Objectives

The objective of the project was to stimulate research and reflection on the legal development and experience of those Central European countries which acceded to the EU in 2004 and 2007. Its primary aim was to establish and enhance a lively cooperation among universities from the region in order to stimulate excellence in teaching and research on European integration having regard to special regional aspects. Four selected areas were in the focus of the research: private international law, consumer law, free movement of persons and migration and application of EU law by national jurisdictions. The research work aimed to identify some similarities and regional specificities and they also raised awareness on current European issues of common interest.

Research

The research work carried out by the research team was accomplished by the end of year 2010. As a result 8 studies were prepared. These studies which served at the same time as conference papers for the Conference ‘Central and Eastern European Countries after and before the Accession’ of 28-29 April 2011 focused on the implementation of EU law in specific sectors: free movement of persons, application of EU law by national jurisdictions, private international law, consumer protection and contract law. They aimed to stimulate debate at regional level and were submitted to those faculties which joined our initiative for further debate. The aim of the papers was to raise awareness and usefulness of the necessity to cooperate at regional level in areas where issues of common interest can be identified and to try to make a comparative analysis how certain problems have been approached by the various countries. As a result of the research work and the Conference, a two-volume book was published with the title ‘Central and Eastern European Countries After and Before the Accession’ and the first volume contains the research papers prepared by the research team.

Conference ‘Central and Eastern European Countries After and Before the Accession’

The Conference ‘Central and Eastern European Countries After and Before the Accession’ took place on the 28-29 April 2011. The fact that 13 law faculties from the region joined our initiative, were represented at the conference, took actively part at the plenary session or at the panel discussions and prepared papers for publication, already proves that the framework for cooperation has been successful.

The first day of the Conference was devoted to a plenary session where speakers of the guest universities held presentations concerning the implementation and application of EU law in their respective countries in different fields of law. During the second day conference papers were discussed in four different working groups (private international law, consumer protection, application of EU law by national jurisdictions and migration). As an output of the conference the contributions of the speakers and of the panelists were published in September 2011 as the second volume of the conference book. The volume containing 14 papers is unique in integrating contributions from different countries of the Central and Eastern European Region concerning selected fields of law.

Publications

At the end of the project four volumes were published.

1. Central and Eastern European Countries after and before the Accession, Volume 1
2. Central and Eastern European Countries after and before the Accession, Volume 2
3. Réka Somssich: Az európai jog fogalmai (The concepts of EU law)
4. Miklós Király: Unity and Diversity: The Cultural Effects of the Law of the European Union

Teaching

An LL.M. (Master of Laws) course in European and International Business Law was launched in the academic year 2009/2010 for the first time. Due to interest it could be re-launched in 2010/2011. The fact that the post-graduate course on European and International Business Law could be launched in English is a major added value in teaching EU law. It enables students to get acquainted with European terminology in English and thus communicate easier at European and international instances on topics of European and International Business Law.