EU Business Law Days at ERA Academy of European Law

ERA, the Academy of European Law in Trier, Germany, has an important conference on September 15-16 aptly titled
EU Business Law Days, Event Number 205DV23.

The languages of the conference are English, French (subject to demand), and German (simultaneous interpretation).

The program is as follows:

"Areas of Law
Administrative Law, Basic Freedoms, Company Law, Fundamental Rights, Internal Market, International Trade

Conference Organiser(s)
Academy of European Law in co-operation with the Trier Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK) and the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK)

Target audience
Commercial law specialists and representatives of administrative authorities and associations at national and European level

Participation in this conference can contribute to your continuing professional education.

Description
It is no longer sufficient for anyone who practises a trade or is engaged in commerce to be familiar only with one's national rules and regulations.

The proposed directive on services in the internal market will, in particular, bring fundamental changes for companies operating across internal EU borders. This seminar will focus on the relationship between the Internal Market and national rules and regulations in the field of commercial law, as well as the associated interactions.

Not only does the Internal Market have a considerable impact on national commercial law, but EU commercial law is also influenced by developments in the various Member States and by the growing convergence of national markets. In this context, the seminar will examine aspects of labour law, fiscal law, consumer protection, competition law and the four basic freedoms. This analysis will encompass European commercial law and legislative proposals at this level, as well as developments in specific Member States.

The seminar will end with a panel discussion on the dichotomy of harmonisation and competing legal systems."
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Accession of New Countries to the European Union

Andrew Rettman has an interesting article at EUobserver.com on the European Union and the accession of new countries.

The remarks of Wolfgang Schauble, vice head of Germany's CDU/CSU political party, which stands to defeat Schroeder's SPD in the next election, are particularly noteworthy.
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Controversial Patent Directive Rejected by EU Parliament - a Historic Vote

As reported on 6 July, 2005 by the EUobserver.com, the EU Parliament rejected a second reading of the controversial patent directive by an absolute majority. This vote is historic because, as noted in that article, this "is the first time the Parliament has rejected a piece of legislation by absolute majority in the second reading."

It is a sober lesson for the EU Commission, which widely ignored the suggestions made by the EU Parliament in redrafting the first reading of the directive, which had previously also been rejected by the EU Parliament, a directive which foolishly and in our opinion erroneously provided for software patents.

The EU Commission needs to understand that it is a political organization which - like any other democratic political institution - is accountabe in the last analysis to the people, and to no one else.

Circumscribed copyright protection for software code is logically supportable. Patent protection for software code is idiocy.

Our hats are off to the members of the European Union Parliament. Well Done !
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Europe in a State of Change ?

The June 25, 2005 Times Online has a very interesting article by Anthony Browne entitled A wind of change starts to blow across Europe.

Here is a sample: "Italian politicians hailed Tony Blair’s vision of Europe, and declared that a new “Rome-London axis” would provide the driving force of the new EU, replacing the exhausted Franco-German motor."
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