The annual ELLYS meetings bring together talented early career scholars in labour and social security law from across Europe and aim to promote an academic dialogue between them in a collegial environment that encourages the open exchange of ideas. It provides a platform for early career academics to present and discuss their work with peers in an international and inspiring setting.
The central theme of the conference is: “Reframing Social Security and Labour Law Through Fundamental Rights in a Deregulatory Context.”
At a time when deregulation features prominently on policy agendas, its impact on fundamental rights is becoming increasingly significant. This is particularly true for vulnerable groups of the population, whose protection has traditionally been anchored in labour and social security law frameworks. These developments call for critical reflection on both the impact of deregulation and the need to balance flexibility with adequate labour and social protection in contemporary regulatory approaches.
PROGRAMME
Thursday, 12 November 2026
11:45-12:30 Registration and lunch
12:30-12:45 Welcome by Prof. Dr. Stefaan Smis, President of BruCeL
12:45-13:30 Keynote speech by Prof. Dr. David Mangan
13:30-14:50 Panel 1: AI, Algorithmic Management and Deregulation through Infrastructure
Chair: Prof. Dr. David Mangan
Irem Celik Knapp - Istanbul Gedik University
“Deregulation Through Recording: The Right to Rest and Working-Time Records in the Digital Age”
Ghita Abderrazik - Hassan II University of Casablanca
“From Fundamental Rights to Effective Protection: Anti-Discrimination Law at Work in a Deregulatory Context – A Moroccan–European Perspective”
Giovanni Gaudio - University of Turin
“Reconciling Risk and Workers’ Rights: The EU’s Risk-Based Approach to Algorithmic Management and Its Implications for Labour Law”
Sílvia de Carvalho Homem - University of Minho
“From Deregulation to Prediction: Fundamental Rights and the Temporal Integrity of the Worker in Algorithmic Labour Markets”
14:50-15:10 Coffee and tea break
15:10-16:50 Panel 2: Fundamental Rights
Chair: Luka Mišič
Flore Claus - Ghent University (UGent)
“The Right to Lifelong Learning for Workers: Legal Fiction or Emerging Reality?”
José Pedro Oliveira Pinto - Porto School of Law
“Pension Systems, Gender and Social Reproduction: Compensating Care-Related Disadvantage in EU Equality Law”
Gianluca Giampà - Sapienza University of Rome (Sapienza Università di Roma)
“Reasonable Accommodation and Workers’ Dismissal in the European Union: A Comparative Approach”
Michal Blažek - Masaryk University
“A Right the Worker Cannot Use Against the Employer: Directives, the Charter and Article 153 TFEU”
Anna Watelle - KU Leuven
“International Fundamental Labour Rights and Global Sport Governance: The Role and Potential of the Court of Arbitration for Sport”
Matteo Vrban - University of Miskolc
“Untying Fatherhood from Breadwinning: Fundamental Rights and the Changing Protection of Employed Fathers in Croatian Labour and Social Security Law”
17:00-18:10 Panel 3: Collective Labour Rights
Chair: Martina Bassotti
Vince Liégeois - Dutch Language Institute
“Same Rules, Different Concept Systems: Mutually Implementing Employment Law Terminology in the Netherlands and Belgium”
Giacomo Gallo - University of Padua
“Who Identifies the Standard? Prior Designation and Benchmark Risk in Contracting Chains”
Julien Mabille - Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University
“Deregulating Without Enforcing: Personal Liberty as a Constitutional Limit to Trade Union Standing in French Labour Law”
Senem Özkul - Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
“Private Collective Enforcement of Labour Law in a Changing Dutch Labour Market”
18:30-22:30 Conference dinner
Friday, 13 November 2026
09:00-09:30 Welcome coffee and breakfast
09:30-10:00 Presentation on publication strategies by Prof. Dr. Eleni De Becker, followed by discussion
10:00-11:40 Panel 4: Vulnerable Workers
Chair: Ceren Kasim
Gaëlle Borie - UCLouvain
“On the Legitimacy of the Belgian Flexi-Jobs Regime: Non-Discrimination Principles against the Erosion of Social Security and Labour Rights”
Umberto Izzo - Sapienza University of Rome
“Information and Consultation Rights as a Safeguard against Labour Market Flexibility and New Perspectives on the Protection of Transgender Workers”
Camila Salazar-Larsen - University of Bergen
“The Era of Digital Nomads: Cross-Border Remote Work within the EU and EEA”
Lara Simonovski - KU Leuven
“Access to Social Security Protection for Sex Workers at EU Level: Applying the Principle of Equal Treatment”
Pragya Ratan - University of Essex
“Deregulating Protection: The Omnibus I Rollback of the CSDDD and the Erosion of Labour Rights for Workers in Global Supply Chains”
Seray Poyraz - Trinity College Dublin
“Meaningful Stakeholder Engagement in Human Rights Due Diligence: From a Labour Perspective”
11:40-12:10 Concluding remarks by the ELLYS coordinators
12:20 Lunch