Pitt Hosting International Law Conference Relating to European Union-U.S. Cooperation and Competition

The University of Pittsburgh’s European Union Center of Excellence and European Studies Center (EUCE/ESC) is hosting a policy conference entitled "Promoting the Rule of Law: Cooperation and Competition in the EU-U.S. Relationship" on Thursday May 6, 2010 at the University Club in Pittsburgh.

The conference aims to address various questions including if the rule of law is an important aspect of external relations efforts of the EU and the U.S., are the programs and policies of each of them (1) consistent with their own definition of the rule of law and how it should be implemented, and (2) in competition with or complementary with one another?

What is the value of coordination of programs and policies in this area, and is there value in program and policy competition?

This conference will explore these and related questions to seek a better understanding of the importance of the rule of law as a goal reflected in the policies and programs of each of the EU and the U.S., as well as how the objectives of existing programs and policies can be improved through such an understanding.

Throughout the conference, participants will be addressing the relationship between governments and civil society in pursuing these objectives.

The conference will be convened by Ronald Brand, Professor of Law, with remarks by Mark A. Nordenberg, Chancellor, University of Pittsburgh; Alberta Sbragia, Director, European Union Center of Excellence and European Studies Center; Carolyn Ban, Acting Director of the European Union Center of Excellence and European Studies Center, and Bart De Schutter, President, Institute for European Studies, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium.

Conference participants include: Haider ala Hamoudi, Law, University of Pittsburgh; Ricardo Gosalbo-Bono, External Relations, EU Council Legal Service; Thomas Nachbar, Law, University of Virginia and Chief, Rule of Law and Stability Operations (IMA) for the Army’s Office of the Judge Advocate General; Kurt Riechenberg, Court of Justice of the European Communities; Mark Ellis, International Bar Association; Judge D. Brooks Smith, Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals; Glenn Hendrix, American Bar Association – Chair, International Law Section; Elena Baylis, Law, University of Pittsburgh; Esa Paasivirta, Legal Services, European Commission; Wade Channell, USAID; Scott Worden, U.S. Institute of Peace; Paul Amato, Defense Policy Advisor to the U.S. Senior Civilian Representative in RC (East), Afghanistan; James Friedberg, Law, West Virginia University; Orsolya Szekely, Council of Europe; Stephen Gardner, U.S. department of Commerce; and David A. Murdoch, K&L Gates, Chair Emeritus, Board of Trustees, World Learning.

Sponsors include the University of Pittsburgh Center for International Legal Education and the Institute for European Studies at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel in Belgium.

The European Union Center of Excellence and European Studies Center (EUCE/ESC) support faculty and student research, teaching, collaboration, and public engagement in studying the cultures, languages, histories and institutions of Western Europe, post-1989 Europe, and the European Union, its member and candidate states. EUCE/ESC is housed in the University of Pittsburgh’s University Center for International Studies. For more information, go to www.ucis.pitt.edu/euce/euce.html.

For more information, contact Timothy Thompson at 412-624-3503 or tst@pitt.edu.