Chaired by ELI President, Teresa Rodríguez de las Heras Ballell, the panel considered how harmonisation should evolve in an increasingly fragmented and multipolar world, and how effective legal cooperation contributes to legal resilience and the rule of law.

Rodríguez de las Heras Ballell reflected on 15 years of ELI’s work and its cooperation with UNCITRAL and other international organisations. Anna Joubin-Bret, Secretary of UNCITRAL, marked six decades of the Commission’s work by addressing its achievements, impact and future challenges.

The discussion then centred on three questions: whether new methods are required for international private law and regulatory harmonisation; whether soft law represents an effective model for its future development; and how inadequate mechanisms for harmonisation affect the resilience of the rule of law.

Angelika Nussberger considered legal cooperation, comparative law and institutional resilience. ELI Vice-President Sir Geoffrey Vos brought a judicial perspective on developing and applying legal frameworks in a fragmented world, while international arbitrator Alexis Mourre addressed the practical effects of harmonised rules on international commerce, dispute resolution and legal certainty.

The anniversary discussion underlined a central element of ELI’s mission: creating spaces in which different legal traditions and institutions can work towards coherent solutions across borders.