The university cooperation ELPIS (European Legal Practice Integrates Studies) started in 1983 with the commitment of some professors of the Hannover University and their colleagues in Greek universities to develop new ways for teaching and learning law, as it will be needed in a growing European-wide practice area. The main idea was to confront students with variant approaches to legal cases in different systems and surroundings, mutual understanding the paramount goal.

The programme became operational in several locations, first by mixed seminars of two weeks duration, then – after the establishment of the ERASMUS funding scheme in 1987 – bringing students abroad for full term studies. Step by step the group of participating universities was enlarged parallel to the European integration process. So for example ten years after its foundation ELPIS embraced about 20 universities, another five years later about 30 universities and so covered nearly all Member States of the European Union at that time plus the three EFTA-Countries Iceland, Norway and Switzerland. A considerable number of teaching staff members who joined the transnational mobility accompanied the approach and learning process. In some places, arrangements for practice placements, or internships with lawyers, courts and administrative offices were added at the request of students as a by-product.

Whereas these exchange activities formed the cornerstone of the network stationary measures in so-called “virtual mobility”, where the actors deal with cross-border matters while staying at home, played a useful role as well, even if less consistent over the years. Some activities, such as the donation of books or the transmitting of original and translated legal materials, pieces of legislation and court decisions from one country to another, very welcome in the first years became less urgent by the increasing accessibility of Internet resources in the field of law. Developing European modules for legal education and realizing specific projects brought the partners to considerable efforts in empirical investigation and substantial research. Not to forget the promotion of language skills by especially installed courses and even fostering the work on a legal dictionary.

Continually framing the activities in institutionalized forms was to be a predominant task in the raise of ELPIS, all over the time. The cooperation worked mainly in a button-up manner. There was no fixed statute. The coordinator executed the line of applications and reports to the funding agencies, primarily acting in the different schemes of the European Community, from “Joint Study Programmes” to “ERASMUS” and “SOCRATES” exchange subsidies, a “Thematic Network Project” and “European Modules”, but also disposing of various other private or official means, foremost among them support of the government of Lower Saxony. All activities and expenses became debated and decided over in plenary conferences regularly held twice a year. The heads of the universities and faculties concerned signed the relevant documents according to the conditions of the various programmes, though the core dynamic of the development came from personal initiatives and individual links at the bottom.

In the field of teaching, given the obvious necessity to provide students with transnational legal education, the establishment of common legal degree courses seemed at first glance to present no difficulties. Efforts started not only in Hannover but in other places as well. In the end, however, it was in Hannover alone that the model could be realized with the MLE-course in 1988. Its general features were the following: After at least two years of studying law in one of the EU- or EFTA-countries, students were supposed to study at least another year in one of the partner Universities abroad. There they had to participate primarily in four courses on the law of the host country with corresponding exams. Further requirements were a seminar report and a written thesis covering a theme related to comparative law, conflict of laws or European law, plus a final oral exam to be awarded the degree of “Magister Legum Europae”, a recognized academic title. Due to lack of implementation in the other partner institutions the students, whether they came from Hannover or from other places, could only fulfill these last requirements at this university. The participation was rather good. In the years from 1987 to 2003 about one third of nearly 1.100 exchange students received in or sent from Hannover followed the MLE-course.

In the field of research, besides some remarkable student theses, the highlight of the early period was the performance of a Thematic Network Project on “The European and Comparative Dimension of Law Teaching in Europe” during three academic years from 1996/97 to 1998/99). By a huge empirical investigation, a large number of law students and lawyers were surveyed in a Europe-wide questionnaire action. The questions, carefully filed in several languages, concerned: the general attitudes of the addressed persons on European matters, how they were confronted with transnational legal issues, whether they took part in or how they perceived actual and virtual mobility, what in their opinion was needed for professional life, under what conditions they would be ready for further transnational education, how they assessed the actual situation and what could be done for its improvement. The data from more than 11.200 answered questionnaires were electronically stored and evaluated with the assistance of a professional enterprise specializing in university related data collecting. Finally the results were discussed for a broader public at the International Forum “ELPIS for EUROPE” held in Sani/Thessaloniki in May 1999, and became later on , together with related conference reports, published in a book under the same title. The outcome showed that there was still a long way ahead leading to a better comprehension of and preparation for that what law practice will be in the context of a Europe without frontiers.