A fantastic two-week Interrail trip came to an abrupt end when trains to Stockholm from the south were cancelled. Would have missed my ferry back. Had to count my losses and fly home from Copenhagen. But a very recommendable trip despite the minor glitch.

🇪🇺 mini-scoop! 🇪🇺 The EU's watchdog is probing whether the European Commission acted secretively in its dealings with industry before launching a series of business-friendly initiatives www.politico.eu/article/ombu...

This has become a major problem. The Commission's genius move was to pretend to be more transparent - proactively publishing minutes of meetings with lobbyists since January - but in reality most of these minutes are meaningless. One I found literally says "discussion about general topics".

The EU Commission justified its refusal to share the documents by admitting it is worried that it will not be able to withstand the “unnecessary pressure from stakeholders” ‒ in other words, the lobbying ‒ that could result from the documents’ release.

Hei tutkija! Ovatko huolet akateemisen vapauden kaventumisesta mielestäsi liioiteltuja? Vai onko Suomessa tosiaankin syytä olla huolissaan tietopohjan rapautumisesta? Se selviää alkuvuodesta 2026, kunhan nyt ensin vastaat Tiedonjulkistamisen neuvottelukunnan kyselyyn: kysely.tsv.fi/index.php/15...

🏛️ @lolaavril.bsky.social "& @emiliakorkeaaho.bsky.social Administration as usual? Revolving doors and the quiet regulation of political ethics" 🖇️ www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Do register-based research? 🔎 #FIRE Fellowships offer 1–2 month visits to Finland for postdocs & senior researchers. Apply now 👉 fire-infra.com/en/fire-visi... @utu.fi @stat.fi @aalto.fi #TampereUniversity @helsinki.fi @uniuef.bsky.social @uniofjyvaskyla.bsky.social @vatt-tutkimus.bsky.social

Published today @europeanlawopen.bsky.social : this piece co-authored with @koenvanzon.bsky.social on 'societal mobilisation' of EU law through an instrument you'd not immediately think of as very 'societal': infringement proceedings

Just out at JOP (www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/epdf/10....) : Why do so few working-class people hold office? It's not lack of interest. Noam Lupu and I ran 10 surveys in 8 countries and found no evidence of a social class gap in how often qualified people consider running.

Please share widely! Great #PostDoc opportunity at one of Australia's top #PoliticalScience departments, on a #FutureFellowship on electoral resilience. 3yrs, great pay, and a workplace practically next to the Great Barrier Reef! Closing date is 1 Oct 2025 jobs.smartrecruiters.com/GriffithUniv...

Judicial associations/judicial independence - new article of interest exploring 'the role of judicial associations in promoting and upholding judicial independence' link.springer.com/article/10.1...

I’ve set up a group on LinkedIn for retired academics (any discipline) who are still research / scholarship active and would like to discuss their work with others in a supportive space. It’s called Retired Academics. If you’re on LinkedIn, and are retired, and academic, why not join? #AcademicSky

Attention: EU Commission call for "feedback on future environmental legislation simplification, launched by 22.7, closing 10.9 (!). Noting that "simplification" is the EU word for "deregulation", inputs from science would seem important. environment.ec.europa.eu/news/feedbac...

Today our house celebrated its 70th anniversary, and the board of our condominium had organised a lovely garden party to mark the occasion (thanks!). 🥂 One occupant has lived here from the very beginning, so practically all her life. The word ‘community’ was often heard. 🙏🏻

In Finland and in Sweden, summer ends with lots of crayfish, dill and schnapps. Autumn is here.

New article out in @jei-publication.bsky.social. @luigilonardo.bsky.social and I show how the EU has adopted a special procedure for sanctions involving Russia, investigating also how private interests and third countries can influence EU sanctions decision-making.

I had a good chat with EU Influence’s #MariEccles on the proposed foreign lobbying rules. The EU clearly wants to join other major political powers (US, AUS, CAN, UK) in regulating foreign lobbying, but Member States are divided.

Last weekend our house participated in the annual #LoviisaHistoricalHouses weekend. Despite the house being far from finished, we welcomed several hundreds of curious visitors and had lovely discussions with other fans of old houses. Next year again! #olosenpapantalo #LWT

The US has effectively ended any meaningful government role in addressing the foreign interference threat, meaning everyone's safe now from that supposed deep-state plot to deplatform conservative voices 😵‍💫

The European Parliament will limit the access of journalists, lobbyists and diplomats to its premises starting next week.

The former president of the European Commission still holds office at his old headquarters, where he regularly receives prominent guests. According to the Kazakh government, he also offered help as go-between. Jean-Claude Juncker himself denies this, claiming that he is “immune” to influence.

Huomasitko tämän? Vanha vaalirahalaki rajoitti tarkkaan viranomaisten valtuuksia tutkia epäiltyjä väärinkäytöksiä, eikä uusi - heinäkuussa voimaan tullut laki - laajenna viranomaisten valtuuksia lainkaan (€) "Luvut tulevat olemaan brutaalit" @mustread.bsky.social www.mustread.fi/artikkelit/l...

Who was it that said switching to LNG would increase energy security? Oh yeah, the LNG lobby. The EU now finds itself being blackmailed by Qatar - in addition to the US - over energy supplies if it doesn't weaken environmental protections. Expect more deregulation 😖 www.reuters.com/sustainabili...

UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Climate Change calls for a ban on fossil fuel lobbying. Each failed attempt to address climate change lays bear the damaging political influence of the coal, oil and gas lobby. It's time for #FossilFreePolitics. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

They. Are. Sanctuaries.

EU Member States and European Parliament agree to revised law on funding of European political parties and foundations - including rules on transparency and limits on foreign interference - www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/pre...

"Boomers without Borders" would be an amazing title for this paper. Portugal quadrupled its number of foreign retirees by offering them 10 years of income tax-free retirement. Some countries (e.g., Finland) responded by taxing pensions at the source.

In case you missed this bit of good news 👏🏼⬇️

🚨🚨This bleak news from #Hungary on their new bill, "On the Transparency of Public Life"- which allows the Sovereignty Protection Office to blacklist organizations receiving foreign funding if it deems them a “threat” to national sovereignty- has been under-reported.🧵 www.politico.eu/article/vikt...

Nice to note just that my recent @jcms-eu.bsky.social article "Reconceptualising the Brussels Effect" is now Open Access. The article gives tools to grasp external efforts to derail the EU's global power, how these efforts evolve over time, and to what effect. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Missed this in the run-up to Easter. Sadly grim, but important reading. 'The UK’s largest accounting firms and consultancies have seen a slowdown in other corporate contracts and are increasingly offering their services to help universities get their finances in order. 1/3

Are lobbyists influential? The public sure thinks so, but applied political science since lobbying registration data emerged (late 90s) struggled to produce evidence that it does. In new review @wmjunk.bsky.social @heathbrown.bsky.social and I chart a wave of research showing that lobbying matters.

How will MEPs respond to Huawei scandal? The three D’s – Deny, Diffuse, Dilute

The full story. 👇🏻

With @emiliakorkeaaho.bsky.social , we are thrilled to see our work published in the book "Political Sociology Perspectives on Lobbying". Our chapter looks at a regulatory gap in Brussels where lawyers exploit legal privilege to maintain opacity in lobbying link.springer.com/chapter/10.1...

Envie de mieux comprendre la Commission européenne avec les sciences sociales ? A la recherche de matériaux de cours sur les institutions de l'UE ? Retrouvez les épisodes du Podcast "Parlons Commission" de notre membre @lolaavril.bsky.social sur @euradio.bsky.social 👇 euradio.fr/emission/KY8...

My US-based colleagues, FYI: Finnish Research Council is about to announce a special call to fund researchers abroad to relocate to Finland. By all means this is not intended to lure you into moving to Finland, it just happens to be planned right now by pure chance.

Here comes the legal profession roaring back One big firm bowed down, but EVERYONE else targeted is fighting back & 100s in the field are with us Lawyers, legal firms & org’s plz sign 👇 to join the fight. Thx @democracyforward.org & SRLI for organizing democracyforward.org/action/open-...

We have a new Danish-style neighbourhood bakery called ‘Bolle’. First queued 30 mins before it opened, then 30 mins to the counter. The cardamom roll alone made it worth it.

In years 2024–2028, our SEE-TECH project provides much-needed analyses on the relationships between big tech firms and the EU throughout the Union’s decision-making cycle. Check our new website! see-tech.fi

Government lawyers face unique challenges in times of increasing pressure and societal challenges. How do they maintain their professional integrity? Join us on 21 March when lawyers Scott Cummings, Lauren Rikleen, and Kutsal Yesilkagit discuss the dilemmas they encounter. https://bit.ly/43NeoDd

Latest evidence of 🇺🇸 accelerating descent into authoritarianism with 🇫🇷 researcher denied entry (before being deported following day) to attend a conference on account of his personal views (contained on his phone) on Trump's attacks against fellow researchers. Seemingly happened on 9th March

🚨 BREAKING: A new corruption probe impacting the European Parliament zeroes in on Huawei, China's technology giant. Read the full story: www.politico.eu/article/belg...

International Women’s Day in Helsinki: ‘With love and rage, for every woman!’

This was a great event, and my expression in the group photo tells of disappointment that we could not go on for longer! Thanks @ceps.eu, @juliapocze.bsky.social and Sergio Carrera for the invitation and organisations.

I would strongly encourage interested scholars in labour history or critical legal studies to apply to this two-year post-doctoral fellowship in "Justice, Equity and Transformation" I'm happy to chat with you about this if you think it might be for you!

As Trump imposes 25% tariffs on Canadian imports, this would be a good time for the EU Member States who haven’t done so yet to finally ratify #CETA. I’m looking at Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, France, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Poland, and Slovenia.

Our Annual Legal Ethics Symposium will focus on W. Bradley Wendel’s latest book 'Canceling Lawyers'. It brings together academics and practitioners to discuss the increasing critique of lawyers and the practice of 'canceling' (or public shaming) lawyers. https://bit.ly/41Fdqre

Jos Fazerin lobbaus makeisveroasiassa kiinnostaa, kannattaa tsekata avoimuusrekisterin tiedot VTV:n ylläpitämillä sivuilla. Tutkijana kiinnitin huomiota kahden asianajotoimiston rooliin Fazerin vaikuttamistoiminnassa. yle.fi/a/74-20147225