Title I
How many meetings have you attended this year that resulted in a decision? A process that has stalled, research seeking an application, a platform seeking a testing ground: at networking events and conferences, this leads to contacts, not concrete steps. At Tribunal, every Session follows a set of Rules comprising seven articles. And every Session concludes with a Ruling: a framework, concrete steps and the names of those who will help you move forward.
Would you prefer to read up on it first? You’ll receive the documents by email: the agenda, the case study and three key questions. No phone call. Would you prefer to talk first? An organiser will ring you back at a time that suits you. Both options are free of charge and come with no obligation.
The Rules of Procedure
Every hour spent in consultation without reaching a decision is an hour you are not spending on your business, your research or your platform. With us, no Session ends without a Ruling. These seven articles exist for one reason: your time. They apply to every Session, in every case, and they eliminate anything that does not result in a decision.
Art. I
Every Session centres on a single case. One real-life example, one clear problem. Not a general theme, but an issue that is causing a bottleneck within an organisation: in a process, with talent or on a platform. The case comes from one of the six dossiers.
A starting point, not a legal code. The case files follow the Wennink report. We use it as a foundation and build on where the report leaves off.
Art. II
In advance, the registry – our secretariat – sends the documents to all participants: the agenda, the case and three key questions. Anyone who attends will have read them. This means no time is wasted on introductions: the Session gets straight to the heart of the matter.
Art. III
One member prepares the case as the rapporteur. The rapporteur sets out the facts and outlines the key steps. This ensures that the panel discusses a fully analysed problem, rather than a first impression. This preparation is our guarantee of quality.
Art. IV
The session opens with a single five-minute presentation. One speaker, no series of slides. Your time is spent addressing the panel, not listening in a lecture theatre.
It’s the other way round. You’re familiar with the format of a presentation followed by questions. Here, one person speaks for five minutes, and then the panel asks the questions.
Art. V
After the presentation, the panel examines the case in fixed rounds: Situation, Problem, Implication and Need-payoff, the benefit. In a large session, each sub-group does this separately. First, the cost of doing nothing; only then, the solutions. This ensures that no one devises a solution for the wrong problem.
Art. VI
The framework does not come from a speaker or an adviser. The panel derives it themselves, works it out and finalises it. No model is imposed from above: those who have helped create the framework also take ownership of it.
Art. VII
No Session concludes without a Ruling. The Ruling sets out the framework. It specifies the concrete steps, each with an owner, and the connections: who speaks to whom, and on what subject. The registry records the Ruling in the register.
Why this rule? According to the Wennink Report (The Path to Future Prosperity, December 2025), the bottleneck lies not in money or talent, but in the ability to take decisions. That is where we begin: around a single table, at each Session.
Would you like to see the Rules of Procedure in action first? Request the documents: it costs nothing and involves no obligation. As soon as the case has been finalised, you will receive the agenda, the case and the three key questions by email.
The match
A meeting without a clock runs over time, and the decision is postponed. A session allocates its time in advance. Each phase has a fixed number of minutes. Eighty of the one hundred minutes are set aside for discussion.
The course of a Session, 100 minutes
Breakdown of the 100 minutes
In phases 4 and 5, the panel derives the framework and elaborates on it. This constitutes the deliberation. In phase 6, the panel finalises the framework.
At the table
You assess a method by its mechanics, not by its promises. Choose a phase and see what happens and what questions the group asks. The example is the Three-Country Train case, from the economic infrastructure field of the Wennink report: one train an hour from Liège via Maastricht to Aachen, and a half-hourly service that has not yet been decided. Your own case could just as easily be about process improvement, talent, the application of research, or a platform seeking a test site. The format remains the same.
The registry sends the agenda, the case and three key questions. You read through them and bring along one question of your own.
The rapporteur delivers a single five-minute plea. The case, the problem and the key steps prepared by the rapporteur. After that, the floor is opened to the panel.
The facts on the table. No opinions and no solutions as yet.
The real bottleneck is identified. Often, this is a different problem from the one that was first raised.
First, we calculate the cost of doing nothing, based on your own figures. Then the group models out solutions.
The return: what does each solution deliver, and for whom? This is where the framework takes shape.
The framework is finalised. Each step is assigned an owner. The registry records the Ruling.
See the five cases and the example Ruling
This was an example. At a real Session, you bring your own issue, or one specific question about someone else’s case. You can read about what will be discussed in the documents beforehand. No obligation.
The Ruling
After lots of meetings, you’re left with business cards and no plan. After a Session, you go home with three things on paper.
Then the connections: who speaks to whom, with names included. This is how the decision reaches the city.
A working method that the committee itself has devised and established. A blueprint that is suited to the workplace and can be put into practice. This ensures that knowledge does not remain locked away in a report in a drawer.
Each step has an owner. No vague intentions, but tasks recorded by the registry and tabled at the next session.
Who speaks to whom, and about what. An SME entrepreneur with a researcher, a research group with a company that wants to retain talent in the region, a platform developer with an organisation that wants to carry out testing. No wasted meeting cycles, but a name and an appointment.
The format is fixed; the content comes from the table. This example relates to the Three-Country Train case.
Find out which step is missing from the administrative agreement for the level crossings near Eijsden.
Owner: a member from public administration Due: before the next SessionDraft a proposal for a measurement of what the train delivers for students, employees and the city centre.
Owner: a member from a knowledge institution Due: before the next SessionAn introductory meeting between employers with staff across the border and the operators.
Owner: the registry Due: before the next SessionWondering which ruling applies to your case? Read the documents first. Or discuss your case with one of our organisers at a time that suits you. Both options are without obligation.
Asked in advance
Anyone who runs a business, conducts research or builds a platform doesn’t just join in without good reason. And rightly so. Below are our answers, straight to the point.
No, the Rules of Procedure rule that out. One five-minute presentation. At least 80 per cent discussion, in fixed rounds. And no session ends without a verdict involving action points and those responsible. Nor does it remain purely theoretical. The case study is drawn from real-world experience, and the framework must be implementable on the shop floor. In this way, research is put into practice and real-world experience is underpinned.
Entrepreneurs, academics and executives from the Euregio. Each participant brings something the others lack: knowledge, capital, a mandate or a system that already works. An SME entrepreneur sits alongside someone who builds a platform and alongside someone who drafts policy. Read more about the five roles at the table. We only name current participants with their permission. [team profiles to follow]
Your code, your research and your concepts remain yours. You decide what you share. Anything you do not contribute to the documents or at the table will not appear in the Ruling. The framework is set by the table. The name of the person responsible for each step and each connection in the register is recorded, including yours. The register records the framework, the steps and the connections. You disclose your company figures at the negotiating table; they will only appear in the register if you wish them to. If you wish to collaborate after the Session, you make your own arrangements for this, outside the Ruling. What you contribute remains protected within balanced partnerships.
No. Tribunal is neutral ground. We do not lobby. Academics, entrepreneurs and government representatives sit at the table as equals and decide together what the next step is.
Requesting documents is free of charge and does not entail any obligation. Tribunal is funded by membership fees and voluntary contributions. There are three categories: guest, member and founding partner. Contributions: [rates on request]
You read the documents and bring one question with you. That’s all you need to do. If you’d like to present your own case, you can become a rapporteur as a member and deliver the closing statement.
The first Session is currently being organised in Maastricht. Places are limited and by invitation only. [date of first Session to follow] [venue to follow]
Can’t find your question here? Include it in your application below, or request a callback. One of the organisers will reply to you personally.
In conclusion
A stalled process, research without application, a platform without a testing ground: procrastination comes at a cost. The first Session is now being organised in Maastricht. Places are limited and by invitation only. Submit your issue to a panel that will decide, and choose how you’d like to do so. You’ll receive the documents for the first Session by email: the agenda, the case study and three key questions. No phone calls. Or by phone: one of the organisers will call you at a time that suits you. Two fields to fill in, no obligation, no newsletter. You’ll hear from us within five working days.