Upcoming Events
Groningen Workshop ‘Redefining Equality in European Private Law’ – 11-12 December 2025
On 11 and 12 December 2025, multiple CMM members will participate in the Research Workshop "Redefining Equality in European Private Law – What Principles Can Guide Consumer Protection in the Green and Digital Transitions?" at the University of Groningen. On 11 December, Estelle Irambona and Annelies De Grave will give a presentation on 'Combatting Greenwashing Practices: Towards Coherent Legal Frameworks for greater EU Consumer Protection' and 'Empowering EU Consumers through (Social) Sustainability Labelling: Protecting Consumer Autonomy to Enhance Socio-Economic Equality' respectively. On 12 December, Alexandra Neacsu and Monica Schellemans will be presenting on 'Empowering Consumers in the Green and Digital Transitions: The Role of the Digital Product Passport in the Textile Industry' and on 'Information Asymmetry in Personalised Pricing: Transparency Obligations and Their Limits' respectively.
News
- Multiple CCM PhD researchers have presented their research at the Ius Commune Conference in Amsterdam. The following presentations were delivered:
Ruben Verdoodt & Sofia Caruso: Vulnerable Consumers in Public and Private Competition Law Enforcement
Justine Haekens: When Data becomes Power: The Role of Data in Competition Law
Emma Dewulf: Interaction between Competition Law and Free Movement Law: the Prequel
Siyuan Chen: Relevance of Ownership in EU and Chinese Competition Law
Estelle Irambona: A Contract Law Perspective of the CS3D
It proved to be an inspiring day, enriched by stimulating discussions and many engaging academic debates. (28 November 2025)
- Brussels-based CCM members participated in the 11th edition of the Leerstoel Constant Matheeussen on Beperkingen van Eigendomsrechten. Dr. Harry Slachmuylders gave a presentation on the topic "Consumptie zonder eigendom: de positie van de consument in circulaire producten als dienstcontracten" and Zeno Vanhoyland presented on "Beperkingen op het recht om contant geld te gebruiken". Prof. dr. Bert Keirsblick acted as chairman after the break. (14 November 2025)
- Prof. Keirsblick hosted Prof. Edward R. Morrison from Columbia Law School as part of the Dieter Heremans Lectures Series in Law & Economics 2025. Professor Morrision gave an insightful presentation on 'What is Changing in U.S. Corporate Restructuring'. (7 November 2025)
- Zeno Vanhoyland gave a presentation for the interdisciplinary Brown Bag Lunch Group entitled "Towards the Introduction of the Digital Euro". (7 November 2025)
- Zeno Vanhoyland was interviewed by factcheck.vlaanderen for his insights into the ECB's digital euro project in order to fact-check various rumours that are circulating. (6 November 2025)
- CCM members Prof. dr. Evelyne Terryn, Prof. dr. Bert Keirsbilck, Ruben Verdoodt and Annelies De Grave presented at the conference "The UCPD at 20" organised by UCLouvain.
- CCM Researcher Annelies De Grave was awarded an FWO strategic basic research fellowship for her doctoral research on 'Social Sustainability Labels in EU Green Deal laws'. (3 October 2025)
- On 5 September 2025, Lennard Michaux successfully defended his doctoral thesis entitled: ‘EU Self-Restraint - Balancing Economic Integration and National Autonomy.’
- CCM members Estelle Valentine Irambona, Alexandra Neacsu, prof. Bert Keirsbilck, prof. Evelyne Terryn and dr. Liesbet Van Acker contributed to the book 'Sustainability, Law and Criminology' edited by prof. Dorothy Gruyaert. The book is published by Intersentia. (10 September 2025)
- Prof. Bert Keirsbilck and Zeno Vanhoyland organised in collaboration with Fudan University an online expert seminar 'Towards a Digital Euro and Digital Yuan' (5 September 2025)
- Zeno Vanhoyland presented his research paper 'Towards a uniform interpretation of the scope and effects of EU legal tender in B2C transactions' at the ECB premises as part of the ECB Legal Research Programme 2025. (3 September 2025)
- CCM welcomes back, Justine Haekens and Estelle Valentine Irambona! This past academic year, Justine obtained an LL.M. at Harvard Law School, and Estelle obtained her LL.M. at the University of Cambridge. (14 August 2025)
- Dr. Harry Slachmuylders published the commercial version of his PhD dissertation entitled 'Contractual Rights and Liabilities in Circular Business Models: A Study of Consumer Protection in Product-as-a-Service Contracts' with Intersentia. (6 August 2025)
- CCM co-director prof. dr. Evelyne Terryn was appointed as Vicerector of KU Leuven Campus KULAK. (26 June 2025) More info here.
- Prof. Bert Keirsbilck and prof. Evelyne Terryn organised together with prof. Alberto De Franceschi the research seminar 'the Enforcement and the Reform of the Consumer Protection Cooperation'. CCM had the honour of welcoming Pérignon Isabelle (European Commission, Director Consumers, DG Just) and Angelo Grieco (European Commission, Acting Head of Unit Consumer Enforcement and Redress) to share their insights on the Enforcement and the Reform of the Consumer Protection Cooperation. (17 June 2025)
- Liesbet Van Acker successfully defended her PhD dissertation 'Vertical Sustainability Agreements: An Assessment of the Limits and Possibilities for Sustainable Supply Chains under EU Competition Law', under the supervision of CCM directors prof. Evelyne Terryn and co-supervision of prof. Wouter Devroe. (16 May 2025)
- Tom Verdonk successfully defended his doctoral thesis entitled "Seeds of Market Power: Safeguarding Competition and Food Security through Collaborative Licensing in Seed and Biotech Markets under EU Law and Policy" on Friday 18 April 2025.
- Joris Gruyters successfully defended his doctoral thesis entitled "Supplementary Pensions in EU Competition and Internal Market Law: Lessons Learned for the Legal Anatomy of the Social Market Economy" on Tuesday 4 March 2025.
- Anthony Verhees wrote a new CCM Blogpost on how the EU's proposed third Payment Services Directive (PSD3) and Payment Services Regulation (PSR) aim to protect consumers in case of payment fraud (26 february 2025).
- Alexandra Neacsu wrote a new CCM Blogpost entitled "Introducing the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR)" (18 February 2025).
- Joren Vuylsteke wrote a new CCM Blogpost entitled "DYKA Plastics and material requirements in public tenders" (10 February 2025).
- Postdoc researcher dr. Christopher Borucki won the five-yearly Baron Van Dievoet prize for his PhD thesis titled "Extra-contractual cost recovery by public authorities" (3 February 2025).
- Prof. Evelyne Terryn discussed the results of HLN's Booking.com-test (2 February 2025).
- Justine Haekens helped organising the 11th Annual European Conference at Harvard University (1 February 2025).
- Prof. Evelyne Terryn has become one of the editors of the Journal of European Consumer and Market Law (EuCML) (1 February 2025).
- Emma Dewulf wrote a new CCM Blogpost entitled "Court of Justice upholds prohibition on purely financial investors in law firms" (22 January 2025).
Education
The teaching activities of CCM comprise many different subjects, and are taught at the campuses of Leuven, Kortrijk, and Brussels.
Research
Our members conduct research in various fields, publish on a national and international level, and regularly participate in conferences.
People
CCM is co-directed by Wouter Devroe, Bert Keirsbilck, and Evelyne Terryn, and hosts an active community of PhD researchers and practitioners.