EC legislation on conflict of laws: Interactions and incompatibilities between conflicts rules

International and Comparative Law Quarterly

Volumn 47, Issue 2, 1998, Pages 439-445

  Knöfel, Susanne ^a  

^a LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS   (United Kingdom)

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EID: 84928880807     PISSN: 00205893     EISSN: 14716895     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/S0020589300061935     Document Type: Article

References (62)

1. E.g. Council Directive 85/577/EEC of 20 Dec. 1985 to protect consumers in respect of contracts negotiated away from business premises (1985) O.J. L372/31
2. Council Directive 87/102/EEC of 22 Dec 1986 for the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the member States concerning consumer credit (1987) O.J. L42/49
3. Council Directive 90/314/EEC of 13 June 1990 on package travel, package holidays and package tours (1990) O.J. L158/59.
4. (1980) O.J. L266/1, hereafter “Rome Convention” or “Convention”
5. the Convention came into force on 1 Apr. 1991 (1991) O.J. C52/1.
6. 1990 c36; the Act came into force on 1 Apr. 1991, S.I. 1991/707; cf. 1990 Act, Sched.l. Art.l7.
7. For discussion of the topic from a German perspective cf. von Hoffmann, Zeitschrift fur Rechtsvergleichung (ZfRV) 1995, 45–54
8. Jayme and Kohler, 84 Rev. Crit de Dr.Int. Privé (1995), 1–40
9. Praxis des Internationalen Privat- und Verfahrensrechts (IPRax) 1993, 357–371
10. IPRax 1994,405–415
11. IPRax 1995,343–355
12. and IPRax 1996,377–389
13. Roth, IPRax 1994,165–175.
14. Council Directive 93/13/EEC of 5 Apr. 1993 on Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts (1993) O.J. L95/29
15. Directive 94/47/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of 26 Oct. 1994 on the protection of purchasers in respect of certain aspects of contracts relating to the purchase of the right to use immovable properties on a timeshare basis (1994) O.J. L.280/83.
16. Directive 96/71/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of 16 Dec 1996 concerning the posting of workers in the framework of the provision of services (1997) O.J. L18/1.
17. Council Reg. (EEC) 3118/93 of 25 Oct 1993 laying down the conditions under which non-resident carriers may operate national road haulage services within a member State (1993) O.J. L279/1.
18. Cheshire and North, Private International Law (12th edn, 1992), p.498
19. Dicey and Morris, The Conflict of Laws (12th edn, 1993), pp.1239–1241
20. Jackson, in North (Ed.), Contract Conflicts (1982), pp.59–80 at p.65
21. Kaye, The New Private International Law of Contract of the European Community (1993), pp.70–76.247
22. Morse (1982) 2 Yb.EJ- 107,123
23. Rlender, The European Contracts Convention, pp. 81, n.1, 154
24. Philip, in Jackson, idem, pp.81–110,at p.82.
25. Under Art22(l).(a) For the UK see s.2(2) of the Contracts (Applicable Law) Act 1990; for Germany see Bundestags-Drucksache (BT-Drucks.) 10/504, pp.83,100,106.
26. Cf. Roth, Bundestags-Drucksache (BT-Drucks.), at p. 169
27. Jayme and Kohler, 84 Rev. Crit, Bundestags-Drucksache (BT-Drucks.), at p.19.
28. The formula “close connection” even differs from the “closest connection” under Art.4 of the Convention. Further, it is doubtful whether the connection must be established to an individual member State or whether a collective link to several member States is sufficient for the latter view Pfeiffer, Neue Juristische Wochenschrift (NJW) 1997,1212.
29. Text at Neue Juristische Wochenschrift (NJW).
30. See also the proposal for a Council Directive on the protection of consumers in respect of contracts negotiated at a distance (distance selling): proposal (1993) O.J. C156/14
31. amended proposal (1993) O.J. C308/18
32. common position (EC) No.19/95 adopted by the Council (1995) O.J. C288/1. Artl2(2) of the latest version closely follows Art6(2) of Directive 93/13, except that it refers to a “dose connection to the territory of one or more member states”. Thus the observations made apply here correspondingly: in its scope, the proposal (see Arts.2,3) goes beyond Art.5 of the Convention, as it redefines the criteria relating to the conclusion and the contents of the contract (Art.5(2), (4)) in view of the requirements of modern contracting practice; with respect to Art.7 the same problems as under Directive 93/13 arise.
33. For a detailed analysis see Kronke, Rectit der Internationalcn Wirtschaft (RIW) 1996,985–993.
34. For a survey of other implementations (Greece, France, Germany, Denmark, Ireland and Luxembourg) see Jayme and Kohler, IPRax 1995, Rectit der Internationalcn Wirtschaft, at p 345.
35. S.I.1994/3159.
36. This has been justified by considerations of expediency avoiding complex differentiations: Eckert, Zeitschrift für Internationales Wirtschaftsrecht (ZIP) 1996,1241
37. critical: Jayme and Kohler, IPRax 1996, Zeitschrift für Internationales Wirtschaftsrecht, at p 387.
38. Under the German implementation, a gap in the consumer protection aimed at in the Directive (cf. Recital 22 of the Preamble) might occur where the contract has a close connection not with the territory of Germany but of another member State that has not implemented the Directive. This case, presumably within Art.6(2) of the Directive, does not fall within the new s.12 of the Standard Contract Terms Act An analogous application (cf. Heinrichs, NJW 1996,2195–2197) of s.12 might encounter doubts because of its dear wording that mirrors a presumably deliberate legislatory decision. Even an application of Art.34 is scarcely of any help because of the self-limiting provision set up in s.12.
39. Narrower Recital 14 of the Preamble. See also the proposal for a European Parliament and Council Directive on the sale of consumer goods and associated guarantees (1996) O.J. C307/8, Art6(2): “irrespective of the law applicable to the contract”.
40. Timeshare schemes may be operated as licences or leases, as members' clubs or companies, or finally as ownership in property bonds; for UK law cf. Edmonds, International Timesharing (3rd edn, 1991), chap.2
41. for German law see Mankowski, RIW 1995,364–370.
42. Provided that the Convention applies at all under its Art 1(1), 2(e) (presumably in the case of licences and leases), the service element has to be identified. Here, the application of Art.5(l) is the more conceivable the closer a timeshare contract comes to a hotel contract cf. Mankowski, RIW
43. more widely Jayme, IPRax 1995, 234–236. Further, where services are exclusively supplied outside the consumer's home country, those are excluded by Art.5(4)(b).
44. Cf. Mankowski, idem, p.367
45. Jayme, idem
46. now BGH NJW 1997,1697.
47. Cf. BGH, BGH NJW, where a timeshare contract was held not to be a contract whose object was the supply of services for the purposes of Art.29(l) EGBGB even if it provided for management of the timeshare property and for temporary membership of an apartment-swapping scheme.
48. Cf. text at BGH NJW
49. Cf. Mäsch, Europaische Zeitschrift für Wirtschaftrecht (EuZW) 1995,14.
50. Cf. the implementation into German law, i.e. the Act on the Transfer of Rights to use Immovable Properties on a Timeshare Basis (Gesetz Ober die Veräuβerung von Teilzeitnut-zungsrechten an Wohngebäuden) of 20 Dec. 1996, BGBl. I 2154. In s.8 two situations are enumerated where the domestic law applies internationally: the first requiring the property to be sited in the territory of a member State, is intended to stipulate Art7(2) (cf. BT-Drucks. 887/95, p.29); the second, describing a situation similar to that of the new s.12 of the Standard Contract Terms Act refers to specific sales practices.
51. CI for the application of concurring sets of rules under Arts.6(l) and 7(2) of the Convention and for the problem of “most favourable” rules Dicey and Morris, BT-Drucks, at p.1309.
52. Roth, BT-Drucks, at p.168
53. Jayme and Kohler, 84 Rev. Crit, BT-Drucks, at p 33.
54. Basedow, Zeitschrift fur Handeis- und Wirtschaftsrecht (ZHR) 156 (1992), 413–442, at p.427.
55. Zeitschrift fur Handeis- und Wirtschaftsrecht (ZHR)
56. Roth, Zeitschrift fur Handeis- und Wirtschaftsrecht (ZHR), at p.171.
57. Basedow, Zeitschrift fur Handeis- und Wirtschaftsrecht (ZHR)
58. Roth, Zeitschrift fur Handeis- und Wirtschaftsrecht (ZHR)
59. Highly critical: Jayme and Kohler, 84 Rev. Crit., Zeitschrift fur Handeis- und Wirtschaftsrecht (ZHR), at p 37
60. IPRax 1994, Zeitschrift fur Handeis- und Wirtschaftsrecht (ZHR), at p.4Q5
61. IPRax 1995, Zeitschrift fur Handeis- und Wirtschaftsrecht (ZHR), at p 343.
62. Cf. only Morse, Zeitschrift fur Handeis- und Wirtschaftsrecht (ZHR), at pp. 145 et scq.