Jourová opened her keynote speech by wishing ELI a happy anniversary and praising the Institute for its hard work and professionalism as well as its commitment to a pan-European perspective.

‘Your institution has contributed so much to fostering a genuine and vigorous European legal community. From developing the area of cross-border judicial cooperation to enhancing consumer rights, from making advancements in private international law to, more recently, bringing a light into the rolling out of artificial intelligence. These are only a few of the many topics on which you contributed to the work of the European Commission and, ultimately, to better law making.’

She then stressed the importance of diversity, shared values, and fundamental rights. Although the Digital Revolution had made outreach easier, upholding values in a largely unregulated online space had become increasingly challenging. The COVID-19 pandemic further added to this by showing society’s vulnerability to interference and disinformation.

As Europe emerges from the crisis, fundamental rights have to be restored fully. Moreover, the EU can learn from this crisis to develop a more resilient society and institutions through, among others, digitalisation and the rule of law. 

Vice-President Jourová stressed that the rule of law, in particular, is at the core of democracies and needs all levels of society to defend it. She urged everyone to work together and build the story of democracy further.

‘Defending the rule of law is not a task for a lonely sheriff – be it at EU or at national level. It is a task for all of us, be it our institutional roles or just in our daily citizen’s life.’

ELI Community wishes to sincerely thank Vice-President Jourová for her kind words and inspiring keynote speech.

The recording of the ELI Decennial Celebration is available here.