Thomas is Assistant Professor in European Union Law at Utrecht University and a member of Utrecht University's Utrecht Centre for Regulation and Enforcement in Europe (Renforce), where he co-leads a building block on EU values in international trade policy.
Thomas is an expert in EU and comparative foreign relations law and has a particular interest in the impact of geopolitical change on the governance of EU trade and investment policy. In his recent work, Thomas explores the accountability and legitimacy challenges that come with the 'unilateral turn' in EU trade and investment policy.
Thomas defended his PhD entitled 'EU Foreign Relations Federalism. A Comparison with the United States, Canada and Belgium' at KU Leuven in September 2019. A revised version of his PhD thesis was published by Oxford University Press as part of its Comparative Constitutionalism series in the course of 2023.
From 2018 to 2020, Thomas practiced EU and international trade law, and from 2012 to 2013, he practiced Belgian administrative and constitutional law at the Brussels offices of international law firms. He is currently a member of the Antwerp bar.
Thomas has held visiting positions at the University of Michigan Law School (2016-2017 and 2021-2022) and the Université de Montréal (2015), and was a trainee in the chambers of Professor Koen Lenaerts, President of the Court of Justice of the EU (2015).
Thomas studied law at KU Leuven (2011, magna cum laude) and obtained an MSc in Global Politics at the London School of Economics and Political Science (2012, Distinction).
Links