Canada–EU Multilateral Leadership

I will be traveling to Canada’s Pacific coast in a couple of months to attend the bi-annual conference of the Canadian EU studies association. Among other things, I will participate in a panel on EU-Canada relations. The panel revisits last year's blog series on whether Canada should join the EU—a question now less fanciful than a year ago. My answer was no, it should not, because it cannot. If Canada cannot join the EU, another question arises however: how close can Canada get to the EU, assuming it wants to strengthen ties?

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The EU-US Trade Deal: The Devil is in the Implementation
The EU-US Trade Deal: The Devil is in the Implementation

 In July 2025, the European Commission reached an agreement with the Trump administration to avert a potential trade war between two major global trading powers. The agreement, later called the ‘Turnberry deal’ because it was reached at the American president’s Scottish golf course, was one-sided. On the US side, it contained commitments not to raise tariffs further above a ceiling of 15%. On the EU side, it contained commitments to further lower tariffs on goods—in particular industrial goods, as well as certain agricultural goods such as, most notably, lobster.

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Commission Proposal to Ban Russian Gas Further Blurs Trade and Security Competences
Commission Proposal to Ban Russian Gas Further Blurs Trade and Security Competences

On 17 June 2025, the European Commision adopted a legislative proposal to ban Russian gas imports into the EU. The proposal had a dual legal basis: Article 207 TFEU, concerning trade policy, and Article 194(2) TFEU, concerning energy policy. This was odd, considering that earlier efforts to reduce the import of Russian oil and coal were based on neither of these two TFEU provisions, but rather on Article 29 TEU, which concerns the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP).

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Recent Publications

Contact

For press inquiries, consulting requests, requests for PhD supervision, or other collaboration proposals, please use the contact form or the contact information below.

t.e.verellen@uu.nl

+32 472 86 58 48