Project to promote a comprehensive understanding of EU law was a success
In 2019, the European Commission first granted the Jean Monnet Chair to the University of Tartu School of Law to recognise the quality of their work on European Union law. Through the UproEU project, the chair engages young talent to promote a comprehensive understanding of EU law. The chair holder is Associate Professor in European Law Carri Ginter.
The goal of UproEU was, in cooperation with young lawyers, to bring knowledge of European Union (EU) law to professionals and the general public. It can be said that this ambitious goal was fully achieved. In addition, a cooperation network of EU law professionals, teaching staff and students was created during the project.
Members of the UproEU team participated in numerous professional events and published dozens of articles, focusing primarily on the impact of the European Union law on the national level. When the EU decided to fund €750 billion worth of projects under the “Next Generation EU” recovery instrument, the chair advised the government on the projects’ compatibility with EU treaties.
With the help of students, 28 Wikipedia articles were written in Estonian on the most important concepts of EU law and case law to enhance the project’s visibility. The project was featured in more than 60 media reports explaining the issues of EU law and their impact on everyday life in Estonia to the general public. In addition, numerous posts were made on LinkedIn.
The project team taught seven bachelor’s and master’s courses related to EU law at the School of Law. In cooperation with the Estonian branch of the European Law Students’ Association, ELSA Estonia (ELSA4Schools), lectures on EU law were held in eight Estonian secondary schools to raise young people’s interest in law. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, courses were taught in a digital environment, such as Moodle, BigBlueButton and Microsoft Teams. Thanks to online opportunities, all of the courses were taught as promised.
The UproEU project produced a large number of publications.
In addition, two articles were published in Juridica, the journal of the School of Law. The paper by Piret Schasmin and Carri Ginter, “Understanding EU directives and the impact thereof”, was the second-most-read article in Juridica in 2021. In cooperation with Associate Professor Anneli Soo, the article “Public order as a lifeline in the fight against racism and xenophobia” was published.
Articles were also published in international peer-reviewed law journals. Carri Ginter, Kadri Härginen and Albert Linntam wrote an article about air passengers’ rights, “Passengers are not automatically responsible for fines imposed on airlines. Estonian court declares a Lufthansa standard term unfair”. Mari Kelve-Liivsoo and Carri Ginter dealt with the standard terms of public contracts in “Applying the unfair contract terms directive to public contracts”, and Mario Sõrm and Kadri Härginen published the article “In-house transactions: lost in translation?”
One possibility to demonstrate the University of Tartu’s teaching quality is to compete successfully in international mooting competitions. Professionals from various institutions and law offices coached student teams for the European Law Moot Court competition. To support students and help them prepare for the mooting competitions, the textbook by Carri Ginter, Mari Kelve-Liivsoo, Triin Toom, Heidi Rand, Georg Kuusik, Gerli Helene Gritsenko, Kätlin Robas, Elina Mizerova, Polina Tšernjak, Aleksandr Popov and Taaniel Sivonen, “Ettevalmistus rahvusvahelisteks harjutuskohtuvõistlusteks” (“Preparing for international moot court competitions”), was published by Juura publishing house.
During the project, the chair supervised the writing of 25 master’s theses and research papers. Through supervision, the university’s law students could link their knowledge of EU law to their studies and work.
The coronavirus restrictions during the project brought along specific changes in the project – for example, the revised version of the textbook was not published yet.
Many students and recent graduates took part in the project activities, including Gerli Helene Gritsenko, Nele Grünberg, Kadri Härginen, Daniel Kaasik, Mari Kelve-Liivsoo, Georg Kuusik, Albert Linntam, Elina Mizerova, Liisa-Maria Puur, Stenver Pärn, Heidi Rand, Kätlin Robas, Piret Schasmin, Taaniel Sivonen, Mario Sõrm, Triin Toom and Polina Tšernjak.
The project’s website remains open and can be viewed at any time.
