European Union Law

The U.S. and the European Union (which comprises 27 European states and 450 million people) have the largest bilateral trade relationship in the world. Over 50% of the world's GDP is generated on the Transatlantic Marketplace. U.S. companies rely on the EU market for more than half of their global foreign profits, and U.S. investment in the EU is currently three times greater than U.S. investment in the whole of Asia. In recent years, this has tremendously heightened the need for a sound understanding of the legal system of the EU, especially for business and technology lawyers. Responding to this need, this course will, first, examine the internationally unique legal system of the EU as such, as it is applicable to any field of substantive and procedural EU law. Thus, we will look at the legal nature and the different sources of EU law and its relationship with the national law of the EU Member States, including European human rights and fundamental rights protection standards. We will cover the relevant EU law enforcement actions including state liability issues for breach of EU law as well as the jurisdiction of both European Courts and relevant remedies in national courts. Secondly, we will explore the legal framework governing business activities in the EU, from the perspective of a business entity as an internationally operating actor in a European business environment. In this context, we will focus on the most essential fields of EU business law, i.e. (a) the four fundamental economic freedoms of the European Internal Market for goods, services, capital, and persons (enterprises, workforce, immigration), including the legal and economic implications of Brexit, (b) EU competition (antitrust) law, and (c) the new digital European Internal Market and EU data protection and privacy laws. Special attention will be given to the question how companies established outside the EU can efficiently use EU business law to pursue their interests in the EU. Additional study and research opportunities for students in EU law, building on this course, can be found on the SLS EU Law Initiatives website (https://law.stanford.edu/transatlantic-technology-law-forum/european-union-law-initiatives/). Special Instructions: After the term begins, students accepted into the course can transfer, with consent of the instructor, from section (01) into section (02), which meets the R requirement. Grades for students enrolled in section (01) will be based on writing assignments. Students taking the course for R credit can take the course for either 2 or 3 units, depending on the paper length. Elements used in grading: Writing assignments or research paper.