Maria Cabrera

alumnus

"The European Law Moot Court was the highlight of the Master's programme"

I received a Master's degree in European Law from Leiden University in April 2015. I'm originally from Venezuela and you may ask yourself: why did a Venezuelan decided to study a Master's in European Law? That is actually a very valid question. As long as I can remember, Venezuela has been in a political and economic crisis. So I decided to leave the country in 2014. I have Portuguese nationality, thanks to my grandparents, which meant that I was able to exercise my EU citizenship rights such as not having to apply for a residence permit and getting a lower tuition fee.

I decided to study in Leiden because I liked the Master's programme offered by the university and because it is a beautiful city. It is a welcoming place for international students and less hectic than bigger cities such as Amsterdam and Rotterdam. The best part of the programme was being able to represent Leiden University in the European Law Moot Court. We not only won the best written submission but also went on to win the regional finals in Prague. We had an amazing opportunity to go the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg and plead before actual judges and Advocate Generals.

After finishing the Master's programme I applied for several positions and I received two main offers: the Blue Book traineeship at the European Commission's Legal Services and a starting position with the Dutch law firm Stibbe. I decided to accept the job at Stibbe because of its excellent reputation and I also saw myself working in private practice. I'm still glad with my decision. I have been working for more than three years in the EU Law, Competition and Regulation department. We mainly deal with cartel matters, damages claims, abuse of dominance cases and mergers. The best part of Stibbe is the people and the teamwork culture within my department.

I definitely recommend the EU Law Master's at Leiden University and encourage all students to apply to join the Leiden European Law Moot Court team!