Third EULEN Conference: Enforcing the Rules of the Game (Warsaw, 10-11 May 2027)

The Third EULEN Conference, themed "Enforcing the Rules of the Game: Competition, Regulation, and the Evolving Architecture of EU Law Enforcement", will take place on 10-11 May 2027 at the University of Warsaw / Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw, Poland. The conference examines what happens when EU enforcement regimes converge, overlap or collide, and whether the institutions that must apply them are fit for purpose. It invites scholars, policy-makers and practitioners to reflect on the evolving architecture of EU law enforcement at the intersection of competition law, horizontal regulation and sectoral regulation, moving beyond siloed analyses of individual instruments.

The Jean Monnet Network on EU Law Enforcement (EULEN) was established in 2019 as an initiative of nine European universities, funded by the European Commission under the Erasmus+ programme (2019-2023). Previous EULEN conferences were held at King's College London (2024) and Utrecht University (2025). The 2027 Warsaw edition is organised by a scientific committee drawn from the University of Warsaw (Prof. Maciej Bernatt, Director of CARS), the Institute of Legal Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences (Dr. Malgorzata Kozak), IE University (Dr. Laura Zoboli) and Utrecht University (Dr. Zlatina Georgieva and Dr. Mira Scholten, Coordinator of EULEN).

Submissions are welcome on, but not limited to, four broad themes:

• Competition Law and Regulation: Coherence, Convergence, Complementarity, and Conflict, including the interplay between the DMA and EU competition law (Articles 101, 102 TFEU and merger control), lessons from early DMA enforcement, the evolving doctrine of abuse of dominance, competition law as a gap-filler, and new theories of harm in EU merger control.
• Institutional Design, Authorities' Cooperation, Judicial Review and Multi-Level Enforcement, including coordination between the European Commission, NCAs, NRAs and EU agencies, the ECN after the ECN+ Directive, enforcement competence allocation in multi-authority settings, national call-in powers for below-threshold mergers, transparency rules and judicial review.
• Enforcement in the Digital and AI Era, including digital sovereignty, dependency on hyperscalers, theories of harm in platform markets, the Digital Omnibus package, enforcing the DMA, DSA, EMFA, AI Act and Data Act, regulatory sandboxes under the AI Act, non-economic interests, transatlantic tensions and private enforcement of digital regulation.
• Enforcement Theory, Methodology, and Interdisciplinary Perspectives, including common enforcement principles across policy domains, empirical and data-driven approaches, behavioural insights and compliance, law and economics perspectives, comparative lessons from non-EU jurisdictions, and the role of private actors, civil society and whistleblowers.

Abstract submissions are welcome from academics (including PhD researchers), policy-makers (among others from NGOs and national and EU administration), and interdisciplinary teams conducting research on the enforcement of EU law. Submissions from PhD candidates and early-career researchers are expressly encouraged; all accepted papers will be presented within thematic panels, fostering dialogue across career stages and disciplines.

Abstracts should count up to 500 words and must include:

• The title of the proposed paper
• The research question(s) and main argument
• The methodology employed (doctrinal, empirical, comparative, interdisciplinary, etc.)
• The author(s)' name(s), institutional affiliation(s) and contact details

Abstracts and subsequent working papers will be reviewed and selected by the Scientific Committee. Accepted authors will be required to submit a draft working paper by 1 March 2027; drafts will be circulated among participants and may receive written or oral comments.

Working papers will be published in the EULEN Open Access Working Paper Series (publication in the series does not preclude subsequent publication in peer-reviewed journals). Selected papers will additionally be considered for publication in a special issue of the Yearbook of Antitrust and Regulatory Studies (YARS), a double peer-reviewed, open-access journal edited by the Centre for Antitrust and Regulatory Studies (CARS) and published by the University of Warsaw since 2008. YARS is indexed in Scopus, HeinOnline, DOAJ and ERIH PLUS, and holds Class A status from the Italian research agency ANVUR.

Participation is free of charge. The conference will be held in person in Warsaw, structured around thematic panels corresponding to the topics above, and will feature keynote addresses by leading scholars, paper presentations selected through this Call for Papers, and discussants drawn from academia, EU institutions, national authorities and legal practice. Travel and accommodation costs are the responsibility of participants.

Submit your abstract (up to 500 words, with the details listed above) by email to cars@uw.edu.pl on or before 15 October 2026. Notification of acceptance will be sent by 5 November 2026. For inquiries regarding the conference or the Call for Papers, contact the same address.