On 14 November 2019, the Portuguese Chapter of the Friends of ERA organised a dinner at restaurant Zambeze in Lisbon where guests enjoyed a pleasant evening in the famous Alfama. Highlight of the Chapter meeting was a guest speech from José Luís da Cruz Vilaça, Advogado, former judge of the European Court of Justice and from 1989 to 1995 first president of the then Court of First Instance of the EU. In his speech, Mr Cruz Vilaça examined many areas in which Europe is currently at a crossroads – Brexit, the refugee crisis, the rise of populisms in Europe, climate change, the digital era – and how these challenges could be met in the future.
The meeting provided an excellent opportunity to network among legal practitioners from Lisbon and elsewhere in Portugal and to meet participants of ERA’s annual conference on European criminal justice who gathered at the same place. The event was organised by the convenor of the Portuguese Chapter Dr Carlos de Almeida Lemos and also attended by the Director of ERA, Dr Wolfgang Heusel.
