PHILIPSBURG – The Council of Advice extends an invitation to the general public to a lecture entitled: “St. Maarten and the European Union after 2020.”
The lecture will take place on Thursday, February 9, at the University of St. Martin (USM) in room 202 and will commence at 7:00pm.
St. Maarten is one of the so-called Overseas Countries and Territories (OCT) of the European Union (EU). This means that a limited part of European law is valid in St. Maarten, while there is access to subsidies like the European Development Fund (EDF). However, this financial basis will disappear or at least change drastically in 2020, with the end of the present EDF.
Moreover, Brexit will mean that all British OCTs will leave the system. This lecture may act as a stimulus to reconsider the relationship between St Maarten and the EU.
The keynote speaker for the lecture is Professor dr. Flora Goudappel, a professor of EU law and Dean at the University of Curaçao. Dr. Goudappel holds the Jean Monnet Chair EU Trade Law in the Overseas Territories at Erasmus School of Law in Rotterdam. She is also a part-time judge at the District Court of Rotterdam, and a member of the Examination Board for the Training of Lawyers in the Netherlands. She acts as a consultant and her specialities in research are EU overseas territories law and justice and home affairs in the EU.
During the lecture dr. Goudappel will further focus on the different options for both the place in the European system and the contents of the relationship with the EU. Special attention will be paid to the fact that St. Maarten is a member of a different group of overseas territories for the EU: the Outermost Regions, in which all European law is valid. For more information call +1 (721) 542-0953 or e-mail: withneymurray@councilofadvicesxm.com
