ESCB Legal Conference 2024

Welcome address and opening of the Conference

Chiara Zilioli, Director General Legal Services, European Central Bank

Panel 1
AI and the management of legal risk: a transformative impact on the legal practice?

As AI technology evolves, its impact on the legal profession grows more significant and complex. This panel will explore how AI is shaping the future of legal practice, focusing on in-house legal services. Beyond the well-discussed topics of AI regulation and its applications in law firms, we aim to delve into deeper questions. With the advent of generative AI, lawyers face new challenges and opportunities. Our discussion will cover the ethical and responsible use of AI, recognizing its limitations in legal contexts, and identifying the skills and competencies future lawyers will need. We will also address strategies for training and supervising legal professionals to integrate AI effectively and discuss the specific challenges of AI regulation, especially in Europe.

Session chair: Antonio Riso, European Central Bank

Panellists:

• Bart Verheij, University of Groningen
• Felicity Bells, University of New South Wales
• Sandra Watchers, Oxford University

 Discussion with questions from the audience

Coffee break

Panel 2
Non-contractual liability of the ECB: comprehensive overview

The ECB, like any Union institution, must provide compensation for damages caused by it or by its servants in the performance of their duties. Whilst the idea of a central bank causing damages to individuals seemed relatively remote for decades, the increasing role of central banks, coupled with the substantial losses experienced by stakeholders (depositors, bondholders, shareholders) during past financial crises, proved this earlier pattern to be incorrect. The aim of the panel is to provide a comprehensive overview of the legal and practical issues relating to the non-contractual liability of the ECB. The panel will cover first the basic tenets of ECB non-contractual liability. It will then assess more particularly the reference made in Article 340 TFEU to the general principles common to the laws of the Member States and their role in assessing the ECB’s non-contractual liability. Finally, the panel will cover the recent case-law regarding non-legal conduct of the ECB which expands, in theory, the grounds for the establishment of the ECB’s non-contractual liability.

Session chair: György Várhelyi, European Central Bank

Panellists:

• Marta Szablewska, European Central Bank
• Olga Stavropoulou, Bank of Greece
• Hans-Georg Kamann, WilmerHale

Discussion with questions from the audience 

Lunch break

Panel 3
Talking about cash when the euro turns 25: rediscovering the legal tender status of euro banknotes and coins and their continued role in society

The Judgment of the Court of Justice of the EU in the Hessischer Rundfunk Case and the Commission’s proposal for a regulation on the legal tender of euro banknotes and coins have brought about a revitalisation of the notion of legal tender of euro cash. The panel will assess the mandatory acceptance of cash as the key element of the concept of legal tender and cash access as a precondition for the effectiveness of the legal tender status of cash. It will also analyse the role of exclusivity in the context of legal tender, by addressing the extent to which legal tender rules, adopted under Article 133 of the TFEU, can affect national (contract) law. Furthermore, the panel will consider to what extent national law can restrict or strengthen the use of banknotes and coins as a means of payment. The panel will finally focus on the thought-provoking question of whether citizens have a right to cash in the euro area.

Session chair: Frederik Malfrère, European Central Bank

Panellists:

• Mireia Estrada, European Central Bank
• Andrea Westerhof, Council of the European Union
• Jeffrey Dirix, Nationale Bank van België/Banque Nationale de

  Belgique

• Julio Baquero Cruz, European Commission

Discussion with questions from the audience 

Coffee break

Panel 4
Fundamental right(s) to access to documents – similar tools for different purposes

The right to access documents is enshrined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights under two fundamental rights, notably the right of public access to documents (Art. 42 Charter) and the right of access to the file (Art. 41(2)(b) Charter). It will appear from the analysis of the panel that, while both fundamental rights seem to be similar tools since they enable the access to documents held by the administration, the right of public access and the right of access to the file have fundamentally different purposes, which translate into relevant distinctions in the legal regimes governing these two rights.

Session chair: Emilie Yoo, European Central Bank

Panellists:

• David Baez Seara, European Central Bank
• Asen Lefterov, European Central Bank
• Laurent Forestier, Single Resolution Board

Discussion with questions from the audience

End of day 1

Keynote speech

Chair: Frank Elderson, Member of the Executive Board, European Central Bank

Panel 5
The new EU anti-money laundering framework, its impact on the banking sector and its relevance for central banks

The importance of tackling money laundering and terrorist financing has been steadily growing in recent years and it is expected to continue. The new AML/CTF framework in the EU is expected to bring about significant changes, including AMLA being set-up in Frankfurt. The panel will introduce and assess this new framework and its impact on the banking sector. The challenges of commercial banks face when complying with the new framework will be reviewed. It will be also assessed how different activities of central banks – both on the traditional central banking or on the supervisory side – are impacted by the AML/CTF rules. Finally, the panel will try to put forward some suggestions to further develop the framework.

Session chair: Otto Heinz, European Central Bank

Panellists:

• John Edward Conway, Banco Santander
• Carla Costa, Banco de Portugal
• Pavel Sykora, European Central Bank
• Claude Bocqueraz, European Commission

Discussion with questions from the audience

Coffee break

Panel 6
The principle of equal authenticity: interpretation of Union legislation in cases of linguistic divergence

The principle of equal authenticity is a mainstay of the law-making process in the unique multilingual environment of the Union which involves different institutions with different internal language regimes. According to the principle, all language versions of a Union legal act of general application convey the same meaning and are of equal legal force. It has its foundations in Union law and is considered by the Court of Justice of the European Union in its interpretation of Union legislation.

Session chair: Metoda Paternost Bajec, European Central Bank

Panellists:

• C.J.W. Baaij, Utrecht University
• Nikolaos Sortikos, Court of Justice of the European Union
• Petra Uroda Svoboda, European Central Bank

Discussion with questions from the audience

Concluding remarks 

Chiara Zilioli, Director General Legal Services, European Central Bank

End of conference