Commission’s modified proposal on cross-border disputes is key element in achieving a European area of Justice - Main contents
The European Commission has adopted a modified proposal for a Regulation on the law applicable to non-contractual obligations ("Rome II").
The proposal focuses on the question of civil liability for damage caused to others, particularly in case of accidents such as traffic accidents or accidents caused by a defective product. With increased trade and mobility within the Union, this kind of litigation becomes widespread.
Although the proposal doesn't seek to harmonize the substance of national laws, its goal is to ensure that, when several courts are seized in different Member States in a cross border dispute involving non-contractual obligations, they apply the same law for the solution of the case thereby facilitating mutual recognition of court rulings in the European Union. The rules proposed by the Commission strike a reasonable balance between the interests of the parties involved in a cross-border dispute.
European Commission's Vice President Franco Frattini i, Commissioner responsible for Freedom, Security and Justice said: "This proposal, which affects every European citizen and business, is indispensable in achieving a European area of justice in which the outcome of a cross-border dispute is no longer wholly dependant on which Member States Court it is tried."
The new text modifies the original proposal adopted by the Commission in 2003 (COM (2003) 427 final), in particular in the light of the amendments proposed by the European Parliament as a result of its first reading of the original proposal. [1]
The amended text incorporates, for instance, the proposals by the Parliament intended to uphold, in business to business relations, the choice of law agreements, entered into before the non-contractual obligation arises.
Taking into account the difficulties to articulate a inter-institutionally generally acceptable and balanced solution as regards the question of defamation by the media (Article 6 of the original proposal), the Commission decided to propose the exclusion of that issue from the scope of the proposed Regulation, paving the way for the adoption of the Regulation.
The proposal for the "Rome II" Regulation is part of ongoing efforts by the European Union to create a genuine European area of freedom and justice, in particular by establishing a comprehensive set of rules of private international law in civil and commercial matters at the Community level. The proposed Regulation completes the harmonisation of the applicable law rules in the area of civil and commercial obligations as a whole, whether contractual or non-contractual in nature.
This started with the 1980 Rome Convention on the law applicable to contractual obligations - in respect of which the Commission has adopted a proposal to modernise it and transform it into a Regulation in December 2005- and in particular to complement the Regulation (EC) No 44/2001 of 22 December 2000 ("Brussels I") on international jurisdiction of courts.
http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/com/pdf/2003/com2003_0427en01.pdf
[1] EP-PE_TC1-COD(2003)0168 of 6 July 2005