Get To Know Me

I am a professor of law and the Vice Dean for Research in the School of Law. From December 2020, I hold the Synnott Family Chair in EU Law, and from September 2011 I have been a Jean Monnet ad personam Chair for EU law. I have been a professor of European Union Law from 2000 (University Carl von Ossietzky, Oldenburg), coming to this position from a background as comparative labour lawyer and anti-discrimination lawyer (in which capacity I also drafted anti-discrimination legislation in Germany). I migrated to the UK in 2007 as a professor of EU Law in the UK (University of Leeds - 2007, Queen’s University Belfast - 2014), and held visiting positions with the University of Maastricht (The Netherlands), London School of Economics (UK), Kiyv Mohyla Academy of Law (Ukraine), University of Canterbury (New Zealand) and University Viadrina Frankfurt Oder (Germany).

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Today, my principal research interest is in EU law and its socio-economic impact in and beyond the EU. In Cork, I will continue this work with a stronger focus on how citizens and economic actors can connect to the EU through rights. Investigating the role of rights in EU integration requires a critical legal studies perspective on the EU’s unique socio-economic model, for which I propose a constructivist approach to the EU and its law. I use interdisciplinary methods, including empirical and discursive analysis of case law, in particular the Court of Justice of the European Union. This is exemplified by my first monograph in English, and my recent work on the Court of Justice’s concept of solidarity.

I remain research active in comparative labour law, focusing on the interface of labour law and regional economic integration (e.g. in the EU), and the continuing relevance of collective bargaining as a form of social citizenship. This is the basis of two recent journal articles, on the gig-economy and on collective bargaining and care. At UCC, I am teaching European Union law and also employment law. Anti-discrimination law and policy remains another research interest, from a comparative and feminist perspective.