Seminars

Seminar 1: Institutional and Decision-Making Structure of the European Union (24h)

  Laurent PECH, Full  Professor of Law, Dean of Law and Head of the Sutherland School of Law, University College of Dublin    

This seminar is designed to provide students with an introduction to the key features of the EU’s legal system and primarily aims to give students a solid grounding in the institutional framework of the EU post Lisbon Treaty. The seminar also includes the study of the history and development of the EU, the sources of EU law and law-making procedures, the main substantive principles underlying EU Law and the relationship between EU law and national law. It will end with an detailed overview of the EU’s system of judicial remedies.

Seminar 2: The Internal Market - Four Freedoms (24h)

Professor Xavier GROUSSOT, Associate Professor, University of Lund, Sweden
Professor Gunnar Þór PETURSSON, University of Reykjavik, Iceland

The seminar deals with the law of the internal market. This substantive law, which is based on the economic freedoms (free movement of goods, freedom of establishment, freedom to provide services, free movement of persons, freedom of the movement of capital and of payments), constitutes the cornerstone of European integration. The aim of this course is to give an in-depth knowledge on this area by focusing not only on the specific freedoms but also understanding the transversal issues proper to all the freedoms as well as understanding the new challenges and boundaries of the internal market.

Seminar 3: Competition Law (24h)

Professor David BOSCO, Aix-Marseille University, France

This seminar examines the two essential parts of EU Competition law: substantive and procedural issues. At the end of this course, you will be familiar with the basic concepts of EU Competition law (such as relevant market, restriction of competition, abuse of a dominant position) as well as the actors involved in enforcement of competition law.

When presented with hypothetical facts, you will be able to identify:

• Whether EU competition rules apply;
• If so, which substantive and procedural rules apply;
• The main steps of the reasoning to be conducted.

You will be able to consider substantive and procedural issues both from the point of view of undertakings and from that of enforcement authorities.

Seminar 4: External Relations of the European Union (24h)

Professor Christine KADDOUS, University of Geneva, Switzerland

The European Union is today a major player on the world stage. It asserts its identity through its foreign and security policy, as well as its bilateral and multilateral cooperation with other countries and regions of the world. This seminar will focus on several current issues in the external relations of the European Union. The perspective is a legal one, including political and economic reflections.

It will examine: The Treaties' provisions that provide the legal basis for EU and EC external action, the demarcation of competences between the EU, the EC and the Member States, the relations between International and Community law in matters relating to international agreements, the role of the European Courts in the interpretation and application of international agreements concluded by the EU and the EC and the effects of such agreements and of International Law in the EU legal order.

In addition, this seminar’s focus will be on the main fields of the external policies such as Common Commercial Policy, Common Foreign and Security policy as well as the links between trade policy and foreign policy in the areas of economic sanctions; the relations between EU law and WTO law, between EU law and UN law will be analysed. Special attention will be paid to the impact of the Lisbon Treaty on external relations.

Seminar 5: History of the Idea of Europe (24h)

Professor Emannuelle CHEVREAU, Paris-Panthéon-Assas University, France, Co-director of the LLM in European Law.

From the Antiquity until our Modernity, different Foundations took a part in the Making of the Idea of Europe. Cultural and political aspects will be examined. The seminar will study the Greek Influence, the Roman Contribution, the Barbaric Changes, the Medieval Transformations, and the Renaissance Revival with a particular Regard on the first European Projects.

The analysis will continue with the diverse attempts to realize the European Idea. After the First World War, several European Movements presented peculiar projects but nationalism and Hitler's coming to power postponed the construction of the European institutions. After the Second World War, the idea revealed a new progress in the context of the Cold War, but the institutional creations only came in the fifties. Since 1957, the European Integration has given an important place to this continent in the world despite many crises. This seminar will also analyse the recent period and the renewal of Europe after the Lisbon Treaty.

Seminar 6: European Private International Law (24h)

Professor Sabine CORNELOUP, Professor of Private International Law at Paris-Panthéon-Assas University

This course covers essential principles relating to international jurisdiction, choice of law and free movement of judgments, in the field of civil and commercial matters. Emphasis will be put on intra-European relationships, but the course will also examine the interaction of the European judicial area with the rest of the world. 

It is designed as an interactive course, with a particular focus on case studies. It provides students with the complex tools and skills needed to understand and act within the internal market of the EU.

This seminar will study the following topics:

• Introduction to EU Private international Law
• The Brussels I Regulation - Scope of application and general jurisdiction rule
• Choice of court agreements. The Brussels I Regulation - The Hague Convention of 2005
• The Brussels I Regulation - Special jurisdiction in matters relating to contracts and torts
• Parallel proceedings - Preventive and curative approaches
• The Rome I Regulation - Party autonomy
• The Rome I Regulation - The law applicable in the absence of choice - The Regulation's place within the global legal framework for sales contracts
• The Rome I Regulation - Contracts with weaker parties - The directive on posting of workers
• The Rome II Regulation
• Recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments

Seminar 7: Human Rights: Europe and its Democratic Society (24h)

Professor Idris FASSASSI, Paris-Panthéon-Assas University, France, Co-director of the LLM in European Law.

This seminar will focus on the mechanisms for the promotion and protection of human rights within the European Union and the Council of Europe, and their current challenges.

It will cover the history of human rights protection in Europe, analyse the multilayered structure of the protection of fundamental rights in Europe, and discuss the way that national constitutional courts, the Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Court of Human Rights interact.

The course will focus on topics such as freedom of speech, freedom of religion and judicial independence, and analyze the functioning of core structural principles such as the margin of appreciation doctrine, the proportionality test, and the concept of direct effect.

The last part of the course will focus on the issue of rule of law backsliding in Europe and the perspectives ahead.

Seminar 8: Employment Law (24h)

Professor Marie MERCAT-BRUNS, Affiliated Professor at Sciences Po Law School and a tenured Associate Law Professor in Private Law and in Labor and Employment Law at the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers (CNAM DISST)

From a comparative perspective, this course will cover current issues in EU employment law with a focus on discrimination law as it unfolds in France and the European Union. After a close look at how equality law has developed in the European Union, the course will focus more deeply on a series of issues including: the meaning of racial discrimination and diversity through positive action; proof of direct and indirect discrimination; systemic discrimination; sex discrimination and the equal pay gap; harassment as discrimination; parental rights; religious accommodation; age discrimination and its proxies; the concept of disability and of multiple discrimination. It is an interactive course focused on cases studies to understand the trends in EU employment discrimination law and the tools for strategic litigation.

Seminar 9: Company Law and Financial Markets (24h)

Professor Thierry BONNEAU, Paris-Panthéon-Assas University, France

The seminar will start with a short introduction about what are Financial Markets and a presentation of the most important European texts in the area, a presentation of the Committee of European Securities Regulators and the European Securities Committee.

The seminar will then cover the following topics:

• Markets in financial instruments;
• Admission of securities to official stock exchange listing; prospectus to be published when securities are offered to the public or admitted to trading;
• Takeover bids;
• Market abuse;
• Financial collateral arrangements;
• Money laundering;
• The distance marketing of consumer financial services.

Seminar 10: Consumer Law (24h)

Professor Maria José AZAR-BAUD, Professor at Paris-Saclay University, France

Through the definition and the goals of Consumer law, one can better understand the main objectives of the European Union and how the discipline contributes to achieve the latter. Consumer law legal basis, Consumer policies (Statements, Programs, Action Plans and Strategy Documents) are therefore analyzed under the light of EU motivations and the principles of conferral, subsidiarity, and proportionality. 

The study of European Consumer law’s main actors (consumer and trader) and institutions are confronted to the Member States legislation. The existence of special consumer-protection regimes, arising out of specific provisions (i.e., Time-share, Financial services, Passengers’ rights, Data protection, Environmental rules), is stressed.

The main features of Consumer law are progressively studied: Unfair practices, Unfair terms, obligations arising out of the pre-contractual stage, during the execution of the B2C contract and in its aftermath, are core matters.

The means for the resolution of B2C disputes, both individually –i.e., small claims proceedings– and collectively –i.e., injunctive measures, compensatory collective redress (class actions)– are also tackled. Online and alternative dispute resolution processes are put forward.

To learn by comparison, students are encouraged to work on the legislations of their countries of origin. To understand Consumer law as part of the European motivations, students deal with Consumer law together with Fundamental rights, Human rights, Economic, Social and Cultural rights, Environmental law, amongst others. 

Seminar 11: Intellectual Property Law (24h)

Professor Josef DREXL, Director of the Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition, Munich, Germany

The seminar covers all aspects of European law relating to intellectual property by considering both primary (Treaty) law and secondary legislation. Important issues to be covered are the role of different IP rights in the system of the fundamental freedoms or the delimitation of Community power to legislate on IP.

International law will be studied to the extent that the EC is bound by IP Treaties, like the WTO-TRIPS Agreement in particular, but also the raising number of bilateral agreements with other states or groups of states.

The interface of IP and competition law will be of a particular interest, including the application of Art.81 EC to licensing agreements, of Art.82 EC to refusals to license or the regulation of collecting societies. With regards to secondary legislation, the seminar will select more focused topics that highlight how the European legislature deals with fundamental policy issues.

Aspects of applicable law and of the European judicial system for the legal administration of the IP system may also be discussed.

Seminar 12: European Environmental Law (12h)

Heike OTTERBEIN

European Environmental Law has a long-standing history at both national and EU level. Despite the lack of an explicit policy competence, the EU started adopting legislation to protect the environment already in the sixties and seventies. This was necessary to reduce disparities in the legislation of the Member States that could stand in the way to the establishment and functioning of the internal market. While some Member States served as forerunners to the development EU environmental law and constantly uploaded their standards to the EU level, other were exposed with this policy field for the first time. Yet, EU environmental law is more than the reproduction of the environmental law of the greenest EU countries.

Over time, it has acquired an identity of its own, to the extent that it has even re-shaped the identity of the greenest states. For example, one of such states, the Netherlands, is re-writing the whole of its national environmental law to copy the EU environmental acquis, encompassing nowadays, all possible fields, with soil protection and access to justice being probably the two fields in which EU environmental law is the least developed.

The peculiar multilevel structure of EU environmental law forms the core of this course. We will discuss its history, main governance features, including decision making, enforcement and judicial protection, as well as its main substantive fields.

More precisely, the learning outcomes for this course are formulated so that this course will provide you with:

• Thorough knowledge of and thorough understanding of the main features of European Environmental Law (History, Governance, Decision Making, Enforcement, Judicial Protection, and Substantive European Environmental Law);
• The ability to independently do academic legal research in the field of European Environmental Law;
• The ability to independently participate in the debate in the field of European Environmental Law, with colleagues;
• Understanding the requirements that are needed, because of the permanent and quick development of positive law, for self-study and creating own judgments.

Seminar 13 : Privacy and Data Protection Law (12h)

Adrien AULAS & Mathias le MASNE de CHERMONT, Lawyers at the Paris bar, Founders of French law firm Lighten and think tank Aeon

This course will provide students with a comprehensive, practical and critical overview of European data protection and privacy laws, with a strong emphasis on the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and specific focuses on sectoral regulation (ePrivacy Directive, forthcoming IA Act, Data Act and Data Governance Act).

Each aspect of data protection and privacy regulations will be explained from a theoretical and doctrinal perspective but also illustrated with real-world situations drawn especially from the lecturers’ practice. The course will also provide critical analyses of regulations and authorities’ doctrine and explore the technical, economic and political implications of EU privacy and data protection laws.

Students will be invited to engage in interactive discussions based on readings provided before classes.