On 23 January 2026, members of the Presidium and the Business Strategy Committee of ERA’s Board of Trustees met with the ERA management in Brussels for their annual joint meeting.
Chaired by Marc van der Woude, President of the General Court of the European Union, the Board of Trustees advises ERA’s Management Board on strategic matters, drawing on its members’ extensive experience spanning European institutions, academia, legal practice, and business.
This first meeting of the year provided an important opportunity to review ERA’s activities in 2025, including participant engagement and programme developments, and to set the course for 2026 and the coming years. Discussions focused on the implementation of the legal training programme for 2026, participant trends, and an assessment of ERA’s newly relaunched website. Members also examined opportunities to enhance cooperation with universities and ways to strengthen partnerships with the private sector.
One highlight of the meeting was a joint SWOT analysis, comparing ERA’s internal perspective with that of the Board members. This instructive exercise provided a valuable starting point for shaping ERA’s next Development Strategy, to be adopted at the end of 2027.
The meeting underlined how the openness and diversity of expertise within ERA’s Board of Trustees continue to strengthen its ability to anticipate and respond to the needs and expectations of Europe’s legal professionals towards European law training.
ERA warmly thanks the members of the Presidium and the Business Strategy Committee, Adriana de Buerba, Christopher P. Buttigieg, Jettie van Caenegem, Iris Goldner Lang, Vanessa Knapp, Jean-Philippe Lhernould, Octavia Spineanu-Matei, Ramona Strugariu, Michael Jürgen Werner and Marc van der Woude for their engagement, expertise, and continued commitment to ensuring the relevance of ERA’s training for the legal professions.
