Direct Effect and Primacy of EU Law
Invitation of the Young Friends of ERA
Join us on 28 February 2024 Kick-off event of the YFOE’s EU LAW SESSIONS 2024:
Direct Effect and Primacy of EU Law
The PSPP case
(ref. Judgement of 11 December 2018, Weiss and Others, C-493/17, EU:C:2018:1000, and
BVerfG, Judgment of the Second Senate of 5 May 2020 – 2 BvR 859/15)
on Wednesday, 28 February 2024
from 18h00 to 19h30 (CET) on Teams
This session will be hosted by:
Michal Bobek, MJur (Oxon), Ph.D (EUI); Judge at the Supreme Administrative Court, Czech Republic; Advocate General at the European Court of Justice (2015-2021); Visiting Professor at the Institute for European, International and Comparative Law, University of Vienna.
Oriol Teixidó Moreno, Lawyer, LL.M. (UvA) in International and EU Law, Coordinating Member of the Young Friends of ERA.
Join us by signing up here!
Welcoming the „Philosophers in Dialogue“
Giovanni De Angelis at the ERA
Trier, 12th July 2022
On 12 July the sculpture „The Philosophers in Dialogue“ by Giovanni de Angelis was placed in ERA’s courtyard. The artist travelled from Italy to personally oversee the installation of the trio in bronze – Hypatia, Ausonius and Justinian.
We were fortunate to welcome two of the sponsors of the art project, Rudi Fortson QC from the UK and Wolfgang Heusel, the former Director of ERA, who, together with numerous other donors and the Friends of ERA Association, made this project happen.
Despite the hot weather, the small inauguration party was well attended. In total, around 30 members of ERA staff joined the occasion to celebrate this new acquisition for ERA with a glass of chilled Moselle sekt.
Deputy Director John Coughlan mentioned the sponsors and gave thanks for their generous donations: there had been 28 individual donors from 15 countries across Europe. On behalf of the Academy, he also thanked the Friends of ERA Association, which took this project to heart two years ago.
The sculptor Giovanni de Angelis explained the process of creating the sculpture and described the complex and multi-level technique of casting in bronze in detail.
The three philosophers can now be admired by ERA participants and guests. More pictures of this small inauguration party can be seen here.
Heartfelt thanks go to our supporters who made this project possible.
First meeting of UK Chapter of the Friends of ERA
with guest speaker Catherine Barnard
Online event, 16th March 2022 on Zoom
We were fortunate to welcome 22 new UK associates who joined us on 16 March 2022 for the first meeting of the Friends of ERA with Catherine Barnard.
Prof Barnard gave a presentation on the TCA and initiated a thought-provoking debate focusing on the UK’s approach to negotiating its new trading relationship. Later she engaged the participants in a lively discussion about the EU/UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement. We were delighted that there seems to be a strong view that EU law and the UK’s relationship to it is still important for UK lawyers.
As a small souvenir from this first UK Chapter event and especially for those who could not make it to our virtual UK-Chapter room that evening, Prof. Barnard has shared her presentation.
We hope that this first meeting will be the first of many opportunities for intensive exchange and will provide a platform for networking among our newly acquired UK members of Friends of ERA. The event has been mentioned on our social media networks including LinkedIn (link to post) so be sure to follow us for future updates.
We also thank our chairs Vanessa Knapp OBE and Edwin Parks, who contributed significantly to the success of the evening and the participants with their lively contributions to the debate.
To find more information about the Friends of ERA or to join the Association, please click here.
Art Soirée „Philosophers in Dialogue“
with Giovanni De Angelis and Catherine Kessedjian
Online event, 9 December 2021
Nearly 30 friends joined us on 9 December 2021 for the second online Friends of ERA art event. We were fortunate to have the opportunity to get to know the artist Giovanni de Angelis personally and to learn more about current ERA Art Project and the process of how the heads of three philosophers will be cast in bronze- each representing the outstanding personalities Ausonius, Hypatia of Alexandria, and Justinian.
Prof. Catherine Kessedjian, a very ERA-committed and passionate art connoisseur, gave an inspiring talk about “Why makes a better lawyer” and how international jurisdictions could be explained by using a contemporary art installation.
For those who could not make it to our virtual art room that evening, the artist has left a small souvenir: You can watch the two videos of Giovanni de Angelis and his “Trio for Trier”. It was not difficult to overhear the artist’s personal connection to the female character. Giovanni said the following words about his special admiration for the female philosopher: “Hypatia was the personality I always passionately wanted to bring into life in the context of the bronze. Especially at this historical moment nowadays when female participation in the progress of humanity is still struggling to assert and to hold their ground …”
We hope to be able to raise the remaining funds (still 8,930 EUR to go) before the end of this year and look forward to hosting the three philosophers very soon in ERA’s courtyard where they can carry on their philosophical debate.
To find more information about the ERA Art Project and how to donate, please click here. The names of all donors (from 200 EUR on) will be inscribed on a plaque accompanying the artwork, leaving a lasting record of your connection to ERA.
Previous events
Webissage „ERAround the world“
Online event, 8 December 2020
On 8 December 2020 the Friends of ERA Association hosted our first online event. We owe this great idea to our dedicated chairwoman Jettie van Caenegem.
In the form of a virtual meeting, we welcomed over 30 attendees from 17 countries. These photographs were part of two larger exhibitions held in 2014 and 2019 entitled “ERAround the world”.
A collection of 30 photos were brought to life by the moderation of John Coughlan and 10 members of the ERA team- all passionate photographers with exceptional skills, who were happy to guide us through the exhibition and share the personal stories behind each image.
As a small souvenir from this virtual journey together, the collection of 30 photographs in a set as postcards was offered at the price of €30. The proceeds will be used for the ERA scholarship programme.
