Former Director of European Commission’s Legal Service to Deliver Pitt’s Feb. 18 Jean Monnet Lecture

The Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize to the European Union (EU) for its decades-long contributions to the advancement of peace, democracy, and human rights in Europe. During remarks delivered at the Oslo awards ceremony last December, the committee chair called for unity among the EU member states as they weather the prolonged economic instability and social unrest unleashed by Europe’s debt crisis.

University of Pittsburgh School of Law Visiting Professor Richard Wainwright will discuss the economic and political problems facing the EU and examine a possible scenario for recovery during his free public lecture, “European Crisis?,” at 5 p.m. Feb. 18 in Room 109 of Pitt’s Barco Law Building. Drawing from his more than 30 years of experience with the European Commission—where he served as director and head of competition policy and director for internal market issues in the Legal Service and on the staff of Transport Commissioner Stanley Clinton Davis—Wainwright will examine the EU countries’ record unemployment and indebtedness, their commitment to fiscal and political union, and the possible outcomes of the United Kingdom’s intentions to change its treaty ties with the EU.

A barrister by training, Wainwright earned a Bachelor of Arts degree, with honors, from Oxford University and a law degree from London’s Inns of Court School of Law. Before joining Finsbury International Policy & Regulatory Advisors as a special adviser in 2008, Wainwright drafted legislation in such diverse fields as public procurement, the environment, and the free movement of goods. He also represented the European Commission in more than 200 cases before the European Court of Justice, among them the celebrated Microsoft cases.

Wainwright’s lecture is cosponsored by the Center for International Legal Education in Pitt’s School of Law and the University’s European Union Center of Excellence and European Studies Center. The Pennsylvania Continuing Legal Education Board has approved this program for one hour of substantive credit. The cost of processing the credit is $25 per person, which is payable in advance or upon entering the program. Checks should be made payable to the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. For more information, call 412-648-7023 or email cile@pitt.edu.