STEP4CLUE

forthcoming

STEP4CLUE, conducted jointly by Expertise France and the French Ministry of Justice, pursues the objective of facilitating legal mutual cooperation in civil and commercial matters at European level and a better implementation of EU legislation. It aims at French legal professionals (judges, lawyers, notaries, bailiffs and court staff) to raise their awareness the advantages of the French European Judicial Network (EJN). To that end, and on the basis of the successes of the CLUE I, II and III projects, STEP4CLUE will renew core activities around three main lines of action: increasing the visibility of the network (monthly newsletters, EJN annual meeting), continuing the development of the territorial approach by reconducting the roadshow activities (“caravanes du droit”), and providing adequate trainings through dedicated seminars and webinars. In addition, due to the deep interest expressed by French practitioners for exchanges with their peers in neighbouring countries, two cross-borders seminars will be organised in French courts near Italy and Belgium, whose judicial authorities support the project. These seminars aim at facilitating the mutual learning and exchange of good practices. Finally, STEP4CLUE will dedicate specific activities to a new target group, namely future practitioners. Given the importance of promoting the existence and role of the EJN and its contact points as early as possible, the project plans to disseminate an online knowledge test on the EJN and EU judicial cooperation tools to sensitise this target group (within training schools). STEP4CLUE will thus strengthen the knowledge of the French EJN, the implementation of EU law, tools and mechanisms on judicial cooperation in civil and commercial matters, and facilitate the cross-border cooperation. This will save time, increase productivity and enhance legal certainty for practitioners, while creating a set of activities that can easily be replicated in other interested Member States.