Dear Colleagues, We are pleased to invite paper proposals for a panel on regulatory growth in the EU – its design, complexity, strategies of simplification, and implementation challenges at the 2026 Biennial Conference of the Standing Group on the European Union, 1 – 3 July, Università di Catania. We welcome proposals on topics such as regulatory complexity and simplification efforts, the relationship between rule growth and policy implementation, the effectiveness and consequences of deregulation programmes, methods for measuring rule growth and complexity, and the political dynamics underlying the accumulation and simplification of EU law-making. Please see the attached detailed call for papers. If you are interested in participating, please submit your proposal to nir.kosti@lmu.de by December 8, 2025. Best regards, Nir Kosti and Brigitte Pircher Brigitte Pircher, Associate Professor Programme Coordinator for the European Studies Programme School of Social Sciences +46 (0)72 5941217<tel:+46725941217> brigitte.pircher@sh.se<mailto:brigitte.pircher@sh.se> SÖDERTÖRNS UNIVERSITY | STOCKHOLM Alfred Nobels Allé 7, Flemingsberg 141 89 Huddinge Sweden +46 (0)8 608 40 00<tel:+4686084000> sh.se [sh-logo ] Sending an e-mail to Södertörn University will result in Södertörn University processing your personal data. More information about how Södertörn University processes personal data is available here[cid:image002.png@01DB1897.8D3B6590]External link.<https://www.sh.se/english/sodertorn-university/meet-sodertorn-university/strategies-and-quality-assurance/personal-data-processing>. E-mail correspondence with Södertörn University may be classified as official and public documents. Recent publications * Pircher, B. (2025). Rebalancing EU regulation: Progressive responses to the deregulation push, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, European Union & Global Dialogue - Brussels Office. Bonn : Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung e.V., https://library.fes.de/pdf-files/bueros/bruessel/22096-20250604.pdf * * Loxbo, K. & Pircher, B. (2024). Complexity meets flexibility: unintended differentiation in EU public procurement. Journal of European Public Policy, 1-27. https://doi.org/10.1080/13501763.2024.2427196 * Pircher, B. (2024). EU Better Regulation: Creating a playing field for businesses at the expense of social and environmental policies<https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-132239>. Vienna, Verlag Arbeiterkammer Wien. 79, https://emedien.arbeiterkammer.at/viewer/image/AC17244608/ * Im, Z.J., Larsen, T.P., Pircher, B.<https://lnu.se/en/staff/brigitte.pircher/> (2024). European Social Dialogues: Shaping EU Social Policy through Parental Leave Rights<https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-125384>. Industrial & labor relations review. 1-31, https://doi.org/10.1177/00197939241231789 * Pircher, B., de la Porte, Caroline & Dorota Szelewa (2024). Actors, costs and values: the implementation of the Work-Life Balance Directive, West European Politics, 47(3): 543-568, https://doi.org/10.1080/01402382.2023.2181504 * Mario Munta, Brigitte Pircher & Sonja Bekker (2024). Ownership of national recovery plans: next generation EU and democratic legitimacy, Journal of European Public Policy, 31(11): 3787- 3811, https://doi.org/10.1080/13501763.2023.2248202 * de la Porte, Caroline, Im Zhen Jie, Pircher Brigitte, Ramos Martin, Nuria & Dorota Szelewa (2023). An examination of ‘instrumental resources’ in earmarked parental leave: The case of the work–life balance directive, Journal of European Social Policy, 33(5): 525-539, https://doi.org/10.1177/095892872312075 * de la Porte, Caroline, Im Zhen Jie, Pircher Brigitte, & Dorota Szelewa (2023). The EU's work-life balance directive: Institutional change of father-specific leave across member states, Social Policy & Administration. 57(4): 549-563, https://doi.org/10.1111/spol.12920 * Pircher, B. (2023). Compliance with EU Law from 1989 to 2018: The Commission's Shift from a Normative to a Regulative Approach. Journal of Common Market Studies. 61(3): 763-780, https://doi.org/10.1111/jcms.13412 * Pircher, B. (2023). The EU’s Commission Regulatory Scrutiny Board: better regulation or biased influence on legislation? Vienna, Arbeiterkammer Wien and Lobby Control. 52 pages, https://emedien.arbeiterkammer.at/viewer/resolver?urn=urn:nbn:at:at-akw:g-6369789 Ongoing research projects SUPA – Sustaining Public Administration in Modern Democracies, Horizon Europe, work package leader, https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101177315