Stéphanie De Somer is an associate professor in administrative law in the Government and Law research group of the Faculty of Law, University of Antwerp. Prior to this, she held two postdoctoral mandates funded by the Flemish Research Foundation (FWO) and was affiliated to the Vrije Universiteit Brussel as an assistant professor. Her PhD, completed in 2015 and funded by the FWO, concerned the creation of autonomous public bodies and the influence of EU law on this phenomenon. It was published by Edward Elgar in 2017. For her PhD and postdoctoral research, she was a visiting researcher at University College London, the University of Bristol, and Université Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne.
Areas of Expertise:
- Belgian Administrative Law
- Comparative Administrative Law
- EU Administrative Law
- Planning and Environmental Law
- Law and Sustainability
Selected Publications:
- De Somer, S. & Van Durme, F. (2026) De rechtsplicht van de overheid om de bevolking tijdig te informeren over milieuverontreiniging: een analyse naar aanleiding van het PFAS-vonnis van 19 september 2024.
- De Somer, S. (2025) Beginselen van Behendig en Bestendig Bestuursrecht: een agenda voor de overheid, de bestuursrechtspraak en het academisch onderzoek en onderwijs in het bestuursrecht.
- De Somer, S. & Vangenechten, M. (2025) Valuing the potential of small-scale nature in the Flemish region: a scan of the Legal framework, with a special focus on gardens.
Full Publication List: repository.uantwerpen.be/acadbib/irua/11374/N
Selected Projects:
- 2024-2027 – Coping with Urban Overtourism in Europe: EU Law as a Facilitator or an Impediment?
- 2023-2026 – Project RESONANCE*: The development of "fair governance", a new interdisciplinary psycho-legal research approach to assess public algorithm-assisted decision making *faiRnEss Self-determination gOverNANCE.
- 2019-2023 – Towards a theory on general principles of proof in administrative law.