Flux européens

The Permanent Bureau of the Hague Conference on Private International Law seeks a temporary legal assistant to work in the areas of international family law and child protection. The vacancy is advertised here. 

Il Permanent Bureau della Conferenza dell’Aja di diritto internazionale privato intende assumere un collaboratore giuridico a tempo determinato che lavori nel settore della famiglia e della protezione dei minori. Maggiori dettagli a questo indirizzo.

Constance Castres Saint-Martin, Les conflits d’intérêts en arbitrage commercial international, L’Harmattan, 2016, ISBN: 9782343101965, pp. 454, EUR 45.

Le conflit d’intérêts est un sujet passionnant notamment en raison de son omniprésence dans l’actualité. Cette expression s’est récemment diffusée en France dans le monde des affaires et au sein du jargon médiatique. Néanmoins, il n’existe en l’état actuel du droit positif français aucune réglementation spécifique de ces conflits d’intérêts. L’auteur s’interroge donc sur la définition et la valeur opératoire de cette notion et le régime juridique qui pourrait lui être réservé.

In the flurry of judgments issued by the European Court of Justice on Super Wednesday, 21 December, spare a read for C-618/15 Concurrence /Samsumg /Amazon: Cybercrime, which dealt with jurisdiction for tort under the Brussels I Recast Regulation and the location of locus damni in the event of online sales. The foreign suffix of the website was deemed irrelevant.

To fully appreciate the facts of the case and the Court’s reasoning, undoubtedly it would be best to read Wathelet AG’s Opinion alongside the Court’s judgment.

Concurrence is active in the retail of consumer electronics, trading through a shop located in Paris (France) and on its online sales website ‘concurrence.fr’. It concluded with Samsung a selective distribution agreement (covering France) for high-end Samsung products, namely the ELITE range. That agreement included, in particular, a provision prohibiting the sale of the products in question on the internet. Exact parties to the dispute are Concurrence SARL, established in France, Samsung SAS, also established in France, and Amazon Services Europe Sàrl, established in Luxembourg. Amazon offered the product range on a variety of its websites,  Amazon.fr, Amazon.de, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.es and Amazon.it.

Concurrence sue variously for a lift of the ban on internet sales (claiming the ban was illegal) and alternatively, an end to the  offering for sale of the elite products via Amazon. The French courts suggest they lack jurisdiction over the foreign Amazon websites (excluding amazon.fr) because the latter are not directed at the French public. Concurrence suggest there is such jurisdiction, for the products offered for sale on those foreign sites are dispatched not only within the website’s country of origin but also in other European countries, in particular France, in which case jurisdiction, they suggest,  legitimately lies with the French courts.

Pinckney figures repeatedly in Opinion and Judgment alike. Amazon submit that the accessibility theory for jurisdiction should not be accepted, since it encourages forum shopping, which, given the specific nature of national legal systems, might lead to ‘law shopping’ by contamination. Amazon seek support in Jaaskinen’s Opinion in Pinckney. Wathelet AG first of all notes (at 67 of his Opinion) that this argument of his colleague was not accepted by the CJEU. Moreover, he finds it exaggerated: the national court can award damages only for loss occasioned in the territory of the Member State in which it occurs: this limitation serves as an important break on plaintiffs simply suing in a State per the locus damni criterion ‘just because they can’.

The Court agrees (at 32 ff) but in a more succinct manner (one may need therefore the comfort of the Opinion for context):

• The infringement of the prohibition on resale outside a selective distribution network is given effect by the law of the Member State of the court seised, so that a natural link exists between that jurisdiction and the dispute in the main proceedings, justifying jurisdiction for the latter.  It is on the territory of that Member State that the alleged damage occurs.
• Indeed, in the event of infringement, by means of a website, of the conditions of a selective distribution network, the damage which the distributor may claim is the reduction in the volume of its sales resulting from the sales made in breach of the conditions of the network and the ensuing loss of profits.
• The fact that the websites on which the offer of the products covered by the selective distribution right appears operate in Member States other than that of the court seised is irrelevant, as long as the events which occurred in those Member States resulted in or may result in the alleged damage in the jurisdiction of the court seised, which it is for the national court to ascertain.

With this judgment national courts are slowly given a complete cover of eventualities in the context of jurisdiction and the internet.

Geert.

(Handbook of) European private international law, 2nd ed. 2016, Chapter 2, Heading 2.2.11.2

 

Something to digest quietly, to start this new year: in Gaz de France v STS the French Conseil d’Etat annuled an arbitral award for breach of ordre public. The Conseil objected in particular to the panel’s denial of mandatory French (administrative) law. Reed Smith have analysis here, including of the issue on jurisdiction (Conseil d’Etat or Court de Cassation).

Upon reading the judgment, my question is this (just putting it in the group, as it were): does the Conseil have terminology right where it seems to classify breach of mandatory law as a violation of ordre public (it is the latter only which justifies annulment under the New York Convention)? Incidentally (at 5) it also refers to the possibility of mandatory EU law being part of this interpretation of ordre public. This structure is clearly inspired by the Rome I Regulation where, as I have noted before, the presence of mandatory law, overriding mandatory law, and ordre public, is causing confusion.

Happy New Year, happy reading, Geert.

 

Rome I Regulation – Commentary, edited by / a cura di Ulrich Magnus, perte Mankowski, Otto Schmidt Verlag, 2017, ISBN 9783504080068, pp. 928, EUR 229.

One of the great steps towards a European Private International Law and for the facilitation of transborder trade is the Rome I Regulation which europeanised the applicable law for international contracts throughout the Union (though except Denmark). This Regulation has to be applied since the end of 2009. It has moderately reformed and replaced the former Rome Convention which had already proven its practical value for over two decades as many national decisions and also judgments of the European Court of Justice evidence. It is therefore high time for a truly pan-European Commentary on the Rome I Regulation which takes account of the European nature of this instrument. This is reflected by the team of contributors that originates from all over Europe assembling first experts in their countries. The editors are Ulrich Magnus and Peter Mankowski who have already edited the well-received pan-European Commentaries on the Brussels I Regulation and the Brussels IIbis Regulation. The Commentary (in English) provides a thorough article-by-article analysis which intensely uses the rich case law and doctrine and suggests clear and practical solutions for disputed issues. It gives a comprehensive and actual account of the present state of the European international contract law. For international lawyers, practitioners as well as academics, it is an indispensable must.

Authors include: Andrea Bonomi, Alfonso-Luis Calvo Caravaca, Javier Carrascosa Gonzalez, Richard G. Fentiman, Franco Ferrari, Francisco Garcimartín Alférez, Helmut Heiss, Luís Pietro Rocha de Lima Pinheiro, Ulrich Magnus, Peter Mankowski, Guillermo Palao Moreno, Ilaria Queirolo, Bea Verschraegen, Michael Wilderspin, M.H. (Mathijs) ten Wolde.

Our children often hug me goodnight while I am working away at a brief or sitting next to a huge pile of exam papers, waiting to be marked. And especially in the latter case, I confess this is often accompanied by a pint of ale. My youngest daughter the other day told me she had had a dream that night in which I had found a cure for all cancers.

This was the modus operandi: I had spilt said beer (in said daughter’s dream) over the exam papers and by some interaction between beer and paper, the cure had come to me. Eureka! Somehow I have always known beer will save the world…

A warming thought for this chilly season. And one to lift our spirits, hoping for a less challenging 2017.

Enjoy your undoubtedly deserved breaks. Geert.

 

 

 

 

 

Commission / Breyer
Droit institutionnel
L’avocat général Bobek propose un accès élargi aux documents de la Cour

L’avocat général Sharpston considère que l’accord de libre-échange avec Singapour ne peut être conclu que par l’Union et les États membres agissant de concert

Commission / Aer Lingus
Aide d'État
La Cour confirme que l’Irlande doit récupérer la somme de 8 euros par passager auprès des compagnies aériennes bénéficiaires d’une aide d’État illégale

Conseil / Front Polisario
Agriculture
Les accords d’association et de libéralisation conclus entre l’UE et le Maroc ne sont pas applicables au Sahara occidental

Tele2 Sverige
Rapprochement des législations
Les États membres ne peuvent pas imposer une obligation générale de conservation de données aux fournisseurs de services de communications électroniques

Vervloet e.a.
Liberté d'établissement
La garantie accordée par la Belgique aux sociétés coopératives financières ARCO enfreint le droit de l’Union

Gutiérrez Naranjo
Rapprochement des législations
La jurisprudence espagnole limitant dans le temps les effets de la nullité des clauses « plancher », insérées dans les contrats de prêt hypothécaire en Espagne, est incompatible avec le droit de l’Union

AGET Iraklis
Rapprochement des législations
Le droit de l’Union n’empêche pas, en principe, un État membre de s’opposer, en certaines circonstances, à des licenciements collectifs dans l’intérêt de la protection des travailleurs et de l’emploi

Commission / World Duty Free Group
Aide d'État
Selon la Cour, le Tribunal de l’UE a commis une erreur de droit en annulant la décision de la Commission déclarant un régime fiscal espagnol incompatible avec le marché intérieur

The Court held in C-102/15 Siemens just before mine and their summer break. It had escaped my attention. At issue was whether debt arising from the unjustified repayment of a fine for infringement of competition law falls within the scope of application of the Brussels I Recast. It does not. The Court distinguished flyLAL: while private actions brought to ensure compliance with competition law fall within the scope of the Regulation, a penalty imposed by an administrative authority in the exercise of the regulatory powers conferred upon it under national legislation comes within the concept of ‘administrative matters’, excluded from the scope of Regulation No 44/2001 in accordance with Article 1(1) thereof.(at 35).

An action in unjust enrichment related to the interest due, following to and fro, imposition and rescinding, ending finally in confirmation of the fine, is intimately bound up with that fine and therefore follows it in the exclusion.

A judgment of note for those who wish to keep complete overview.

Geert.

(Handbook of) European private international law, 2nd ed. 2016, Chapter 2, Heading 2.2.2.2 ff.

Anyone with an interest in mutual recognition, risk and trade, and the exhaustive effect of EU food law should consult the Opinion of Advocate General Bobek in Case C-672/15 Noria Distribution, which was released last week.

Noria Distribution SARL (‘Noria’) is being prosecuted for having sold in France food supplements containing vitamins and minerals in quantities exceeding maxima set under French law. Noria does not deny doing so. However, it argues in response that those maxima are not valid because they were set in breach of EU law. Noria adds that it produces and sells the same products lawfully in other Member States.

The Advocate General suggests EU law on the issue is not exhaustive. Member States can set their own limits. An issue under discussion in the national proceeding is the origin (national or international) of the science underpinning the limits. The AG justifiably advises that the origin of the data is irrelevant. EU law concern is not about the details of bibliographies. It is rather that restrictions be justified on the basis of solid science demonstrating real risk or at least the inability to exclude risk: whether this is the case is for the national court to determine. The precautionary principle can be invoked by the Member States in setting their limits.

The AG’s approach is very sensible. Without losing himself in lengthy discussion, he reminds the national courts and authorities of the benchmarks for risk management.

Geert.

 

Do the newly negotiated EU rules on endocrine disruptors illustrate regulatory chill /the ‘freezing effect’ of international trade law?

The new European Commission proposals on endoctrine disruptors are, of course’ ‘science based’. It has been reported (EurActiv, 12 December 2016 and last consulted by me on 13 December) that publication of the proposals was followed by a closed door meeting (minutes of which were released only after a freedom of information request) between the EC and a select number of countries (US, Canada, Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay on 13 July this year). Discussion centered around the potential WTO incompatibility of parts of the EC proposal, particularly those surrounding the tolerance levels for endocrine disruptors present in imported substances (food and feed in particularly). The EC reportedly are prepared to replace “negligible exposure” with “negligible risk from exposure”. The EC defend the latter, arguing it might even ban more, rather than less imported substances: for even if there is only negligible exposure, that exposure may still be a risk. Opponents suggest that the insertion of a risk approach has sacrified precaution on the altar of science.

A few comments.

Firstly, the report (and potentially even the EC itself) repeats the misleading assertion that the debate concerns either science or precaution. Precaution is NOT unscientific. The very trigger of the precautionary approach is science.

Next, the case is reported at a time a lot of people are getting jittery about the regulatory co-operation mechanisms in free trade agreements such as CETA and TTIP. The meeting and the subsequent EC reaction to our trading partners’ comments, would then represent an example of the ‘freezing effect’ in international trade: with our trading partners flying the flag of WTO incompatibility, the EU would then have caved in to threats of litigation in Geneva. Yet in reality WTO input by fellow WTO Members is at least as old as the WTO itself, indeed it predates it. The 1978 Tokyo Standards Code already obliged the then GATT Contracting Parties to notify their draft standards to the GATT Secretariat. The very point of notification and transparency is that the issues raised are being discussed and may indeed lead to the draft standard being adopted. Changes made to REACH, to name but one example, reflected concerns of fellow WTO Members and REACH can hardly be said to pander to industry’s demands.

However there needs to be one core appreciation in this process: just as notification serves transparency (anyone can consult the TBT notification gateway to review draft measures that have been notified), so too should the process of review after reception of the comments, be conducted in a transparent manner. This clearly has not happened here. By conducting these meetings in private, and by refusing to release the minutes until prompted to do so, EC services have given the impression that there is more than meets the eye. In times where even CETA has not yet been ratified, that is most definitely the wrong approach.

Geert.

 

On 29 and 30 May 2017, the University of Milan will host an international conference under the title Business and Human Rights: International Law Challenges and European Responses. Scholars are encouraged to submit their proposals for papers, not exceeding 600 words, before 31 January 2017, to the following email address: EUlawbusinesshumanrights@unimi.it. More information is available here.

I giorni 29 e 30 maggio 2017, l’Università di Milano ospiterà un convegno dal titolo Business and Human Rights: International Law Challenges and European Responses. Gli interessati sono invitati a trasmettere un paper, che non superi le 600 parole, entro il 31 gennaio 2017, a questo indirizzo email: EUlawbusinesshumanrights@unimi.it. Maggiori informazioni sono disponibili qui.

 

On 10 November 2016, the French MEP Joëlle Bergeron submitted to the Committee on Legal Affairs of the European Parliament a draft report regarding the protection of vulnerable adults.

The draft report comes with a set of recommendations to the European Commission. Under the draft, the European Parliament, among other things, ‘deplores the fact that the Commission has failed to act on Parliament’s call that it should submit … a report setting out details of the problems encountered and the best practices noted in connection with the application of the Hague Convention [of 13 January 2000 on the international protection of adults], and ‘calls on the Commission to submit … before 31 March 2018, pursuant to Article 81(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, a proposal for a regulation designed to improve cooperation among the Member States and the automatic recognition and enforcement of decisions on the protection of vulnerable adults and mandates in anticipation of incapacity’.

A document annexed to the draft report lists the ‘principles and aims’ of the proposal that the Parliament expects to receive from the Commission.

In particular, following the suggestions illustrated in a study by the European Parliamentary Service, the regulation should, inter alia, ‘grant any person who is given responsibility for protecting the person or the property of a vulnerable adult the right to obtain within a reasonable period a certificate specifying his or her status and the powers which have been conferred on him or her’, and ‘foster the enforcement in the other Member States of protection measures taken by the authorities of a Member State, without a declaration establishing the enforceability of these measures being required’. The envisaged regulation should also ‘introduce single mandate in anticipation of incapacity forms in order to facilitate the use of such mandates by the persons concerned, and the circulation, recognition and enforcement of mandates’.

In the meanwhile, on 15 December 2016, Latvia signed the Hague Convention of 2000 on the international protection of adults. According to the press release circulated by the Permanent Bureau of the Hague Conference on Private International Law, the Convention is anticipated to be ratified by Latvia in 2017.

Il 10 novembre 2016, la deputata europea Joëlle Bergeron ha presentato alla Commissione giuridica del Parlamento europeo un progetto di relazione sulla protezione degli adulti.

Il progetto reca una serie di raccomandazioni rivolte alla Commissione europea. Si dice nel testo, fra le altre cose, che il Parlamento “deplora che la Commissione non abbia dato seguito alla richiesta del Parlamento di presentare a tempo debito … una relazione che identifichi i problemi incontrati e le migliori pratiche per l’attuazione della Convenzione dell’Aia [del 13 gennaio 2000 sulla protezione degli adulti]”, e “chiede alla Commissione di presentare …, anteriormente al 31 marzo 2018, sulla base dell’articolo 81, paragrafo 2, del trattato sul funzionamento dell’Unione europea, una proposta di regolamento volto a rafforzare la cooperazione tra gli Stati membri nonché a migliorare il riconoscimento con pieno diritto e l’esecuzione delle decisioni relative alla protezione degli adulti vulnerabili e dei mandati di inidoneità [sic], secondo le raccomandazioni particolareggiate figuranti in allegato”. La proposta dovrebbe altresì “introdurre moduli unici di mandato di inidoneità al fine di promuovere l’uso di tali mandati da parte delle persone interessate, nonché la circolazione, il riconoscimento e l’attuazione di tali mandati”.

Un documento allegato alla proposta di relazione elenca i “principi” e gli “obiettivi” che dovrebbero caratterizzare la proposta che il Parlamento si attende di ricevere dalla Commissione.

In particolare, conformandosi in larga parte alle indicazioni emerse da uno studio predisposto dal Servizio Ricerca del Parlamento europeo, la proposta di regolamento dovrebbe includere, fra le altre, delle regole volte a “riconoscere a qualsiasi persona che assicura la protezione della persona o dei beni di un adulto vulnerabile il diritto di ottenere dalle autorità competenti, entro un termine ragionevole, un certificato attestante la sua qualità e i poteri che le sono conferiti”, nonché delle regole che favoriscano “l’esecuzione delle misure di protezione adottate dalle autorità di uno Stato membro negli altri Stati membri senza che sia necessaria una dichiarazione [di] esecutiva di tali misure”.

Nel frattempo, il 15 dicembre 2016, la Lettonia ha firmato la Convenzione dell’Aja del 2000 sulla protezione internazionale degli adulti. Stando al comunicato stampa diffuso dal Permanent Bureau della Conferenza dell’Aja di diritto internazionale privato, ci si attende che la Convenzione venga ratificata dalla Lettonia nel corso del 2017.