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Legal Research Programme 2025

The European Central Bank (ECB) launched the Legal Research Programme (LRP) in 2008 to foster analysis of areas of law relevant to the ECB’s statutory tasks and to establish closer contacts with academia.

The ECB is seeking applications from established scholars or promising early career researchers for the award of one or more scholarships to conduct legal research and publish an article on one of the topics set out below. Candidates should hold a position in a research institution and cannot be in an employment relationship with the ECB. Each scholarship is endowed with a grant of EUR 5,000, which is not compatible with any other fellowships or grants received from third parties in relation to the same research project, unless the ECB expressly consents to this. The scholarship will be paid provided the research paper is published in an internationally renowned and peer-reviewed academic journal.

Call for papers

Application deadline: 22:00 CET on 9 February 2025

Research projects

A scholarship under the LRP will be awarded to applicants who propose a research project on one of the following research topics:

1. Are national legislators obliged to show consideration for supervisory tasks and powers of the ECB?

For the purpose of carrying out its tasks, the ECB has to apply also national law (Article 4(3) SSMR). When Member States implement the CRD, the ECB has to apply the national law implementing it in respect of significant institutions. Further, the ECB has to apply national law falling within the legal framework established by a prudential directive (compare para. 41 of Case T-667/21, BAWAG). Must Member States in turn, when creating such national law, show consideration to the fact that the EU has established with the ECB a single supervisor? Are Member States in the extreme even prohibited from creating prudential law applicable to significant credit institutions because such codification if different from the codification in other Member States would interfere with the functioning of the ECB as single supervisor and its ability to establish an area of equally applied supervision? Starting point for discussing this issue could be Case C-617/10, para. 29.

Submit a proposal for topic 1

2. EU legal tender and national contract law

The paper would investigate the extent to which the legal tender status of euro cash, which is enshrined in Union primary law, is compatible with the possibility for the creditor of a pecuniary obligation (e.g., a retailer) to exclude cash as a means of payment, based on provisions of national contract law. The most obvious example is the use of “no cash” signs, but the research would go beyond and approach the issue both from a doctrinal and a comparative law perspective. The paper would look into other areas of Union law that have a clear impact on national contract law (e.g., competition law, unfair terms/consumer protection) as relevant precedents for measures aimed at protecting legal tender on the basis of Article 133 TFEU.

Submit a proposal for topic 2

3. General presumption of confidentiality in public access applicable to documents contained in a supervisory file

This paper would investigate to what extent the ECB could rely on a general presumption of confidentiality to deny public access to documents contained in a supervisory file. The General Court of the EU has established that the ECB cannot rely on a general presumption of confidentiality based on the absolute exception contained in Article 4(1)(c) ECB/2004/3. However, it could be of interest to assess whether the ECB could apply the case law that has acknowledged a general presumption of confidentiality applicable to public access requests to documents included in some administrative files handled by the European Commission (e.g., control of mergers, cartels, staid aid) under the relative exceptions laid down in Article 4(2), 1st and 3rd indent Regulation (EC) 1049/2001 that are also included in the ECB’s public access regime. This could be of application in cases where the individual assessment of the documents that are relevant to public access requests which aim at getting access to the full set of documentation included in a supervisory file might lead to an excessive administrative burden.

Submit a proposal for topic 3

4. Supervisory Independence after CRD VI

Supervisory independence is an issue that has received less attention than monetary policy independence. Among other important changes, CRD VI adds some important rules regarding the independence of competent authorities. Article 4a CRD VI aims to protect the governing bodies of competent authorities from undue influence from both public and private bodies. Among other things, it sets a maximum term of office and contains specific rules on conflicts of interest. These provisions are of great practical and doctrinal importance for the SSM and provide an opportunity to revisit the broader issue of supervisory independence in Union law. The research proposal could address the changes brought to this debate by CRD VI by examining the specific new rules introduced by this provision, their origins and motivations, as well as their relationship with the SSM Regulation and the ESCB/ECB Statute.

Submit a proposal for topic 4

5. Legal Dimension of Climate and Nature Data

One of the pillars of the EU Sustainable Finance Framework is the framework for reporting and disclosure of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) data. The effective implementation of such reporting and disclosure obligations is an important foundation for the activities set out in the Climate and Nature Plan 2024-5 of the ECB. The Plan includes ongoing work on improving the ECB’s set of climate-related indicators as one of its priorities. Improvements in the scope and quality of climate and nature-related data are needed by both the public and private sector, to better understand and address climate- and nature-related risk. In particular, such data is essential for the ECB’s central banking and supervisory activities to better account for such risks to the economy and the financial sector. Improvements could be achieved through EU legislative initiatives, through changes in supervisory and statistical reporting, and through new technologies and tools (such as Artificial Intelligence, the European Single Access Point (ESAP), and the Destination Earth Project of the European Commission). However, climate and nature-related data exhibit distinctive challenges due to the complexity of climate and nature-related risks. Consequently, even where such data is available, it may be incomplete, inaccurate or insufficiently granular. The legal research could, amongst others, analyse and assess a number of questions: 

  • How adequate is EU legislation and policy in this domain, and how reliable (in terms of data quality and integrity) and effective are mechanisms (such as the ESAP platform) to support the reporting, collection and management of climate and nature-related data? This question could be explored both from the perspective of corporate and financial institutions, and/or public authorities such as the ECB. 
  • How can EU legislation be improved in order to be more effective in terms of the usability, interoperability or integration of climate- and nature-related data? 
  • How should the reporting, collection, and management of climate- and nature-related data be regulated in light of rapidly evolving technologies, while also effectively managing the regulatory burden? How can regulation enhance or inhibit the effectiveness of climate- and nature-related risk assessments, which utilise evolving technologies?
  • How should the collection, management of climate- and nature-related data navigate conflicting objectives at the EU level, such as environmental protection, sustainable development, protection of personal data and competitiveness? 
  • How should regulation balance the need for detailed data, and the urgency of responding to climate and nature crises with the feasibility of such collection? 
  • What legal issues arise in relation to the collection of climate- and nature-related data relevant for different market participants (e.g. credit institutions, pension funds, insurance corporations, credit rating agencies, etc)?

Submit a proposal for topic 5

6. Legal basis of Union acts on banking regulation – a shift towards uniform rules?

The legal basis of EU legislation in the field of banking has been historically Article 53 TFEU (and its predecessors), allowing the Union legislator to issue directives to harmonise the rules relating to the taking up and pursuit of activities as self-employed persons. A major shift occurred in 2013, when the fourth review of the Capital Requirements Directive (Directive 2013/36/EU, CRD IV) was accompanied by the adoption of a regulation, the Capital Requirements Regulation (Regulation (EU) 575/2013, CRR), laying down uniform rules on prudential requirements for banks. Such regulation was based on Article 114 TFEU, which allows the approximation of provisions which have as their object the establishment and functioning of the internal market. The European Commission in its Explanatory Memorandum of the CRR Proposal highlighted extensively the benefits of directly applicable uniform rules over the harmonisation achieved through the national transposition of directives (see paragraphs 4.1-4.4 of document COM(2011) 452 final).

The landscape of EU lawmaking in the financial sector has been characterised in the meantime by an evolution: in other fields of the financial sector an increasing number of EU legislative acts laying down provisions on the taking up and pursuit of financial activities, as well as prudential rules, has been adopted on the basis of Article 114 TFEU (both directives and regulations: e.g. the Covered bonds directive - Directive (EU) 2019/2162, the Payment Services Directive 2 - Directive (EU) 2015/2366, the Securitisation Regulation - Regulation (EU) 2017/2402, the DORA and MiCAR regulations, the European Market Infrastructure Regulation - Regulation (EU) No 648/2012, the Central Securities Depository Regulation - Regulation (EU) No 909/2014).

These developments have been recently flagged by the scholars, signalling the need for the Union co-legislators to re-consider the choice of the legal basis and instruments in the field of banking regulation, taking also into account the centralisation of banking supervision at the ECB which has been achieved through the Single Supervisory Mechanism, and the complexities and uncertainties resulting from the application by the latter of the national transposition of the relevant EU directives.

Against this background, on the basis of an analysis of the relevant case law of the CJEU on the choice of legal basis by the Union legislators, the research paper should investigate the possibility to achieve at EU level a more comprehensive set of uniform and directly applicable rules on banking, and in particular to what extent the current provisions of the CRD could be moved to the CRR or another regulation based on Article 114 TFEU. 

Submit a proposal for topic 6

7. State Aid and Banks in Distress (but not in resolution)

Following the financial crisis and the creation of the banking union, the EU legislator aimed to achieve a key objective outlined in the Single Rulebook: to minimize the reliance on state funds during crises and to mitigate moral hazard. The existing framework embodies this goal by regulating state aid usage during resolution (art 19 SRMR) or through precautionary recapitalization (art 32(4) BRRD). However, considerable ambiguity persists regarding the application of state aid in the banking Union beyond these scenarios. The research paper should undertake a critical examination of the Tercas case law (T-196/16 and C-425/19), where a credit institution received support from the voluntary intervention of the Italian Deposit Guarantee Scheme (DGS), and the European Commission's efforts to address its implications within the Crisis Management and Deposit Insurance (CMDI) framework. The recent Credit Suisse case, where the Swiss government provided a guarantee to the Swiss National Bank for liquidity assistance loans to support the UBS/Credit Suisse merger in a non-resolution context, serves as another instance of state aid usage to be investigated. These examples illustrate how banks can receive support outside the resolution framework, potentially heightening moral hazard and raising questions about whether such support should be classified as state aid. This presents an opportunity to evaluate what forms of state support might qualify as state aid under EU law, including regulatory measures. Furthermore, if the analysis determines that state aid is indeed in some cases present in these cases, the study could explore whether such aid would be compatible with the internal market, especially considering its intended goal of ensuring financial stability (as implied by art 107(3)(b) TFEU). Finally, the analysis could aim to identify the parties that would have a vested interest in challenging a Commission decision in such scenarios.

Submit a proposal for topic 7

8. Central bank money settlement of wholesale transactions on innovative technology platforms and interlinking of faster payment platforms for retail cross-border payments: Core legal issues

Central banks have been experimenting, in recent years, with the use of central bank money for wholesale payments on innovative technology-operated platforms. The aim of those experiments is to enhance the efficiency of wholesale payments, mitigate their risks, and safeguard the role of central bank money in wholesale financial markets. Those experiments are also relevant in the context of the asset tokenisation phenomenon, to facilitate the settlement of tokenised assets in central bank money. In parallel, to overcome the shortcomings of cross-border retail payments, central banks from across the world have been taking initiatives on the possible interlinking of national and regional faster payment platforms. The aim of the proposed research is to evaluate the legal feasibility and operationalisation requirements of faster payment platform interlinking options, both bilateral and multilateral, and to assess the legal parameters of the granting, by central banks, of access to settlement in central bank money in innovative technology platforms processing wholesale transactions over native or tokenised assets hosted on those platforms.

Submit a proposal for topic 8

Applications

Applications should be submitted via the link indicated above for the relevant research topic no later than 22:00 (CET) on 9 February 2025. The ECB aims to assign at least one third of the assigned scholarships to Junior Scholars (i.e. scholars who are doctoral candidates or obtained their doctoral degree no earlier than 1 January 2022). To further enhance diversity, the ECB particularly encourages applications from female candidates.

The ECB may decide not to award a scholarship for any of the above research topics, if, in its opinion, no application of a sufficient quality has been submitted for the relevant research topic(s). The applications will be assessed by a committee composed of members of the ECB’s Legal Services.

Applications must include:

  • the applicant’s curriculum vitae;
  • in the case of Junior Scholars: an official statement confirming the doctoral candidate status of the applicant or the date on which the doctoral degree was obtained;
  • a proposal falling under one of the research topics mentioned above. Such proposal should be no longer than 1,500 words (not including charts, graphs, or bibliography) and consist of the following:
    • a statement of the issues to be addressed;
    • the proposed methodology;
    • an analysis of the originality and significance of the proposed research paper in view of the existing academic literature.

About the scholarship

During their scholarship, the selected candidates are required to write a paper on a topic related to the research topics which are included in the call for papers. Scholars are encouraged to present their papers at relevant ECB workshops and conferences and, ultimately, to have them published in leading refereed journals.

Presentation of the research proposal

The selected Scholars will be invited to a seminar to be held at the ECB in spring 2024, to present their proposal against the background of their previous research in the relevant field. This seminar is intended to establish a productive relationship with the Scholars, and to provide Scholars with constructive feedback on their research subject from practitioners in the field.

Submission of a first draft paper

The Scholars must submit to the ECB a first draft of the research paper by 30 May 2025.

Presentation of the draft paper

The Scholars will take into account the feedback provided by the ECB and be prepared to present the draft paper in September 2025. 

Finalisation of the paper

Scholars are expected to take the remarks and suggestions of the ECB’s review into due consideration and finalise the research paper by 30 October 2025.

Publication of the paper

Scholars are expected to seek publication of the research paper in a well-recognised, internationally renowned and peer-reviewed academic journal. The publication of the paper is a condition for the payment of the scholarship, in the absence of which the right to the honorarium will elapse.

In case of questions, please address your query to: LegalServices@ecb.europa.eu.