Call for papers
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The Influence and Effects of EU Business Law
in the Western Balkans
1st EU Business Law Forum
Call for papers
Széchenyi István University | Faculty of Law and Political Sciences |
Centre for European Studies
15 – 16 June 2017 | Győr | Hungary
The conference is carried out within the research stream of “Jean Monnet Module on EU Business Law” (EUBLAW) funded by the Erasmus+ Programme
Call for papers
The Centre for European Studies (CES) of Faculty of Law and Political Sciences of the Széchenyi István University is proud to present a call for papers for the 1st EU Business Law Forum. The Forum is part of the ‘Jean Monnet Module on EU Business Law’ (EUBLAW) project funded by the European Commission’s Erasmus+ Programme in the Period of 2016 – 2019. The main aim of the 2017 Forum is to discover the influence and effects of EU Business Law in the countries of the Western Balkan region.
Background
15 years ago, the Copenhagen European Council closed not only the first phase of the accession of the Central and Eastern European countries, but the Member States opened also a wide window on the future of Western Balkans and laid down the stabilisation and association policy objectives of the European Union towards the countries of the region. The Conclusions of the European Council meeting held in December 2002 confirmed the status of the Western Balkan countries as potential candidates and emphasised its determination to support the efforts of these countries to move closer to the European Union. The Thessaloniki Agenda for the Western Balkans, adopted one year later, assured the full support of the EU Member States to the endeavours of the region to consolidate democracy, stability and to promote economic development as well. The Agenda gave priority to further liberalisation of trade relations and urged the Western Balkan countries to accelerate the momentum of structural reforms, promote good governance and create a business environment that stimulates economic activity and foreign investment.
Today the potential candidates have a significant trade relationship with the European Union and their business environment as well as market conditions are progressively becoming more stable and transparent. At this time, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia are already under negotiation for EU membership, but Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo have also the prospect of joining the negotiations in the future. The accession process is enhanced also by the harmonisation of the legal orders of the potential candidate countries with the framework of the acquis of the European Union. The converging tendency of laws is specifically addressed in the approximation clauses of the Stabilisation and Association Agreements concluded by the Western Balkan countries with the European Union. These standard clauses require the candidate countries to make their existing and future legislation gradually compatible to the EU law and to ensure the proper implementation of these norms.
Concept and main topics
The main purpose of the Forum is to identify the relevant aspects of this process and shed light on its legal, political, economic and social implications. Even though the focus of the Forum is primarily set on the approximation as a legal process, the Organising Committee of the Forum welcomes paper proposals from varieties of disciplines including not only law, but also economics, international relations and political sciences. The focus of the papers is not restricted to the viewpoint of the Western Balkan countries. The perspectives of the EU and its member states could also bring important issues into the discussion of the Forum, therefore applicants from both the Western Balkan candidate and potential candidate countries and the member states are invited to take part in the call.
The focus areas of the Forum include but are not limited to the following main themes:
Section 1 – Implementation of EU Internal Market Law in the Western Balkans
Accomplishing the internal market objectives within the European Union is an essential issue of the integration raising important questions for both academics and practitioners. Harmonisation of the national legal orders is of immense importance not only for the old member states, but it also forms a prerequisite of the accession of future members of the EU. This section intends primarily to reveal the current issues and recent problems of the approximation of laws concerning the region of the Western Balkans, but also the perspectives and experiences of the Member States from the Central and Eastern European region can contribute to the discussions under section 1.
Section 2 – Financing issues of EU commercial transactions
The global financial crisis started in 2008 showed how vulnerable the global financial market is and how fast the spillovers of financial system have affected the real economy. The EU regulatory bodies have made significant efforts on minimizing the upcoming risks and negative events on financial markets, which has also affected the commercial transactions. This section is opened for discussing the wider issues of public and private law connected to international and EU financing.
Section 3 – The attractiveness of the EU external trade policy for the region
After a period of stagnation in the multilateral trade negotiations, the European Union has shifted its focus to the bilateral trade relations and entered into trade talks with a number of countries including the major actors of the world trade. The scene is dominated by the new generation of preferential trade agreements and trade and investment agreements that are of comprehensive character addressing not only traditional trade issues, but reflecting on the social implications of the trade liberalisation as well. The section is intended to consider topics on how the new objectives of the EU external trade policy can influence the accession of the Western Balkan countries.
Section 4 – The current state-of-art of alternative dispute resolution models
Several countries have recently turned their focus from the traditional judicial fora to alternative dispute resolution techniques. A special attention is devoted to the arbitration, which is a topical issue not only in the EU, but it is discussed worldwide by international non-governmental institutions like the International Chamber of Commerce and the UNCITRAL. Joining the EU internal market, the candidate countries should also weigh up the opportunities in the new models of alternative dispute resolution including the online dispute resolution mechanism in the B2C sector.
Submission guidelines
The Organising Committee invites both junior and senior scholars – including PhD students – to participate to the call for papers of the 1st EU Business Law Forum. Paper proposals should be prepared for anonymous review, must not exceed 300 words and should be submitted in DOC or PDF document to the Organising Committee at ces@sze.hu. The deadline for submission is 4 May 2017. In addition to the abstract, a separate document should be enclosed with information on the name, affiliation, contact details and short CV of the author.
Proposals will be selected on the basis of the submitted abstracts and successful applicants will be informed by 10 May 2017. The draft papers should be sent to the Organising Committee until 12 June 2017. No conference fee is applied.
Publication of the papers
Within the EUBLAW project the Centre for European Studies is intending to announce the new series of ‘EU Business Law Working Papers’ at the event of the 1st EU Business Law Forum. The Organising Committee will give the opportunity to all participants to submit their papers to this newly established online periodical. Moreover, selected papers will be published in an edited and thematic volume in both hard copy and e-book format in the second half of 2017.
Timeline
- 4 May 2017 – The deadline for the submission of abstracts
- 10 May 2017 – Notifications sent on the accepted papers
- 12 June 2017 – The deadline for the submission of the draft papers
- 15–16 June 2017 – 1st EU Business Law Forum
- 1 September 2017 – Submission of the final versions of the papers for publication
Organising Committee
The Organising Committee is composed of the members of the Centre for European Studies:
- László Milassin JD, PhD (head of the Centre, former Jean Monnet Chair holder)
- Judit Glavanits JD, PhD (head of department, associate professor)
- Balázs Horváthy JD, PhD (associate professor)
- László Knapp JD (assistant lecturer)
- Erika Rigó JD (PhD student)
Venue
The Forum will be hosted by the Faculty of Law and Political Sciences of Széchenyi István University. The Széchenyi István University is a leading higher educational centre in the North Transdanubian region in Győr, in the middle of a ‘triangle’ between Budapest, Vienna and Bratislava. Benefiting from its advantageous location, Győr has become a significant industrial, trade and business centre of Hungary. The industrial park of Győr gives place to the plant of Audi Hungaria Motor Kft, which operates the largest car engine factory in the world and also hundreds of suppliers in the field of the automotive industry are established in the agglomeration of the town.
Contact and information
All questions and inquiries regarding the 1st EU Business Law Forum should be sent to ces@sze.hu , the Committee makes every effort to respond all questions as soon as possible. More information on the Faculty and Győr is available at http://dfk.sze.hu/en_GB/home and http://turizmus.gyor.hu/lang/en/ .
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