Rome 1
Where business people have failed, or have not tried, to agree on the applicable law, it is essential for the Rome I proposal to reinforce certainty in the law by establishing simple and foreseeable rules. For certain common forms of contract (sales of goods, services, distribution, intellectual property), Article 4 clearly states which law will be applicable, whereas the Rome Convention left the courts with a wide discretion which turned out to be a source of uncertainty in the law for economic operators.
The purpose of the proposal for a Rome I Regulation is to modernise the Rome Convention of 1980, which already harmonises the rules governing the law applicable to contractual disputes in the internal market. The aim of the initiative is to modernise the rules governing the law applicable to most contracts concluded by individuals or firms in Europe which contain an international element. The point is to ensure that the courts in all the Member States apply the same law to a dispute concerning an international contract, which is a condition for the mutual recognition of judgments in the European Union. Lees hier meer
