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Thursday, 25 April 2019

Szeged conference on Economy, law and sovereignty in the EU

The University of Szeged IRSI with the Europe Direct Szeged and the European Public Law Organization (EPLO) are co-organizing a conference on "Economy, law and sovereignty in the EU - coordinating interests and obligations of the Member States in the global economic space".

The conference, will take place on April 25, 2019, between 09:30 and 16:00 at University of Szeged, Attila József Education and Information Centre, Basement Lecture Hall
(6722 Szeged, Ady tér 10.)

The Conference focuses on the relationships between economy, European Union law and sovereignty, more precisely, the rights of the Member States to protect national economic interests.
By receiving the most foreign direct investments, the European Union is named as one of the most open economies in the world. Beside others, China’s investments in Europe have been rapidly raising year by year, and several Member States are concerned about this fact both because of the acquisition of companies operating in advanced technologies and the potential risks of acquisitions to public order and security. Several Member States urge EU lawmakers to legislate about foreign acquisitions, but meanwhile we are waiting for a sparkle. Chinese investments keep growing in areas also related to national security such as the energy sector, maritime and air transportation, seaports, strategic infrastructure or companies with high-tech know-how.
Nowadays, we experience a shift from multilateral and global legal solutions (e.g. the WTO system) towards bilateral solutions such as bilateral investment treaties. The free movement of capital is one of the fundamental principles of the EU that seems to be unshakable and foreign investments are theoretically essential even for developed economies.
At this Conference, we will look for answers to the questions of what legal opportunities Member States have against foreign investments from third countries into the EU, and how they could protect their national economic interests, public order and national security. We will examine the links between economic and legal trends in foreign investment and the Member States’ opportunities to take action by considering national, international, and EU legal aspects.
RSVP: If you are interested in this event, please register in one of the following ways:

On-line registration: https://www.ed.u-szeged.hu/index.php/en/recent
E-mail: ed@irsi.u-szeged.hu
Telephone: 62/544-135

Program

09:30-10:00 Registration
Moderator: Anikó Szalai, Senior Lecturer, University of Szeged, Faculty of Law

10:00-10:15 Opening remarks

László Trócsányi, Minister of Justice, Professor of the University of Szeged

Spyridon Flogaitis, Director, European Public Law Organisation

10:15-10:45 Council regulation on establishing a framework for the screening of foreign direct investments into the Union and the case law of ECJ

Zoltán Csehi, Judge, Court of Justice of the European Union

11:00-11:20 Between Compliance and Particularism – Member State Interests and European Union Law

Márton Varju, Researcher, Hungarian Academy of Sciences

11:20-11:40 Member State interests and EU external trade policy – Recent developments

Balázs Horváthy, Researcher, Hungarian Academy of Sciences; Senior Lecturer, Széchenyi University Győr

11:40-12:00 National Security and Economic Issues in EU Members

Jorge Bacelar Gouveia, Professor, University NOVA of Lisbon

12:00-12:30 Discussion
12:30-14:00 Lunch

Moderator: Martonyi János, Professzor Emeritus, University of Szeged, Faculty of Law

14:00-14:20 Trends in world trade since the 2008 global crisis

Beáta Farkas, Professor, University of Szeged, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration
14:20-14:40 Investment in the EU by third countries, with special regard to China

Yao-Ming Hsu, Professor, National Chengchi University, Taiwan

14:40-15:00 Sovereignty and bilateral investment treaties

Bálint Kovács, Lecturer, Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvania, Law School, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

15:00-15:20 New guy in town: the European Union and international investment law Csongor Nagy, Professor, University of Szeged

15:20-15:45 Debate
15:45-16:00 Final remarks

János Martonyi, Professor Emeritus, University of Szeged, Faculty of Law

The event runs in Hungarian and English languages with interpretation.

tags: Economy, European Union law,the rights,The Member States, national economic interests, legal opportunities, foreign investments, public order, national security, economic trends, legal trends, foreign investment