Civil Agenda - Justice 2009

CIVIL AGENDA OF CZ PRES

The main priority in the field of civil justice is the new regulation on successions and wills which is supposed to be opened to the discussion in the Council firstly during the Czech presidency. The main benefit of this complex regulation is better transparency and quicker settlement of international successions within the EU.
The international conference held in April 2009 in cooperation with the Academy of European Law (ERA) will be also devoted to this topic.

The next agenda concerning which the Czech Republic is going to launch discussion in the Council is the Report on the Application of Regulation Brussels I in the member states. It is expected that according to the results of the discussion the Commission will submit proposal for amendments of the current regulation. We assume that the core question will be abolishing of exequatur procedure.

Finally, the Czech Republic will also launch the negotiation on a mechanism authorising the member states to negotiate and conclude bilateral agreements with third countries in the area of civil justice falling within the exclusive Community external competence. Implementation of this mechanism enable Member States to conclude new bilateral agreements or to renegotiate the existing bilateral agreements concerning questions governed by Community law.

The external competence of the Community in the area of judicial cooperation in civil matters is covered by the working group for General Questions. During CZ PRES this working group will examine preparedness of the member states and the Community to accede to certain international conventions concluded in the framework of the Hague Conference on Private International Law and the Council of Europe. As a presiding state the Czech Republic will coordinate the positions of the member states during negotiations on UNIDROIT Convention on Substantive Rules regarding Intermediated Securities.

The working group for Common Frame of Reference for European contract law (CFR) has been detached from the working group for General Questions. The CFR is designed as an instrument concerning definitions of legal terms, basic principles and model rules of contract law stemming from the best solutions found in respective legal systems of the Member States and in the communitarian law. The Czech Republic would like to continue in the negotiations on CFR as a non-binding handbook designed for the EC institutions which could be used for legislative activities in the area of consumer acquis and eventually in other areas of communitarian contract law in the future.

The Rome III regulation regarding divorces is a politically very sensitive issue. The Czech Republic participated in the negotiations with the parliamentary reservation. According to the latest development there appears to be a possibility to adopt this regulation on the basis of so called “enhanced cooperation”. The “enhanced cooperation” mechanism does not require unanimous consent of all member states. Consequently, the regulation shall be effective only among the participating member states.