The European Future Challenge is organised in cooperation with the European Law Students Association (ELSA). If you are a law student or young professional in one of the following countries, you are invited to participate: Austria, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia.

The essay competition focuses on issues of sustainability and "Green Innovation" in European law. For our 2023 essay competition, please choose one of the following topics. Participants are also free to submit / summarise academic work they have already written on
these topics.

Our following sub-questions on the topics are only intended as guidance. Feel free to cover all, concentrate on some or add new ones. We are interested, in particular, in your critical view and innovative ideas of what could also be considered by lawmakers in the future.

• Environmental Social Governance – ESG: What are the latest regulatory initiatives on environmental social governance at the EU level? Which ESG related regulations have already been implemented? What challenges do such regulations bring? Will the addressees (companies) be able to implement them? Has your country already implemented similar legislation at the national level? And, most importantly, what is your (critical) view of this topic – what additional innovative ideas should be considered in the future?
   
• Competition Law and Sustainability: Against the backdrop of the European Green Deal, the European Commission has signalled its intention to make competition law more sustainable: Is there a potential conflict between the sustainability goals and the protection of competition? How is competition law enforced in cases that raise sustainability issues and how have competition authorities in the EU (especially in your jurisdiction) considered them within the existing analytical framework? Is your national competition authority / lawmaker trailblazing its own sustainability agendas (see the current draft horizontal guidelines of the European Commission on sustainability versus national initiatives, such as the amendment to the Austrian Cartel Act and the Sustainability Guidelines of the Austrian Federal Competition Authority; the Sustainability Guidelines of the Dutch Competition Authority and case law in Germany)? What instruments exist and could be used by your competition authority or other public bodies to take sustainability concerns into account? And, most importantly, what is your (critical) view of this topic – what additional innovative ideas should be considered in the future?

Please send your essay to golegal(at)cerhahempel.com by 15 May 2023.

You can find the conditions of participation and the detailed formatting specifications here.

Prizes will be awarded for the best essay in each participating country (National Award) and for the overall winner selected from all essays submitted (International Award).

National Award Winner

Each national winner will be awarded a prize of EUR 500.

Each National Award Winner is invited to the award ceremony, which will take place in Vienna and will be offered the opportunity to apply for an internship at a CERHA HEMPEL Office.

International Award Winner

The international winner will be awarded a prize of EUR 1,000 in total.

The International Award Winner is invited to the award ceremony in Vienna. In addition, the International Award Winner will be offered the opportunity to apply for an internship at a CERHA HEMPEL office. The location of the internship can be chosen by the winner.

Each participant will receive a certificate of attendance.

If you have any questions, please contact katharina.dvorak(at)cerhahempel.com or
academicactivities(at)at.elsa.org.