International Law Bulletin

The Regulation, known as "Brussels I Regulation (recast)", sets out rules determining the international jurisdiction of the courts of the Member States and prevents parallel proceedings before the courts of different Member States. The Regulation also lays down rules for the recognition and enforcement of judgments of national courts in other Member States and covers, among other matters, litigation in the area of intellectual property rights, including patents. The Regulation will enter into force on 10 January 2015.

In December 2012, an agreement was reached on the so-called “patent package” – a legislative initiative consisting of two Regulations (the "Unified Patent Regulations") and an international Agreement (the "Unified Patent Court Agreement" or "UPC Agreement"), laying the foundations for the creation of unitary patent protection in the EU. The Unified Patent Court will have exclusive competence, thus replacing national courts, for the matters governed by the UPC Agreement.

The amended Regulation No 1215/2012 clarifies the operation of the rules on jurisdiction with respect to the Unified Patent Court and the Benelux Court of Justice. In addition, it defines the application of the rules on recognition and enforcement in the relations between Member States which are and Member States which are not Contracting Parties to the respective international agreements. Finally, the Regulation addresses the lack of common jurisdiction rules vis-à-vis defendants in non-European Union States.

The Greek Presidency reached a provisional political agreement with the European Parliament on 25 February 2014 on new EU rules on regulated investment funds regarding depositary functions, remuneration policies and sanctions.

The Committee of Permanent Representatives (COREPER) endorsed on 28 February 2014 an agreement forged by the Greek Presidency between the Council and the European Parliament on a draft directive for the disclosure of non-financial and diversity information by certain large companies.

The Member States' permanent representatives endorsed on 28 February 2014 the compromise reached between the Council and the European Parliament concerning a Regulation which lays down conditions for mutual recognition of electronic identification, sets rules for trust services, in particular for electronic transactions; and creates a legal framework for electronic signatures, seals and time stamps, electronic documents as well as electronic registered delivery services and certificate services for website authentication.

The Permanent Representatives Committee approved the agreement reached with the European Parliament on the regulation on the statute and funding of European political parties and European political foundations on 25 February 2014.

The Permanent Representatives Committee endorsed on 7 March 2014 the agreement reached between the Presidency of the Council and representatives of the European Parliament on 4 March, regarding a draft regulation amending the EU Emissions trading scheme (ETS) directive (2003/87/EC), in view of the implementation by 2020 of an international agreement applying a single global market-based measure to international aviation emissions.

The Council adopted on 26 February 2014 a regulation on guidelines for the deployment and interoperability of telecommunications infrastructure projects of common interest in the field of trans-European telecommunications networks.

The new legislative proposal amending the EU’s Solidarity Fund was approved on 12 Μarch 2014 during COREPER following the successful mediation of the Greek Presidency.

The Council adopted on 16 March 2014 a directive regarding the European Investigation Order (EIO) in criminal matters (PE-CONS 122/13). The goal of the directive is to allow member states to carry out investigative measures at the request of another member state on the basis of mutual recognition. The Council also adopted a directive on the freezing and confiscation of proceeds of crime in the EU (PE-COΝS 121/13). The directive aims to make it easier for national authorities to confiscate and recover the profits made by criminals from cross-border and organised crime.

The Committee of Permanent Representatives endorsed on 26 March 2014 an agreement between the Greek Presidency of the Council and European Parliament representatives laying down new rules aimed at facilitating damage claims by victims of antitrust violations. The new directive will harmonise and ensure the effective enforcement of antitrust damages rules within the EU, thereby allowing the victims of a cartel to receive full compensation for both the actual loss suffered and for lost profits. While the right to full compensation is guaranteed by the EU treaty, the practical exercise of this right is often rendered difficult or practically impossible because of the applicable rules and procedures. Member states will have two years to incorporate the new rules into national legislation following their entry into force. The agreement (8088/14), still has to be formalised by the European Parliament and the Council separately.

Ιn the margins of the Council on General Affairs and Policy of the Hague Conference on Private International Law, the Greek Presidency deposited on 9 April 2014 EU’s instrument of ratification of the “Hague Convention on the International Recovery of Child Support and Other Forms of Family Maintenance”. The ratification is considered an important step in the further development of the relations between the Union and third states in the area of maintenance obligations. The Convention, along with the Protocol on the Law Applicable to Maintenance Obligations, was signed on 23 November 2007. Its object is to ensure the effective international recovery of child support. It puts emphasis on the “effective access” to procedures, recognising that small financial obstacles confronting an impecunious creditor may deter the bringing of an international claim. Applications for child support will be processed through a Central Authority established by each country. Each country should also provide free legal assistance for child support obligations in terms of the application process. Furthermore, the use of new information technologies is encouraged to reduce the costs and delays. The Convention does not focus on the examination of decisions regarding child support orders, but rather on the creation of an efficient process to enforce those orders. To this aim, it foresees a broadly based system of expedited and simplified procedures for the recognition and enforcement of maintenance decisions made in contracting states. The habitual residence of either the respondent or the creditor in the contacting state where proceedings were initiated, are likely to be the principal bases for recognising and enforcing maintenance decisions in practice.

Celia Liagoura
Jurist, PhD candidate
Research Associate
Prof. Elias Krispis Foundation for International Legal Studies


Source: Hellenic Presidency of the Council of the European Union, http://gr2014.eu/, last visited: 30 Apr. 2014.

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