The European Master in Law and Economics (EMLE)

1. The European Master in Law and Economics (EMLE) Filomena Chirico* Skopje, 31 March 2009 * European Commission. The opinions expressed represent personal views and do not bind the institution

2. Outline • The EMLE programme • Historical overview • Examples of challenges and good practices • Erasmus Mundus

3. The EMLE Programme • Interdisciplinary Law and Economics • Applying the economic method to analyse the law • Positive and normative • Which law? Law and borders • Expression of the European Association of Law and Economics (academic network) • Lecturers • Lawyers or economists (or both) • Strong connection to research activities

4. EMLE Organisational structure • 8 partner universities in 8 countries + US • EMLE Board • Includes • Programme Director • Erasmus Mundus Coordinator • Coordinators of each institution • Meets twice a year • Participation of student representatives • Ombudsman and Quality Assurance Officer

5. The EMLE year • One year Master programme, October-October • Three terms in at least two locations • 1st term (NL-DE-IT) • 4 courses comparable in content across universities • 2nd term (BE-DE-IT) • partly comparable (4 to 6 courses, some differences in subjects) • 3rd term (NL/US, DE, IT, FR, UK, AT, IL) • specialisation according to universities’ strengths • Final Thesis with two supervisors, one in the 3rd term institution, one external • Mid-term meeting and Graduation ceremony

6. EMLE at the origins • Created in 1990, 4 participating institutions • Pre-existing academic network • European L & E Association • Common research interests • Several annual meetings/conferences • Advocacy role • Little structure and a lot of enthusiasm • Need for pragmatic solutions

7. The EMLE at the EUA JM Project 2003 • About 100 Students per year • Over 20 nationalities, mostly European • 20 Partner Universities • Not all teaching centres • Increasing need of coordination • Sustainability issues • Need for pragmatic solutions

8. EMLE as Erasmus Mundus 2009 • Eight Partner Institutions • 100 Students • About 30% non European • Higher level of harmonisation and centralisation of procedures • More stable financial situation • Still, need for pragmatic solutions

9. The EMLE degree • Who issues the degree? • Initial solution: 3rd term institution + “certificate” of “jointness”: 1 degree • Post-EM: each institution where a student is enrolled  multiple degrees • What degree? • Depending on national regulations (MA, EMLE, MLE, LLM) • Student complaints: unfairness (NB: regulated profession) • Repeated calls for a “European” label

10. What Master? • “The EMLE is a postgraduate course. Preference will be given to applicants who already have a first master degree.” • Pre-requisite 4 years • Possible admission of students with completed 1st cycle of 3 years • What kind of Master degree?

11. Quality Assurance (I) • Internal Procedures • Curriculum integration • Horizontal and vertical consistency • Multiple meetings every year • Common standards for evaluation • Communication and statistical comparison • Admission requirements • Flexible initially, but streamlined and centralised after EM • Only one online application form • Trust among partners (mutual recognition)

12. Quality Assurance (II) • Substance • Content at the “right” level • Outcome of partners’ agreement • Common definition of learning outcomes • “Jointness” • Added value: different cultural experiences, teaching methods, going beyond national laws, optimising resources

13. External Evaluation and Accreditation • Coping with multiple national legal and institutional contexts • NL/BE and DE cases • Mutual recognition

14. Funding • Fundamental for sustainability of the programme • Depends on national context • National legislation or institutional regulations may be unsuited for JMs • EMLE Fees • Originally decentralised, depending on national regulation/institutional strategy • Divergence caused arbitrage/unfairness on students’ side • Unified after EM • 4.500 Euros for EU students/8.500 Euros for non-EU • Lessons: • Sustainability achieved when institutions “own” ad support the programme

15. Logistics • Standard administrative support may be unsuited • Specific organisational support within each institution • Student ID cards • Library/IT access • Key problem: short-time accommodation • Local specificities • Best practices • Flexibility is fundamental

16. Other organisational issues • Language • English is official language of the programme (easier communication, common reading material etc.) • Courses to learn local language are much appreciated • Monitoring of graduates • Not structured so far • Recent initiatives (alumni association, journal, conference)

17. What did Erasmus Mundus do for EMLE? • A quality label • Attracted overseas students (beyond individual professors’ contact) • Changes in the structure to fulfil requirements • Unified fees • Centralised admission • More comparable degrees • Multiple degrees • But some partners had to drop out (ES and SE cases) • Better institutional support • Better funding • Overall higher sustainability

18. Thanks for your attention!