Indo-European is the name of the language family to which English belongs, along with many sub-families such as Germanic languages and Romance languages. In this course, you will delve into the structure and origins of these branches, the oldest languages belonging to the language family, linguistic…

How can we understand the implementation of EU policy and what challenges are involved?

The European Council and the European Commission have a similar role in agenda setting. Both place issues on the EU agenda. However, these institutions have distinct designs. They have different political attributes (the European Council has considerably more political authority) and information-processing…

European Law is a one-year Master’s specialisation at the internationally renowned Leiden Law School at Leiden University. The programme distinguishes itself by its broad intra-disciplinary approach, covering institutional, constitutional as well as internal market and competition law of the EU in addition…

The Centre for the History of European Integration (CHEI) is an initiative that brings together scholars working on European integration, broadly conceived, from a historical perspective.

Almost all languages of Europe and of a large part of western Asia belong to a single language family, which is called Indo-European, and which includes modern languages like English, Dutch, Russian, Farsi, but also ancient ones like Ancient Greek, Latin, Hittite and Sanskrit.

What political factors affect the speed or duration of EU legislative decision-making?

Set up in 1991, this unique project aims to identify and describe the common lexical heritage of the most important Indo-European languages and language branches. The project has thus far resulted in twelve volumes published as The Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series (Brill, Leiden).

Our research deals with the deep history of Europe and Eurasia, from the inception of farming up until the beginning of the Roman Period. This was a period in which key developments took place that had a profound impact on European landscapes and society until the present day. Our research and teaching…

Does a shared idea of the ‘public servant’ exist in Europe? Sager, Overeem, and others explore.

Just published: European Banking and Financial Law Statutes Published by Routledge

The Master’s in European Union Studies at Leiden University offers students an opportunity to study the EU from multiple disciplinary perspectives.

This paper, written by Silvia D'Amato & Andrea Terlizzi, investigates the extent to which the European Union is strategically engaging against terrorism.

Akbik and Diessner expand the classic typology of police-patrol and fire-alarm oversight with two new categories: planning bureaus and ambulance chasers.

The European Union acts as one of the most powerful economic actors in the global economy, presents itself as the most successful integration project in recent history, and deploys one of the largest diplomatic services in the world. The European Union Studies minor offers a comprehensive and multi-disciplinary…

This paper explores whether multilateral surveillance and policy coordination under the ES was based on a path-changing or a path-dependent mechanism

This research concerns a network of labour law specialists in the EU. The growing internationalization of the economic market and the employment market has a major impact on legislation and research of labour law. Particularly within the European Union labour law is subject to constant development…

How to explain the apparent high success rates of the EU infringement procedures, which are the major tools for enforcing EU law, against the member states?

The newly established Luxembourg Centre for European Law held its inaugural conference on 10-11 October 2025, exploring the theme of “European Union law and values in a changing world”. Martijn was invited to speak about the relationship between European values and democracy.

Do recent developments in the European security architecture signal the end of multilateral cooperation, or the beginning of a new era with emerging forms of international security collaboration?

How should European financial law best integrate considering the interaction of the relevant legal systems?

Leiden experts research ways in which European legislation is converted into national legislation. Knowing how this process works can inspire policy-makers trying to achieve their aims while abiding to Europan legislation.

“Courses” offers interested scholars and students open-access course material which can be used in class.

Are you thinking about studying European Politics and Society? Learn more and watch the programme presentation.

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Here you can find an overview of the offered courses provided by the Department of Economics per study program.

Are you thinking about studying European Law? Learn more and watch the videos.

European policy affects our lives: from air quality to the frequency of a bus service. Leiden researchers analyse how the European Union functions, how countries apply European policy and whether this policy actually provides solutions and delivers.

Dr. Gruni published an article on the impact on sustainable development in the EU Common Commercial Policy of recent Opinion 2/15 CJEU on the Global Trade and Customs Journal.

The master's programme in Modern European Philosophy at Leiden University focuses on continental philosophy ranging from German Idealism and Phenomenology via Deconstruction and Poststructuralism through 21st century developments in the field. It explores different approaches to thinking in a critical…

The Center participates in East European Politics, one of the major political science journals focusing on the contemporary post-communist space.

How do crises produce changes in specific European Union foreign policy areas, and how should we conceptualise these policy changes?

The Law of the European Union is a complete reference work on all aspects of the law of the European Union, including the institutional framework, the Internal Market, Economic and Monetary Union and external policy and action.

When applying for exchange or study abroad at Leiden University, you will select the individual courses you want to follow and so create your own personal study programme.

This thesis examines the complexity of legislative decisions within the EU, with a specific focus on the Council of the EU.

The European Homicide Monitor (EHM) offers a standardized framework for countries and regions to compare homicide characteristics, patterns and trends.

The researchers examine the Council of the European Union's voting behaviour between 2010 and 2021 and the impact of different independent variables.

East European Politics is a refereed journal which publishes articles on the government, politics and international relations of the post-communist world.

Reconstructing language history and prehistory in the context of the Indo-European language family.

Research on this theme concerns the legitimacy and effectiveness of Europe’s institutional order in the face of public alienation and normative contestation.

Study European politics, society, and international relations across four major European cities: Prague, Leiden, Krakow, and Barcelona. This two-year joint Master's programme offers a unique interdisciplinary experience.

No nation-state can solve today's global challenges on its own. In the specialisation International and European Governance you will obtain a deep understanding of the interplay between the international, EU, and (sub)national governance systems and how this interplay affects the capacity of public…