The Research Unit “European Policies and Democracy” (the predecessor of CEDLAW), in collaboration with the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence “Research on Crucial Issues of European Integration” of the University of Macedonia (Centre of Excellence), organized a moot court of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) on an appeal for annulment of the Hellenic Republic against the (imaginary) Decision (EU) 2017/1910 of the Council of the EU on June 25, 2017 on the signing, on behalf of the EU, the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement between the Republic of Singapore, on one end, and the European Union and its Member States, on the other end (CETA). The moot court took place on Thursday, November 23, 2017 (12.00-14.00) in the Multipurpose Room of the Administrative Court of Appeals of Thessaloniki.
The organization of the moot court and the preparation of the students, including the drafting of the decision of the Council of the EU on the CETA (in order to be able to appeal against it), was undertaken by the PhD candidate and Administrator of the Research Unit, Alexandros Kyriakidis. Associate Professors Despoina Anagnostopoulou, Head of the Centre of Excellence, and Dimitrios Skiadas, acted as Justices.
The participating students of the Department of International & European Studies of the University of Macedonia were in favor of or against the annulment of the aforementioned Council Decision:
– The Hellenic Republic (Theodoros Sidiropoulos, Theofanis Domouktsis, Kyriakos Lefkopoulos) were arguing for the annulment of the Decision, arguing that certain provisions of the CETA do not fall within the exclusive jurisdiction of the EU, and therefore, cannot be signed only by the EU.
– The Council of the EU (Antonios Tsalikis, Georgia Moysakis, Theocharis Georgiadis, Maria Kilinkaridou) appealed against the arguments of the Hellenic Republic and in favor of the contested Decision, arguing that the EU has exclusive jurisdiction, since the CETA and its provisions fall under the EU’s Common Commercial Policy.
The two sides made their claims and argued before the judges, while the judges posed questions after each side’s opening and supporting statements. The trial ended with the announcement of the reasoning and the decision of the judges, who ruled in favor of the appeal for annulment. The moot court was the first collaboration of the Research Department with the Centre of Excellence, as well as with the Administrative Court of Appeal of Thessaloniki, and was a great success, having a significant turnout of University and non-University members on the audience. At the same time, it made an important contribution to the knowledge and experience of the participating students, offering them a unique opportunity to simulate the functioning of the CJEU.