01 Jun 02 Jun
13:00 - 18:30

6th Young European Law Scholars Conference - YELS Conference

‘The Future of EU Fundamental Rights' 

Registration for the 6th YELS conference is now open!

The 6th Young European Law Scholars Conference (YELS) will take place in Maastricht on 1 and 2 June 2023. It aims to critically reflect on the EU’s role as a fundamental rights actor and the future of EU fundamental rights more broadly. The conference will start with a keynote address by Prof. Elise Muir (KU Leuven) before continuing with speaker presentations. Speakers will be divided into 4 thematic panels based on research topics, and will receive individualised feedback on their presentations from expert commentators. The selected topics include:

  • the role of national and European courts in fundamental rights’ protection;
  • actors and sources of EU fundamental rights law;
  • key concepts of EU fundamental rights law, including the essence of fundamental rights and ‘positive obligations’;
  • the role and position of social rights in EU law.

The conference will offer ample opportunity to engage in informal in-person discussions with young European law scholars as well as more senior experts on various European fundamental rights issues.

Participation fee

The conference is only in-person, there are no online or hybrid alternatives. The participation fee is €10 for external (non-UM) participants, and it includes coffee and snacks on both days as well as lunch on the second day.

Thursday 1 June 

13.30 - 14.00 Coffee & Registration
14.00 - 14.10 Welcome and introduction from the organisers
14.10 - 15.00 Opening keynote
Elise Muir (KU Leuven): 'Triangulating EU fundamental rights law'
15.00 - 16.30

                  Panel - Concepts of EU Fundamental Rights Law

Anna Valeria Backé (WU Wien):
The positive obligations-doctrine: a means of effective fundamental rights
protection in EU Member states?


Pedro Cuesta (LUISS University & ICourts Institute):
The itinerary of national standards of protection in EU Fundamental rights law

Mohor Fajdiga (University of Ljubljana): 
Chilling effect: turning the poison into an antidote for fundamental rights
in Europe

Chair: Marijn van der Sluis
Commentator: Elise Muir (KU Leuven)

16.30 - 17.00 Coffee break
17.00 - 18.30

               Panel II - The Role and Position of European Courts in EU
                                               Fundamental Rights Protection 


Jesse Claassen (Open University of the Netherlands): 
The European Court of Human Rights' position within the EU legal order:
the domestic courts' perspective


Darren Harvey (King's College London):
From low to high intensity review in the protection of fundamental rights

Charlotte Langenfeld (Humboldt University Berlin)
The 'Autonomisation' of EU fundamental rights protection: insights into the
recent CJEU case law on Art. 52(3) CFR

Chair: Mariolina Eliantonio
Commentator: Monica Claes (Maastricht University)

19.30 Dinner (for speakers, chairs and commentators)

 

Friday 2 June

09.00 - 11.00             Panel III - Actors and Sources in EU Fundamental Rights Protection

Valerie Albus
(EUI)
Can Online Service Providers be the guardians of fundamental rights in the
EU's Area of Criminal Justice?


Ilaria Gambardella (KU Leuven):
EU governance through funding: what consequences for the scope of
EU fundamental rights?


Jaka Kukavica (EUI & University of Ljubljana):
Constitutional traditions common to the Member States: a story of genesis
and normative transformations


Maxime Tecqmenne (University of Liège):
Judicial lawmaking in disguise? The role of the explanations relating to
the Charter in the interpretation of fundamental social rights


Chair: Ellen Vos
Commentator: Leonard Besselink (University of Amsterdam)
11.00 - 11.30 Coffee break
11.30 - 13.00

             Panel IV - Social Rights in the EU Fundamental Rights' System

Eline Couperus (Maastricht University)
The ECJ’s Position on Article 16: Freedom to Conduct a Business as a
Subjective Right or an Instrumental Tool?


Konstantinos Alexandris Polomarkakis (University of Exeter) &
Lisa Mardikian (Brunel University London):
Social rights as commodities: an obstacle to the future of EU fundamental rights

Elisabeth Schöyen (EUI):
Revisiting the social deficit: social rights and the liberal conception of
the person in EU law


Chair: Pauline Melin
Commentator: Anne Pieter van der Mei (Maastricht University)

13.00 - 13.15 Closing from the organisers
13.15 - 14.00 Lunch (for all participants)


The Conference conveners are: Šejla Imamović, Matteo Bonelli, Elin Börjedal and Eleonora Di Franco (Maastricht University).

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