Linda Senden studied international law (1992), European Studies (1992) and Dutch law (1996) at the University of Amsterdam. She obtained her doctorate degree in law in 2003 at Tilburg University for her thesis on Soft law in European Community Law. Its relationship to legislation (Hart Publishing, 2004).
She was lecturer in European law at the University of Amsterdam (1992-1993) and Tilburg University (from 1994 onwards), where she was later appointed professor of EU law (2004). She joined the Law Department and Europa Instituut of Utrecht University in 2011, where she holds the chair in EU law. She has been visiting professor at the University of Michigan, University of Connecticut, the National University of Singapore, Koç University (Istanbul), University of Rijeka (Croatia), University of Vilnius (Lithuania), University of Aruba and University of Konstanz (Germany).
Academic tasks
She is co-director of the Law Department research programme and centre on ‘Shared Regulation and Enforcement in Europe’ (RENFORCE, http://renforce.rebo.uu.nl/en/); member of the Law Department Research Board; member of the board of ‘Trust, Citizenship and Democracy’, one of the five pillars of the University research focus area on ‘Institutions of the Open Society’ (IOS); and director of the LL.M programme on European law. She currently co-teaches courses on European constitutional law, Judicial protection and enforcement in EU law, Foundations of EU Law and Dynamics of Law in international and European perspective (for Legal Research master students). She also teaches at the Hague Academy for Legislation (Academie voor Wetgeving) and the Academy for Civil Servants (Academie voor Overheidsjuristen).
Research focus
In her research she focuses on the institutional and constitutional dimension of EU law, with a specific interest in regulatory and enforcement aspects of the European integration process, in its interaction with the national legal orders. The overall question that triggers her interest is: how does shared authority between the European and national levels get shape and what does this mean for the position and development of different institutions and in terms of the legitimacy and effectiveness of the European integration process? She also has a research interest in the constitutional foundations and governance design of transnational private regulation. From 2010 to 2013, she was co-leader of an international research project on this topic, funded by the Hague Institution for the Internationalization of the Law. She also holds specific expertise and a research interest in European sex equality law.
Expert activities:
- Member of the committee European integration of the Adviesraad Internationale Vraagstukken (AIV), advisory body on international and European affairs to the Dutch government and parliament
- Member of the Executive Committee of the Network of National Experts on Equality of Men and Women of the European Commission (DG Justice)
- Member of the Steering Committee of the Community of Practice on Co- and Self-regulation in Europe, European Commission (DG Connect)
Recent expert advice has included a study for the European Parliament on non-enforceable/non-binding EU-instruments, which resulted in the following report (with T. van den Brink): Checks and balances of soft rule-making in the EU, Study for the European Parliament, PE 462.433, 96 pp., March 2012, accessible on:http://www.uu.nl/SiteCollectionDocuments/REBO/REBO_RGL/REBO_RGL_EUROPA/Rapport In 2013, a study has been performed for the European Parliament as well, on the legal admissibility of the Commission’s proposal for a Directive on gender balance among non-executive directors of companies listed on stock exchanges.
She is also member of the editorial board of the Utrecht Law Review, NTER (the Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Europees recht/Dutch Journal for European Law) and the European Gender Equality Law Review.