Cross-Border Data Protection Network

Dr. Napoleon Xanthoulis

Co-Principal Investigator

Napoleon Xanthoulis is Lecturer in Law at the University of Southampton. His research interests extend to the fields of Constitutional and Administrative Law, with emphasis on EU law and the law of the law of the Economic & Monetary Union as well as the intersection between law & digital technologies.

Napoleon is currently a principal investigator of the project ‘UK-Ireland Cross-border Data Protection Network’, co-funded by the UKRI/IRC (2020).

An important stream of Napoleon’s research aims to create a conceptual framework for the notion of ‘legal effects’ in EU law. It builds on his doctoral thesis at King’s College London which examined the legal effects and justiciability of EU acts with focus on the conduct of the European Central Bank. In 2017, he was awarded a project by the European Central Bank to explore the legal significance of public announcements in central banking. His article tracing the legal effects of EU factual conduct was awarded the Faculty Research and Dissemination ECR prize in 2020. Recently, Napoleon was invited to contribute to the project ‘Academic Network of Soft Law Research (SoLaR)’, funded by the European Commission.

A significant part of Napoleon’s research focuses on the law and governance of the Economic and Monetary Union exploring aspects of legal effects, judicial protection and institutional balance. Part of his work traces the role of the European Central Bank during the euro crisis and in the post-crisis era with emphasis on its monetary policy mandate and liquidity provision. The regulation and governance of the European Banking Union and financial assistance also fall within the scope of his research. 

Napoleon’s work also engages with the emergence of a new rule of law culture within the EU and explores its normative challenges. In 2021, he is co-organizing a conference on the Rule of Law in the EU in collaboration with the European University Institute and KCL Centre of European Law. Furthermore, he has been invited to contribute to a European Law Institute project that aims to conceptualize the rule of law in the modern era.