Kai Purnhagen

Purnhagen works in the areas of European Union Law, International Economic Law and the interdisciplinary and comparative analysis of law. Previous appointments include stays at the Wageningen University, Ludwig-Maximilian University Munich, the University of Lucerne, the European University Institute, the London School of Economics and Political Science, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, and the University of Amsterdam.

His early research focused on the increasing role of systematisation in the harmonisation of risk regulation in EU law. He also co-led a project on European legal culture at the LMU in Munich and at Oxford University, funded by a Thyssen grant. This work led to the well-received book Towards a European Legal Culture, which was commented inter alia by Hugh Collins, Steven Weatherill, Eric Jayme, Ewoud Hondius, Kåre Lilleholt, Norbert Reich, Gerhard Dannemann, and Thomas Wilhelmsson.

More recently, Kai has worked broadly on various aspects of risk regulation in EU law, WTO law, and German law, with a focus on the implementation of findings from behavioural, economic and safety sciences into law and regulation. His works have appeared in prestigious journals such as the European Law Journal, The Journal of World Trade, Nature, Journal of Consumer Policy, Nature Biotechnology, Risk Analysis, the European Law Review, Applied Economics and Perspectives and the Rabel Journal of Comparative and International Private Law. He is also (co-)editor of various prestigious outlets, most prominently of the forthcoming Oxford Encyclopedia on EU law and the Springer Science Series Studies in European Economic Law and Regulation. Kai was also Founding Associate Editor of the European Journal of Risk Regulation (Cambridge University Press).

His works regularly influence law-making and interpretation at various levels. Among others, his works were taken up by the European Court of Justice in data protection law, the European Commission in marketing law, the German government in energy and consumer law and the German Supreme Court in contract law. He regularly serves as an expert to various governments and consulting agencies such as the Chinese government, the European Commission, the European Parliament, the German government and the Austrian government.

He was responsible for the legal part of interdisciplinary projects such as the Nudging project with the German ministry for the environment (Anstossen nachhaltiger Konsummuster, 2014-2016), and the ZaNexus project for several German ministries (2015-2017).

Companies

• Director Research Unit for German and European Food Law (2020)
• Professor Universität Bayreuth (2020)
• Principal series (co-)editor and founder „Studies in European Economic Law and Regulation“ Springer Nature (2014)
• Distinguished International Visitor Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam Institute of Law and Economics (2013)
• Senior Associate Professor (with ius promovendi) Wageningen University & Research (2020 — 2020)
• Associate Professor Of Law Wageningen University & Research (2017 — 2020)
• Senior Assistant Professor Of Law Wageningen University & Research (2015 — 2017)
• Visiting Lecturer Justus Liebig University Giessen (2008 — 2017)
• Assistant Professor of Law and Governance Wageningen University & Research (2013 — 2015)

Education

• PhD in European Law European University Institute (2008 — 2010)
• Master of Laws (LLM) University of Wisconsin-Madison (2006 — 2007)
• Magister Juris Internationalis (M.J.I.) Justus-Liebig-Universität Giessen (2004 — 2009)
• Master of Research (Law) European University Institute (2007 — 2008)
• Dipl. Iur-Univ. (State Exam, JD equivalent) Justus-Liebig-Universität Giessen (2000 — 2006)