in Bonn (Germany) concerning academic activities in South Eastern Europe in cooperation with local universities.
read morePresently, the partnership involves
- the University of Belgrade, Faculty of Law, Belgrade (Serbia)
- the University of Sarajevo, Faculty of Law, Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
- the University Union Belgrade, Faculty of Law, Belgrade (Serbia)
and is supported by the foundation Friedrich-Ebert Stiftung (Berlin / Zagreb).
as the European Parliament, the European Commission and the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC)
with regard to EU-integration projects resting on a wide network across the Europe
read moreCo-operating institutions at the European level are providing expertise and data and support the dissemination of project results, e.g.,
- European Centre for Workers Questions (EZA);
- European Labour Law Network (ELLN);
- European Federation of Employee Share Ownership (EFES);
- International Association for Financial Participation (IAFP);
- International Labour Organisation, (ILO).
At the national level the partnership embraces such different organisations as, e.g.,
- Academy Avignon (UAEPME-Belgium), Belgium;
- Arbeitsgemeinschaft Partnerschaft in der Wirtschaft (AGP), Germany;
- Association of Employers of Slovenia (ZDS), Slovenia;
- Centre for Social and Economic Research (CASE), Poland;
- Confederation Empresarial de Sociedades Laborales (CONFESAL), Spain;
- Confederation of Hungarian Employers and Industrialists (MGYOSZ), Hungary;
- ESOP Association, UK;
- FONDACT, France;
- Instytut Allerhand, Poland;
- Mondragon University, Spain;
- SINDNOVA Research Institute, Italy;
- voestalpine Mitarbeiterbeteiligung Privatstiftung, Austria.
Staffordshire University, Centre for Research on Emerging Economies,
Stoke-on-Trent, UK, with regard to Tempus projects financed by the European Commission.
Furthermore, a large network of country experts from a broad variety of co-operating academic and independent research institutions in the fields of law and economics that have co-operated in past projects provide a reliable source of information.
Frankfurt (Oder): International workshop “Employee financial participation in SMEs: A strategy for labour-market and regional economic policies” at the European University Viadrina. The workshop combines three projects currently being carried out by the Kelso Professorship of Comparative Law, East European Business Law and European Legal Policy in co-operation with national and European partners.
Hamburg: Prof. Lowitzsch presents the results of the study “Employee Financial Participation in Companies‘ Proceeds“ at the workshop “Dimensions and Perspectives on Financial Participation“ at Helmut Schmidt University. The German Research Foundation (DFG) sponsors the workshop.
VIADRINAnimate “On Property Ownership”: Guest lecture of Mrs Patricia Hetter, as discussants: Iraj Hashi and Klaus Hermann, 11 am - 1 pm, Room PG 271
Inauguration of the Kelso Professorship’s new premises and of the library on employee financial participation donated by Michael Lezius, former managing director of Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Partnerschaft in der Wirtschaft e.V. (AGP)
The Kelso Professorship takes part at the inter-disciplinary conference “Social capital in modern society” and presents the Russian translation of “Financial Participation for a New Social Europe” at Saint Petersburg State University, Russia.
Presentation of the Russian translation of “Financial Participation for a New Social Europe” by Jens Lowitzsch and lecture of Patricia Hetter Kelso on “Who will spend the wealth of nations?” at the Russian Academy of Economics and State Service under the President of the Russian Federation, Moscow
Brussels: Presentation of the study “Financial Participation of Employees in Companies’ Proceeds” at the European Parliament (FWC No. IP/A/ECON/FWC/2010-109, Lot 5). The study has been written by a European network of researchers led by Prof. Dr Lowitzsch, in co-operation with ECORYS, Rotterdam, and the CASE Foundation Warsaw.
The Kelso Professorship is starting the implementation trilateral, 15-months project (in co-operation with partners from Germany, Poland and Spain) “Employee financial participation in SMEs: A strategy for labour-market and regional economic policies”. The project is financed by the Brandenburg Agency for Structure and Labour (LASA) in accordance with the Directive of the Brandenburg Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs, Women Issues and Family Matters for the promotion of projects aiming at the transnational exchange of knowledge and experience (optional programme for the ESF).
Düsseldorf: The Kelso Professorship delivered the study Lowitzsch/Hanisch (eds) “Employee Share Ownership Under Usage of an Intermediary Entity: Design and Financing” finalising a 2-year project with the Hans Boeckler Foundation.
Brussels: The Inter-University Centre and the European Centre of Employers and Enterprises providing Public Services (CEEP) presented the study Lowitzsch/Hashi (eds) „Employee Financial Participation in Public Services in the EU“. The study was commissioned by CEEP under the framework of a project co-funded by the European Commission.
Interview with Prof. Dr Dr h. c. Herwig Roggemann, Director of the Inter-University Centre Berlin/Split at the Free University of Berlin, on the European dept crisis and the upcoming accession of Croatia to the European Union published in the Croatian daily newspaper "Slobodna Dalmacija".
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Symposium "Reconciliation on the Balkans – Legal and Political Questions", organised by the Inter-University Centre Berlin/Split at the Institute for East European Studies, Free University of Berlin
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The Kelso Professorship, in co-operation with the Allerhand Institute Cracow, has been awarded a grant by the German-Polish Sciene Foundation for the project „Development of a Polish and a German Employee Share Ownership Scheme based on the ESOP Model“.
Week of Employee Financial Participation - Conference at the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), Brussels under the Auspices of Staffan Nilsson, President of the EESC, final event of the project "Information and Communication Project - Promoting Employee Financial Participation in the EU-27 (PRO-EFP)" (VP/2010/013/0084) with the financial support of the European Commission.
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Germany Conference on Employee Financial Participation at Viadrina European University, Frankfurt-on-Oder
read more The conference is one of a total of nine national conferences organised by the national project partners in the framework of the project "Information and Communication Project – Promoting Employee Financial Participation in the EU-27" - VP/2010/013/0084 (abbreviated: Pro-EFP) funded by the European Commission. Organiser of the conference as a national project partner is the Kelso Professorship of Comparative Law, East European Business Law and European Legal Policy (Prof. Dr iur. Jens Lowitzsch) at the Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, Viadrina European University. The conference will take place under the auspices of Honorary Prof. Günter Verheugen, retired Vice-President of the European Commission, who will also deliver the keynote speech.
With regard to the EU-2020 Strategy, to the competitiveness of the European small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME), as well as to the European Social Model, the own-initiative opinion SOC 371 on Employee Financial Participation recently adopted by the European Economic and Social Committee on 21 October 2010 calls for the promotion of concepts of employee financial participation in particular for SMEs.
Also in Germany, with the adoption of the Law on Employee Share Ownership of 7 March 2009, the topic of Employee Financial Participation has emerged on the political agenda. The initiative of the German Federal legislator aiming in particular at the development of concepts for SMEs, has had only very limited success so far, though.
Against this background, the conference will formulate recommendations for the reform of the mentioned German law as well as for the further development of the European agena. In the context of the continuing European integration and on the basis of the mentioned initiatives, a German concept of Employee Share Ownership for SMEs will be presented. As for the development of a participation model, the recommendations for reform are based on the ESOP concept, which has been utmost successfully practiced in the U.S. and a number of European countries for more than 50 years.
Kelso Professorship of Comparative Law, East European Business Law and European Legal Policy
