Out-Law News

Commission aims to simplify jurisdiction rules among 20 states


The European Commission is hoping to speed up work with a view to adopting the Lugano Convention which will allow for the straightforward recognition of civil and commercial rulings among the fifteen Member States of the EU and Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland and Poland.

To this end, the Commission yesterday announced its adoption of a recommendation for a Council Decision authorising the opening of negotiations with a view to adopting the new Lugano Convention.

The 1988 Lugano Convention allows for civil and commercial rulings to circulate between the Member States of the European Union, Poland and the Member States of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA). The Geneva-based EFTA comprises Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

The agreement basically aims to make the provisions of the Brussels Regulation (which replaced the Brussels Convention on 1st March 2002) applicable to relations between the Member States, the EFTA States and Poland. The Brussels Regulation defines the powers of the Member States in civil and commercial matters and sets up a simplified mechanism for the recognition and enforcement of civil and commercial rulings.

The Lugano Convention will establish a system identical to that set out in the Brussels Regulation to ensure that the resulting solutions are applied in a uniform manner in a judicial area larger than that of the European Union.

We are processing your request. \n Thank you for your patience. An error occurred. This could be due to inactivity on the page - please try again.