Hi.

Kindly advise. How relevant is the study of EU law to an african young proffessional (me) interested and intending to pursue an LLM in Europe (preferrably) and desirous to go back to Africa after the LLM to work and live?

Thanks and BEST WISHES!

Hmm why do you want to do an LLM in European Law, when you want to do back to Africa. This only makes sense (to me), if you want to work in a law firm in Africa which has contacts to Europe.

By EU law do you mean European competition law? In my experience this only concern very big companies and big law firms. In 10 years of private practice and in-house work I have maybe come upon this kind of issues once or twice. What I am trying to say is that it is a very specialised field of law in a way. If you do not work on super big deals or at the European Commission you have little chance to practice it. However I agree that it is a super interesting subject. Professor Whish at King's College London is excellent in this field. His courses rock!

TiGGer and Koala, thanks a million for your responses.Why want to do EU (European Union) law if i intend to live and work in Africa? I am almost persuaded beyond the shadow of doubt that the world is steering towards greater cooperation and intergration. Africa too is on this course. We have for example the AU which, inspite of the fact that it is recently established (comparatively), is already registering successes. Another example is the EAC (East African Community) which is on an advanced stage of establishment.I therefore feel that Africa has so much to learn about successful inter-state cooperation and intergration. The EU, by and large, has been and is a roaring success. Don't you think Africa has lessons to learn from the EU?Friends, this is why i am very interested in studying EU law. I would be a valuable asset to Africa i suppose, with EU law kniwledge.EU Competition law. Koala, i am interested in the wider concept, EU law. EU Competition law should be within the general EU law. Right?

Thanks Koala for the university suggestion. Kindly inform me of the other leading institutions in the teaching of EU law. I am considering the European University Institute in Florence, Italy.

Thanks once again TiGGer and Koala for your responses.

The best reputation in the field is the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium. Highly selective but top of the rank!

Hi Koala. Good to hear from you again.

Thank you for the enlightenment. If you do not mind, kindly list me what in your opinion you consider to be the five (5) top universities in EU law studies in Europe. I'll be so grateful.

One other thing, what do you think/make of my reasons for studying EU law? Please feel free to be honest with me. Punch as many holes as you can... I am in need of counsel if i am to make a sound decision about post-graduate studies.

Thanks once again Koala.

To the rest of us out there, feel free to contribute to this discussion. I would also want to know your take on the issues i have put forward.

Thanks.

Hi Kabata

To be honest EU law is not my speciality.

The reason why I referred to 'EU competition law' in the first place rather than to 'EU law' is because European Union law (i.e. directives, regulations...) usually has to do with the single market and free movement of goods, people and capital. Whereas the implementation of EU Directives into the national laws of the member states can be considered indirect EU law...there is still a big corpus of law which is just specific to each State. This is not European law... To cut it short EU law is very specific to EU competition issues.

It is important for lawyers within the EU to understand how it works and the hierarchy of norms but I believe that you can be a lawyer and never come across any EU law (i.e. EU competition law) case.

I have to admit that you could not be a good commercial lawyer without knowing the basics (parallel import rules, impact of competition law on distributorship agreements...). The same is true in employment, tax...

However, even if permeating the whole European legal system I would consider EU law to be a speciality like any other (IP, tax, criminal, commercial, corporate...)...a niche in a way.

If you still would like to study and practice EU law, some schools are better than others. Rankings are always a bit of a futile exercise as it is very difficult to assess who would be first, second and so on...

However the following institutions have good reputation:
College de Bruges (Belgium)
Oxford MJur (England)
King's College London LLM (England) (Pr. Wish)

Please also take a look at the following link which you may find of use:
http://www.llm-guide.com/board/47226

I would not go as far as to say that it is useless to study EU law to go back to Africa because it is always interesting to study different things to open your mind and gain new skills. If you are doing it to become culturally acquainted with the way we build the common market in Europe...then OK. It could be interesting form a historical, economical and political point of view.

However, I would not see the relevance of doing it with the goal of practicing EU law it in Africa. In my mind that would only be relevant if you intended to practice it in Europe (Brussels for example).

But never listen to just one person. It is your life and you will have to make your choices yourself. Try to get as many people's opinions as possible on this.

I'd like to add as another University option "The Europa Institut at Saarland University (Germany)". U can choose between studying in German or English and, in addition, it is located right next to the French boarder, which means close to the major European institutions in Frankfurt, Strassbourg, Luxembourg and Brussels.
Coming from Germany, I personally have done an LLM at Nottingham Law School - Nottingham Trent University in European Law and was very very pleased with it! I am still in close contact with my dissertation supervisor, Mr John Hodgson. However, the other above mentioned Unis are any good options, too. I mean, big names...

Thank you so much Koala and TiGGer for your very helpful advise. Am now embarking on making my decision. BEST WISHES!

Many thanks.