International scientific debate on Freedom of economic activity in Polish and German legal culture – comparative perspective

On March 24, 2021 as part of a scientific project entitled Freedom of economic activity in Polish and German legal culture - comparative perspective, a scientific debate on the legal conditions of freedom of economic activity in Poland and Germany was held at the Faculty of Law and Administration of the University of Gdańsk. The participants included scientific staff from the Faculty of Law and Administration of the University of Gdańsk and the Faculty of Law of Justus Liebig University in Gießen (JLU). 

The debate began with an official welcome of the participants by the Dean of the Faculty of Law and Administration of the University of Gdańsk - Assoc. Prof. Wojciech Zalewski, D.Sc. and Vice-Rector for International Cooperation of the University of Gdańsk - Assoc. Prof. Anna Jurkowska-Zeidler, D.Sc. 

Then introductory lectures were delivered by Prof. Thilo Marauhn and Prof. Andrzej Powałowski. The first thematic block of the debate was devoted to constitutional and European issues connected with freedom of economic activity. The following speakers took part in this part of the debate: prof. Sven Simonand, Ayse-Martina Böhringer, PhD (from Germany), Assoc. Prof. Anna Rytel-Warzocha, D.Sc and Aleksandra Szydzik (from Poland). Another thematic block included a discussion on the freedom of business activity from the perspective of economic and environmental law. This part included speeches by dr Magdalena Jaś-Nowopolska, PhD and Daniel Mengeler (from Germany), as well as Assoc. Prof. Maciej Nyka, D.Sc and Hanna Wolska, PhD (from Poland). The debate ended with a concluding lecture by Assoc. Prof. Anna Jurkowska-Zeidler, D.Sc. that moderated the entire debate.  

The debate gave rise to a discussion on the project's issues. Further comparative research will be continued by the project participants at the Polish - German Forum for the Exchange of Legal Thought - a scientific platform that has been created for the project. At the same time, it is also planned to release a scientific publication which would summarize the scientific research carried out within the project.  

The project is supported by the Polish - German Foundation for Science (Gefördert aus Mitteln der Deutsch-Polnischen Wissenschaftsstiftung). The project manager for the University of Gdańsk is Hanna Wolska, PhD from the Faculty of Law and Administration, while for the University of Gießen - it is Magdalena Jaś-Nowopolska, PhD from the Faculty of Law.