Jacobine van den Brink’s area of expertise is European and Dutch administrative law, especially (European) financial administrative law. ‘The UvA truly appeals to me because of its close connections to Dutch legal practice in terms of both teaching and research. In addition, I am interested in the great attention paid to the Europeanisation of the law. I am confident that there will be many opportunities for collaboration’, says Van den Brink.

Research

Van den Brink’s research is primarily focused on the interaction between European and national administrative law. Her particular area of expertise is (European) financial administrative law.

‘In terms of research, I am primarily interested in the legal aspects of public funding’, Van den Brink adds. This would include, for instance, (European) subsidy regulations and state aid law. In the past few years, it has become quite trendy to come up with new ways of spending public funds on socially relevant project - things like public competitions, revolving funding, and matching funds. These new types of financing are also frequently disbursed via private parties. I am interested in researching what this means for various and sundry legal safeguards such as the application of legal principles and legal protections. I am, in addition, fascinated by the interaction between EU Law and Dutch administrative law. How much is Dutch administrative law influenced by the law of the EU? I think it is also important to research what the EU could learn from Dutch administrative law.’

Teaching

The field Van den Brink teaches in is (European) administrative law and financial administrative law. When it comes to teaching, she says “it is important to convey to students that administrative law is not a boring subject; in fact, it is highly relevant. It after all governs the (frequently unequal) relationship between government and citizen. That is why Dutch legal professionals need a solid basis in administrative law - even if they end up working in another branch of the profession. I am also a proponent of keeping the curriculum up to date. For that reason, I introduced a vlog for the Master’s curriculum at Maastricht University in the past year.’

About Jacobine van den Brink

Van den Brink (1978) studied Dutch Law at Utrecht University, graduating cum laude in 2002 in Constitutional and Administrative Law, European Law, and Tax Law. She then worked for five years as a lawyer at the Administrative Jurisdiction Division of the Council of State.

In 2007, she became a doctoral fellow in the Department of Constitutional and Administrative Law at Leiden University. In December 2012, under the supervision of Professor Willemien den Ouden and Dr Paul Adriaanse, Jacobine was awarded a doctorate for her dissertation De uitvoering van Europese subsidieregelingen in Nederland. Juridische knelpunten en uitdagingen (The Execution of Subsidy Regulations in the Netherlands. Legal Obstacles and Challenges).

She then worked as an assistant professor (university lecturer) in Constitutional and Administrative Law at Leiden University. In July 2016, she moved to Maastricht University, where she was appointed Professor of European and National Administrative Law. In 2018, she held her inaugural lecture, Realistisch revolveren. Het revolverend fonds met een Europese touch (Realistic Revolving: The Revolving Fund with a European Touch).