About me

Photo: Jetro Stavén.

I am Professor of European Law and Legislative Studies at the University of Eastern Finland (UEF), PI of Research Council of Finland funded research project on revolving doors and its regulation (REVOLVE, 2021–2025), and the Kone Foundation research project on political influence and lobbying in Finnish municipal politics (LoSKa, 2023–2026). I am also a Visiting Fellow at the Maastricht Centre for European Law. 

My research interests relate to law and democracy in the EU and national contexts, with a focus on EU institutional and constitutional law.  In recent years, I have written about soft law,  lobbying and the revolving door phenomenon, and the national governance of EU structural funds.  Methodologically my work is interdisciplinary and socio-legally oriented with an emphasis on qualitative expert interviews. 

In addition to my monograph Adjudicating New Governance (Routledge, 2015), my work has been published in leading journals in my field. I am a co-editor of EU Soft Law in the Member States (Hart Publishing, 2021), of Law, Legal Expertise and EU Policy-Making (Cambridge University Press, 2022), and of Research Handbook on Soft Law (Edward Elgar, 2023).

I have held visiting positions at Melbourne Law School (2023), Yale Law School (2019-2020), EUI (2007, 2014-2015), Columbia Law School (2010), and University College London (2008-2009).

I have served in various expert positions relating to lobbying and its regulation. As of June 2023, I have served as Vice-Chair of the Advisory Board for the Finnish Transparency Register. In 2020, I received the Academy of Finland Award for Social Impact in recognition for my work on lobbying.