36th Annual Brussels Seminar on the Law and Institutions of the European Union

Vers l'union des sages, René Carcan, 1992
Lithograph celebrating 20th anniversary of Brussels Seminar

Brussels, Belgium, July 1-22, 2008

The Georgia Law Summer Program still has a few spaces available-
The deadline has been extended to May 16, 2008

In cooperation with the
Institut d'Etudes Européennes,
Université Libre de Bruxelles, and the
Faculty of Law, Vrije Universiteit Brussel

Overview of the Brussels Programs

Introduction

The principal aim of the two programs of the Brussels Seminar is to provide a group of interested U.S. and other law students and graduates with an intensive exposure to the law and institutions of the law and institutions of the European Community (EC) within the European Union (EU).

J.D. students studying at law schools in the United States will participate in the ABA accredited Georgia Law Summer Program in Brussels which will earn them 4 semester credits at their law school if they pass the law school exam given on the last day of the Program.

Law students from outside of the United States and practitioners will attend the Brussels Seminar, which can earn them the Certificate in European Law Studies given by the Seminar and the collaborating universities in Brussels if they pass the take-home exam following the session.

The two Brussels Programs are held simultaneously at the Institut d'Etudes Européennes of the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB).

July 2002 Brussels Seminar participants at the Court of Justice of the European Communities

The core elements of the Brussels Programs are lectures and discussion, all given in English. Lectures and seminars are planned for the three-week Programs. These will address, inter alia, the completion of an integrated internal market, the remarkable expansion of the scope of the European Union as evidenced by the Treaty on European Union, which envisages an economic and monetary union and a political union, the accession of the new members of the EU, and the further expansion of the Union. European Union integration through the Maastricht, Amsterdam, and Nice Treaties will be analyzed and discussed. The Programs will also include discussions by faculty members and other experts on developments in EU/US cooperation.

Briefings and Social Events

Top: Participants in the 2001 Brussels Seminar
Middle: Class at the 2001 Seminar
Bottom: 29th Annual Brussels Seminar participants, on excursion to Bruges and Terdoest

• Visit and participation in a session of the Court of Justice of the European Communities in Luxembourg.
• Briefing by officials of the United States Mission to the European Union in Brussels
• Lecture and briefing at the European Parliament.
• Meeting on the Belgian judicial system at the Palace of Justice of Brussels.
• Receptions and the Annual Dinner will afford participants opportunities to meet EU officials, professors from universities of EU countries, and members of the practicing Bar.
• Weekend visit to the art cities of Bruges and Dam

History

Professor Gabriel M. Wilner has directed the Brussels Seminar since its inception in 1973. It is conducted in cooperation with the President and the Director of the Institute of European Studies, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), the Dean of the Faculty of Law and the Director of the Centre for European Law of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB).

Dedication

The Brussels Seminar is dedicated to the memory of Professor Dean Rusk, Secretary of State of the United States from 1961 to 1969, and thereafter Samuel H. Sibley Professor of International Law at the University of Georgia School of Law. Professor Rusk played a key role in the establishment of the Brussels Seminar and honored the Seminar with his active support for twenty-one years.