Greetings from our scholars

As face-to-face training returned after the Covid-19 pandemic, especially for intensive training programmes such as ERA’s summer courses, it was important to ensure that all practitioners – regardless of their economic background – continued to have the opportunity to participate in high-quality training in European law.

The ongoing war in Ukraine and the growing strategic importance of the Western Balkan States acceding to the European Union were additional factors making it all the more important that ERA has the tool of the scholarship programme to overcome financial barriers to participation in its programmes.

ERA received a total of 125 scholarship applications in 2023. Following a careful selection process, the Academy awarded a total of 26 scholarships to legal practitioners from Serbia (8), Ukraine (4), Bosnia & Herzegovina (2), Montenegro (2), Northern Macedonia (2), Albania (1), Kosovo (1), Moldova (1), Turkey (1) and other countries (4).

The grants awarded amounted to a total of €32,279, with the average value of each scholarship being roughly €1,240.

Acknowledgements

ERA would like to express its sincere thanks to the donors who made the scholarship programme possible in 2023:

Members of the Friends of ERA Association

Individual donors

Nina Niejahr

Iris Kieft

Vanessa Knapp OBE

Eftychios Nikopoulos

Neža Kogovšek Šalamon

Patrick Bourgeois

Jan Passer

Emmanuelle Legrand

Damir Kahvedžić

Maciej Koziarski

Chandra Gracias

Luuk Esser

Ursula Schmudermayer

Joske Berens

Horatius Dumbrava

Pierre-Dominique Schupp

Jens-Olrik Murach

Judith Bayer

Elisabeth Noble

Tihamér Tóth

Christian Schröder

José Manuel Ribeiro de Almeida

Annette Kur

Kristof Van Quathem

Dieter Pscheidl

Peter Vajda

Sreten Milovanović

Lawyer, Belgrade, Serbia
Summer Course on European Intellectual Property Law

Scholar Report

1

What is your current occupation and country of work?

I am a lawyer from Serbia training to be a judge or prosecutor.

2

How do you use European law in your work?

The Serbian legal system is increasingly aligning with the EU system. Although we are not yet a member of the EU, in our daily work we can apply the acquired EU law that is not in conflict with domestic law, which I do, and all with the aim of improving regular business obligations and efficiency.

3

How have you benefited from the scholarship?

The scholarship allowed me to expand my knowledge that I could not have afforded on my own. It allowed me to meet wonderful smart new colleagues whose professional perspectives in this field of intellectual property made me aware of new methods to overcome legal dilemmas and obstacles.