EU training networks & structures

With the developments in European legislation and greater mobility of European citizens, a clear need has emerged in the past decade for continuous training for legal practitioners at European level. Such training is provided by several European structures established with the support of Member States, and a number of professional organisations, often with supported by European funding.

Training networks and structures at European level

Depending on their profession and particular needs, legal practitioners can apply to one or other of the structures briefly presented here. Also, many courses are offered by universities and private training providers.

For judges and prosecutors

The European Judicial Training Network (EJTN)

Founded in 2000, the EJTN develops training standards and curricula, coordinates judicial training exchanges and programmes and fosters cooperation between national training structures for judges and prosecutors. The EJTN secretariat-general is based in Brussels (Belgium). You can find a summary of EJTN activities here.

For all legal practitioners

The Academy of European Law (ERA)

ERA organises conferences, seminars, professional training courses and policy debates on different areas of EU law, designed for all legal practitioners. ERA is located in Trier (Germany). You can find a summary of its activities here.

The European Institute of Public Administration – European Centre for Judges and Lawyers (EIPA)

Training on European Union law is one of EIPA's areas of activity. Training is tailored for judges, legal practitioners, EU and national officials and private sector lawyers. EIPA has centres in Maastricht (Netherlands), Luxembourg, Barcelona (Spain) and Warsaw (Poland). You can find a summary of its activities here.

Professional organisations organising training activities at European level

The following organisations representing legal practitioners at European level organise training activities on an ad hoc basis.

Lawyers, barristers, solicitors

The Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe - CCBE

Notaries

The Council of the Notariats of the European Union - CNUE

Judicial Officers

The International Union of Judicial Officers - UIHJ

EU-level judicial networks cooperating with the EJTN regarding European judicial training

The EJTN gathers all national judicial training bodies of the EU Member States and as such is the best placed body to coordinate and develop further judicial training. It cooperates with other EU-level judicial networks, whose respective objectives and training-related interests are presented in the following factsheets:

The report of the 2013-2014 project promoting the cooperation between the EJTN and the above-mentioned networks is available here.

Last update: 23/05/2023

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Academy of european law (ERA)

ERA’s objective is to promote the understanding and best practice of EU law by providing legal practitioners from across Europe with training and a forum for discussion and exchange.

Target groups

ERA works with all practitioners of law:

  • Judges, prosecutors and court staff
  • Lawyers in private practice, notaries and in-house counsel
  • Law enforcement officers and lawyers in public administration.

Types of training activities developed

ERA offers conferences and courses at different levels at its centre in Trier (near the EU’s judicial capital in Luxembourg), around Europe and online:

  • Annual conferences to review and debate the latest developments
  • Seminars focused on a specific developments for practitioners to explore in detail
  • Basic training courses as an introduction to a specific area of EU law
  • Legal language courses.

These events take place face-to-face, online or in a hybrid format.

ERA also provides:

  • e-Learning courses and resources
  • e-Presentations featuring top experts on EU law
  • A quarterly legal journal called ERA Forum.

ERA’s training programmes cover the full range of EU law:

  • European public law, e.g. institutional law, fundamental rights, asylum and immigration, environmental law, taxation
  • European private law, e.g. consumer protection, labour and social law, private international law, judicial co-operation in civil matters
  • European business law, e.g. competition law, public procurement, intellectual property rights, company law, banking and financial regulation
  • European criminal law, e.g. judicial cooperation in criminal matters, police cooperation, cybercrime, defence and victims’ rights.

Activities 2021

In 2021 ERA organised 209 training events attended by 9010 legal practitioners from 86 countries and territories. It also offered a catalogue of 630 e-presentations and numerous e-learning courses and online tools.

The participants professional backgrounds were:

  • Judges: 12%
  • Prosecutors: 10%
  • Court staff: 12%
  • Lawyers in private practice: 17%
  • In-house counsel: 4%
  • Law enforcement officers: 5%
  • EU officials: 10%
  • Ministry officials: 6%
  • Other civil servants: 7%
  • Academics: 6%
  • Foundation/NGO representatives: 3%
  • Other: 7%

(Total does not amount to 100% due to rounding)

International partnerships/agreements

A founding member of the Link opens in new windowEuropean Judicial Training Network (EJTN), ERA was re-elected in 2022 as a member of the EJTN Steering Committee and Convenor of the Network's Working Group on Programmes. It also has strong relationships with national judicial training institutions, with several of which it has framework agreements for the joint organisation of training activities for judges and prosecutors.

ERA also partners regularly with the Link opens in new windowCouncil of the Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE), European lawyers’ association such the European Criminal Bar Association, the European Employment Lawyers’ Association and the European Young Bar Association, as well as with over 20 national Bars across Europe.

History

ERA was established in 1992 on the initiative of the European Parliament. The founding patrons were the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, the Land of Rhineland-Palatinate, the City of Trier and the Friends of ERA Association. In the intervening years, all EU Member States have joined the foundation.

View a film about the origins of ERA here: Link opens in new windowhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpNLUgYYAmU

Contact details

Academy of European Law (ERA)

Metzer Allee

D-54295 Trier - Germany

Tel.: +49 651 93737-0

E-mail: Link opens in new windowinfo@era.int

Number of staff: 72

Legal status: ERA is a non-profit public foundation.

Related link

Link opens in new windowERA's website

Last update: 11/02/2020

This page is maintained by the European Commission. The information on this page does not necessarily reflect the official position of the European Commission. The Commission accepts no responsibility or liability whatsoever with regard to any information or data contained or referred to in this document. Please refer to the legal notice with regard to copyright rules for European pages.

European institute of public administration (EIPA)

The European Institute of Public Administration – EIPA Luxembourg: Training on European Union law is one of EIPA's core areas of activity. Training activities are tailored for judges, prosecutors, lawyers, public notaries and other legal practitioners, officials of the European Union and members of the national public administrations. EIPA has centres in Maastricht (Netherlands) and Luxembourg. You can find a summary of its activities here.

Types of training activities developed

The European Institute of Public Administration (EIPA) is one of the few European-level providers of training to the judiciary and other legal professions. The majority of these training activities are developed and delivered by the Luxembourg antenna of EIPA, whereas EIPA Maastricht focuses on trainings related to effectiveness of public administration, management of public funding and, policy making and EU governance.

In addition to open enrolment training and conference activities, EIPA provides a variety of tailor made and practice-oriented training, consultancy and coaching services as well as comparative research related to EU law and judicial training in the EU Member States and countries associated with the EU (candidate countries, EFTA countries, etc.). These services are delivered under various tenders, service contracts and action grants awarded by the EU Institutions or through bilateral contracts with the national administrations.

Within the category of Link opens in new windowopen enrolment activities, EIPA offers the following types of activities:

  • practice-oriented workshops of varying duration
  • adult life-long educational programmes, such as Master programmes and Master-level classes (both face-to-face and blended on-line learning programmes); the offer provides programmes lasting from one week to two years
  • individually selected e-learning tutorials on access to documents, internal market issues (such as free movement of people, public procurement, etc.), environmental law and judicial co-operation issues
  • conferences on recent developments in various legal areas, such as EU environmental and financial services law, judicial co-operation issues, EU civil service law and recent trends of the jurisprudence of the Court of Justice

An overview of EIPA’s current open enrolment activities can be accessed Link opens in new windowhere.

Within the category of contract activities, EIPA specialises in the following types of activities tailor-made in consultation with the clients to meet their specific needs:

  • workshops combining problem-based learning and coaching sessions
  • study visits, either stand-alone or combined with training sessions on selected topics
  • tailor-made blended learning activities
  • initial training modules for judges, prosecutors and non-judge court staff of varying duration
  • training of trainers workshops, including development of training materials and manuals

Contact EIPA directly for a tailor-made offer via Link opens in new windowthis link.

Topically, the EU law related training activities of EIPA cover EU (and EEA) institutional law, with specific focus on :

  • the procedures of and how to litigate before the EU and EFTA Courts
  • European administrative law and EU fundamental rights
  • European regulatory affairs, such as environmental, consumer protection, food safety, labour and social law
  • all areas of the EU Internal Market, including financial services, public procurement, competition law and stat aid
  • Regulatory issues related to data protection, data governance and artificial intelligence
  • The EU Area of Freedom Security and justice
    • EU borders policy, immigration and asylum
    • European and international judicial cooperation in family, commercial and other civil matters
    • European and international judicial and law enforcement cooperation in criminal matters

EIPA Luxembourg also specialises in training and coaching activities aiming to strengthen the independence of the judiciary and to enhance the administration and quality of justice by identifying and sharing knowledge and practical experience in areas such as:

  • introduction of quality management in the justice sector
  • management of judicial institutions (courts, public prosecutor offices, judicial training institutions)
  • judicial training needs analysis and the evaluation of both the quality and effects of judicial training, etc.)
  • ethics and anti-corruption
  • public relations and communication policies and skills
  • introduction and use of e-justice tools

Current activities

On average, EIPA implements around 600 - 700 training activities.

In 2021, more than 12.000 participants from across Europe and beyond attended EIPA’s activities, resulting in a total of 15.000 days of training/coaching and consulting delivered.

The majority of participants come from the EU and the Member States, with a substantial share of participants attributable to the EU institutions, bodies and agencies.

International partnerships/agreements

EIPA is part of the European Public Administration Network (Link opens in new windowEUPAN).

EIPA has entered bilateral cooperation agreements with national judicial training institutions in a number of EU Member States and EU accession and candidate countries.

Through the years EIPA has worked, and continues to work, on a project-by-project basis with the national judicial training institutions throughout Europe as well as with European-level associations for various legal professions, e.g. the European Judicial Training Network, the Council of the Notaries of the European Union (CNUE), the European Chamber of Bailiffs (CEHJ) and the Council of the Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE).

History

EIPA was founded in 1981 as a non-profit foundation providing targeted training on European Integration issues. Its aim was to address the needs of the public authorities (including the Judiciary) of the European Union's Member States and the European Institutions. Today, 22 EU Member States + Norway are members of EIPA.

In 1992, EIPA established its first antenna, the then European Centre for Judges and Lawyers, in Luxembourg, with the specific objective of providing training for the Judiciary and public as well as private practicing lawyers on the interpretation and application of Community –now, EU law.

Since 2012, EIPA’s European Centre for Judges and Lawyers follows a targeted topical approach towards its main target groups;. the judiciary, including non-magistrate staff, as well as the other legal professions. The Centres activities focus on the provision of tailored and practice oriented training programmes including consultancy and coaching. The aim is to disseminate knowledge, practical know-how and good practices as well as contributing to the mutual trust in cross-border cooperation of EU Member States confidence building.

Contact details

EIPA Luxembourg – European Centre for Judges and Lawyers

8, rue Nicolas Adames
1114 Luxembourg
+352 426 230 1
Link opens in new windowinfo-lux@eipa.eu

Number of staff: 15

Legal status: Non-profit foundation

Last update: 11/02/2020

This page is maintained by the European Commission. The information on this page does not necessarily reflect the official position of the European Commission. The Commission accepts no responsibility or liability whatsoever with regard to any information or data contained or referred to in this document. Please refer to the legal notice with regard to copyright rules for European pages.

European judicial training network (EJTN)

The Link opens in new windowEuropean Judicial Training Network (EJTN) is the principal platform and promoter for the training and exchange of knowledge of the European judiciary.

Its members are the national judicial training institutions from all EU members states and the Academy of European Law (ERA).

Its vision is to foster mutual trust between judiciary professionals from all EU member states and to contribute to creating a common legal and judicial European culture.

EJTN provides networking opportunities for its members, observers, and partners by offering tailored training to all 400.000 judges, prosecutors, court staff, and judicial trainers in the EU. The EJTN cooperates with all other major EU-level judicial networks.

Last update: 11/02/2020

This page is maintained by the European Commission. The information on this page does not necessarily reflect the official position of the European Commission. The Commission accepts no responsibility or liability whatsoever with regard to any information or data contained or referred to in this document. Please refer to the legal notice with regard to copyright rules for European pages.