Vision

The Biannual “The Future of European Law and Policy” conference organised by the Institute of European Law and Birmingham Law School since 2008, is the only open conference on EU law in the UK to which all interested academics, research students, and others may submit a paper proposal, rather than only on invitation. As such, the conference aims are:

Educating one another about the national and supranational dimensions of EU law and policy, the latest research, and recent updates on law, policy, and education.

Network-building to create connections between academics, lawyers, NGOs, and students interested in EU law, and enhance the impact of work on EU and UK policy making and legislation.

Collaborating to generate new ideas and share good practice on the teaching of EU law.

Call for papers

After the success of eight previous conferences since 2008, scholars and postgraduate research students in any discipline (law, politics, history, economics …) are invited again to present papers on any issue on the Future of EU Law + Policy, especially: on the constitution of the EU (institutions, decision making…), the EU and the individual (citizenship, human rights, …), the EU and the economy (internal market, competition, …), and the EU and the outside world (external relations, rearmament and Ukraine, sanctions, US, TCA …).

We are planning panels on the topic The UK and the EU: 10 years after the Brexit referendum. Papers on this issue are particularly welcome.

Opening panel: The UK and the EU – the current and the future relationship

The opening panel of the conference will be introduced by a keynote address of the EU Ambassador followed by presentations of representatives of three relevant academic disciplines. We want to explore the relationship of the EU and the UK, the current state but also the future, from a political, legal, and economic angle.

Keynote: H.E. Ambassador Pedro Serrano, Ambassador of the EU to the UK
Professor Anand Menon (The UK in a Changing Europe): Politics
Professor Catherine Barnard (University of Cambridge): Law
Professor Jun Du (Aston University): Economics

Our line-up of speakers, selected from the proposals responding to our call for papers, will be announced when the conference opens for registration in May.

Conference details:

Venue

The conference will be hosted in Edgbaston, Birmingham, at the University of Birmingham. Fully vegan catering will be provided. The venue is wheelchair accessible via ramps and lifts, with an accessible bathroom on site. You are welcome to share any accessibility needs when purchasing your ticket for the conference, and we will do our best to accommodate.

Format

The conference will consist of the opening panel described above and afterwards parallel workshops with a moderator and three papers on related topics each (selected from proposals sent in response to our call for papers), for academics, lawyers, policy makers, and students. A full programme will be circulated closer to the event, once all presenters have been confirmed.

Registration

The conference registration fee applies only to participants who are not presenting a paper, which includes vegan catering throughout:

£25.00

The conference will open for registration in March 2026.

Presentation formats

You may apply to present in the following format:

Presentation: an individual conference paper presentation (co-presenters welcome) of 15-20 minutes, grouped in panel format by conference organisers, and followed by audience questions.

Panel: a group of 2-3 conference paper presentations by different presenters, of 15-20 minutes each, with a cohesive panel theme. Note abstracts for panels should include the panel theme.

Instructions

Please send the title of your proposed paper + a 200-word abstract + your contact details to either: m.trybus@bham.ac.uk or f.costello@bham.ac.uk

Deadline: 10 April 2026. Responses can be expected by the end of April 2026. Full papers are not required but can be considered for publication as an IEL Working Paper: https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/centres-institutes/institute-of-european-law

Please note that there is no funding for travel and accommodation but that speakers will not be subject to a conference fee.