We are very pleased to welcome Alejandro Sánchez Frías as a visiting research fellow at the Institute for European Integration from June until August 2021.

He studied law at the University of Málaga and completed both a Master in European Union Studies at the University of Salamanca and a Master in European Law at the College of Europe (Bruges). During his doctoral studies, he received a research and mobility grant from the Ibero-American Academy of Yuste Foundation. He is currently a Lecturer in Public International Law, International Relations, and EU Law at the University of Málaga.

Alejandro has published numerous articles in law journals and has presented his research at academic forums throughout Europe. He speaks Spanish, English and French.

His research paper, titled “Judicial harmonization of European Law through autonomous concepts”, is embedded in the larger EULOGOS research project, which aims to provide a comprehensive and multidisciplinary theoretical framework for the construction of autonomous concepts, as well as the study of different concepts in the various disciplines of European Law.

Within the general spectrum of the “legislative power” of international courts, the main objective of his individual research project is to elaborate a theoretical framework that will help identify the elements and procedures through which autonomous concepts are created by the CJEU and the ECtHR. Do European courts look for a “common denominator” in the positions of Member States (Larsson and Naurin, 2016)? Or do they base their reasoning on moral truths and the general objectives of European integration rather than on consensus among States?

The results of his work will be presented in a research seminar in 2021/22.