The story
The Academy's genesis was closely associated with the accelerating pace of European integration and the completion of the internal market. In 1990, the European Parliament recommended that the European Commission invest in a centre for the continuing education of lawyers in order to improve the consistent application of European law. In 1991 the Parliament endorsed a proposal drawn up by a number of MEPs and politicians from Luxembourg and the German Land of Rhineland-Palatinate to establish an Academy of European Law in Trier, Germany, close to the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg. The Academy was set up in 1992 as a public foundation. The founding patrons were the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, the Land of Rhineland-Palatinate and the City of Trier. They were soon joined by the other German Länder, the federal state of Germany and, from 2000 on, by other Member States of the European Union. Today, all 28 EU Member States are patrons of the Academy.
From Wikipedia’s article on Academy of European Law, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5