Nº33
OCTOBER 17
2020
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THE EUROPEAN MOOT COURT COMPETITION P A S T , P R E S E N T
A N D
F U T U R E
www.eulawlive.com 1 EU LAW LIVE 2020 © ALL RIGHTS RESERVED · ISSN: 2695-9585
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Introduction Georges Vallindas
President of the European Law Moot Court Society
will carry out a double blind marking of the pleadings. The results of this written phase are published on our website around January 15th. Every year, 48 teams -12 per Regional Final-, composed of 3 or 4 students and their Coach, designated only by their secret numbers, qualify for the oral phase. Four Regional Finals are held in European and US universities over the four weekends of February. From Thursday afternoon to Sunday morning, students from dozens of nationalities face constant questions from our Judges. Is there a better way to choose the best litigators, in substance and form, who will have the unique opportunity to plead before the real Judges of the Court of Justice of the European Union? The CJEU hosts the European Final of the European Law Moot Court on Friday, at the end of March and beginning of April every year.
The European Law Moot Court has been organised by the ELMC Society since 1988. It is considered today to be the most prestigious moot court within the eld of European Union law and one of the most important moot court competitions in the world. It gathers most European and US universities with a tradition in EU law teaching & research and the ELMC European Final is held in Luxembourg before the actual Judges and Advocates General of the Court of Justice of the European Union, and has been since President’s Ole Due’s invitation in the early 1990s. This year’s case was written in the Netherlands by a practitioner and an academic, and fully reects the aim of our competition to combine in-depth academic knowledge and strong pleading skills. As such, our new ELMC case covers two fascinating and strongly debated areas of EU law, asylum and competition law, during a pandemic.
Obviously, our last European Final had to be postponed because of pan-European lockdowns. In early July 2020, the ELMC Society managed to organise with great success the rst online ELMC European Final in history. This previous experience ensures us that we will be able to hold the entire competition this season and adapt it according to the COVID-19 related measures that will be applicable during the different phases, be it for the Regional Finals or, once again, for the ELMC European Final.
It was published on our website on October 1st 2020. Eighty to 100 student teams from European & US universities are expected to register and send us their applicant and defendant written pleadings before December 15th. Note that the ELMC students are obliged to reect on both parties’ positions, often being diametrically opposed. Once the submissions are anonymised, the written pleadings are distributed to our ELMC Judges, EU law practitioners and academics, who
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To ensure the perennity of this great student event, the ELMC Society is grateful to the universities for their commitment, not only for participating with some of their nest students, but also for organising the prestigious Regional Final events that are great opportunities to show the programs and facilities offered by their historical academic establishments. Organising a Regional Final allows you to welcome over 60 top-level foreign students, of many different nationalities and represent highly recognised universities on an
pean law. Without our sponsors’ support, nothing would be possible since the ELMC Society is organising & coordinating the only decentralised global student competition in EU law in ve different countries, hosted by four new universities each year and the EU Court of Justice in Luxembourg. All the members of the ELMC Society are unpaid volunteers and our budget is fully dedicated to running the competition. Collaborating with the European Law Moot Court allows our sponsors to increase their visibility to-
international level, as well as ve invited Judges and the Society representatives. The benets of hosting such an event are highly effective and usually spread quickly to the next generation of students.
wards the best EU law students among some of the best universities worldwide. We are grateful for the previous and actual competition seasons to Uría Menéndez law rm in Madrid, Vinge law rm and, last but not least, for the priceless continuous support of the Court of Justice President Prof. Koen Lenaerts and the services of the institution for welcoming us and our students in Luxembourg.
Next to the students and their universities, since its foundation in 1988, the ELMC Competition has consistently been sponsored by some of the nest law rms practicing Euro-
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You can follow ELMC news on our Ofcial Facebook Page where more than 4400 MootiesFriends are gathered, but also on LinkedIn, two living networks of students, Professors, Lawyers, Agents & Judges sharing a passion about EU Law. With the support of the ELMC Society members, our Organising Team hosted by San Pablo CEU in Madrid, our Sponsors and our university partners, we are convinced that we can keep on growing our university competition helping students from all over the world learn EU law and meet the open spirit of our European Union. As such, the European Law Moot Court and EU Law Live share the same values of enhancing knowledge and participation by creating living networks that allow opinions to be exchanged about our common European ideal. We are grateful to Daniel Sarmiento and his Team for giving us the opportunity to reach EU Law Live’s expert readership via this Weekend Edition’s ELMC Special Issue.
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Why invest your time organising and running a university competition: The experience of the European Law Moot Court Society By William Valasidis / Javier Porras Belarra 1
Despite such constraints, European Union law still needs interpretation based on jurisprudential principles that affect 27 sovereign States, 446 million EU citizens and countless corporations and other nongovernmental entities. The mission of the European Law Moot Court Society is to offer to young students the opportunity to have a unique practical experience in EU law.
When you are a Law student, in any Faculty and University, there are many professors and experts who repeat the mantra that “Law is something alive, which must be mastered on a theoretical level but without ever forgetting the importance of practice and casuistry”. Nevertheless, positive law has substantial differences between different legal orders, especially with regard to its private aspect, so it makes joint practice by students from various systems and jurisdictions very complicated.
In fact, since the 1988-1989 academic year, the ELMC Society has organised the most
1. Members of the ELMC Board
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on a plane between national law and supranational law allows us to prepare ctitious cases inspired by current challenges that arise each year before the Court of Justice and the national courts of the Member states.
important annual international university competition in the eld of EU law known as the European Law Moot Court (ELMC). The aim of the Society is to get the top universities and best Law students involved with the Competition, deepening their knowledge of EU law while offering a unique bilingual legal practice experience in written and oral form. The Competition, furthermore, unites the participants in a common purpose, overcoming national barriers and stimulating informal networks of people with a common interest in the European project and ideals. The Competition consists of a written stage and two oral rounds: the four Regional Finals which take place in different universities every year and the All European Final held at the Court of Justice of the European Union in Luxembourg.
And all this is made possible thanks to the disinterested enthusiasm of a group made up of university professors, researchers, practitioners and lawyers, all experts in EU law, who do not conceive real university teaching without the basic pillars of analysis and discussion of our legal tradition (distinctiones casus - quaestiones - dissensiones - summae). The motto of the EU, “united in diversity (in varietate concordia)” constitutes a source of inspiration for the ELMC as it brings together students from different traditions and legal culture around Europe to compete in a context that promotes the fundamental value of the Rule of Law. The ELMC motto, “moot, meet and compete”, highlights precisely that European integration is an objective achieved not only by rules but also by the daily and unhindered interaction of peoples in the context of common projects.
The beginnings of the ELMC were humble with a mere eight teams participating in its rst edition back in the late 80s. Since then, the competition has grown exponentially and the approximately 80 teams that participate each year come from universities based not only in EU Member States but also in EEA countries and other countries around the world such as the United States of America, Ukraine, Turkey, Russia and more. In addition, Regional nals have been organised in several cities in Europe and around the world, bringing the ELMC experience closer to the universities and their students. The global dimension of the competition is further illustrated by the fact that, throughout its 33-year history, Regional Finals have been organised as far West as San Francisco and as far East as Kiev.
To summarise, for those of us who have the honour of organising the European Law Moot Court Competition, it is not a burden but rather a responsibility. We picked up the baton from those who started this path before us and, as with EU law and the Union itself, gradually contribute small grains of sand that make possible the construction of the greatest time of peace and prosperity that we have lived, in addition, of learning, training and enjoying new friendships.
European Union law, its constant evolution, as well as its particularity of being situated
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From Texas to COVID-19: some recollections from the ELMC 1
By Martín Martínez Navarro
For anyone who has been a mootie, the thread leading to the answer is perhaps not so hard to nd. The ELMC’s motto perfectly encapsulates the recipe of its magic spell: “moot, meet and compete”. First, the ELMC provides substantial food for thought for literally anyone with a taste for EU law, from the novice to the expert, from the competition law geek to the fundamental rights activist. Over 10 years down the line, every new edition of the ELMC still provides me with the opportunity to learn about issues of EU
A cab ride from the airport towards a downtown hotel on an overcast afternoon. “Hey, just landed in Dallas”, I was writing in an email to a good friend from the backseat. It was February 2007. This is my most distant memory relating to the European Law Moot Court (ELMC) competition. Having recently graduated from the College of Europe and in the early days of my career as an EU lawyer, I had seized the opportunity to ll in a temporary vacancy and join academia as a part-time teaching assistant. Although I had never taken part in the ELMC as a student, the Université Libre de Bruxelles thought that I could use my experience, albeit limited, as a young practitioner to coach their ELMC team. This Dallas edition was as much a discovery for me as it was for the students who formed the team. Four days after the above-mentioned cab ride, I left the US with two notable acquisitions: a T-shirt bought at the Dallas museum dedicated to JFK and a deep-rooted passion for the ELMC that I have held ever since. The aim of this short piece is to delve into the latter and to explain to both myself and the reader what makes the ELMC so special.
1. The author works as a référendaire at the General Court of the EU. He is a Visiting Professor at the Université Libre de Bruxelles and regularly coaches its ELMC team.
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year in four different cities, contributes to the magnetism of the ELMC. Dallas, New York, Istanbul, Naples, Belgrade or Lisbon, to name just a few, are one way or another associated in my memory with the ELMC. Third, “compete” is a reminder that the ELMC remains a contest, or an entertaining game one might say, since participants typically take it both seriously and light-heartedly. A competition with some winners but certainly no losers.
law which are either interesting at a personal level (a case a couple of years ago that focused on the European arrest warrant belongs to this category) or are even useful at a professional level (a previous ELMC case offered me the chance to study the euro-zone governance and the banking union, which turned out to be highly valuable for my work later on). Second, “meet”. The ELMC cannot be understood in isolation from its solid social foundations. It comes as no surprise when I discover year after year that the students I coach end up tied by a bond of friendship that extends durably beyond this intense experience and their studies. For my part, I consider myself lucky enough to have also forged such ties with numerous people that I met in their various capacities thanks to the ELMC. Needless to say, the itinerant nature of the “regional nals”, taking place every
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Last but not least, the ELMC adds a brick to the building process of the European Union by bringing together, from all four corners of the EU even in Covid-19 times, many young promising lawyers who will inherit the collective responsibility to pursue this work in progress, as professionals and even more importantly as EU citizens.
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The ELMC: Moot, meet, compete and become the person your first-year-law-student self could not even dream of By Alezini Loxa
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ELMC presents the perfect occasion for students of any level and background to get a rst mind-blowing glimpse of the intricate path to researching and practicing EU Law. Each year’s perplexing cases set an ideal environment for students to actively use their legal knowledge in order to form concrete arguments and support their case. What is more, the need to produce two memoranda, for both sides of the pending dispute, pushes participants to overcome their preconceptions on law and justice and attain the capacity and exibility to equally support conicting sides without sacricing the concreteness of their arguments. At the same time, the immense importance of team work for the nal result, teaches professionalism and collegiality even at times of extreme disagreement. Students develop rhetoric skills and learn to argue based on logos rather than pathos and ethos.
Discussing my participation in the EU Law Moot Court Competition has always been an overwhelming task, due to the profound effect it has had on my personal development and professional trajectory. The Competition shaped the academic I am today while providing me with qualications which extend a lot further than academia and into the core of legal practice. My participation in the ELMC (2014-2015 edition, Prague Semi-nal, LU Team, Ole Due Prize for best oralist) took place during my exchange studies. During my Erasmus stay in Lund University, Sweden, I wanted to make the best of my semester abroad, by immersing myself in the Nordic legal system while enjoying student life. Having already participated in the ELSA Human Rights Moot Court Competition (2nd Edition, 2014, NKUA Team, Runner-up) I was rather dubious about engaging in another timeconsuming and demanding competition. Looking back to this hesitant decision, I can only say that my life would not have been the same had I not embarked on the wondrous ELMC journey.
From a pedagogical point of view, I truly doubt whether there exists a course at any Law Faculty which can provide students with the tools and skills earned during mooting for the ELMC. Indicatively, the capacity
1. Alezini Loxa was a former participant of the ELMC and is currently a PhD Researcher at the Faculty of Law, Lund University, Sweden, Lawyer (Athens Bar Association).
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of our Faculty in a network of universities active in the eld of EU Law. Following that experience, I took on the role of coach to a team (NKUOA Team, the Hague Regional Final 2017, semi-nalists) and I had the pleasure of transferring my skills and observing students evolve from amateur Bachelordegree students to full EU law practitioners.
of conducting extensive research; aggregating material; studying an immense amount of case law of the Court of Justice of the EU, journal and books and utilising research results to your party’s benet; building novel arguments on unresolved theoretical and practical questions of EU Law; truly and deeply understanding the overarching EU law framework at a level which is rarely met at LL.B. or LL.M. level; and, nally, being able to encapsulate all that acquired knowledge in a 15 minute-pleading which is never enough; at least that is how it feels.
Two Regional Finals later (Thessaloniki 2018, Athens 2019), I became a proud member of the ELMC Society. This does not imply that if you participate in the ELMC, that you will stick to it for life, as I did. Nevertheless, it is telling of the ELMC family effect. Overall, anyone who participates in the ELMC Competition is a winner, irrespective of the nal result. The prize may differ; it can be friends, knowledge, skills, experience of pleading, a network of like-minded students and professionals who you are bound to meet time and again in the future, or, simply, overcoming personal barriers and limits. Regardless, ELMC is a rewarding journey which shapes your future in many ways and that is why it is worth embarking on it.
It is for all these reasons that people tend to return to the ELMC in different capacities and keep mastering new skills. After my participation I organised a Regional Final at my home faculty (NKUA Athens Regional Final 2016) which came with its own distinct challenges pertinent to organisation, budgeting, recruiting volunteers, but also surviving unforeseeable circumstances. By hosting 12 participating teams and a group of prestigious EU law academics, practitioners, legal secretaries and even judges at the NKUA, I managed to establish the presence
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The ELMC - what it meant for me By Felix Schulyok
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When thinking back to my student years, the ELMC always pops up in my mind as one of my most prominent memories (and those student years are not so long ago for me, so I have many memories). When I was asked to write a little piece about my experience and why I would recommend participating in the ELMC, I immediately said yes not knowing, however, how hard it would be to put my nger on why exactly I enjoyed it so much – after all, it was simply a great experience and it should not be difcult to tell others why. The reason is probably that for me the experience turned out to be a lot more than the sum of its parts. I participated in the ELMC after having already spent more than ve years studying, rst doing my law degree in Austria and then an LLM in EU law in Sweden. After so many years at the University I was looking for an experience that was different to lectures, studying at home and exams. The ELMC was exactly that – a very different experience and a steep learning curve. It was exciting and challenging from day one. You work in a small team and have to argue a case. There is no right or wrong, there are only the arguments you as a team come up with. You decide on who does what and which arguments you nd convincing. The
1. Felix Schulyok works at DG Competition at the European Commission, in the Unit responsible for the coordination of State aid case practice and policy
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tion as best Advocate General. Already during the very long trip back to Sweden by train (a volcano eruption in Iceland meant that all ights were cancelled) after a (long) party celebrating together with my team and all the other contestants I realised that something had changed for me. While I already had a keen interest in EU law before, the ELMC showed me that this was more than a mere interest and that I wanted to continue to work in EU law after my studies, which is what I am now doing at the European Commission.
coach is there to support you, not by telling you what to do but rather by challenging you with critical questions. I was lucky that my team had a very enthusiastic coach at Lund University, who kept us motivated, excited and focused. But ultimately, what matters most is how you work together to nd solutions to the legal problems you are faced with – a real crash course in teamwork. In the process you will, to put it simply, learn a lot. I probably learnt more during the ELMC than I had in several years of university studies. You do so not by studying from a book or listening to a lecturer, but by doing it yourself: You do the research and dive deeply into a subject, all of this with the excitement of knowing that you do not do it for an exam but to present it before judges in competition with others.
The ELMC is certainly an experience I very fondly look back on. It did not only involve a lot of work, but also lots of fun and getting to know many talented people. It still surprises me, and always makes for lovely stories and conversations, when I meet people who have been involved in the ELMC, like colleagues or that time when my younger daughter was in the hospital and we realised that the mother of the other child sharing her room had been the coach of one of the competing teams.
In addition to getting to know an area of EU law really well, you develop a lot of practical skills: beyond research and coming up with convincing arguments, you apply these by preparing both written and oral pleadings. Learning how to do this in practice and in a way that can hold up to questioning from a panel of judges, and in the nals before the actual udges of the Court of Justice of the EU, is a unique experience and a real test of what you have achieved. If you are as lucky as I was to make it to the nals, it is an incredible experience to plead at the Court of Justice. My role was that of the Advocate General and I still remember the feeling of sitting on the bench in the Grande Salle of the Court, pleading my case before the Judges and trying hard not to show how nervous, but also how excited, I was. In the end I seem to have succeeded in hiding my nervousness and won the competi-
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But in the end, as I said, the experience was more than the sum of its parts. I did not only learn about law in the process, it also made me realise my desired professional specialism. And I think that this is probably one of the most important of all things a student can take away from anything done at university.
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News Highlights Week 12 October to 16 October 2020
Council position on the Recovery and Resilience Facility agreed Monday 12 October
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On Friday 9 October 2020, Member States’ EU ambassadors formally agreed the Council’s position on the Recovery and Resilience Facility to support public investments and reforms and contribute to economic, social and territorial cohesion within the EU.
Commission introduces new deadlines for update of registrations under REACH Monday 12 October
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Commission Implementing Regulation 2020/1435 on the duties placed on registrants to update their registrations under REACH was published in the Ofcial Journal.
Regulation establishing legislative measures for a sustainable rail market in view of COVID-19
ESAs’ Board of Appeal dismisses case against ESMA on alleged nonapplication of Union law
Monday 12 October
Monday 12 October
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Ofcial publication was made of Regulation 2020/1429, a legislative act with the aim of establishing measures for a sustainable rail market in view of the COVID-19 outbreak.
The Joint Board of Appeal of the European Supervisory Authorities declared inadmissible the appeal case brought by Jeffery Michael Howerton against the European Securities and Markets Authority.
Council adopts conclusions on minimum income protection
Commission prolongs and expands State aid Temporary Framework until June 2021
Monday 12 October
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Tuesday 13 October
The Council adopted conclusions on strengthening minimum income protection in the EU with the aim to combat poverty and social exclusion during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
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The European Commission decided to extend the scope of the State aid Temporary Framework, and to prolong its application until 30 June 2021, for all sections except that on enabling recapitalisation support, which is to apply only for a further three months.
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Council Recommendation restrictions of free movement in response to COVID-19 pandemic Tuesday 13 October
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Court of Justice to clarify liability concerning unauthorised or flawed transactions under EU Directive on payment services in the internal market
The Council of the EU adopted a Recommendation on a coordinated approach to the restrictions of free movement in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, as proposed by the Commission on 4 September 2020.
Tuesday 13 October
Council Conclusions on digitalisation to improve access to justice
EU measures published supporting trade flows in Yemen, and sanctioning the use of chemical weapons, and in view of Nicaragua
Tuesday 13 October
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In the context of ongoing work on the digitalisation of justice in the EU, which is expected to translate into an upcoming communication from the Commission, the Council of the EU adopted Conclusions on seizing the opportunities of digitalisation for access to justice.
ECtHR: specific regime for final school exams for students belonging to ethnic minorities does not amount to discrimination Tuesday 13 October
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The European Court of Human Rights handed down judgment in Ádám and Others v. Romania (application nos. 81114/17 and ve others), nding that Romanian authorities did not breach the general prohibition on discrimination in Article 1 of Protocol No. 12 to the ECHR by subjecting ethnic Hungarian pupils to a special regime for nal school exams.
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Ofcial publication was made of a request for a preliminary ruling (C-337/20) from the French Court of Cassation (Cour de cassation) on the meaning of Article 58 of Directive 2007/64 on payment services in the internal market.
Tuesday 13 October
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Three CFSP Decisions were ofcially published by which the EU (1) supports the free ow of trade in Yemen; (2) renews sanctions against the proliferation and use of chemical weapons and adds an entry to the list; and (3) renews sanctions in view of the situation in Nicaragua.
Arms Export Controls Decision published: EU’s objectives to assist third countries Tuesday 13 October
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The objectives to be pursued by the High Representative of the EU, Mr Josep Borrell, in line with the EU’s multilateral disarmament and arms control agenda were published today in CFSP Decision 2020/1464, on the promotion of effective arms export controls.
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AG Szpunar: mandatory declaration breaches freedom of establishment of company branches registering in another Member State
Under the Waste Directive, incinerated sewage sludge for the purpose of energy recovery is not ‘waste’, Court of Justice rules
Wednesday 14 October
Wednesday 14 October
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Advocate General Szpunar in his Opinion for All in One Star (C-469/19) advised that where a company established in a Member State is seeking registration of a branch in another Member State, Directive 2017/1132 does not require a mandatory declaration by the manager on his or her obligation to facilitate information on his or her legal status.
EIOPA calls on insurance sector to make Brexit-related preparations Wednesday 14 October
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The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority urged the insurance sector to nalise preparations and put in place ‘realistic contingency plans’ to address the change in legal situation when the UK transition period ends and EU law will no longer apply.
Commission Communication on making the EU’s buildings more energyefficient Wednesday 14 October
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A Commission Communication on an EU Renovation Wave was adopted to address the EU’s large stock of old buildings which are not energy efcient, in order to meet the aims of climate neutrality by 2050 and to reduce emissions substantially by 2030.
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The Court of Justice delivered its judgment in Sappi Austria (C-629/19), holding that sewage sludge incinerated in a residual waste incinerator for the purpose of energy recovery by steam production must not be considered as waste in light of the exclusion under the Waste Directive (2008/98) if it meets the requirements of Article 6(1) thereof prior to its incineration.
Member States not taking any measures to protect temporary workers breach Temporary Workers Directive, Court of Justice rules Wednesday 14 October
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In the case JH v KG (C-681/18) the Court of Justice ruled that the Member State is precluded from not taking any measures to preserve the temporary nature of work and prevent multiple successive assignments of a temporary work to the same user, with a view to circumventing the Directive as a whole.
ECtHR: lack of information about reasons and procedure for deportation in breach of procedural safeguards for expulsion of aliens Thursday 15 October
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The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights declared in Muhammad and Muhammad v. Romania that Romanian authorities breached the procedural safeguards relating to expulsion of aliens due to limitations imposed on the applicants’ right to be informed of the reasons and procedure for their expulsion.
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Council adopts Channel Tunnel safety measures Thursday 15 October
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Court of Justice to hear case on equal treatment and discrimination regarding the use of a headscarf in work
The Council of the EU adopted legislation in order to ensure the safe and efcient operation of the Channel Tunnel railway connection between France and the United Kingdom after the end of the transition period.
Thursday 15 October
Court of Justice rules that requiring a borrower to use a payment account of the lender for the purposes of a mortgage is contrary to EU law
EU Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability adopted
Thursday 15 October
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In Association française des usagers de banques (C778/18), the Court of Justice ruled that Article 12(2)(a) of Directive 2014/17 precludes requiring the credit borrower in a mortgage to have all his income from wages and salaries credited to a payment account opened with the lender.
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Ofcial publication was made of a request for a preliminary ruling in SCRL (C-344/20) concerning the interpretation of the Equal Treatment Directive in a case concerning the use of the headscarf by a female employee in the workplace.
Thursday 15 October
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The European Commission adopted the EU Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability as part of a plan towards zero pollution and a toxic-free environment as announced in the European Green Deal.
Advocate General Kokott: progressive taxes on the turnover of undertakings are in principle compatible with State aid rules
AG Szpunar: ban on regionalised advertising on national TV channels does not infringe EU free movement of services law
Thursday 15 October
Friday 16 October
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Advocate General Kokott delivered her Opinions in Commission v Poland (C-562/19 P) and in Commission v Hungary (C-596/19 P), advising that the Court of Justice rule that the Polish tax on the retail sector and the Hungarian advertisement tax, which are progressive taxes on the turnover of undertakings, do not infringe EU State aid rules.
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Advocate General Szpunar delivered his Opinion in Fussl Modestraße Mayr (C-555/19) advising the Court to rule that there is no breach of the free movement of services under Article 56 TFEU by national law banning regionalised advertising on national TV channels.
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European Council calls for EU-UK progress to agree a partnership that is as close as possible Friday 16 October
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The European Council issued conclusions following its meeting in Brussels, expressing ‘concern’ at the lack of progress in the EU’s negotiations with the UK to decide on the future relationship between the parties once the transition period set out in the Withdrawal Agreement has ended on 31 December 2020.
Commission Implementing Regulations rejecting renewal of the active substance thiophanate-methyl for plants and approving L-methionine for animal species Friday 16 October
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Ofcial publication was made of two Commission Implementing Regulations adopted on 15 October 2020, concerning the authorisation of certain substances in the area of plant products and additives for use in national nutrition.
European Council adopts conclusions on COVID-19 and climate change Friday 16 October
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The European Council adopted conclusions regarding the epidemiological situation in the EU as well as climate change, welcoming the progress made so far but calling on the EU institutions and Member States to take further action in both areas.
AG Pitruzzella advises Court to uphold Commission’s State aid appeal against Barcelona FC Friday 16 October
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Advocate General Pitruzzella issued his Opinion in Commission v Fútbol Club Barcelona (C-362/19 P), advising the Court of Justice to rule in favour of the European Commission, and set aside the General Court’s ruling Fútbol Club Barcelona v Commission (T-865/16).
Notices published for persons subject to EU sanctions against use of chemical weapons, and in respect of Libya Friday 16 October
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Two Notices were published for those subject to EU sanctions against the proliferation and use of chemical weapons; and another two Notices were published for those subject to EU sanctions in view of the situation in Libya, with information on data protection rights and how to challenge inclusion on the respective lists of EU sanctions.
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Insights, Analyses & Op-Eds Future of the EU’s court system – some exclamation and question (re)marks By Michal Kianička
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Op-Ed responding to the recent EU Law Live Long Read “A rolling stone gathers no moss – the evolving structure of the EU’s court system”, by Henriikka Leppo, concerning the latest reform at the Court of Justice of the European Union.
Losing the general statute of limitations period of tax reimbursements in breach of EU law jeopardizes the EU principle of equivalence – Valoris By Ricardo García Antón
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Analysis on the Valoris judgment of the Court of Justice (C-677/19), which concerns the meaning of the principles of sincere cooperation, effectiveness, and equivalence when applied to national rules governing the reimbursement of certain environmental stamp duties on motor vehicles levied in breach of EU law and of national law.
On the powers of the EU and its Member States for the ratification of mixed human rights agreements: the Court of Justice’s pending Opinion in Convention d’Istanbul By Dolores Utrilla
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Insight on the opinion procedure 1/19, currently pending before the Court of Justice. A case stemming from the diverging views of the Commission and the Parliament, on the one hand, and of the Council of the EU, on the other, as regards the appropriate legal basis for, and therefore the scope of, the EU’s accession to the Istanbul Convention after its signature, as well as the role of Member States in such accession (and, more precisely, the need for them to reach a common accord).
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A conversation on ‘The Brussels Effect’ with Professor Anu Bradford Daniel Sarmiento and Anjum Shabbir interview Anu Bradford about her book exploring why the EU is a unilateral and global hegemon through the ‘Brussels Effect’, and its resilience in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, Brexit, and populism.
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