A High-level Seminar on the EMU at the Faculty

The event began with a lecture by Professor Koen Lenaerts, the Vice-President of the Court of Justice of the European Union, on the EMU and the EU’s constitutional framework. Judge Lenaerts had acted as the reporting judge in the Pringle case on the legality of the European Stability Mechanism, and a lively question and answer session followed the lecture.

The seminar continued with five further papers. Alicia Hinarejos of University of Cambridge talked on the topic of ‘Fiscal and Economic Integration: Present and Future’, while Jukka Snell (University of Turku and Swansea University), spoke about ‘The Trilemma of European Economic and Monetary Integration, and Its Implications’. Kaarlo Tuori (University of Helsinki) dealt with issue of the EMU and constitutionalism, while Mattias Wendel of Humboldt University discussed the German Federal Constitutional Court’s OMT reference. The final paper was by Janne Salminen (University of Turku), who talked about the impact of the crisis measures in the Member States.

The other participants included judges, academics, and government lawyers, as well as students. The seminar was concluded by a spirited debate on the future of the Economic and Monetary Union, as well as on the role of courts in interpreting and policing the limits of integration.