Elfa Thesis Award for Benedikt Schmitz

Assistant Professor Benedikt Schmitz has won the European Law Faculties Association thesis prize (proxime accessit) for his thesis “Rethinking the Consumer Conflict Rule: Article 6(2) of the Rome I Regulation and Party Autonomy in Light of Principles, Efficiency, and Harmonisation”.

An updated version of his research, aimed at both practice and academia, is due to be published by Edward Elgar Publishing in late 2026 as “Choice of Law for Consumer Contracts in Theory and Practice: A Guide to Article 6 Rome I Regulation”.

The ELFA Prize is a major international competition that has been held since 2012 and recognises outstanding theses in the field of European law.

The ELFA Thesis Awards aim to encourage and recognise outstanding legal research. Previous winners include researchers from Oxford, Cambridge and the European University Institute in Florence.