The error has nothing to do with the EL. It has all to do with the javax.validation
api and hibernate.
java.lang.AbstractMethodError: org.hibernate.validator.internal.engine.ConfigurationImpl.getDefaultParameterNameProvider()Ljavax/validation/ParameterNameProvider
Hibernate validator 4.3.x is an implementation of javax.validation
1.0 (JSR-303). However you are including the 1.1 API version. Either downgrade the included javax.validation
version or upgrade your hibernate validator to 5.0.x.