Events

On 3 and 4 September 2026, the 4th Symposium on Business Law of the German-Greek Civil Law Association took place at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. The two-day event addressed current issues in company and civil law, with a particular focus on the reform of the law on defective shareholder resolutions.

The first day offered a broad range of current topics in company and civil law, including shareholder loans, European company law, the new Greek law of succession, private pension provision and shareholder protection. The talks and subsequent panel discussions provided an opportunity for intensive exchange between academia and practice.

The second day centred on the long-debated reform of the law on defective shareholder resolutions. The state of the reform debate was analysed and critically assessed from different perspectives. Besides fundamental questions of reviewing shareholder resolutions, the programme addressed selected issues of company and procedural law as well as shareholder protection. A comparative perspective, particularly on German and Greek law, was a special focus.

The symposium brought together academics and practitioners from Germany and Greece. The different legal perspectives and the comparative view of both countries’ legal systems created many opportunities for discussion, exchange and further networking in German-Greek legal scholarship.

On 16 and 17 March 2026, the annual conference of the German-Greek Civil Law Association took place at the House of Finance of Goethe University Frankfurt. The symposium featured numerous talks, including by Prof. Theodor Baums, Prof. Georgios Sotiropoulos, Prof. Barbara Grunewald, Prof. Moritz Brinkmann and Prof. Georgios Mentis.

The academic spectrum ranged from sales and inheritance law through insolvency and restructuring law to partnership and company law. The theses presented sparked lively discussion and helped strengthen German-Greek ties. The conference also offered young scholars from both countries opportunities for exchange and networking.

On 18 September, Prof. Dr. Christoph G. Paulus, Professor Emeritus at Humboldt University of Berlin, was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Faculty of Law of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in a formal ceremony. The faculty thus honoured an internationally recognised expert in insolvency law, a committed advocate of the peace-building role of law and a long-standing promoter of German-Greek academic cooperation.

On 15 May 2025, the second conference of the German-Greek Civil Law Association took place in the historic university building in Plaka. The highlight of the event was the lecture by Prof. Dr. Klaus J. Hopt on “Gründe und Grenzen für Mehrstimmrechte – Optionen für die Umsetzung der Europäischen Richtlinie vom 24.04.2024 zu Mehrstimmrechten” (Reasons for and limits of multiple voting rights – options for transposing the European directive of 24 April 2024). The association was also especially honoured that Prof. Hopt accepted its honorary presidency.

The academic programme covered a broad range of current issues in corporate, capital markets and business law and brought together renowned speakers from Germany and Greece, among them Prof. Andreas Cahn, Prof. Barbara Grunewald, Prof. Tim Florstedt, Assoc. Prof. Nikolaos Vervessos, Assoc. Prof. Christina Livada and Assoc. Prof. Alexandros Rokas. The event provided a valuable setting for academic exchange, stimulating discussion and the expansion of German-Greek networks.

Funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), several members of the association organised a three-day event on current issues of business law in times of crisis in May 2023. Besides academic exchange, an explicit aim of the event was to involve young scholars.

The event therefore began with a meeting of numerous young researchers at the Goethe-Institut Athens, who presented their own, highly varied research projects in business law in German and English. The discussions following the presentations offered an opportunity to gain new ideas for their own work from comparative insights. The day was rounded off by personal exchange and a short presentation on the history of German-Greek friendship.

The following day, the two-day symposium opened at the History Museum of the University of Athens. After a welcome by the organisers and introductory remarks on the common ground of German and Greek legal history, the academic programme began with talks on current developments in business law. To underline the binational character of the conference, each talk by a German scholar was followed by one from a Greek participant.

In the subsequent discussion rounds, the theses presented were critically examined and debated. The get-together after the conference days was used to deepen the academic exchange and to strengthen German-Greek friendship. The participants agreed to aim for a follow-up conference in 2025.

The main findings are documented in the conference volume “Wirtschaftsrecht in Zeiten der Krise” (Florstedt/Vervessos, eds., 2024).