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Out Now: Gömann on the Internal Conflict-of-Laws Regime of the GDPR

Since 2016, the European General Data Protection Regulation has been one of the most popular topics of discussion, academic and otherwise. While the PIL discussion has mostly focused on the unilateral conflicts rule in Article 3 of the Regulation, which defines its “external” scope of application, some scholars – like Martina Mantovani on this blog – have pointed out that despite providing a unified regime that applies across the Union, the Regulation’s repeated deference of specific questions to the laws of the Member States still requires a certain degree of “internal” coordination. On this aspect of the Regulation, Merlin Gömann has just published an impressive volume of over 800 pages (in German), offering what easily constitutes the most comprehensive treatment of the problem to date.

In essence, Gömann tries to work out how (and by whom) this coordination can (and must) be achieved according to primary EU law. He comes to the conclusion that the respective scopes of the national laws implementing the Regulation cannot be determined by unilateral conflict rules of the Member States but need to be derived from the Regulation itself. Accordingly, the conflict rules contained in many national laws implementing the Regulation are in violation of primary EU law (also explained in some more detail here).

According to the author, the necessary coordination between national laws must instead be achieved by applying Art. 3 GDPR by analogy. Gömann carefully explains the consequences of his proposition on more than 200 pages – including the somewhat surprising fact that national data-protection authorities might be required to apply the substantive data-protection laws of another Member State. And if this weren’t enough of an academic achievement already, Gömann concludes his book by also developing specific propositions on how the GDPR could be reformed in order to provide a proper system of coordination between the residual national laws.

Commission recommends for EU to join Hague Judgments Convention

According to a press release, the EU Commission has proposed for the EU to join the 2019 Hague Judgments Convention. So far, the Convention has been signed, but not yet ratified, by three states (Israel, Ukraine, Uruguay).

The full statement reads as follows:

International Justice: The Commission proposes for the EU to join the Hague Judgments Convention

Today, the Commission has adopted a proposal for the EU’s accession to the Hague Judgement Convention, an international treaty that facilitates the recognition and enforcement of judgements in civil and commercial matters in foreign jurisdictions. Didier Reynders, Commissioner for Justice, said: “Having one’s rights enforced in a country outside of the EU can be very cumbersome, both for private persons and for businesses. The EU joining the Hague Judgments Convention would improve legal certainty and save citizens and companies time and money. The average length of proceedings would decrease considerably.” Currently, EU citizens and businesses that want to have a judgment given in the EU to be recognised and enforced in a non-EU country face numerous legal issues due to the absence of an international framework. This legal uncertainty as well as the associated costs may cause businesses and citizens to give up on pursuing their claims or decide not to engage in international dealings altogether. The Convention on Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Civil or Commercial Matters, adopted in July 2019, offers a comprehensive legal framework with clear rules as to the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments. The Commission’s proposal will now have to be adopted by the Council, with the European Parliament’s consent, for the EU to join the Convention. More information on the International Cooperation on Civil Justice is available here. (For more information: Christian Wigand – Tel.: +32 229 62253; Katarzyna Kolanko – Tel.: +32 229 63444; Jördis Ferroli – Tel.: +32 229 92729)

A Journal Issue of PPPM Dedicated to the EU Succession Regulation

Problemy Prawa Prywatnego Mi?dzynarodowego is the leading Polish periodical in the field of private international law. While most of its articles are in Polish, Vol. 26 (2020) offers a treat to those of us not fluent in Polish: a collection of articles, most in English (one in French, three in Polish), by leading European scholars, and dedicated to one topic: EU Regulation 650/12 of 4 July 2012, the Succession Regulation. The contributions emerge from a conference held in Katowice in 2019 (a conference report is included). What makes the treat particularly sweet: the whole issue, as well as the individual articles, are available online!

Here is the table of contents:

STUDIA
GLOSY
VARIA