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Dr. Carolyn Moser conducts research in the field of international and European law and governance, with a special focus on security and defense in Europe. Her independent Max Planck research group ENSURE (European Security Revisited), which deals with the law and governance of European security in the new geopolitical age in an interdisciplinary way (law & political science), also bears witness to this thematic orientation. She furthermore holds the Alfred Grosser Chair at Sciences Po Paris. She is also affiliated with the Institute for European Integration in Hamburg. Dr Moser is furthermore the editor of the comment section of the Heidelberg Journal of International Law (ZaöRV).
Her key peer reviewed publications include a prize-winning monograph on Accountability in EU Security and Defence (Oxford University Press, 2020) and a co-edited book on The Legal Framework of the OSCE (Cambridge University Press, 2019). Her most recent publications feature an in-depth analysis of on the prerogatives of the European Parliament in the field of European Security and Defense Policy and an interdisciplinary article on the (de)constitutionalization by the European Court of Justice with a focus on security policies (ICON, 2022).
Dr Moser received several awards and distinctions for her research, notably the Otto-Hahn-Medal and the European Court of Auditors Award. Moreover, she has successfully obtained prestigious funding for her research, including multi-year project funding from the German government, a Minerva Fast Track Fellowship from the Max Planck Society for outstanding postdocs, and funding for an independent Max Planck Group that is equivalent in scope to an ERC Consolidator Grant.
Her interdisciplinary expertise is solicited also beyond academic circles, for instance by EU and international institutions (eg European Parliament; OSCE; World Bank) and in the media (eg AFP; Deutschlandfunk; Libération; NDR; ORF; SRF).
As regards her academic background, she was trained in both law and political science at Sciences Po Paris and The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy (Tufts University, USA), and holds a PhD from Utrecht University on EU civilian crisis management. Moreover, her projects led her to conduct research at the Basel Institute on Governance, the European University Institute in Florence, and the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich. From 2019 to 2022, she headed the Borderlines group at the MPIL in Heidelberg.
Book reviews
Reading recommendations
Carolyn Moser provides expert insights to Karina Chabour in the TV programme 'La semaine de l'éco', broadcasted by France 24 on 17th November 2023. A video recording is available here (in French language).
Carolyn Moser provides expert input on the potential extradition of Ukrainian citizens by Ireland to Agence France-Presse (AFP). Published in an online article on 18th September 2023.
Carolyn Moser gives an expert interview to Bastien Boname for the French online magazine C'actus.
Carolyn Moser shares expert insights into the legal aspects of the recent European sanctions imposed on Russia, particularly regarding the potential impact on Russian citizens travelling to the European Union with the French news service Libération. Published in an online article on 14th September 2023.
Expert interview with Jochen Schlenk and Maximilian Steinbeis on the rules and regulations regarding German (and European) defence, available here.
Interview with Julia Weigelt for the NDR Info Podcast "Streitkräfte und Strategien" (armed forces and strategies) about the geopolitical awakening in Europe and the EU in the wake of the war in Ukraine, available online (in German) here
Watch the video on the MPIL's Youtube channel
(own input starting at 29'20)
Panel discussion (in German language) with Carlo Masala (Bundeswehr University, Munich), Anne Peters (MPIL) and Christian Marxsen (MPIL) about the legal and political parameters of German foreign and security policy, and the challenges in this policy field the German government resulting from the 2021 general elections is likely to face.
Interview with the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRF) on migration, border control and in particular Frontex, streamed on 3 June 2021 and available as podcast
Watch the video on the MPIL's Youtube channel
Only three weeks after the Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the EU and the UK provisionally came into force on 1st January 2021, hence sealing the UK–EU divorce, we could already witness the first post-Brexit diplomatic incident. Indeed, as became public on 21st January 2021 London refused to confer the EU’s delegation to the UK—including its ambassador, João Vale de Almeida—the diplomatic status offered by the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. Instead, the UK said it would classify the EU as an international organization, implying that the Union’s representatives would enjoy more restricted privileges and immunities. The EU, in response, posited that the Union was not a typical international organization and should therefore, in line with well-established international practice, receive a distinctive treatment when it comes to diplomatic status questions. In light of these developments, Dr Carolyn Moser, first rehashes the basics of diplomatic privileges and immunities, then sheds light on the Union’s international role and subsequent diplomatic status, and finally discusses the UK’s legal stance on the matter.
Nota bene: On 5th May 2021 it was announced that the UK had eventually accorded the EU's head of mission a diplomatic status in accordance with the Vienna Convention, that is the one of a state representative.
Watch the video on the MPIL's Youtube channel
In this video, Dr Carolyn Moser analyses the way in which the French authorities dealt with the pandemic, with a focus on the first wave. Next to sketching out the regulatory and legislative response of the French institutions to COVID-19, in particular the novel state of health emergency, she also discusses matters of democratic accountability and judicial review. She shows how and why the health emergency caused by the coronavirus has reconfirmed some of the Republic’s most central constitutional patterns and legal traditions, namely centralization, executive governance with limited parliamentary involvement, and administrative courts acting as guardians of individual freedoms.
Interviewee, radio feature (in German language) by Christian Jakob, RBB Kultur, 16.12.2020, audio recording
Contributor to a radio programme on the international law and politics edited by Brigitte Voykowitsch [in German], ORF Radiokolleg, 24 – 27 February 2020
Paul-Löbe-Haus Berlin
video recording; 01:29:10Trier / digital
Bonn
Stuttgart/Hybrid
video recordingFrankfurt
Luxemburg
Digital
Bremen/digital
Frankfurt a.M.
Salamanca
Paris
Karlsruhe
Brussels
Digital
Online
A video recording of the talk available here (at 2:20)Online
Online format
Online seminar
Web-Conference
Webinar
Video recording (in German)Berlin
Sciences Po, Paris
Munich
Heidelberg
Gießen
Heidelberg
Paris
Brussels
Video recording of the talkFiesole
Berlin
Bilbao
Heidelberg
Munich
Heidelberg
Utrecht
Heidelberg
Utrecht
PROFUTURE, participant in the author workshop held in the context of the international publication project led by by Zulima Sanchéz, Salamanca, Spain, 27.06.2022 - 29.06.2022
ISA 2021 Annual Convention, Discussant in the panel on 'Shifting Borders in the Time of Covid-19', Online, 07.04.2021 - 07.04.2021
'The transnational politics of emergency', online workshop, speaker, WZB Berlin, 19.06.2020
'What Legal Framework for the OSCE?', a Book Launch Conversation with Nils Blokker, Cornelius von Friesendorf, Jan Klabbers and Carolyn Moser, Panel Chair, Berlin , 25.10.2019
ESIL Annual Conference, participant, Athens, 12.09.2019 - 14.09.2019
European Initiative on Security Studies (EISS), 3rd Annual Conference, speaker, Sciences Po, Paris, 27.06.2019 - 28.06.2019
'Areas of Exclusion'-conference of the Research Initiative on Migration (WiMi) of the Max Planck Society, Max Planck Institute for Social Law and Social Policy, Munich, 17.06.2019
Workshop 'The European Union’s "New Defence Policy": European Military Integration in an Interdisciplinary Perspective', speaker, Justus Liebig University, Gießen, 17.01.2019 - 18.01.2019
'Max Planck Trialogue Workshop on the Law of Peace and War – Vol. IV: Intervention by Invitation', participant, Heidelberg, 08.11.2018 - 09.11.2018
'Le traité de Versailles. Regards franco-allemands en droit international à l'occasion du centenaire', participant, Strasbourg, 28.09.2018 - 29.09.2018
Franco-German colloquium 'Le droit à un recours effectif—regards croisés', presenter, Paris, 07.09.2018 - 08.09.2018
'Warum befolgen wir Recht? Rechtsverbindlichkeit und Rechtsbefolgung in interdisziplinärer Perspektive', participant, Heidelberg, 26.03.2018 - 27.03.2018
RENFORCE guest lecture by Dr. Florin Coman Kund on the new legal framework for Europol's international exchanges of data, commentator , Utrecht, 05.02.2018
'Conflict and Compromise—Between Law and Politics in EU Migration and Asylum Policies', Odysseus Annual Conference, speaker in the panel 'International Responsibility for the Cooperation of the EU and its Members States with the Libyan Coastguards?', Brussels, 01.02.2018
'Max Planck Trialogue Workshop on the Law of Peace and War—Vol. III: Reparations for Victims of Armed Conflict', participant, Berlin, 10.11.2017 - 11.11.2017
'The Politicization of Europe: Transnational Solidarity Conflicts and the Changing Structure of Economic Governance in the EU', Panel discussion with Anuscheh Farahat, Marius Hildebrand and Mark Dawson, participant, Berlin, 09.11.2017
'Constitutionality, powers and legitimacy of EU agencies or agency-like bodies', participant, Fiesole, 10.11.2016 - 11.11.2016
'Between Aspirations and Realities: Strengthening the Legal Framework of the OSCE', convener (together with Anne Peters and Mateja Steinbrück Platise), Berlin, 13.07.2016
PhD@maxlaw Workshop ‘16, 2nd Max Planck Young Legal Scholars’ Meeting, presenter (poster presentation), Hamburg, 12.05.2016 - 13.05.2016
UACES 45th Annual Conference, chair of the panel 'Transparency and Accountability in EU Decision‐making', Bilbao, 07.09.2015 - 09.09.2015
'Apprendre à repenser le droit international'—Masterclass with Professor Emmanuelle Tourme-Jouannet, discussant, Heidelberg, 04.05.2015 - 06.05.2015
'NewGen Accountability Workshop' held by the Utrecht University School of Governance, presenter, Utrecht, 10.11.2014
'Cricital Studies of International Law'—Masterclass with Professor Martti Koskenniemi, presenter, Heidelberg, 29.04.2014 - 02.05.2014
'Gagner la paix : Approches vers une solution durable au Mali', colloque, participant, Berlin, 31.01.2014
'Rule of Law and Accountability in Peacekeeping'—German Peace Operations Research Workshop 2014, jointly organized by DGVN, FES and ZIF, participant, Berlin, 28.01.2014
'Good Accountability (and Governance) Workshop - New International Perspectives on Accountability at the USG', presenter, Utrecht, 13.12.2013
'Towards A Global History of International Law' (Institute for Advanced Study), workshop, participant, Berlin, 01.02.2013
20th OSCE Economic and Environmental Forum—'Promoting Security and Stability through Good Governance', rapporteur, Prague, 12.09.2012 - 14.09.2012
Third Summer Academy Freiburg on the 'Dynamics of institutional change under the EU's toolkit of conditionality—Judicial reform and fighting corruption in Eastern Europe, the Western Balkans and Turkey', panel chair, Freiburg (D), 31.08.2012 - 03.09.2012