Peter-Christian Müller-Graff: A Friend of ERA
Professor Dr Peter-Christian Müller-Graff is one of the founding fathers of the Academy of European Law. He is a renowned German legal scholar and held a chair for civil law, commercial and business law, European law and comparative law at the University of Heidelberg until his retirement in 2016. He is an honorary member of the ERA Board of Trustees and one of the first members of the Association.
Mr Müller-Graff, tell us your personal ERA story.
Having been involved in conceptualising and establishing ERA and in promoting the idea of a European accentuated training of national judges from the very beginning in 1988, I am very pleased to see today that the work of ERA is flourishing and radiating in the best possible way along the lines of its mission to strengthen the European Union of Law in the practice of all legal professions. Because of this personal “genetic” link with ERA, it was a matter of course for me to become a member of the Friends of ERA when it was founded.
What makes the Friends of ERA Association so special?
In addition to supporting ERA´s activities, the Friends of ERA brings together likeable open-minded personalities who are aware of the responsibility for strengthening the authority of the law of the European Union in practice. Membership of the Friends of ERA offers the opportunity to actively contribute to Europe´s great historical achievement of promoting peace, its values and the well-being of its peoples through law. The personal exchange at the Friends of ERA meetings on current topics and/or in interesting places imaginatively designed by Joanna Kuzaj is characterised by this particularly motivated spirit in an atmosphere of serious reflection and inspired good mood.
Can you relive a memorable Friends of ERA experience for us?
A particularly memorable meeting of the Friends of ERA took place in the European Space Agency in Darmstadt in 2023. Looking at the exhibited satellites and models of rockets and space research equipment devices such as a Mars rover, discovering the functions of the satellite control centre and thus mentally transporting ourselves to an altitude far beyond our surface, an intense understanding of our Earth as a specific space body like “spaceship earth” emerged. This experience has made us even more aware of the essential task of ensuring – also legally – the preservation and promotion, on our turbulent planet, of a stronghold of the desired enlightened way of life, enshrined in the fundamental values of the Treaty on European Union and the law flowing from them. The members of the Friends of ERA are among those who help to realise this vision in everyday life. It is well worth becoming a member of the Friends of ERA.
Julia Laffranque: A Friend of ERA
One of the more than 400 members of the Friends of ERA is Julia Laffranque. She currently lives in Tartu, Estonia, where she works as a judge at the Supreme Court. She also is the Controller of procedural guarantees at the European Anti-Fraud Office, also known as OLAF, in Brussels.
Julia, what is your ERA story?
I joined the Friends of ERA in 2021, but my friendship with ERA goes back much further. I first came across ERA in 2004 – exactly 20 years ago! When I was a young judge, justice and member of the Administrative Law Chamber of the Supreme Court of Estonia, I took part in an ERA training course on preliminary references to the European Court of Justice. Preliminary references were one of my favourite topics, which I also defended in my Master’s thesis. I was very impressed by the high level and quality of the ERA course. I had heard about ERA before the training event, but it was the first time I had been to Trier. In 2010 I met Joanna for the first time at the International Federation for European Law (FIDE) Congress in Madrid, where ERA had a stand, and I invited ERA to the FIDE Congress in Estonia in 2012, which I organised.
The relationship deepened when I worked as ERA’s Programme Director and Deputy Director, and I have been teaching at ERA ever since. I also belong to the Board of Trustees of ERA. ERA is a wonderful family.
The Friends of ERA continue to fascinate me both professionally and personally. They bring together Europe’s top lawyers with a noble mission: to promote excellence in European law. We want to encourage young people and support states that aspire to one day be part of the common European legal space.
We meet at many networking events, either online or in person, which are not only open to members of the local chapters. Less well known is the Association’s involvement in the arts, where it made a significant contribution to the installation of the bronze sculpture „Philosophers in Dialogue“ by Giovanni de Angelis in the courtyard of ERA.
Being a Friend of ERA is a lifelong adventure – rich in new experiences and knowledge of European law. It is a wonderful opportunity to meet very interesting professionals and simply nice people from all over Europe. At the ERA Conference Centre in Trier you will meet the enthusiastic staff, attend ERA training events and visit beautiful Trier, the oldest city in Germany, a Roman city with many World Heritage sites and a picturesque landscape.
Above all, you will spread the passion for European law as far and wide as possible.
Julia, it’s your turn: Choose the next Friend to tell their ERA story. Who will get the letter ‘I’ next?
I’ll pass it to Professor Peter-Christian Müller Graff. I have known him for even longer than ERA, we first met in Helsinki during FIDE 2000. Now our paths cross frequently through the Friends of ERA, of which I am grateful for.