Deirdre Curtin | |
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Born | |
Occupation(s) | Legal scholar, Professor |
Academic background | |
Education | University College Dublin Trinity College, Dublin |
Academic work | |
Institutions | European University Institute of Florence |
Deirdre M. Curtin (born 17 January 1960) is a legal scholar who works in the area of law and governance of the European Union. Since 2015 she is Professor of European Law at the European University Institute of Florence. [1]
Born in Dublin,Ireland,Curtin studied law at University College Dublin,completing her degree in 1980. [2] After finishing her studies,Curtin joined Trinity College,Dublin as a Master's student. [1] [2]
In 1985,Curtin joined the Court of Justice of the European Communities as a legal secretary (référendaire) to Judge T. F. O'Higgins,a position she held until 1991. [1] [2] After her term at the Court,she joined Utrecht University as full professor of Law of International Organizations, [3] moving in 2003 to the chair of International and European Governance at the Utrecht School of Governance,which she held (part-time) until 2013. [4]
After some years at the Utrecht School of Governance,Curtin joined the University of Amsterdam in 2008 as a Professor of European Law,where she was the founding director of the Amsterdam Centre for European Law and Governance (ACELG). [4] She left that professorship in 2015,to join the European University Institute as Professor of European Union Law,but retained her affiliation with the University of Amsterdam until 2016. [5]
Deirdre Curtin’s research deals with the law and governance of the European Union. Her publications have engaged with various aspects of European law,with a focus on matters of democracy,legitimacy and accountability. [6]
Curtin has written extensively on phenomenon of differentiated integration,having coined the term “Europe of bits and pieces”to refer to its piecemeal development after the 1992 Maastricht Treaty. [7] Curtin is known as a promoter of the use of empirical methods in research about European Union law. [8]
Since 2003,Curtin is member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. [9] She was the first woman to be appointed a member of the academy in the section law.
In 2007,she won the Spinozapremie, [6] the first time it was awarded to a lawyer.
In May 2021,she was made a member of the Royal Irish Academy. [10]