30 Years of the EEA and EFTA Court: A Report from 2024 Scholar Tiyash Banerjee
Tiyash Banerjee reflects on their rewarding experience in Luxembourg as the 2024 recipient of the EFTA Court Scholarship.
The EFTA Court is a small but collegiate organisation. My colleagues were warm and generous and worked hard to make trainees feel included… I loved my time at the EFTA Court and would strongly recommend the EFTA Court Scholarship to anyone with an interest in EU/EEA law, with the added note that it’s incredibly good fun.
Tiyash Banerjee, EFTA Scholar
The EFTA Court has jurisdiction with regard to EFTA States which are parties to the EEA Agreement (at present, Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway), and 2024 marked 30 years of the EEA Agreement and the EFTA Court.
Luckily for me, my first two weeks coincided with the celebrations of these anniversaries. On my second day at the EFTA Court, I attended an EEA Seminar in Brussels, celebrating 30 years of the EEA. A week later, I participated in ‘The EFTA Court at 30’ anniversary conference. These provided me with a strong foundation in EEA law and a genuine understanding of the importance of both the EEA Agreement and the EFTA Court.
As a Trainee in the Chambers of Judge Bernd Hammermann, the Judge nominated in respect of Liechtenstein, I assisted his cabinet for three months on cases ranging from access to evidence in trade secrets cases to the environmental impact of mining permits on Norwegian fjords. I was able to work on cases throughout the litigation process, contributing to preliminary reports, press releases, and draft judgments. The Liechtenstein Cabinet, and the EFTA Court as a whole, is enriched by the different legal traditions everyone comes from. I found it particularly interesting to see behind the curtain of a court without dissenting judgments, and to learn how unanimous judgments are reached.
The people of the EFTA Court made my time in Luxembourg. The EFTA Court is a small but collegiate organisation. My colleagues were warm and generous and worked hard to make trainees feel included. I am incredibly grateful for this. My fellow trainees from Iceland, Norway and Germany were an indispensable part of my traineeship, and we have already made plans to meet again in our respective countries.
Luxembourg is a beautiful place, and was stunning in Autumn and the run-up to Christmas. The already fairytale-like qualities of the Grand Duchy were amped up by the immense foliage and charming Christmas markets. Luxembourg is wonderfully multicultural and multilingual, and future trainees should be prepared for the “language roulette” of life in Luxembourg switching between English, French, German, and Luxembourgish. Following the advice of past scholars, I said “yes” to everything in my short three months in Luxembourg, which included wine festivals in Schengen, trips to the beautiful Vianden Castle, and so much cheese.
I loved my time at the EFTA Court and would strongly recommend the EFTA Court Scholarship to anyone with an interest in EU/EEA law, with the added note that it’s incredibly good fun
The EFTA Court scholarship is open to members of all four Inns of Court. Applications for 2025 are open until 31 March 2025 at 10:00. Find out more about eligibility and apply via our International Scholarships page.