European Procedural Law is an area of the law that can no longer be ignored. The EC Council Reg. 44/2001 determines jurisdiction both at the international level and locally. The EC Council Reg. 1348/2000 on the service of judicial and extrajudicial documents and the EC Council Reg. 1206/2001 on co-operation in the taking of evidence are of paramount importance. The EC Council Reg. 805/2004 creates a European Enforcement Order for uncontested claims without any intermediate proceedings being necessary in the State of enforcement. Other measures to harmonize the European legal systems are expected.

The Rome I Regulation replaces the Rome Convention on the law applicable to contractual obligations. The Rome I Regulation determines which law is applicable to international contracts and supplements the Rome II Regulation on the law applicable to non-contractual obligations.

International contracts of sale are widely governed by the CISG. Even export transactions with non-contracting States are governed by the CISG. Compared with non-uniform national laws, the CISG offers many advantages and should therefore never be disregarded.

With regard to European Contract Law, a first draft of a Common Frame of Reference has been recently published. It will contribute to a harmonious “Europeanisation” of private law and intends to make available to the parties an optional legal system that they can choose to govern their rights or obligations.

The Saturday morning session will be dedicated to a case study during which the solutions available will be developed on a step by step basis. The panellists will discuss the related problems and inherent aspects with the participants and will identify the legal pitfalls.

The speakers are all top experts of international business law, and the approach will be essentially practical and interactive.