Anyway, down to business.
You've just got to read today's sumptuous opinion of the Court of Justice given in answer to the question :
Does conclusion of the new Lugano Convention on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters, as provided for at points 8 to 12 of this document, fall entirely within the Community's exclusive competence or is competence shared between the Community and the Member States?
The Opinion is a nuisance to link to, as it is not properly in the Eur-lex database. You can find it by clicking here. The Court's press release is here.
The Council asked the Court that question under Article 300 § 6 EC.The Court really did not beat around the bush on this one and answered that it most certainly did fall entirely within the sphere of the EC's exclusive competence. That means the member States cannot accede to the new Lugano Convention, only the EC can.
You'll remember that the 1988 Lugano Convention on jurisdiction and the enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters (for a user friendly version, click here.) is the convention concluded between the member States of the EC and the members of the European Free Trade Association (except Liechtenstein) to create a system similar to the Brussels Convention (for a user friendly version, click here). Since then the Brussels Convention has become Regulation 44/2001 which modifies it a bit. (But the Court notes in its opinion that the Brussels Convention extends to certain overseas territories belonging to the member States, such as Mayotte for France and Aruba for the Netherlands. As those territories are not in the EC, Regulation 44/2001 does not apply to them and the Brussels Convention continues to apply to them. Now, who knew that ?). Then in 2002, negotiations started with a view to concluding a new Convention to replace the Lugano one of 1988. So who, given the metamorphosis of the Brussels Convention into a Regulation based on Article 65 EC, could accede to such a new Lugano convention ?
In reaching its conclusion that the matter is one of exclusive competence for the Community, the Court reiterates the principle that where common rules have been adopted by the Community the member States are preempted from undertaking obligations with non-member countries which affect those rules (Case 22-70 ERTA). The Court then examined separately the proposed rules in the new Lugano Convention on jurisdiction on the one hand and recognition and enforcement of judgments on the other. It concluded that the new Lugano Convention would affect the uniform and consistent application of the existing EC rules on both matters.
It would seem, as a consequence, that the EC alone and not the member States has competence to accede to The Hague Convention of June 30th 2005 on choice of court agreements.
Back to "The Pursuit of Life".
Discover Lugano is the first-of-its-kind online travel photo gallery dedicated to this part of the world. While striving to create a fun and informative online experience, is much more. It is also a feature-rich travel planning tool focused solely on the lakes, mountains, shops, nightlife, and dining spots found in this vibrant city with a small town feel. Discover Lugano users can map points of interest and add points of interest onto itineraries. They can even download and email finalized itineraries to themselves, friends and relatives. www.discoverlugano.ch
Posted by: discover lugano | December 01, 2008 at 08:46 PM