European Centre of Tort and Insurance Law
Since November 2000 the European Centre of Tort and Insurance Law (ECTIL), based in Vienna, has been an association whose purpose is Principles of European Tort Law. The unification of European tort and insurance law is the most ambitious goal which the founders of the European Centre of Tort and Insurance Law, the European Group on Tort Law, pursue in cooperation with ECTIL. The broadly-based comparative research resulted in the drafting of “Principles of European Tort Law”, which provide a foundation for discussing a future harmonisation of the law of tort in  the European Union. Further, the "Principles" shall form a stimulus for both academics and practitioners and could serve as a guideline for national legal systems, thereby leading to gradual legal harmonisation. Finally, the present isolated tort law regulations, which are at times themselves contradictory, require a uniform concept from the European Union. The European Group on Tort Law spent more than a decade on preparatory works for the "Principles". These studies have been published in the series "Principles of European Tort Law". The “Principles of European Tort Law” themselves have also already been released in print, accompanied by a commentary  and several translations. The online version of the "Principles" in several languages can be found on the Group's website at [www.egtl.org.] Other research projects. In addition to the "Principles", ECTIL has also undertaken several projects of its own. The topics range from fundamental questions, e.g. non-pecuniary or pure economic loss, to the relationship between tort law and related schemes such as liability insurance or social security, from several studies in the health-care sector to compensation for victims of terrorism. The results are published in ECTIL's series "Tort and Insurance Law". Most projects are also discussed at  international conferences at various European locations. Collaboration. Due to the international nature of the research undertaken by ECTIL, close bonds have been formed with both academics and practitioners whose contributions are vital to the study of the respective legal system. While ECTIL co-operates with several other European research institutions, its closest partner is the Institute for European Tort Law (ETL), founded in 2002 as a Research Unit of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and converted into an Academy Institute in 2008. Not only do both institutions share offices and library, but they also draw from their mutual network of  researchers built up over the years. ECTIL and ETL have thereby established a think tank of more than 160 researchers in over 40 countries, including all jurisdictions of the European Union, as well as Norway, Switzerland, Israel, South Africa, Japan and the United States of America. Annual Conference on European Tort Law (ACET). The Annual Conference on European Tort Law (ACET) is held in Vienna every year and provides both practitioners and academics with the opportunity to learn of the most significant recent developments in tort law within Europe in each calendar year preceding the conference. Experts from all over  Europe present the highlights of their contributions to the European Tort Law Yearbook, which is published after each conference. The reporters provide a comprehensive overview of the previous year's court practice and legislation in the respective jurisdictions. Furthermore, an overview of the developments in the field of EU law is provided. A comparative analysis reviews the essential aspects of all reports. In addition to those national reports, the conference features special presentations on current issues of tort law. For further information and the date of the next conference see acet.ectil.org