The European Union might well be falling apart at the seams, but it is comforting to know that its legal professions are still on good speaking terms. At its biannual plenary session in Bordeaux a week ago, the Council of the Bars and Law Societies of the EU (CCBE) chewed over the great legal issues of the day, as they have been since the organisation was launched in December 1960. Indeed, delegates heard a great deal about their origins, as last year's CCBE president, German lawyer Hans-Jürgen Hellwig, gave a comprehensive dissertation on the 45-year history. One of the most interesting points was the adamant opposition by French avocats during the early 60s to considering British and Irish solicitors as proper lawyers. These days, the rest of Europe is worried about being overrun by English commercial law firms and there is much concern about the impact of the proposed Clementi reforms. However, the delegation from Austria was relaxed about the prospect of either legal or multi-disciplinary partnerships. They referred to the bizarre situation in Austria, whereby at the death of a law firm partner, the spouse and/or children take on automatic partnership status in the practice for a specified period, creating a type of widows and orphans MDP.