On 26 October 2023, Vincent Delhomme spoke at the inaugural conference of the newly founded ICON-S Benelux Chapter, hosted by Maastricht University. The overarching theme of the conference was Crises, Challenges, and the Future of Public Law. Vincent participated in the panel on 'The challenges of rule-making in the EU', together with three other scholars from the University of Utrecht : Salvatore Nicolosi, Esther van Schagen, and Ton van den Brink.
Vincent's presentation focused on EU internal market legislation and the constitutional challenges surrounding the use of minimum harmonisation in the field of lifestyle health promotion. Scientific uncertainty, politisation and diverging local preferences plead for a flexible use of EU powers, which, when necessary, allows to conduct policy experimentation at the national level and/or allow Member States to deviate from the chosen EU standard. Through two case studies (tobacco plain packaging and nutrition labelling), Vincent highlighted the difficulties faced by the legislator when integrating flexibility concerns in a law that strives for uniformity, inherent to the use of the EU's internal market competence.
The presentation builds on a chapter featured in the upcoming book Balancing Unity and Diversity in EU Legislation, edited by Ton van den Brink and Virginia Passalacqua, to be published with Edward Elgar in April 2024.
