--- title: "ELI President Teresa Rodríguez de las Heras Ballell presents update on Presidency strategy Online; EU Commission contract to draft AI contracting materials" sdDatePublished: "2026-07-31T18:01:00Z" source: "https://europeanlawinstitute.eu/fileadmin/user_upload/p_eli/Documents/Minutes/Minutes_of_the_Council_Meeting_of_20_July_2026.pdf" topics: - name: "study of law" identifier: "medtop:20000749" locations: - "Île-de-France" - "Ukraine" - "Spain" - "Portugal" - "Croatia" - "Romania" - "United Kingdom" - "Denmark" --- ELI President Teresa Rodríguez de las Heras Ballell presents update on Presidency strategy Online; EU Commission contract to draft AI contracting materials 1 Draft Minutes of the ELI Council Meeting 20 July 2026 Venue: Online Present: Chair: Teresa Rodríguez de las Heras Ballell (ELI President) Council Members Anagnostopoulou, Despoina Augenhofer, Susanne (left at 16:52) Bachmaier Winter, Lorena (left at 16:56) Başoğlu, Başak Beale, Hugh (proxy for Susanne Augenhofer from 16:56) Bielska-Sobkowicz, Teresa Calderai, Valentina (left at 17:06) Cockerill, Sara (left at 17:18) Craig QC (Hon), Paul Georgieva, Hristina Giacalone, Marco Gimeno-Ribes, Miguel (proxy for Andrey Shirvindt) Grasso, Gianluca Janssen, André (proxy for Michel Cannarsa) Jiménez-Muñoz, Francisco Javier Koch, Bernhard A (proxy for Piotr Machnikowski) Lehmann, Matthias (proxy for Xandra Kramer) Mader, Oliver Maugeri, Maria Rosaria (left at 16:58) Mazepa, Svitlana (proxy for Anna Skrjabina) McCue McGuire, Mary-Rose McGowan, Jonathan Neumayr, Matthias (proxy for Jens Scherpe) Poillot Peruzzetto, Sylvaine Poncibò, Cristina Pozzo, Barbara Pretelli, Ilaria (proxy for Georges Cavalier) Ruda, Albert (proxy for Teresa Touriñán Morandeira) Safta, Marieta Santos Silva, Marta Schroeter, Ulrich G Storme, Matthias Toader, Camelia Tot, Ivan Valle, Laura (joined 30 mins later) Wiewiorowska-Domagalska, Aneta (left at 17:51) Zalar, Aleš 2 Ex-Officio Council Members Rodríguez de las Heras Ballell, Teresa (President) Vos, Sir Geoffrey (First Vice-President) Gammeljord, Anne Birgitte (Treasurer) Taus, Mihai (President, European Land Registry Association (ELRA)) Other Attendees Wendehorst, Christiane (ELI Scientific Director) Zalar, Boštjan Nadakavukaren, Krista Sorabji, John Reiling, Dory Cheema-Grubb, Bobbie Members of the ELI Secretariat Wilcox, Vanessa (Secretary General) Dolot, Regina Dudek, Tomasz (minute keeper) Rebulet, Margot 3 The meeting commenced at 15:05 CEST. I. Welcome and Approval of the Agenda (1) ELI President, Teresa Rodríguez de las Heras Ballell, welcomed the Council. She expressed her appreciation for the close cooperation within the Executive Committee and emphasised that the progress achieved during the first year of the Presidency reflected a collective effort. She noted that ELI was now halfway through the first year of the new Presidency and highlighted the significant growth in the Institute’s activities, including an increasing number of projects, broader substantive engagement and greater international influence. She praised the Secretariat for its exceptional work in supporting this expansion while maintaining a high professional standard. (2) The agenda was approved. II. Report from ELI President (3) Teresa Rodríguez de las Heras Ballell presented an update on the implementation of the Presidency's strategy, emphasising that ELI was entering a decisive phase in its development. She explained that the Institute's 15th anniversary marked not only a significant milestone but also the beginning of a new strategic direction. Progress was reported under the three principal strategic pillars: financial autonomy through intellectual leadership, operational stability and international impact. (4) Under the first pillar, the President reported that ELI had submitted five new grant applications, with three additional applications in preparation. She further reported positively on discussions with the University of Vienna concerning the renewal of the framework partnership agreement for the period 2027–2030, noting that preparations for its renewal were already under way. (5) Turning to operational stability, the President explained that ELI's continued growth required strengthened institutional procedures and methodologies. She reported that the newly introduced needs and impact assessment methodology had already been applied and that two High Level Expert Groups had completed their work to identify future project priorities. She also referred to the structured dialogue established with the European Commission. 4 (6) Regarding international impact, the President highlighted the strengthening of ELI's international partnerships and representational activities. Approximately 55 high-level meetings had been held with international organisations, and six anniversary events had already taken place across Europe (Portugal, Denmark, United Kingdom, Croatia, Spain and Romania) under the ‘ELI in the World’ initiative. She expressed her appreciation to the organisers and national Hubs for the success of these events, which had significantly enhanced ELI’s visibility. (7) The President informed the Council of two significant new collaborations with European institutions. First, ELI had been appointed by the European Commission to prepare draft materials for the Commission's Expert Group on AI Contracting under a paid contract. This work would complement ELI's parallel cooperation with the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) on Model Contractual Terms relating to AI contracting, demonstrating ELI's growing role as a recognised expert body in this field. (8) Secondly, the President announced a strategic cooperation on AI liability. (9) The President further reported on ELI's recent outputs, including the adoption of two sets of Model Rules, a Supplement concerning the Product Liability Directive and a response to a European Commission consultation. She also highlighted ongoing dissemination activities and the establishment of the Forum on Legal Resilience and Justice as an important platform for dialogue on the rule of law and legal resilience. (10) The Council was also informed that ELI had recently obtained observer status in the Steering Committee for Human Rights of the Council of Europe (CDDH) and had submitted further applications for observer status with additional international organisations, including the World Bank and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). (11) Finally, the President provided an overview of preparations for the 2026 Annual Conference in Paris, held under the High Patronage of the President of the French Republic. She thanked the French organisers, and in particular ELI Executive Committee member, Sylvaine Poillot Peruzzetto, for their work and invited all Council members to attend, noting the exceptional programme of speakers and institutional partners participating in the conference. 5 (12) During the discussion, Marta Santos Silva asked whether the ELI Innovation Paper had been included among the reported outputs in the PowerPoint presentation. The President confirmed that it had already been approved in 2025 and that the report only focuses on matters approved since the last Council meeting in Mach 2026. However, the dissemination activities, including a webinar on the Innovation Paper that took place on 1 July 2026, was reflected numerically in the slides [The President’s Report refers to the Innovation Paper in the context of the related dissemination event]. She thanked Marta Santos Silva for her work on the Innovation Paper. (13) Oliver Mader welcomed the introduction of the needs and impact assessment methodology, observing that it would strengthen ELI's ability to demonstrate the practical impact of its work and thereby improve future funding opportunities. He also suggested exploring the possibility of obtaining Pillar Assessment under the European Union's financial framework to facilitate access to future grants. III. Treasurer (14) Anne Birgitte Gammeljord presented the Treasurer’s report. She informed the Council that all payments relating to the 2024 European Commission operating grant had now been received. The remaining balance under the 2025 grant was expected to be paid once the external audit had been finalised. (15) Referring to the draft financial statements, the Treasurer explained that the final accounts would be presented for approval at the Council meeting in September 2026. She noted that the deficit approved for 2025 had not, for the most part, materialised. (16) The Treasurer also drew attention to the significant level of outstanding membership fees. She explained that this represented not only a financial concern but also a governance issue, as members with substantial fee arrears continued to enjoy voting rights. She informed the Council that the Membership Committee Chair would subsequently present proposals aimed at addressing this issue. (17) Finally, the Treasurer recommended the reappointment of ELI's existing external auditors for the 2026–2028 accounts, with annual contracts to be concluded in accordance with the established practice. She noted that the auditors had provided valuable assistance during recent years and considered continuity preferable at the present stage. 6 (18) The Council approved the reappointment of Mag Wolfgang Eder and Mag Franz Schweiger as ELI’s auditors for the 2026–2028 accounts, with annual contracts to be concluded in accordance with the existing practice (45 votes in favour, 0 against, and 1 abstention). IV. Membership Committee (19) Co-Chair of the Membership Committee, Matthias Lehmann, presented the Committee's Report. He explained that, unlike the Committee's regular reports on new membership applications, the present report focused on the number of members with outstanding membership fees. Despite repeated reminders and efforts by both the Secretariat and members of the Committee/Council to contact those concerned, a substantial number of individual and institutional members remained in arrears. (20) The Membership Committee therefore proposed that members with outstanding fees receive a final reminder informing them that, should payment not be made, their membership would be terminated sometime after the 2026 Annual Conference. The proposal aimed primarily to encourage payment while preserving membership wherever possible. (21) The discussion ensued, following which, the Council decided that a further reminder should be sent after the Annual Conference to members with outstanding fees from 2025 and earlier before termination procedures were initiated. Members who had joined ELI during 2026 and had not yet paid their first membership fee would be excluded from the procedure (29 votes in favour, 6 against, and 4 abstentions) V. Projects and Similar Activities (a) Digitalisation of Civil Justice Systems in Europe (22) The President introduced the proposed ELI Principles on the Digitalisation of Civil Justice Systems in Europe and welcomed Project Co-Reporters, Dory Reiling and John Sorabji, to the meeting. She noted that the project had undergone several rounds of consultation and revision and thanked the Reporters, Assessors and Project Team for their work. (23) On behalf of the Reporters, John Sorabji recalled that the draft had been provisionally endorsed by the Council in March 2026, subject to the assessors’ comments and a number 7 of drafting revisions. Since then, the Principles had been shortened and refined, and comments received from Council members and assessors had been carefully considered. He thanked all those who had contributed to improving the text and invited the Council to consider the revised draft for final approval. (24) The assessors expressed broad support for the revised Principles and commended the Reporters for addressing the comments made during previous Council meetings. They agreed that the project provided a balanced and practical framework for the digitalisation of civil justice systems and would serve as valuable guidance, particularly for national legislators and policymakers. (25) Particular attention was given to the provisions concerning the use of AI in civil justice. The asse