Welcome to PROM!

The Peer Review Observatory Maastricht

What is PROM about?

Peer reviews among states are increasingly widely used as an instrument of global governance: Think about the many peer reviews of the OECD, the United Nations’ Universal Periodic Review, or about the variety of peer reviewing schemes in the European Union, such as its new rule of law peer review. 

Yet, while there are many peer reviews, the results of some of them are taken more seriously by participants than others. How can this be explained?

The Peer Review Observatory Maastricht (PROM) looks at the functioning and the authority of peer reviews in various international organizations and policy fields. It conducts academic research and policy advice to interested audiences. 

PROM started off with a comparative research project that ran from 2013 to 2019. It explored why some peer reviews among states acquire authority, while other peer reviewing schemes do not. We looked at six peer reviewing schemes are organized in different organizational contexts (OECD; United Nations family, WTO, Council of Europe) and in different policy areas (the fight against corruption; human rights; economic and trade policies). Read an abstract of the project here…

The project was hosted by the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences of Maastricht University and received funding by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek — NWO under its prestigious Innovational Research Incentive Scheme (VIDI).

Latest activity

UNODC consultancy study published

The consultancy study written by Thomas Conzelmann for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has been published. It carries the title "Lessons learned from other review mechanisms on their operation and transition to a next phase". The paper reviews the...

Thomas Conzelmann advises UNODC

Thomas Conzelmann has assumed a consultancy position for the Implementation Review Mechanism (IRM) of the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC). He is tasked with contributing an advisory paper about possible changes to the mechanism once this peer...

New chapter on OECD peer reviews to appear in September 2023

Another PROM publication is in the pipeline, this time dealing with peer reviews in the OECD. Beyond the cases of the Economic and Development Review Committee and the Working Group on Bribery covered in the main project, the chapter also looks at the OECD’s...

New article by Thomas Conzelmann on EU rule of law peer review

As PROM moves on to new ventures, Thomas has started to look at another peer review not covered in the original project design. This is the EU’s recently installed rule of law peer review. It reviews the compliance of all EU member states with rule of law standards...

UN FACTI panel report published, PROM researchers contribute

The UN FACTI panel report has been published earlier this week. Valentina Carraro and Hortense Jongen were invited to contribute to the report with an independent expert advice. The report, as adopted by a high-level UN panel, deals with improving global financial...

Valentina Carraro starts at Leiden University

Valentina Carraro has started a new position at the University of Leiden. She is an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs (ISGA) and the Institute of Political Science, and Deputy Coordinator of the Global Transformations and Governance...