Theodoros Georgopoulos

Theodoros Georgopoulos, is Professor of European Law at the University of Reims, France.

Ηe graduated from Athens Law School in 1997. Postgraduate studies in International Law (Athens, 1998) and European Law (Aix-en-Provence, 1999). PhD in European and Comparative Law (Aix-en-Provence, 2003), (magna cum laude). Habilitation à Diriger des Recherches (Aix-en-Provence, 2009).

Academic Career

Full-time Professor in Reims Law School, he mainly teaches, Comparative Constitutional Law, European and International Law as well as Wine Law. Holder of the Jean Monnet Chair in European Regulation of the Wine Sector, University of Reims (since 2015). Director of the Wine & Law Program, he is responsible for several research programs in legal studies related to the wine industry. Director of the Master’s Program on Wine & Spirits Law, the Diploma on Wine Journalism, the Moot Court on European Wine Law, the EU Wine Law Fall School and the Wine Law Clinics (University of Reims Law School).

He teaches at the Burgundy School of Wine and Spirits Business as well as at the universities of Stanford and Davis and at the Master’s Program of OIV. Previously, he has taught as Visiting Professor at the European Institute of Public Administration (Brussels), at the Bucharest Law School (Romania), the Law School of the Universities of Montpellier and Bordeaux, the Bordeaux School of Management, the School of Agriculture of Angers, at Democritus Law School (Greece), as well as at the Institute of Political Studies of Paris (Reims Campus). He has also lectured at Harvard, at the Univeristy of Minnesota, at the NYU, at McGill, at the University of Nicosia and at the University of Pau. He is the supervisor of 7 PhD thesis in European Law and Wine Law.

Researcher at the Center of European and International Studies of Aix-Marseille Law School (1999-2008) and at the “Centre de Recheche sur la Décentralisation territoriale” (Reims). He has also spent 7 months on a Fulbright Scholarship as a Visiting Academic Scholar in the NYU Jean Monnet Center (NY, USA, 2006) and at the Law School of the University of Tübingen (Germany, 2002).

Former Member of the National University Council of France (CNU, 2011-2022).

Attorney Career

Attorney-at-Law at the Supreme Court and Council of State of Greece, specialized in the field of European Law, Wine Law and Food Law. Legal Counsel of national bodies and business in Greece, especially in the food, wine and spirits industry. He has handled various cases before the European Court of Justice, the European Court of Human Rights and the European Commission. Legal Counsel of the Republic of Cyprus for the Halloumi PDO registration. He has represented many businesses, including companies in the wine and spirits sector, before all levels of national jurisdiction, the European Commission, various national and European administrative bodies, including the Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Court of Human Rights.

Director of the “Wine and Spirits” sector of the Paris-based international law firm Casalonga.

Writing Activity

Author of four monographs and two textbooks in EU Law, some 130 articles, 30 of them published in international reviews, as well as the editor of 11 books, in English, French and Greek focusing on the enforcement of European and International Law in the national legal order (with emphasis to the French, German and US Law), on questions of substantive EC and US Law (especially Tax Law and Public Economic Law) and on European and Comparative Wine Law. His latest works are «Blends in honor of Robert Tinlot – The vine, wine and the law: from local to global» and «The Great Judgments of wine law». He is also co-director of the AIDV Global Wine Law bulletin.

Director of Jus Vini – Journal of Wine & Spirits Law, the first peer-review legal journal specializing in Wine & Spirits Law.

International Activity

General Director of the Greek Wine Association, the sectoral body of Greek private wineries.

President (2015-2024) of the Georges Chappaz Champagne Wine Institute.

Vice- President of the International Wine Law Association and President for the period 2020-2022.

Expert at the International Vine & and Wine Organization. Special Secretary of the Law and Consumption Group of Experts of the OIV.

Member of the International Academy of Wine (AIV), of the Accademia dei Georgofili (Florence) and of the Accademia di Agricoltura di Torino.

Representative at the Comité européen des Entreprises viticoles (CEEV).
Member of the Board of the French Association of European Studies (AFEE).

Prizes – Scholarships

Book Prize of the International Vine & Wine Organization (OIV, 2023) ; Book Prize of the International Vine & Wine Organization (OIV, 2016) ; Jean Monnet Module in EU Wine Law (2009) ; Emile Noël Scholarship of the Centre Jean Monnet, NYU School of Law (2006) ; EU – US Fulbright Scholarship (2006); PhD Prizes of the Centre français de droit comparé (2004), the Groupe européen de droit public (2004), of the University Aix-Marseille III (2004) and the French ECSA Organization (2004) ; Research Scholarship of the French-German Office of Youth (2002) and of the Hague Academy of International Law (2000) ; Winner of the 1st Prize of International Law of the Greek Foundation of Scholarships (1998).

VASSILIKI BAKALI

Vassiliki Bakali studied at the Athens Law School (2006), received a Master’s Degree in Criminal Law from the Athens Law School (2009) and became an accredited Intellectual Property lawyer by the European Intellectual Property Office (2020).

She is a lawyer at the Supreme Court in the Athens Bar Association.