[Roundtable] ReAarming Europe and the future of international and European law

When: Tuesday 30 September 2025
Where: Asser Institute
Time: 16.00-17.45 followed by networking drinks
Fee: Free

On September 30, the Asser Institute will organise a roundtable to explore how international and EU law could be effectively used and developed to address legal and societal challenges arising from the rearming of Europe. The event will introduce Prof. Dr Machiko Kanetake, the new academic director of the Asser Institute and professor of international law and security governance at the University of Amsterdam. Kanetake is an expert at the intersection of international law, security, human rights, and technology, with a focus on sanctions, arms and dual-use export control at the international, EU, and national levels, and the regulation of surveillance technologies

Geopolitical contexts surrounding Europe have accelerated investment in the development of defence capacities in the EU and its member states. The ReArm Europe Plan symbolises such a change in the political and industrial landscape at the EU level. While the decline in the US’s support for European defence necessitates policy changes, a significant increase in investment has profound societal implications.

The loss of alternative investment in other public sectors in the EU is one of them. What matters, however, is that the implications of rearming Europe go much beyond the boundaries of the EU. It is likely that the investment to rearm Europe would paradoxically increase the export of arms to a variety of non-EU destinations. This is not only because the EU strategically chooses to form a partnership with certain like-minded countries. This is also because the development of advanced weapons requires the European defence industry and related sectors to import and export know-how, technology, components, and weapons from and to the rest of the world.

Significant increase

Against the backdrop of a significant increase in defence production in Europe and beyond, the Asser Institute’s Roundtable & Networking event will look at the future role and direction of international and European law in regulating governmental and corporate decisions in the development, export, and use of weapons.

Take, for example, the regulation of AI-enabled weapon systems, whose development in the EU would be further accelerated by a new wave of investment. The regulation of arms and dual-use exports will also face new geopolitical contexts as well as a greater public demand for transparency.

This will be accompanied by the need for strengthening corporate due diligence in the defence industry, despite its traditional nexus to the government. Underlying these fields of regulation are a series of rules on human rights law, international humanitarian law, and international criminal law that can serve as normative yardsticks for risk assessment, state responsibility, individual criminal responsibility, and corporate liability.

During the roundtable, the speakers will share their views regarding upcoming changes and research agendas in the specific sub-fields of international and European law. The event will provide a forward-looking opportunity to discuss how international and EU law could be effectively used and developed to address legal and societal challenges arising from the rearming of Europe.

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