Workshops

22-02-2018 11:00
Workshop on text and data mining

The Policy Department for Citizens' Rights and Constitutional Affairs of the European Parliament organised a workshop on "Text and data mining"(TDM). The workshop aimed at examining the TDM process and the legal aspects linked to copyright in the context of the Commission’s proposal for a Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market which introduces a mandatory exception to copyright when carrying out text and data mining of protected works.

To this aim, the Members of the Committee heard Dr Eleonora Rosati (Southampton University) explain the procedure of TDM and the state of the art to a non-IT affiliated audience, including the different steps in the process of TDM, the technical requirements and the tools necessary for the different stages of the TDM process. A second speaker, Professor Christophe Geiger (Strasbourg University), focused on the legal aspects of TDM and explained at which stage or degree of the process intellectual property rights can be affected.

The presentations were followed by a "questions & answers" session with the Members of the JURI Committee.

07-12-2017 15:00
Workshop on copyright directive

different people sitting in front of a wall which is covered by different publications, above them is the banner "publish" and on the side of the picture is indication when and where the workshop will take place.
copyright © European Union - European Parliament 2017

On 7 December, the JURI Committee heard the views of academics during a workshop on the copyright directive. During this workshop, which touched upon two aspects of the proposal for a directive on copyright in the digital single market, Members of the Committee had the opportunity to hear different points of views on the proposed creation of a new right for press publishers and on the aspects related to fair remuneration in contracts of authors and publishers.

21-11-2017 15:15
Planning cross-border succession: easy or challenging task?

Brussels, PHS 4B001
cover of a briefing paper, Parliament's logo, background colours are white, blue and orange, keyboard and a notebook
cross-border succession © European Parliament - European Union 2017

Two years have passed since the EU Regulation No 650/2012 on Succession entered into force. Legal professionals, who have now gained a degree of practical experience in applying the new rules, were invited to share their views as to the strengths and weaknesses of the EU legislation on successions.

It was the purpose of this Workshop to provide a first state of play of the implementation of the EU Regulation on cross-border succession, with a view to determining whether it is fulfilling its goal of ensuring legal certainty, predictability and simplification for citizens.

The experts participating in the workshop assessed whether - in the light of their professional experience - the new rules are simplifying the planning and settlement of cross-border successions, or whether their application poses legal and practical challenges or difficulties. This workshop also offered an opportunity to present the key findings of the following study commissioned by the Policy Department for Citizen's Rights and Constitutional Affairs: 'The evidentiary effects of authentic acts in the Member States of the European Union, in the context of successions'. This study provides an important toolkit for legal professionals dealing with cross-border successions.

20-06-2017 16:30
Potential & challenges of private international law in the current migratory context

Brussels, ASP 3G3
In the upper part of the poster, there is the timing of the hearing and Parliament's logo. Below, there is the title of the hearing and picture of private documents-passports and children's shoes.
migration © European Parliament - European Union 2017

On 20 June, the Policy Department for Citizens Rights and Constitutional Affairs organised a workshop on "Potential and challenges of private international law in the current migratory context" for the JURI Committee.

While Private International Law governs relations between persons coming from or living in different States, migration law regulates the flow of people between States. Rights related to migration often depend on private relations (marriage, parentage) or personal status (age); and global migration flows put traditional rules on applicable (foreign) law and jurisdiction under strain. The workshop aimed to examine the ways in which these two fields of law interface and how to ensure a more coherent and efficient approach. It examined in particular how traditional private international law solutions and tools can offer innovative ways to address issues of immigration law, ensuring better protection to those who most need it (in particular, children on the move) and easier coordination between different authorities across Europe.

12-04-2017 15:00
Workshop on the training of judges and legal practitioners

Brussels, JAN 2Q2
Workshop on judicial training
poster-judicial-training.jpg © @ European Union 2017

On 12 April, the Policy Department for Citizens Rights and Constitutional Affairs organised a workshop on "The training of judges and legal practitioners – ensuring the full application of EU law" for the JURI and LIBE Committees.

European judicial training is essential for judicial cooperation and for the coherent application of EU legislation, as well as for the promotion of mutual trust between legal practitioners across Europe. In its 2011 Communication "Building trust in EU-wide justice: a new dimension for European judicial training", the European Commission set the objective of enabling half of all legal practitioners in the European Union to participate in European judicial training activities by 2020. The Workshop provided an opportunity to discuss, with experts, the current state of play of training of legal practitioners across Europe, as well as existing challenges and solutions thereto.

29-11-2016 16:30
Workshop on The Implementation of the Mediation Directive

ASP 5E2, Brussels
parliament's logo in the upper right corner; blue, white and light orange background, picture with words connected to mediation
mediatio directive © European Union - European Parliament 2016

On 29 November 2016 the Committee on Legal Affairs held a Workshop on ‘The Implementation of the Mediation Directive’. Directive 2008/52/EC on certain aspects of mediation in civil and commercial matters came into force on 13 June 2008 and aims at facilitating access to alternative dispute resolution and amicable settlement of disputes.

Mediation can provide acost-effective and quick extrajudicial resolution of disputes in civil and commercial matters through processes tailored to the needs of the parties. The Mediation Directive was the first measure to encourage mediation in civil andcommercial disputes, but following its adoption, further work related to mediation has been carried out at EU level, including Directive 2013/11/EU on alternative dispute resolution and Regulation (EU) No 524/2013 on online dispute resolution.
According to Article 11 of the Mediation Directive, the Commission is required to submit a report to the European Parliament, the Council and the European Economic and Social Committee on the application of the Directive. Against this background, the workshop brought together Members of the European Parliament and a number of experts, practitioners and academics with a view to discussing the state of implementation of Directive 2008/52/EC.

08-11-2016 15:00
Workshop on ‘Recasting the Brussels IIa Regulation’

PHS 5B001
parliament's logo on the dark blue background on the top of the poster; white/beige background for the rest of the poster; a child's drawing of a family, the paper is torn
brussels IIa workshop.JPG © European Parliament - European Union 2016

On 8 November 2016 the Committee on Legal Affairs held a Workshop on ‘Recasting the Brussels IIa Regulation’. Brussels IIa Regulation, which applies since 2005 in all EU Member States except Denmark, is the cornerstone of EU judicial cooperation in matrimonial and parental responsibility matters.

Despite its undoubted success, the regulation has raised concerns among citizens, practitioners and academics during the past ten years of its application. As a result, the European Commission submitted a proposal to recast Regulation 2201/2003 on jurisdiction, the recognition and enforcement of decisions in matrimonial matters and the matters of parental responsibility, and on international child abduction on 30 June 2016.
Against this background, the workshop brought together Members of the European Parliament and a number of experts, practitioners and academics with a view to assessing the proposed amendments to the text and prepare the EP position, focusing on the main changes proposed by the Commission.

17-10-2016 15:00
JURI Workshop on Robotics and Artificial Intelligence

Brussels, JAN 6Q2
Poster
Poster

At the request of the Committee on Legal Affairs, the Policy Department organised a workshop on “Robotics and artificial intelligence - ethical issues and regulatory approach”, on 17 October at 15.00, with the participation of Members of national Parliaments.

Artificial intelligence (AI) raises a number of ethical and political challenges for the present and near future, with driverless cars and search engines in the news. Potential issues range from job disruption to privacy violations. Over a longer term, if AI becomes as or more intelligent than humans, other governance issues such as safety and control may increase in importance. What policy approaches make sense across different issues and timeframes?

The first part of the workshop focused on basic ethical and policy questions raised by the development of robotics and AI, on the basis of presentations by experts. This was followed by a discussion with national parliamentarians on what the legislator should do and at which level, with the European Parliament's draft legislative initiative report on "Civil Law Rules on Robotics" as a basis.

15-06-2016 09:00
Common minimum standards of civil procedure

ASP 1G2
Poster
Poster

On 15 June 2016, the Committee on Legal Affairs will hold a workshop on common minimum standards of civil procedure in the EU. This workshop relates to the legislative initiative report (rapporteur: Emil Radev) on the same topic (2015/2084 (INL)). Civil procedure provides the means for the enforcement of the substantive rights and duties of legal subjects in legal proceedings.

As such, it is inextricably linked with the fundamental right to a fair trial and effective remedy guaranteed under the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (Article 47 CFREU) and the European Convention on Human Rights (Article 6 ECHR).

The Treaty of Amsterdam confirmed the EU’s competence in the area of civil procedure, and this competence was further expanded by the Treaty of Lisbon. The EU now has a certain number of common minimum standards in the area of criminal procedure. However, European citizens, especially those who move across borders, are now far more likely to come into contact with the civil procedure of another Member State. As part of the move towards a European Area of Justice based on mutual trust, common standards of civil procedure now seem indispensable.

Minimum standards do not substitute national procedural systems in their entirety, or even partially, but allow for more protective and effective national procedural rules. More importantly, minimum procedural standards at EU level could contribute to the modernisation of national proceedings, to a level playing field for businesses, and to increased economic growth via effective and efficient judicial systems, while facilitating citizens’ access to justice in the EU.

In the Action Plan implementing the Stockholm Programme, the Commission announced a green paper on minimum standards for civil procedure for 2013. What is more, in May 2014 a joint project for the preparation of ‘Transnational Principles of Civil Procedure for Europe’ was launched by the European Law Institute, in collaboration with the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT).

Against this background, this workshop will bring together Members of the European Parliament and a number of experts, practitioners, academics and stakeholders with a view to discussing the question of the convergence of civil procedure in Europe through the creation of minimum standards in EU law. It will also offer the possibility to present the findings of a recent European Added Value Study conducted by the Research Service of the European Parliament regarding the policy options and the scope of EU competences to harmonise civil procedures in the EU. The Commission, the ELI, the ENCJ, the HCCH as well as representatives of legal professions and businesses will offer their views on this matter.

The workshop is organised by DG IPOL's Policy Department C from 09.00 to 12.30 in room ASP 1G2 at the European Parliament in Brussels.

14-06-2016 10:30
Workshop on The Future of European Company Law

Brussels, JAN 6Q2
Poster
Poster

The Commission's "Digital Single Market Strategy" has recognised that innovative entrepreneurs are central to the digital economy. However, businesses are still held back by regulatory fragmentation and barriers which make it harder for them to operate across borders within the Internal Market. Established companies should be able to expand operations cross-border online and be pan-European faster than nowadays.

Establishment and registering of a new companies should be possible also much faster, some propose even within 24 hours.

Digitalisation of public live in the last years will also influence modifications of the legal framework of Company Law. Challenges in this context for companies and public authorities in the years to come might be therefore interconnected electronic business registers between states and communication with share-holders and company owners exclusively online. The workshop by PolDep C, "The Future of European Company Law", will host various independent external experts on those issues, invited to contribute to a discussion during a meeting of the committee.  on Legal Affairs ( JURI) on 14 June by submitting briefing papers and to come to Brussels to engage with MEPs on the Future of European Company Law.

In the second part of the workshop "The Future of European Company Law", questions concerning "Ongoing issues in International Corporate Governance" will be discussed.

In the third part, cross-border operations like mergers, transfers and divisions will be on the agenda. As to divisions, there is still no EU level framework for cross-border divisions and companies wishing to undertake a cross-border division have to perform several operations, such as a national division and a cross-border merger. As to cross-border conversions the EP had recommended in 2012 that the EU legislator should expand the Cross-Border Mergers Directive into a real cross-border mobility directive, which covers not only cross-border mergers and cross-border divisions, but also transfers of seats.