As the European Single Market becomes more open and integrated, there is an ever increasing number of cross-border legal transactions, together with growing interaction between the different national laws of Member States of the European Union. This leads to a greater need for lawyers from different Member States to familiarise themselves more with the legal systems of their neighbours, and to apply EU law consistently at all levels. For that reason, the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE) decided to present a proposal to the European Commission for the implementation of the European Training Platform (ETP). The European Lawyers Foundation (ELF) is helping the CCBE in the final stage of the implementation of this project. The union of forces between the CCBE and ELF guarantees the correct implementation of this innovative and important e-Justice project.
ETP consists of an IT platform which provides information about courses for lawyers in a cross-border context. All relevant information from participating national and European-level training providers about training activities and courses will be made available on-line. Lawyers will therefore be able to access the widest and most inclusive catalogue of EU and national law courses across the EU. The system is intended to allow custom search according to predefined search fields (such as title of course, venue, date, language, practice area etc.), which will make it easier for lawyers to find a training course tailored to their needs. The project started on 1st February 2013 and will run for a period of two years. Once implemented, the ETP is expected to be hosted on the European Commission’s e-Justice portal and should serve as a model for future training initiatives by other professions.
The benefits: The successful implementation of ETP will be a win-win solution for all parties involved. For training providers, the platform will be a powerful marketing and communication tool to promote their activities and become more visible both at home and abroad. For lawyers, the platform will increase the level and accessibility of information on training courses in other EU countries, by offering the possibility of a personalised and time-saving search. For the European Commission, the project will contribute significantly to the implementation of the European e-Justice strategy, as well as the broader vision of a common European legal culture.
An example: A Spanish lawyer, established in France, represents a shipping company in a contract law case where English law is applicable. To be able to perform her duties, she is interested in having intensive courses in English contract law during the summer months organised by a bar, college, university or other training provider in London. At present, this information is scattered, and access pre-supposes some prior knowledge of local training providers. By using the online training platform, the process of finding the right course will be much easier, less time-consuming and more user-friendly.
Participating training providers:
- M&D Seminars
- Barreau de Bruxelles
- Commission Université-Palais (CUP)
- IFE Benelux
- Deutscher Anwaltsinstitut
- DeutscheAnwaltAkademie
- Association of Danish Law Firms
- Preismann Koolitus OÜ
- Estonian Bar Association
- Tallinn University Law School, Open University
- University of Tartu – Faculty of Law
- Ilustre Colegio de Abogados de Barcelona
- European Institute for Public Administration (EIPA)
- Academy of European Law (ERA)
- Council of Europe (CoE)
- Conseil National des Barreaux (15 E.D.A)
- Délégation des Barreaux de France (DBF)
- Budapest Bar Association
- ELTE ÁJK Jogi Továbbképz_ Intézet
- Law Society of Ireland
- Scuola Superiore Dell’Avvocatura
- Wolters Kluwer Italia – Scuola di formazione
- Ipsoa
- University of Luxembourg, Research Unit in Law
- Institut Universitaire International Luxembourg
- Juristenes utdanningssenter (Centre for Continuing Legal Education)
- Slovenian Bar Association
This project is financed with the support of the Justice Programme of the European Union.
The European Training Platform (ETP) is now hosted on the European Commission's website. It is a search tool put at the service of legal practitioners and justice professionals who want to train themselves on any practice area of EU law or related matters. On the ETP, justice professionals can find both, training courses and self-learning material on a great variety of EU law-related topics. The training providers inform potential trainees about the training activities they organise everywhere in the EU and in different languages. The European Commission contributes to the platform with ready-to-use training materials or handbooks produced notably thanks to EU financial support.
To search for training courses click here.
To search for self-learning training material click here.