17 November 2025
Lawful Access as a Gatekeeper for TDM in the EU
Text and Data Mining (TDM) has become indispensable across disciplines: from medicine, where mining scientific articles can reveal patterns for new drug discoveries, to the humanities, where algorithms explore centuries of literature at once. The EU legislator embedded mandatory TDM exceptions into its Copyright in the Digital Single Market Directive. Chief requirement is that TDM can only be carried out on works to which researchers have “lawful access”. The concept of lawfulness, however, is anything but clear under EU copyright law. Continue reading >>
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12 November 2025
Beyond Copyright
Open Access is seen as a terrific opportunity for researchers to spread knowledge at unprecedented speed and increase society’s wider participation in cultural life. In contrast, traditional publishing models, with their rigid market dynamics, are aimed at rewarding rightsholders but feature visible contractual asymmetries that put researchers’ freedoms at stake, an imbalance that Second Publication Rights aim to redress. Continue reading >>
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12 November 2025
Reconciling EU Copyright Protection With the Right to Research
Considering the rapid evolution of digital technology and changing research approaches, it is doubtful whether the current EU copyright acquis offers sufficient support for research that requires access to protected knowledge resources. To this day, EU copyright law misses a general research clause that would allow researchers to do their job in the current information society and contribute to the improvement of societal conditions – regardless of constantly changing technologies and access routes to knowledge resources. Continue reading >>
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17 October 2025
Academic Freedom as a Human Right
New attempts by the U.S. administration to tie federal funding to an ideologically driven “Compact for Academic Excellence” have sent shockwaves through universities, raising alarms about political steering of curricula and governance. These developments are not isolated: they echo tactics increasingly used worldwide, including within the EU, where subtle regulatory and financial pressures are reshaping the academic landscape. To counter this erosion, the EU must treat academic freedom not as a sectoral issue, but as a fundamental right under Article 13 CFR. Continue reading >>
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16 October 2025
Accent on the Language of Instruction
Language of instruction in European higher education is increasingly contested. Once tied mainly to minority language protection, language policies now shape debates on internationalisation and the spread of English-language teaching. Yet their implications for academic freedom as a legal right remain understudied. This post aims to explore what interpretative guidance on language of instruction can be drawn from other legal systems and how it could inform future interpretations of Article 13 CFR’s linguistic dimension. Continue reading >>
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16 October 2025
Academic Freedom of Language
The freedom to teach, conduct research, and study is inseparable from language, which shapes how knowledge is produced, shared, and contested. A legal framework regulating academic language therefore directly affects the scope of academic freedom. Yet, while Article 13 of the EU Charter guarantees that freedom, it makes no mention of linguistic rights. This raises a crucial question: does academic freedom also include the right to choose the language in which it is exercised? The answer, this piece argues, is yes – but its scope depends on whether we look at the institutional or individual dimension of academic freedom. Continue reading >>
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15 October 2025
Castles of Illiberal Thought
On the hills of Buda, a vast new campus for Mathias Corvinus Collegium (MCC) – an Orbán-linked “think tank” and training ground for illiberal elites – is taking shape. Though still little known internationally, MCC has grown into a sprawling network with over 35 locations across Hungary, the wider Carpathian Basin, and even Brussels. Its recent “report” attacking the EU’s Jean Monnet programme and individual academics as “propagandists” signals how it seeks to shape narratives about Europe and academia. Positioned at the intersection of authoritarian legitimation and elite co-optation, MCC is not just a Hungarian phenomenon – it is a challenge to academic freedom with broader European implications. Continue reading >>
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15 October 2025
As Open as Necessary?
Vetting researchers, screening funding, and restricting dual-use fields show how science has moved to the heart of national security concerns. Within the EU, “research security” has become central to the strategic autonomy agenda, aiming to protect research from espionage, IP theft, and undue foreign influence. Yet securitising science also risks expanding political control and subordinating research to security and market logics. As such, Article 13 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights must be interpreted to protect academic freedom not only from direct state interference, but also from this subtler colonisation by political and economic systems. Continue reading >>
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08 January 2020
European Solidarity Statement with Academics and Students in India
We are students, scholars, and academics at European universities who [...] Continue reading >>
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22 June 2019