Reviews of A.W. Heringa, MJ 18–3 (2011), p. 221–224
| Author | Marcel Brus,Stefan Grundmann,Krystyna Pawłowicz,Jacqueline Kinghan,Niccolò Rinaldi,Christine Godt,Androulla Vassiliou |
| Published date | 01 December 2011 |
| Date | 01 December 2011 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/1023263X1101800403 |
| Subject Matter | Article Reviews |
18 MJ 4 (2011) 421
ARTICLE REVIEWS
Reviews of A.W. Heringa, MJ 18–3 (2011), p . 221–224
I read with great interest t he article in your journa l about the eects of EU law on national
law, as well as the proposals you make for a ‘Europea n legal education’.
I welcome the ideas in your editorial. One of the main tasks of the European
Commission, under Art icle 17 of the Treaty on the European Union, is ‘to oversee
the application of Union law’. Any knowledge of EU law which does not include an
appreciation of its inuence on national laws would be gravely incomplete. e
application of EU law is moreover a task that involves institut ions at all levels, at
Member States’ as well as European level. Regulations and di rectives are adopted in
Brussels, but it is their implementation at national level that touches the lives of the
citizens direc tly. In fact, in the overwhelming majority of cases, when it comes to the
implementation of EU law, the rst judge is the national one. e study of European
law must include a broad understanding of the national context and the very d iverse
institutional contex ts and legal cultures that exi st in Europe.
We live in a globalized world, and ever y law student should become acquainted
with at least some fundamental notions of international law. In the ca se of EU law,
well-known principles such as its pre-emi nence and direct application ma ke its
eects both far-reachi ng and pervasive. No serious practitioner of law in Europe can
aord to ignore them.
e promotion of curricula imparting a European lega l education would also be
entirely consistent with the Treaties, as A rticle165 of the Treaty on the Functioni ng
of the European Union charges the EU w ith the task of developing the European
dimension in education. Developing the European dimension of legal education
would therefore comply with both the spir it and the letter of the Treaty.
I also agree on the i mportance of the other dimensions you propose to be part of
a legal education, in particular the at tention that should be paid to discipli nes such
as economics a nd sociology.
I would like to dierentiate my position on one point – the idea set out in your
editorial to establi sh, or rather adopt, a ‘common legal language’, in this case E nglish.
e European Union, as you know, is committed to the protect ion of cultural diversit y.
e promotion of multilingua lism is and wil l remain among our objectives. Any
move to create a common language for the study of EU law, which would in eect
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