Building and sustaining expertise in European Union law

Whatever you think about the UK’s relationship with the EU, there is no ignoring its geographical proximity, or the fact that the EU is still by far the UK’s biggest trading partner, accounting for over 40% of UK exports.

That is why it remains important for the UK to understand the terms of trade within the EU: what rules apply when you want to sell a product or provide a service there?

And beyond that, British people still go to the EU regularly, for work, for leisure, to see family. So we also need to keep abreast of rules that apply to people moving into and within the EU.

Of course, EU rules haven’t stood still since Brexit day. Important new legal changes have come in concerning things like Artificial Intelligence; fair use of data; greening the life cycle of batteries; labelling organic products; recycled plastics that come into contact with food; safe machinery; essential travel, for example during a pandemic; and medical devices and equipment.

More legal changes are on the horizon about health data; addictive digital technologies; reducing textile and food waste; and areas such as preventing illegal trade in pet cats and dogs.

The City Law School is very well placed to help the UK understand legal aspects of its relations with the EU, with scholars including:

• Professor Tawhida Ahmed,
• Dr Marios Costa,
• Professor Elaine Fahey,
• Profesor Tamara Hervey,
• Professor Panos Koutrakos,
• Dr Jed Odermatt,
• Professor Francesca Strumia,
• Professor Phillipa Watson

being known globally for their work on EU law, including how the EU relates to other countries.

However, the School is not resting on its laurels. It is as important now as ever for the UK to maintain research capacity in EU law going forward, and to which efforts the School is making a significant contribution.

Young Researcher’s Workshop in EU law

On Monday 4 November, the School hosted the fourth annual Young Researcher’s Workshop in EU law. Co-hosted with the UK Association for European Law , this highly successful, annual event provides young EU law scholars valuable feedback on their work and career development, generously given by senior scholars from City St George’s, King’s College London and the University of Oxford.

Professor Koutrakos, who participated in the event, said:

We are delighted to collaborate with UKAEL in order to foster the EU law community and support the new generation of EU law scholars in the UK.

What the ISEL programme shows is a rich array of activity ongoing over the academic year at The City Law School, having brought together a large core group of researchers for over a decade with much external and also student interest.

Brexit was a career-changing moment for all of us, and we’ve learned from colleagues in places like Switzerland and Norway, as well as further afield in the USA, Canada, and Singapore, how you can be a scholar of the EU, but located outside the EU.