Hello everyone and happy new year !
Does anyone have any experience or opinion about the Master en Droit Economique Européen ?? I have read the website from the university so many times and it really does look good !!

I am expecifically interested in the second year specialisation in Contentieux Européen, do you know if it´s easier to get into applying and completing before the first common year in Droit Europeen or directly applying to the specialisation ? Taking on account i´m on my last year of Law and my grades are not a big thing but i speak fluently spanish, english and french

Any opinion, advise or experience will be very very welcomed ! Thank you so much !

Hello Paika,

As a student of the Master 2 European Litigation of the University of Luxembourg, I think that I can provide you some good information about the Master in European Litigation from the Uni of Luxembourg.

At first, you must know that a real link exists between the first and the second year of the Master degree, although it is true that the first year must be considered as a "general one" ; indeed, in my opinion, a major part of the first year program is to permit students to obtain a certain level of notions in terms of EU-law for then beeing able to go further in the various areas of the European legal system.

But, as I told you, a true link exists between the two years because some of the courses are imposed to some students i.e. those students that have chosen the specialization in European Litigation (as an example). And, as matter of fact, those courses given at the first year will without any doubt facilitate your learning during the second year.

Then, to answer properly your question, my advise will be to do your application for the first year by already mentioning your willing to be enroll on the specialization Contentieux européen (and to do this either in english and in french).

If you have some doubts about your grades, I can only suggest you to try to find out a law teacher that can support your application by writing down a "recommendation letter".

Finally, just to inform you on few interesting elements that I experienced during the second year :

- It is true that the program offers not only a true proximity between students and judges of the Court of Justice of the European Union (notably during the courses) but also a tremendous chance of accomplishing an internship within the CJEU ! ;

- You'll have the chance to take advantage of the CJEU's library as well as the possibility to assist to some audience of the Court of justice and the General Court ;

- Another crucial point : the enrollment into the Master degree only costs approximately 200 p/semesters) ;

- ...

Do not hesitate to ask me any question because nothing its better than a true dialogue among students in order to help each others to decide our future studies, since the reality of a website may seem "outdated" compared to the actual practice of a university program.

See you soon then.

Hello !

Thanks for answering !!! I will take on account all your advices, and without no doubt apply for this program. I only have a couple of questions more:

- How difficult is it to enter directly to the Master 2 Contentieux Européen ? Do you know what kind of previous courses or degrees do they ask for for entering this Master 2 directly ?

- Is there any chance to turn the 2 months stages into a more long-during stage, or a indefinined job ? Is it tough to find a job after finishing the Master en Contentieux Europeen ?

-Do you know of any other master similar to this one ?

Thank you !!

You're welcome Paika :)

So, as regards to the others questions :

I do think that a background in law studies is of course a prerequisite to enter in such a Master, notably, if you try to directly enter into the second year of the Master program.
Then, one of the major point that can make the difference in the success of your application will be, without any surprise, your grades and if they are good enough your application will be certainly accepted.
But, due to the fact that youll attempt to enter directly the second year, it seems for me crucial that youve done some EU-law courses in the past or at least some courses in international law.

(More precisely on your grades, in my point of view, an average over 12 on 20 its a sufficient mark to somewhat escape from entering in concurrency with other students coming from abroad) ... but what I'm talking here its only personal feelings ok ... Therefore, I can only suggest you to go ahead and at least try if you're interested in !)

On the question about the 2 months stage, I shall say that the 2 months its only a minimum delay required by the University in order to validate your degree. Consequently, its up to you and your future employer to extend or not the stage period (a colleague of mine has, as an example, received the possibility of doing a stage of 6 months at the Court of Justice of the EU). The only point that I would like to draw your attention and to make it clear to you is that you must have concluded your stage (and I mean by that your 2 months) before the middle of September 2013 because after that date youll no more be considered as a student (unless youre accepted in another LLM :) ). AND dont worry the University will help you to find out a stage and after January you will only have a thesis to do which lets you a lot of time to prepare your application/stage.

Finally, for your last 2 questions,

I might say that, in the first place, you must bear in mind that the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg is home to a recognised European and international financial centre and many key industrial firms are present on its labor market. Plus, without going into much details on its geographical location (positioned at the crossroad between France, Germany and Belgium), the country also stands out for its international dimension where approximately 40% of the population and 65% of the work force are foreign born... Therefore many possibilites are open to you, to quote just a few : National & International law firms (Allen & Overy, Linklaters, Arendt & Modernach,...), Banks (BNP Paribas, BIL, ING,...), European Institutions (CJEU, Commission, Parliament), or even the so-called "CCDL" which provides for complementary courses in Luxembourgish law (a necessary step for those who one day aspire to become lawyer in luxembourg), ... BUT it still quite difficult for me to tell you precisely if it is difficult or not to find a job. At least, as you can read, there are several opportunities to apply for !

And then, secondly, of course theres some others places that are very well recommended like the College of Europe (in Bruges Belgium), but as I already told you the proximity between students and the judges of the CJEU is unique and no university is able to provide a similar program in Europe ; and, of course, theres not so many expert in the world that understands better European law than the judges of the Court of Justice themselves plus, you truly feel privileged that they find some of their time to come and give their Seminars (indeed, the campus of the Faculty and the CJEU are very close from one another).

See you, bye.

tambien sois Españoles, verdad?

Hi Paika,

Just to inform you, I've just modified a little bit my last post (notably on your question if it is tough or not to find a job after the Master degree ok)...

... And how is it working with your study researches ? If you have further questions...you know :)

bye

Good afternoon "UniLuxLitigation",

Sorry for insisting on the same issues again, but before applying for the Master in EU Litigation, I would like to to have my queries clarified..

- Could you tell me please, which are the EXACT SUBJECTS taught during the Master in EU Litigation and its LANGUAGE of instruction AS EXACTLY SET IN THE TRANSCRIPT? (the description of this is a bit confusing on the UniLux Website).

- Finally, do you really know if the final Transcript of records you will receive, - Will it indicate just the general title of the course or also the specific seminars or classes taught in it?
(i:e Just "Cours II:Protection of Fundamental Rights and General principles of Law in the implementation of EU Law" or it (the transcript) also includes the sub-courses such as "General principles of EU Law and Fundamental rights and freedoms 10 hours + Introduction to substantive rights, 10 hours, + European Administrative Law 10 hours." ?

Thank you again for your help and advice! ::-)^^

Hi uniluxlitigation,

You have no idea of how helpful it is to have an opinion from somebody who is al ready doing this master ! You just cleared all my doubts, thanks for taking the time to answer my questions. I am graduating this year on Law and as i have taken classes of european general law, eu institutions, eu freedoms and a couple of more eu specialized classes, i think i will apply as you suggested directly to the 2nd year of the master and if im not lucky i hope to at least get admitted into the first year of the master.

Just one more question, as my mother languages are not english nor french, do you know what language level do they ask for to get in ? I got Cambridge's First Certificate 8 years ago, im taking the TOEFL test next month (i expect to get about 100 points, which is about the C1 level), and i will be taking the french DELF B2 exam on june.

Thank you so much !

Eno27, Soi italiana !

Hi Edward,

Dont worry about insisting on some issues that might be similar, I prefer that you ask again rather than remain with some doubts ok.

So, regarding the exact subjects taught during the semesters (which is a huge question ^^), Ill try to make it as simple as possible:

At first, you must know that the program is always improving itself and what we have had this year might slightly be changed in the years ahead (notably in terms of organization). As an example, the Seminar courses given by the judges (of the CJEU) of this year (2012-2013) were all done in November, while, last year (2011-2012), all Seminars were provided after January But don't misunderstand me, I'm not telling you that the program is changing each year, it's just to let you know that the University really takes care of the appreciation of its students and evaluates if there's a need or not to improve its program. For instance, according to my experience this year, I admit that the month of November was a very tough one - with lot of courses to follow - nevertheless, I dont blame the Faculty because one of the reasons why the University has modified its planning was to avoid the possibility of overlaps between Seminars and students internship*. (Which is a tricky decision, don't you think?).

(*A minimum 2-month long internship, during the summer semester, required to validate our Master degree).

(I suppose that you already uploaded the Programme of this year at the University website (uni.lu). If not you can do so by going to this page : http://wwwen.uni.lu/studies/fdef/master_en_droit_economique_europeen_ll_m_academique/second_year_contentieux_europeen
Then click on the left side of the page (under the section Second year Contentieux Européen : Programme). Once you have the Programme link opened, youll find 4 big sections (Course I, II, III and IV) with many courses in it and the teachers name for each one of them).

So now, more precisely on those courses :

In terms of teaching language, it is something very easy to find out as it all depends on the course Title, i.e. if it is written in French then the course will be given in French, and so on

However, it is not rare that some teachers/judges ask the class if they want the lecture to be taught in French or English And, at least, for the introductive courses of Droit Européen : Méthode et Fondements, I must say that there are high chances that Mr. Morini will give its lectures in English (unlike its colleagues Mrs. Kaprilian and Mrs. Micheau)

The same holds true for Course III : Judicial review of the legality of acts (with Mr. Bohler) it is given in French ; but I assume that they let the Title in English because the two other courses given in this section (Course III) are taught in the language of Shakespeare ^^ and it is easier to study everything in English for the 5 hours case study exam (but its up to every student to translate and prepare himself in French/English for the latter two courses as the exam is given in both languages and the language choice is optional).

(The only exam which has an imposed language is in Course IV : a case comment to be done not only in English but within 48h after Mr. Meij sends you the case in the middle of December).

Then, with respect to the exact subjects taught, all courses that are mentioned in this Programme are provided during the Master degree. The only exception is to be found when you do a so-called Moot Court, thereby youll be evaluated on your Moot Courts performance and, consequently, youll be exempted of doing the exam of Course IV ; but your presence at the Seminars still obligatory.

Finally, knowing that each of the Courses (I, II, III, IV) must be understood as modules, the final transcript of records will only mention that you succeeded in Course II (with its Title) but, of course, youll never miss the opportunity to go into details and say that youve studied not only EUs General Principles, Fundamental Rights, Fundamental Freedoms, but also EU Administrative Law (and its delegations of power which involve EU Institutions (notably Comitology), Member States, EU agencies, Private parties and even some Private International Law), and all the CJEU jurisprudence related on this subject which is a major part of the course as well as, more generally speaking, all the Master program.

Do not hesitate to ask me again and to go into detail if you think it is necessary ok ;)

Bye bye.

Ciao Italia :),

Hopefully, youll be directly admitted into the second year of the Master. Plus, youve done many courses related to EU studies which cover a major part of the first year program in Luxembourg ; which I told you has the main objective to balance or rebalance the level of all students in European Law.

So, for your next question, as a former Belgian student (in school) Ive never made tests such as the DELF nor the TOEFL, but I assume that your application will be undoubtedly better seen with the success of these two tests. To reassure you, I was accepted into the first year of the Master program without the TOEFL, but before it, Ive compensated this lack of qualification (if I can say so) by making some English courses in England and then, as I already advised you, Ive made my application both in French and in English (mentioning my efforts to improve my English during the summer at that time ^^).

For information, I know that the University offers the opportunity of doing, during the winter and the summer semesters, not only English and French but also German and even Chinese language courses (if not others). And, of course, you can use it as an argument into your application (that youll pursue your learning via those lessons) OR, at least, by your own free will, you can enroll and improve yourself during those same courses. Personally, I see it as a good experience because the University has create it only for students of the Faculty, plus, the lectures are all oriented into a legal vocabulary ...And many other benefits can be found like the fact that you will surely meet new students coming from all the LLM provided by the uni, theres little chance of overlaps between those courses and your Master degree lectures, and, last but not least, prices are very cheap : just 25 p/semester.

Bye bye, see you :)

Thank you!
as indicated on the description of the programme and as you also said, the Cours IV requires a comment written in English. However, the title of such course is taught in French "Le contentieux dans les domaines specifiques". So, it is a bit confusing....

you know if it also possible to write the thesis (memoire) also in English language?

Hi Eno27,

For information, several of your questions (and, of course, other issues) are discussed during the first lecture of the program which is a general introduction to the specialization of the second year of the Master, where everything is supposed to be clarified to the students. Furthermore, from my point of view, I find it great to have the possibility to already know in details, month after month, what are the deadlines* to come and, obviously, it allow you to prepare yourself As a matter of consequence, all along the year, youll never be surprised by some written cases (December), exams (January), thesis (March-April), or even, internship (+- May but it depends on your employer) to be done in order to succeed your Master degree The whole process being set up from the very beginning of the program.

In terms of mémoire, you can do it in French or English (it's up to you) and youll have a supervisor to help you which can either be a teacher from the Faculty or even a judge from the CJEU (if he/she accepts it).

Bye bye

Ciao Paika & UniLuxLitigation!
Paika, io sono spagnolo ma abito in Stuttgart (Germania) da 2 anni!
Definitely, I will be applying for an EU Law Master at Luxemb University, probably next week.

I still have to think on what specific programme I would like to apply for, because both Masters in "EU Private Law" and "EU Banking and Finance Law" are very interesting and both really appeal to me a lot! (Maybe EU Banking and Finance Law is more demanding and practical in the working -life but perhaps it is too "economic and financial" and very little "legal"....). I will see....

Paika, What specific Master´s programme are you intending to apply for? Directly for the specialization in the 2nd year or for the entire programme lasting 2 years?

Ciao! Kind regards!

Good afternoon "UniLuxLitigation"
As we discussed a few weeks ago, I have already applied for a Master in EU Private Law.
However, my on-line application says nothing about the formal certification of my documentation:
- Should my diplomas and certificates be officially certified by a Notary or are simple copies sufficient?
- Should "my recommending person" use a specific template to write her/his letter of recommendation?

As "SEVE" has not given to me any concrete feedback, please let me know about the above-mentioned question and if possible, about your personal experience when you applied for your Master.

THANK YOU!
Eduardo.

Hi Eduardo,

Talking from my own expericence, I think that copies of your diploma (which includes the points that you have had) is sufficient i.e. assuming that your previous University has certified all documents proving yout success :)

Then, concerning the letter of recommendation, your "recommending person" is free to write its letter in all the ways that seems correct to him/her. The only advice I can give you is to try to have a stamped letter from that person, as, this kind of confidentiality is very well welcomed between Universities ok.

Ohh yes, I almost forget to tell you : Welcome to Luxembourg !

Thank you again!
Perhaps we may coincide in Luxembourg....who knows....!
However, I am a bit afraid about the application since it is highly competitive and my University only provides me with the EDS "European Diploma Supplement" which briefly states my subjects, marks and ECTS as kind of a transcript.

We will see... ,:-)^^.

Hi Eno,

I was once talking to my Director of studies on this very subject of "qualification" and, to somewhat reassure you, he told me that a case by case study of each applications its (obviously) done, therefore, even students coming from other areas - than proprely European Law - might have chances to be accepted in M1 / M2, if they have followed enough courses related to Law / EU law in their previous studies...

...So keep your fingers crossed ! :)

And of course, don't hesitate to tell me how things are working for you ok.

Bye bye

Hey UniLuxLitigation,
Just to inform you, that I still in Stuttgart but I applied officially for the Master in EU Law at Luxembourg University, yesterday!, so now I am looking forward to hearing from them.!

Paika, do you have intention to pursue your Master's studies at Lux University in September this year, too?

Good !

Now it's just a matter of waiting...

They might answer you in July/October ok.

Keep me informed...

Good afternoon, UniLuxLitigation
I have just informed that my application for a LLM Master in European Financial law at the Luxembourg University has NOT been accepted.
I am very astonished (and a bit sad) ´cause I meet all the requirements and my overall mark is 14/20.

Kind regards.
Eduardo.