[Seminar] Activating Article 2 TEU in the Union’s values crisis
10 February @ 12:30 - 14:00
How can EU values serve as a yardstick for judicial review and be invoked by individuals before national and EU courts in times of looming crisis for democracy, rule of law or fundamental rights in the EU?
Against the narratives of crisis or emergency of EU values, on 10 February 2026 (12:30-14:00) Dr Dimitri Spieker will deliver a EUMERGENCIES centre of excellence research seminar on the topic Activating Article 2 TEU in the Union’s values crisis.
Spieker will outline how the violation of EU values by Member States – especially the value of democracy – can be litigated before the Court of Justice. Among others, he will discuss whether Article 2 TEU can serve as a yardstick for judicial review, what its added value is, and whether the provision can be invoked by individuals, before exploring possible developments ahead.
Registration: Open to UCLouvain Saint-Louis Bruxelles Master’s students, staff and professionals. Register here (Onsite or Online)
About the speakers
Luke Dimitrios Spieker is a postdoctoral researcher at Humboldt University, where he researches on transversal issues of EU and German constitutional law.
His book, EU Values Before the Court of Justice: Foundations, Potential, Risks (Oxford University Press, 2023) was awarded the UACES Best Book Prize in 2024. More about the speaker here.
Cecilia Rizcallah is professor of European Law and Human Rights at UCLouvain Saint-Louis Bruxelles. She also hold visiting professorships at the College of Europe, the Université libre de Bruxelles, and Université Paris I Panthéon–Sorbonne. In addition, she is member of the Collegium of the Belgian Royal Academy of Sciences, Letters and Arts and Co-President of the Belgian Association for European Union Law (BEDER).
Dr Yann Lorans is a Doctor of Law from KU Leuven and Université Paris-Est, specializing in EU constitutional law and fundamental rights. He is currently a re:constitution Fellow, conducting research at the NOVA School of Law in Lisbon. His work focuses on the collaborative relationship between the EU judiciary and legislature, as well as the constitutional challenges of EU media regulation. Previously, he served as a legal trainee at the Court of Justice of the European Union and as a teaching assistant at several prestigious institutions, including Sciences Po Paris.
About the Chair
Teresa Cabrita is an assistant Professor of EU Law at UCLouvain Saint-Louis Brussels. Before joining UCLouvain, Teresa worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Max Planck Institute for the History and Theory of Law (Frankfurt), as a research associate at the KU Leuven (Belgium), and as a senior project manager for European projects in the field of judicial training.
Teresa holds a PhD in European and International Law from the University of Amsterdam (2023). Her research interests include the relationship between EU and international law, EU external relations law, EU legal history and European and international disaster law. Teresa’s work has been published in the Max Planck Yearbook of United Nations Law, European Papers, Europe and the World: A law review and European Constitutional Law Review.
