Institute of European Law

European Law has been at the heart of our research culture for 40 years, and the Institute of European Law was established in 1989 at Birmingham to provide an interdisciplinary focus for this.

An institute devoted to the study of the EU and its laws may appear an anomaly in a 'Brexit world'. But, on reflection, this is not true.

The EU is the most advanced and ambitious experiment of integration of different countries to face goals that would otherwise be very difficult, if not impossible, to achieve. The best example is probably the creation of a common economic area where all factors of production can freely move, where trade and competition can take place frictionless. The internal market is a unique achievement. None of the 300 or more trade agreements currently in force worldwide even remotely aims or manages to do that. The EU is the ideal platform to tackle common challenges like environmental degradation and climate change, migration, security and the fight of terrorism. Ultimately, with all the richness of its diversity, the EU is a community of countries that share a common history, common values and aspirations. It is a community based on the rule of law and the protection of fundamental rights.

The UK has been a key participant in this enterprise since 1973. It has greatly contributed to shaping it (the internal market was for example spearheaded by Margaret Thatcher) and, at the same time, has undoubtedly benefited from being at the core of a crucial market and influential union of 500 million citizens. Even if Brexit eventually takes place, the EU will maintain its central role in European and global affairs and, without doubt, it will continue to exercise a significant influence on the UK. The economic, political and legal power of attraction of this union will always be great. 45 years of core membership cannot be disposed of so easily.

It is this uniqueness that justified the creation of the Institute of European Law, as one of the pioneering centers for the study of EU law in the UK and worldwide, in 1989. Decade after decade world renowned scholars have been affiliated with the institute, producing influential and impactful research. For the same reasons, which still stand, the Institute will continue to study the EU and its laws for many years to come.

Members

Professor Martin Trybus, Professor of European Law and Policy
Director, Institute of European Law
Professor Anthony Arnull, Emeritus Professor of European Law
Dr Sophie Boyron, Associate Professor
Professor Aleksandra Cavoski, Professor of Environmental Law
Professor Rilka Dragneva-Lewers, Professor of International Legal Studies
Professor Evelyn Ellis, Emeritus Professor of Law
Dr Julian Lonbay, Honorary Professor
Professor Karen McAuliffe, Professor in Law and Language
Professor Jean V. McHale, Professor of Health Care Law
Dr Marianne Wade, Reader in Criminal Justice

Study European Law

There are many ways for students to study European Law at Birmingham.

Members of the Institute of European Law teach Legal Foundations of the European Union and Law of the European Union on the undergraduate programmes.

Many of the innovative modules taught on Birmingham Law School's LLM programmes are on European topics and are taught by members of the IEL.

All of our Academic Staff are interested in supervising research degrees on European law topic

Conferences, lectures and events

The IEL has a long tradition of organising and hosting important events.

Photo of participants at the IEL 2014 conference on Reforming the EU

The conferences and seminars organised under the auspices of the Institute have resulted in important publications. Particularly noteworthy are Lonbay and Biondi (eds), Remedies for Breach of EC Law (Wiley, 1997); Ellis, The Principle of Proportionality in the Laws of Europe (Hart, 1999); Goldberg and Lonbay (eds), Pharmaceutical Medicine, Biotechnology and European Law (Cambridge, 2000); Arnull and Wincott (eds), Accountability and Legitimacy in the European Union (OUP, 2002); Rubini, Microsoft on Trial (Elgar, 2010); and Trybus and Rubini (eds), The Treaty of Lisbon and the Future of European Law and Policy (Elgar, 2012).

Annual lectures

In 2001, the IEL launched a series of annual lectures to enable students and members of the local academic and legal communities to hear, first-hand, the views of distinguished figures involved in European affairs on a topic of European law. Recent lectures have included:

2022 Annual lecture

Professor Roberto Caranta, University of Turin, Italy, The EU: between market and sustainability

2021 Annual lecture

Professor Wolfgang Weiss, Speyer, Germany, The EU-UK TCA: Also as stubborn as the Northern Ireland Protocol?

2020 Annual lecture

Elaine Fahey, Professor of Law, Jean Monnet Chair in Law and Transatlantic Relations, City Law School, City, University of London, Transatlantic Data Flows and Digital Trade Post-Brexit: Trade-Offs, Triangles and Trysts

2019 Annual lecture

Professor Mary E Footer, Professor of International Economic Law, University of Nottingham School of Law, The Retreat from Multilateralism and the Challenges of Global Economic Governance from an EU Perspective

2018 Annual lecture

Ian Forrester QC, Judge at the General Court of the European Union, Will there be life after Brexit? European law in the UK after March 2019

2017 Annual lecture

Eleanor Sharpston QC, Advocate General at the Court of Justice of the European Union, Of the State of the (European) Union and of Trade Deal

2016 Annual lecture

Jacqueline Minor, Head of the Representation of European Commission in the United Kingdom, Britain's Place in Europe

2015 Annual lecture

Malcolm Harbour CBE, The EU Law Making Process - Engineering a Better Solution

2014 Annual lecture

Professor Patrick Birkinshaw (University of Hull), What have the Europeans done for us?

2013 Annual lecture

Profess Panos Koutrakos (City Law School), The European Union in the World: the limits of law and the constraints of politics

2012 Annual lecture

Professor Alan Dashwood (University of Cambridge), Judicial Activism and Conferred Powers - Is the CJEU falling into bad habits?

2011 Annual lecture

Professor Stephen Weatherill (Somerville College, University of Oxford), The EU's Porous Trade Law

Conferences

In 2008 the Institute launched a conference series on The Future of European Law and Policy with an open call for papers. The eight conferences held so far were:

2022: The EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement – The future of European Law & Policy (VIII)
2021: EUTIP Network Conference – The Future of EU Trade and Investment Policy -The Future of European Law and Policy (VII)
2018: Transatlantic Perspectives: The Future of European Law & Policy (VI)
2016: More or Less Europe: The Future of European Law & Policy (V)
2014: Reforming the EU: The Future of European Law & Policy (IV)
2012: Integration or Disintegration?: The Future of European Law & Policy (III)
2010: After Lisbon: The Future of European Law & Policy (II)
2008: The Next 50 Years: The Future of European Law & Policy - Conference on European Law & Policy in Context (I)

Each of these conferences attracted 60-90 participants from approximately 15 countries, with up to 60 papers delivered each year.

In 2014 we hosted a conference on Leaving Europe? The Legal, Political and Economic Implications of a UK Exit from the EU. The papers from this conference were published in a special edition of European Public Law in 2016.

Moreover, in 2008 an additional conference was organised: The Microsoft Case: The IT Industry and the Future of EC Competition Law.

IEL working papers

The Birmingham IEL Working Paper series provides a forum on European law and policy for papers delivered at conferences and events organised by the Institute of European Law and for papers delivered by IEL members at events outside the university.

2023 series
Paper number	Discussion paper title	Author(s)
2023-01	The accommodation of sustainability in the EU Internal Market public procurement system	Natalia Spataru (University of Birmingham)

2022 series
Paper number	Discussion paper title	Author(s)
2022-02	A Legal Perspective on Nuclear Back-End Management in the Circular Economy	Colleen Mahlert (University of Birmingham)
2022-01	The WTO Dispute Settlement System as a Forum for Climate Litigation?	Henok Asmelash (University of Birmingham)

2021 series
Paper number	Discussion paper title	Author(s)
2021-02	The EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement: an unfinished deal [PDF]	Wolfgang Weiß (German University of Administrative Sciences Speyer)
2021-01	Sustainability in the public procurement chapters of third generation Free Trade Agreements of the European Union [PDF]	Martin Trybus (University of Birmingham)

2020 series

Paper number	Discussion paper title	Author(s)
2020-01	FTA Dispute Settlement Mechanisms – Alternative Fora for Trade Disputes: The Case of CETA and EUJEPA	Cornelia Furculita (German University of Administrative Sciences, Speyer)
2020-02	Regulatory Cooperation in EU FTAs: Characteristics of the Reestablished Practice	Kornilia Pipidi Kalogirou (German University of Administrative Sciences, Speyer)
2020-03	Fundamental Rights in the Institutional Architecture of EU Trade Agreements: A Tale of Omissions	Isabella Mancini (City, University of London)

2019 series


Paper number	Discussion paper title	Author(s)
2019-01	The Working Language of the CJEU: Time for a Change?	Professor Anthony Arnull (University of Birmingham)
2019-02	Pork, Peace and Principles: the Relations between the EU and the Eurasian Economic Union	Professor Rilka Dragneva-Lewers (University of Birmingham)
2019-03	“Appellate Body Held Hostage”: Is Judicial Activism at Fair Trial?	Dr Amrita Bahri (Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México)

2018 series


Paper number	Discussion paper title	Author(s)
2018-01	Brexit and the Law School: Re-imagining EU Law	Martin Trybus (editor) (University of Birmingham)
2018-02	Enhanced cooperation - a suitable means to further integration?	Robert Böttner (University of Administrative Sciences, Speyer)
2018-03	Putting a price on human rights? A policy-based approach for the protection of human rights in Europe	Stefanos Xenofontos (University of Birmingham)
2018-04	The Roads to Reversing Brexit: Local and Transnational Constitutional Principles	Robert Howse (New York University)

2017 series

Paper number	Discussion paper title	Author(s)
2017-01	Energy Governance in EU-Russia Energy Relations: Paving the Way Towards an Energy Union	Natasha A. Georgiou (University of Reading) and Andrea Rocco (University of Birmingham)
2017-02	Of the State of the (European) Union and of Trade Deals	Eleanor Sharpston, Advocate General, Court of Justice of the European Union
2017-03	Labour Standards and Mega-Regionals: Innovative Rule-Making or Sticking to the Boilerplate?	B. A. Melo Araujo (Queen’s University Belfast)
2017-04	Renewables, Investments, and State Aids: Exploring the Legal Side of Polycentricity	Giuseppe Bellantuono (University of Trento)
2017-05	European Union Law and Public Procurement	Martin Trybus (University of Birmingham)

2016 series


Paper number	Discussion paper title	Author(s)
2016-01	The Legal Foundations of a European Army	Professor Martin Trybus (University of Birmingham)
2016-02	(Re)inventing the Dublin System: Addressing Uniformity and Harmonization through Non-Refoulement Obligations	Jenny Poon (Western University, Canada)
2016-03	‘The ‘humanity’ of the secular legal subject’: Reading the European Court of Human Rights’ decisions over the practice of veiling’	Giorgia Baldi (Birkbeck, University of London)
2016-04	Asymmetrical Sovereignty, European Integration, and the Grey Zone of European Union Politics	Dr Georgios Maris (Neapolis University Pafos, Cyprus) and Prof. Pantelis Sklias (University of the Peloponnese)
2016-05	General principles of EU law as a passe-partout key within the constitutional edifice of the European Union: are the benefits worth the side effects?	Elena Gualco (University of Genoa)
2016-06	Is There a Tomorrow for the Economic and Social Committee (EESC) and the Committee of the Regions (CoR)?	Tunjica Petrašević and Dunja Duić (University of Osijek, Croatia)
2016-07	The Banking Union: Agencies and the Lesson from the US	Luigi Lonardo (King’s College London)
2016-08	Enforcing compliance of the Rule of Law by the Member States of the EU: Emphasising the EU’s Failure?	Femke Gremmelprez (Ghent University)
2016-09	A ‘right to have rights’ in the EU public sphere? An Arendtian justification for the application of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights	Eleni Frantziou (University of Westminster)
2016-10	The Eurasian Economic Union: Balancing Sovereignty and Integration	Rilka Dragneva (University of Birmingham)

IEL Birmingham Library

The IEL Birmingham Library has been established to provide open access to entire books written or edited by members of the Institute or to edited collections to which IEL members contributed chapters.

The respective publishers have specifically given their consent to this open access publication in the IEL Birmingham Library.

Graham Gee, Luca Rubini ,Martin Trybus (Eds.)
Leaving the EU? The Legal Impact of “Brexit” on the United Kingdom
© The editors and original authors

Mario Comba & Steen Treumer (Eds.)
The In-House Providing in European Law
(European Procurement Law Series vol. 1)
© 2010 DJØF Publishing
ISBN 978-87-574-2168-2

Roberto Caranta & Martin Trybus (eds)
The Law of Green and Social Procurement in Europe
(European Procurement Law Series vol. 2)
© 2010 DJØF Publishing
ISBN 978-87-574-2325-9

Steen Treumer & François Lichère (eds)
Enforcement of the EU Public Procurement Rules
(European Procurement Law Series vol. 3)
© 2011 DJØF Publishing
ISBN 978-87-574-2328-0

Advisory Committee

Director of the Institute: Professor Martin Trybus

The director is supported in his tasks by an Advisory Committee comprising the following members:

Advocate General Francis Jacobs, Court of Justice of the European Communities (Chairman)
Professor Alan Dashwood, Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge
Dr Andrew Drzemczewski, Council of Europe
Dr John Forman, European Commission
Professor Laurence Gormley, Department of European & Economic Law, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen
Dr Chris Kerse, Legal Adviser, House of Lords Select Committee on the European Union
Mr Jeremy Lever, Q.C.
Mr Sven Norberg, European Commission
Mr John Pratt, Pinsent Curtis Biddle (Solicitors)
Mr Richard Prowse, Eversheds
The Rt. Hon. The Lord Slynn of Hadley
Mrs Geraldine Tickle, Martineau Johnson

University members:

Ms S D Boyron
Dr A Hunt
Dr J L Lonbay
Mr Colin Tyler
Professor G R Woodman

Contact us

Institute of European Law
Birmingham Law School
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
United Kingdom

Email: iel@contacts.bham.ac.uk

Telephone: +44 (0)121 414 6282