At the International Conference on "Enforcing Consumer and Capital Market Law in Europe", which took place on 23 and 24 May 2019 at the Faculty of Law of the University of Augsburg, numerous experts discussed how various countries legally deal with the diesel emission scandal.

It turned out that in the USA, Australia and Brazil the enforcement of law trough sanctions of authorities and compensation of customers are already much more successful than in most European countries. Scientists, judges, but also representatives of public authorities (BaFin and ESMA) and consumer associations intensively discussed how the respective law could be improved at national and European level in order to prevent future infringements. As in data protection law, European policy-makers should perceive effective law enforcement mechanisms not as regional disadvantage, but as an economic locational advantage.

The conference was organised by Professor Dr. Thomas M.J. Möllers (University of Augsburg) and Professor Dr. Beate Gsell (LMU Munich) and is a project of the Jean-Monnet-Centre of Excellence "European Integration – Rule of Law and Enforcement (INspiRE)", funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union.

06.06.2019

On 22 and 23 November 2018, more than 50 international participants discussed the current challenges and perspectives of the private enforcement of European competition and State aid law at the conference at University of Augsburg’s law faculty, a conference hosted by Prof. Dr. Thomas M.J. Möllers, Prof. Dr. Ferdinand Wollenschläger and Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Wurmnest, LL.M. (Berkely). The conference was a project of the Jean-Monnet-Centre of Excellence “INspiRE” (European Integration – Rule of Law and Enforcement) of the law faculty of the University of Augsburg, coordinated by Prof. Dr. Thomas M.J. Möllers. The Jean-Monnet-Centre of Excellence is supported by the Erasmus+ Program of the European Union.

The first conference day was devoted to “Private Enforcement of EU Competition Law after Directive  2014/104/EU”. First, Prof. Dr. Wulf-Henning Roth, LL.M. (Harvard) from the University of Bonn and Dr. Johannes Holzwarth, LL.M. (Chicago) from the European Commission introduced the European perspective on this topic. In the following speeches, Prof. Dr. Jens-Uwe Franck, LL.M. (Yale) from the University of Mannheim, Dr. Erik-Jan Zippro and Dr. Rogier Meijer from the law offices of Zippro Meijer Advocaten, Amsterdam, Prof. Dr. Florian Wagner-von Papp, LL.M. (Columbia) from the University College London, Dr. Rafael Amaro from the University of Paris Descartes as well as Prof. Dr. Enrico Camilleri from the University of Palermo explained the current situation in Germany, the Netherlands, Great Britain, France and Italy. Prof. Dr. Florian Bien, Maître en Droit (Aix-Marseille III) from the University of Würzburg, Dr. Tatjana Mühlbach from the law offices of Buntscheck, Munich, and Dr. Ingo Brinker from the law offices of Gleiss Lutz, Munich, led through the speeches and moderated the discussion. The outcomes of the first conference day were then summarised by Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Wurmnest, LL.M. (Berkley) in his closing words.

The second conference day was focused on “Private Enforcement of EU State Aid Law”. Dr. Fernando Pastor-Merchante, LL.M. (Columbia) from the IE University of Madrid and Luca Rossi from the European Commission provided insight on the European perspective on the private enforcement of State aid law. The configuration, the specifics and challenges of private State Aid Law enforcement in Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands were addressed by Prof. Dr. Sebastian Unger from the Ruhr-University of Bochum, Prof. Dr. François Lichère from the Jean-Moulin-University of Lyon, Prof. Dr. Roberto Caranta and Benedetta Biancardi from the University of Turin, Prof. Dr. Luis Arroyo Jiménez from the University of Castilla-La Mancha as well as Prof. Dr. Willemien den Ouden und Prof. Dr. Jacobine van den Brink from the Universities of Leiden and Amsterdam. Dr. Ulrich Soltész from the law offices of Gleiss Lutz, Brussels, Stéphane Hautbourg from the law offices of Gide Loyrette Nouel, Brussels, and Prof. Dr. Ferdinand Wollenschläger led through the speeches and moderated the discussion. Prof. Dr. Ferdinand Wollenschläger emphasised the common features, differences and challenges transcending legal areas and legal systems in his concluding summary.

21.11.2018