The experts were welcomed by ELI President Pascal Pichonnaz, who expressed his hopes that the meeting will result in a new ELI project that will make a difference in Europe. The Chair of the meeting, Steen Thomsen (Professor, Copenhagen Business School) provided a brief introduction to the topic, following which ELI Scientific Director Christiane Wendehorst presented the lifecycle of ELI projects to participants.

Prior to the discussions, Valentina Superti (Director, Ecosystems II: Tourism & Proximity (GROW.G), European Commission) and Sergey Lagodinsky (Member of the European Parliament) informed participants about the recent initiatives of the European Commission and European Parliament in the field.

Eugenio Barcellona (Professor, University of Eastern Piedmont), Paul Bater (Representing the Charity Law Association; Executive Committee Member of the Charity Law Association; Wellcome Trust), Oonagh Breen (Professor, University College Dublin), Susanne Kalss (Professor, Vienna University of Economics and Business), Corrado Malberti (Representing the Council of the Notariats of the European Union (CNUE); Associate Professor of Commercial Law, University of Trento; ELI Council Member), Katarina Olsson (Professor, Lund University), Anne Sanders (Professor, University of Bielefeld), Hanna Surmatz (Representing Philea; Head of Policy, Philea) and Wino van Veen (Professor, Vrije University Amsterdam; Counsel Corporate Law, Baker McKenzie) discussed, with the Chair and ELI representatives, the scope, methodology and timeline of the prospective ELI project.

Participants were joined by Alessia Di Gregorio (Deputy Head of Unit,  Proximity, Social Economy, Creative Industries (GROW.G.2), Ecosystems II: Tourism & Proximity, European Commission), Katja Kolman (ELI Senior Project Officer), Lucia Plantamura (Legal and Policy Officer, Philea) and Valentina Shabaj (Policy Officer, GROW.G.2, Ecosystems II: Tourism & Proximity, European Commission).

ELI is indebted to the experts for their valuable ideas and the time they devoted to this initiative. The project proposed by the HLEG group will be considered by the ELI Executive Committee and Council in the coming weeks.