ERA - Upcoming Conferences (April, May 2009)

ACADÉMIE DE DROIT EUROPÉEN - ACADEMY OF EUROPEAN LAW - EUROPÄISCHE RECHTSAKADEMIE - ACCADEMIA DI DIRITTO EUROPEO (ERA):

-Successions and Wills in a European context (Prague, 20-21 Apr 2009). The conference will provide an in-depth discussion of the most topical issues regarding succession and wills in a European context. The draft Regulation on Succession and Wills, expected to be issued soon, will serve as the basis of the discussion. A case-study will be presented. The conference will then address the following highly current issues:

• Scope of the instrument: The Regulation will cover jurisdiction, recognition and choice of law. To what extent should property rights be covered? Will foreign property rights unknown to a legal system (e.g. trust) have to be recognised?
• Choice of law: Will the testator be free to choose the governing law? If yes, will there be restrictions to the freedom to choose? What will be the relationship to the rules of compulsory heirship of the legal system otherwise applicable?
• Choice-of-law rule for succession to movable and immovable property: What is the appro-priate connecting factor? Will there be one rule for movables and immovables? Will there be exceptions to that rule? How will the habitual residence test be defined?
• Relationship to dispositions inter vivos: If, and to what extent, will the Regulation affect the validity of dispositions disposed of inter vivos?
• Registration of wills and European Certificate of Inheritance: Will there be a compulsory or an optional system of registration of wills? What will be the scope of a European Certificate of Inheritance?

Más Información: Academy of European Law (ERA).

-10 Years of Schengen Integration in the EU Acquis (New challenges for the protection of the EU’s internal and external borders) (Trier, 23-24 Apr 2009). Controls at the internal air borders of the new EU Member States were finally abolished in March 2008. Ten years after the integration of the so-called Schengen Acquis into the EU structure by the Treaty of Amsterdam, most EU member states share a single external border together with some non-EU partners of which the latest one, Switzerland, will have fully acceded by March 2009. What are the challenges that Schengen members face in guaranteeing effective control at Schengen’s external and internal borders?
This conference will explain the measures taken to compensate the abolition of the internal borders in the field of police cooperation. Attention will be paid to the development of the Schengen Information System and the innovations envisaged by SIS II. At the heart of the conference will be the proposed measures for ‘European Integrated Border Management’ such as:

• the introduction of an entry/exit system, to facilitate border crossing for bona fide travellers
• the development of a European Border Patrols Network
• the creation of a European Border Surveillance System (EUROSUR)
• the use of PNR passenger name records.

Finally, the support offered by FRONTEX will be presented and discussed with special attention to initial experiences with Rapid Border.
Más información: Academy of European Law (ERA).

-Product Liability and Product Safety (Trier, 27-28 Apr 2009). The objective of this conference is to provide practitioners with an understanding of the most important recent developments concerning product liability and product safety. EU legislation aims to achieve an effective Single Market in terms not only of competition and free movement but also of consumer protection, by permitting the circulation only of safe products and by providing consumers with the right to compensation for any damages incurred.
Leading experts will address the following issues in light of the latest legislation and jurisprudence from the ECJ and national courts:

• current level of harmonisation on the basis of Directive 85/374/EC and the remaining open questions (notions of ‘product’, ‘causation’, ‘defect’)
• the question of the applicable law (Rome II)
• the burden of proof in product liability cases
• ensuring product safety (standardisation,RAPEX system, IP rights enforcement)
• sectoral matters (chemicals, pharmaceuticals, toys)

The conference will also address important new legislative initiatives, such as the draft toy safety directive, the adoption of the new ‘goods package’, the possible introduction of collective redress, and their potential impact on the above fields. In order to highlight better the practical aspects of the issues addressed, a case study encouraging participants’ interaction will be organised.
Más información: Academy of European Law (ERA).

-Annual Seminar on European Community Law 2009 (Recent Developments in Legislation and Jurisprudence) (Trier, 4-5 May 2009). The constant development of European law requires practitioners in many areas of law to update continually their knowledge. This seminar will offer an overview of the latest innovations in European legislative activity, the most important recent case law and pending judgments of the Court of Justice and the Court of First Instance of the European Communities, and future perspectives for the development of policy in some of the most critical areas of law:

• Basic freedoms
• Company law and financial services
• Competition law
• Environmental law
• Intellectual property rights
• Consumer protection
• Social and labour law
• Tax law
• Contract law.

Más información: Academy of European Law (ERA).

-Annual Conference on European Trade Law 2009 (Focus on trade facilitation and customs) (Brussels, 11-12 May 2009). This annual conference will provide practitioners with an analysis of how the EU is adapting its external trade and customs law to global economic integration, the effectiveness of current measures, the need for new instruments and related practical considerations
The conference will provide briefings on the progress made in trade law and policy including:

• Trade Defence Instruments: ongoing review; critical features of anti-dumping rules (transparency, balance of interests, negotiations); subsidies; dispute settlement; new EuroMed trade facilitation mechanism
• Impact of recent ECJ case law for practice
• Customs 2013 Programme and the new electronic system for exchanging advanced information between traders and custom authorities, Authorised Economic Operator (AEO)
• Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement and EU debate (upgrading Regulation 1383/2003; counterfeit goods over Internet; enforcement authorities cooperation)
• Impact for traders of the Modernised Customs Code.

Experts from the European Commission, customs administrations, international organisations and traders will be invited to report on these issues from a practical perspective.
Más información: Academy of European Law (ERA).

-Criminal exploitation of new technologies (An effective response to cybercrime) (Trier, 14-15 May 2009). The security of “key European information systems” as defined in Article 1 of Council Framework Decision 2005/222/JHA covers many issues of which the fight against cybercrime is a core element. The objective of this seminar will be to assess how the European legislation in this field is applied in the different Member States and candidate countries and the perspectives for an effective Europe-wide campaign against cybercrime.
Due to the global nature of information networks, there is ever-growing vulnerability to cybercrime. To tackle this threat traditional mutual assistance and operational law enforcement cooperation often prove ineffective and inadequate.
This seminar will debate the most recent European legal acts and complementary measures adopted for combating cybercrime, such as the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime, Council Framework Decision 2005/222/JHA on attacks against information systems, and Council Framework Decision 2004/68/JHA on combating the sexual exploitation of children and child pornography.
After the introductory lectures by national, EU and Council of Europe experts, panels will discuss the concrete implementation of these measures at domestic level and the differences in national legislative acts which can impede the efficient fight against transnational organised crime.
Más información: Academy of European Law (ERA).

-New Horizons for EU Criminal Justice (From Tampere to the Stockholm Programme) (Trier, 25-26 May 2009). In 1999 a summit in Tampere, Finland adopted the “Tampere Conclusions” based on the new competencies of the EU for justice and home affairs under the Amsterdam Treaty. The objective was approximation of procedural and substantive law to facilitate mutual recognition by creating common minimum standards for the protection of invidividuals’ rights. Mutual recognition became the cornerstone of judicial cooperation in criminal matters.
In 2004 the Hague Programme and Action Plan (COM(2005)184) were adopted. The Commission has published three annual reports on their implementation, known as the Scoreboards. According to the latest (2 July 2008), achievements have been registered in migration, border management and the fight against terrorism but more work is needed in the field of judicial and police cooperation in criminal matters.
With the Hague Programme coming to an end in 2009, the Presidency of the Council set up “Future Groups” to provide ideas and the Commission launched a public consultation on the new “Stockholm” Programme. What should be a priority in European criminal law for the next five years? How can existing legislation be improved or simplified? How can existing instruments be made more effective? How should new technologies be used to promote a coherent judicial area and reinforce police cooperation?
This conference will deal with the criminal and police side of the new programme. Judicial cooperation in civil matters will be discussed at a conference on 26-27 November 2009.
Más información: Academy of European Law (ERA).

-European Competition Law and Intellectual Property Rights (Trier, 28-29 May 2009). The objective of this conference is to provide practitioners with an analysis of the relationship between competition law (Article 81 and 82 EC Treaty, block exemptions, joint ventures, distribution and franchising agreements, licensing) and intellectual property law (patent, copyright, trademarks, technology transfer, know-how, trade secrets, litigation settlement agreement, etc.).
It is a long-standing principle that EC competition law can in no manner affect the existence of IP rights, but that the conditions for exercise of the latter must be in conformity with the requirements of competition law. Over the last ten years intellectual property protection has seen a growth in demand for registered rights, as well as an expansion of its scope and a mutation of its nature.
The development of medical, data-processing and media techniques reveals, besides the “traditional” intellectual property rights, the need for more sophisticated forms of protection. Competition law has also changed through its case law, its procedural modernisation by Regulation 1/2003 - leading to an emphasis on block exemptions which have substantially affected licensing - and a shift from legal analysis to an economic-based approach to defining and assessing restrictions on competition. As both areas of law developed and extended their scope of application, it is not astonishing that intellectual property law is regarded ever more through the prism of competition law.
The conference will also discuss proceedings involving intellectual property rights and competition law.
Más información: Academy of European Law (ERA).