So good morning, ladies and gentlemen.

Shall we begin?

I'm delighted to welcome you to this conference to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the launch of the Centre for European Legal Studies.

I remember well when, as a newly arrived PhD student, I attended the official opening of the center

on the 6th of October 1992.

It was a time full of excitement and optimism.

And cells became a visible sign of the commitment

of the faculty to European law understood in a very broad sense, that is to say, covering

comparative law, what was then European community law, and the effect of what became European

Union law on the national legal systems. The creation of cells had a profound impact

on teaching and research within the faculty

and was instrumental in forging Erasmus programs and collaborations with other institutions

and with the legal profession.

Quickly, cells became a hub of European legal scholarship promoted through international

conferences, seminar series, visiting fellowships and both occasional and regular

publications best exemplified by the Cambridge Yearbook of European Legal Studies.

The Mackenzie's two are lectures, as you know, have attracted an impressive array of speakers

over the years drawn from the EU judiciary, from the political institutions of the Union, from the national political

arena and from international organizations. Along the bumpy road of treaty amendments,

case law developments and political turmoil, cells has been at the forefront of the study of EU law

and has welcomed vibrant communities of research students

who have become leading academics in this and other universities. This conference marks just the beginning

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