Enforcement of International Contracts in the European Union Convergence and divergence between Brussels I and Rome I

The enforcement of international contracts in the European Union is increasingly dependent on Community (rather than national) private international law. This book examines the present status and future prospects of Community private international law in the contractual area. It focuses in particular upon the joint analysis of the Rome Convention of 19 June 1980 on the law applicable to contractual obligations (which is likely to be converted in the near future into the Rome I-regulation) and the Brussels I-regulation. Rather than attempting a comprehensive study of Brussels I and Rome I, this book examines a number of key issues considered particularly pertinent from the point of view of the coherence between both instruments. This approach should contribute to the consistency of Community policy-making and legislation in the field of international contracts, to the benefit of market participants. This book is the culmination of a research project funded by the European Commission (DG Justice and Home Affairs, Framework programme for judicial co-operation in civil matters) and co-ordinated by the University of Antwerp Belgium. Eminent European experts have contributed to the book which should prove of interest to law makers, academics and practitioners concerned with the enforcement of contracts in a cross-border context.

Marta Pertegás holds a Doctor of Laws degree. She joined the Permanent Bureau of the Hague Conference on Private International Law in February 2008 as Secretary and focuses on the Hague International Litigation Conventions and other projects related to commercial international law. She became First Secretary in February 2011. Ms Pertegás studied law at the University of Barcelona, Spain; she completed a Master of Laws and PhD thesis on "Cross-border enforcement of patent rights" at the KU Leuven, Belgium. From 2002 to 2008, Ms Pertegás taught private international law, international and comparative procedural law and World Trade Organization law as a full-time tenured professor at the University of Antwerp, Belgium. She is currently teaching "Law of Global Transactions and Litigation" in Antwerp and is frequently invited to give presentations on the work of the Hague Conference in conferences and seminars. Ms Pertegás has written a large number of publications on private, family and commercial international law. From 1999 to 2008, Ms Pertegás was a Member of the Bars of Barcelona and Brussels (European Union's roster) and practised part-time of counsel (one day per week). She served as a Consultant in European International Private Law during the Belgian presidency of the Council of the European Union in 2001. Since 2003, she has been a Member of the Groupe belge de Droit International Privé (which assisted with the development and assessment of the Belgian Code on Private International Law). In addition, Ms Pertegás worked as an ad hoc Consultant for the DG Justice and Home Affairs of the European Commission in relation to the Green Paper on Succession.

Gert Straetmans is professor of European economic and commercial law at the University of Antwerp. He has been visiting professor at several foreign universities and is visiting professor at the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms Universität Bonn. He has published extensively on market practices law, consumer law and European free movement law.