Roundtable on EU agencies’ Boards of Appeal

University of Ferrara

June 17^th 2022

 

Aims of the initiative

The Roundtable aims at discussing the current and future challenges of EU agencies’ Boards of Appeal, going beyond the differences and similarities as to their composition, powers, etc. and focusing on their common features and perspectives.

The Roundtable will gather distinguished members of the Boards of Appeal, of the EU General Court and of the Academia. The initiative has purely scientific and academic purposes. Opinions will be presented by speakers in their personal capacity and do not bind the institution to which they belong.

The event will take place only in person and, due to sanitary restrictions, it will be open to a selected audience. Academics and practitioners interested in following the debates are kindly requested to send their request before June 6^th 2022 to riccardo.torresan@unife.it, together with a brief CV.

The event is organised by the Jean Monnet Module on EU Specialized Judicial Protection coordinated by Prof. Jacopo Alberti. For the full programme, see here.

 

Speakers

Jacopo Alberti	Associate Professor of EU Law at the University of Ferrara and Coordinator of the Jean Monnet Module on EU Specialized Judicial Protection
Antoine Buchet	President of the Board of Appeal of ECHA and Chairman of the Inter Agency Appeal Panel Network
Massimo Condinanzi	Full Professor of EU Law at the University of Milan and Coordinator of the Task Force for the EU infringement procedures at the Presidency of the Council of Ministers
Marc Jaeger	Judge at the General Court of the EU and former President thereof
Alexandra Kusturovic	Head of Cabinet of the Boards of Appeal of EUIPO
Marco Lamandini	Full Professor of Commercial Law at the University of Bologna, Member of the Appeal Panel of SRB and former President of the ESAs Joint Board of Appeal
Marcus Navin-Jones	Vice-President of the Board of Appeal of CPVO and Alternate Member of the Board of Appeal of ECHA
Massimo Orzan	Réferendaire at the General Court of the EU
Miro Prek	President of the Board of Appeal of ACER and former Judge at the General Court of the EU
Michael Sanchez Rydelsky	President of the Board of Appeal of EASA
Michele Siri	Full Professor of Commercial Law at the University of Genoa and President of the Joint Board of Appeal of the ESAs
Marcel Verslype	Chair of the Board of Appeal of ERA

 

 

Programme

9:30

Introductory remarks

Marc Jaeger, Judge at the General Court of the European Union and former President thereof

Antoine Buchet, President of ECHA Board of Appeal and Chairman of the Inter Agency Appeal Panel Network

Massimo Condinanzi, Marco Lamandini and Jacopo Alberti, Roundtable’s organising committee

 

9:50

Roundtable discussion on institutional and procedural matters

 

Members’ status

Which is the status of your BoA’s members? Do they fall within the scope of application of Protocol n. 7 on Privileges and Immunities and/or the EU Staff Regulation?

Secretarial support and training

Does your BoA have a permanent and ad hoc Registry? If not, do you think that one is needed? Do you consider that your agency provides you the necessary means to satisfy your training needs?

BoA’s budget

How and by whom is defined the budget of your BoA? Has this issue ever raised any particular concern within your agency or between your agency and the Commission?

Relationship between the BoA and the agency

When your agency’s establishing regulation or other fundamental acts in your policy fields are under negotiations, is your BoA involved in the debates? Who is responsible to prepare the defence before the EU Courts where a decision of your BoA is challenged?

 

Open floor: is there any other institutional or procedural issue currently debated within your BoA / agency that could be of common interest? Does the General Court see any other issue which deserves to be discussed?

 

13:15

Lunch

 

14:30

Roundtable discussion on the possible evolutions of the Boards of Appeal

 

Extending BoAs’ powers

Would it make sense in your view to expand the acts that could be reviewed by your BoA and/or to grant to your BoA other powers than the bare review of the legitimacy of the act? (e.g. action for damages; action for failure to act; arbitration between Member States, if your BoA does not already exercises de iure or de facto similar powers)

Appointment and removal

Are the rules on the appointment and removal of the members of your BoA currently discussed? Would it make sense in your view to amend them, and how?

Fair trial

According to the settled CJEU case-law, EUIPO’s Boards are not bound by the principle of fair trial. This approach has been endorsed also with regard to other BoAs, albeit sometimes only implicitly. Does your BoA respect this principle, despite the lack of a clear legal obligation to do so? Conversely, would your BoA’s functions be undermined if bounded by this principle? If your BoA falls within the scope of Art. 58a of CJEU Statute (EUIPO, CPVO, ECHA, EASA), has the entry into force of this provision brought to any amendment in this regard?

 

Open floor: is there any other possible evolution that your BoA might or should face in the next future? Does the General Court see any other issue which deserves to be discussed?

 

17:30

End of the Roundtable