By its preliminary question referred to the Court of Justice in the case Volvo, C-30/20, the referring court was indenting to clarify whether Article 7(2) of the Brussels I bis Regulation has to be interpreted as establishing only the international jurisdiction of the courts of the Member State for the ‘place where the harmful event occurred or may occur’ or establishing also national territorial jurisdiction. This question arose in the context of the proceedings on a follow-on action, based on the Commission’s decision, by which the applicant claims damages for loss and damage caused by certain anticompetitive practices.

In his Opinion delivered this Thursday, Advocate General Richard de la Tour not only answers the preliminary question in the affirmative (points 35 to 48) but also addresses other issues pertaining to the jurisdictional side of the private enforcement of EU competition law.

On the one hand, Advocate General explains how one should precisely determine the place where the damage occurred in order to identify the court having jurisdiction under Article 7(2) of the Brussels I bis Regulation (points 49 to 111). As he acknowledges at point 70 of the Opinion, the finding that the damage occurred within the market affected by the anticompetitive practices, is not, on its own, sufficient to identify the court having territorial jurisdiction to hear an action pertaining to these practices. For this very reason, the Opinion provides a detailed guidance on how to identify a competent court.

On the other hand, AG Richard de la Tour examines whether and to what extent the Member States are authorized to concentrate jurisdiction for the actions on anticompetitive practices (points 112 to 130).

The Opinion can be consulted here (so far the English version is not available).

23 teams from al over the globe are participating in the Pax Moot that is currently ongoing (from 21 to 23 April). The case concerns private international law aspects of the race to a Covid vaccine. It involves the application of various EU and international instruments.

Spectators are welcome at the semifinals and finals on Friday 23 April. You can join by first logging into your own Zoom account and then clicking the link on the schedule to the relevant session. After the final round Ms Pia Lindholm of the European Commission will address the students. Then the winners of the written rounds, the oral rounds and the best pleader will be announced.

With a comprehensive and informative manuscript, in International Commercial Arbitration in the European Union – Brussels I, Brexit and Beyond (Edward Elgar, 2020, 320 pp.: see here a previous announcement of the publication) Chukwudi Ojiegbe provides a wide-ranging overview of the status quo of international commercial arbitration in the European Union, also duly taking into account the effects arising, in this specific area of the law, from the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union.

By means of a detailed historical and policy-oriented reconstruction, the Author assesses the history of the Brussels I Recast as it pertains to the provision on the arbitration exclusion. With careful analysis, he considers the implications of the nuanced and debated interface between arbitration and litigation in accordance with the Brussels I Regime as well as the consequences of such interface for the EU exclusive external competence in aspects of international commercial arbitration. Against this background, and further contributing to this complex area of the law, he sets out the findings on the impact of the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union.

In anticipation of a possible future recast of the Brussels I Regime, the Author argues in favour of the inclusion of specific rules that will allow the Member State court with jurisdiction under the Brussels I Regime the possibility of staying the litigation in favour of the arbitral tribunal. As he observes, the coordination between the jurisdiction of the courts of the Member States and arbitral tribunals would increase legal certainty, alleviating the problem of parallel court/arbitration proceedings and the risk of conflicting decisions.

Overall, this volume contributes clarity and advances the academic debate on the EU arbitration/litigation interface. By offering clear historical reconstructions and putting forth solutions to this longstanding problem, it will undoubtedly prove to be of interest to scholars and practitioners but it will also be a useful source for students who wish to deepen their understanding of this area of the law.

Another treat for German-reading friends and colleagues of CoL: On the occasion of Erik Jayme’s 85th birthday on 7th June 2019, Martin Gebauer and Stefan Huber, both at the University of Tübingen (one of the few „Universities of Excellence“ in Germany), convened the symposium “Politisches Kollisionsrecht: Sachnormzwecke, Hoheitsinteressen, Kultur”. Friends and colleagues, many of them originating academically from the University of Heidelberg (another one of the few „Universities of Excellence“) and its Institute for Comparative Law, Conflict of Laws and International Business Law, or with close ties to this place, gathered. The book that emerged from this inspiring event collects the prints of the presentations and includes fascinating contributions. Martin Gebauer, for example, deconstructs the myth of “classical” private international law in an eye-opening historical analysis, and Stefan Huber deals with the interplay, and symptomatic antinomies, of substantive law objectives and notions of procedural justice in relation to heads of jurisdiction for the protection of weaker parties under the Brussels regime. The volume is wrapped up by an introduction rich of insights and thoughts by Gebauer and Huber on “Politisches Kollisionsrecht” and by wonderful “news from the academic world” by Erik Jayme in which he shares memories and anecdotes from his rich life as one of the most renowned scholars of private international law worldwide. Highly recommended!