Rome II gets "thumbs down" from businessRome II gets "thumbs down" from business

Rome II gets "thumbs down" from business

Thumbs down was familiar in ancient Rome 2

Paris, 25 July 2003 - Business representatives today expressed serious misgivings about the European Commission's "Rome II" draft Regulation on choice of law in cross-border non-contractual civil disputes - and said they would campaign for changes before it goes any further.

Objections by the International Chamber of Commerce centre on the general proposal that the law of the country "in which damage arises or is likely to arise" be applied to resolve such disputes. That principle, if retained, could open the way for the laws of countries anywhere in the world to be applied and thereby undermine the benefits and certainty provided by the E-commerce Directive.

The proposed Regulation would affect the treatment of claims involving defamation, advertising, intellectual property rights and product liability.

Commenting on the draft tabled in Brussels earlier this week, Jonas Astrup, ICC policy manager for Commercial Law and Practice said: "This Regulation would be a nightmare for any business offering services on the Internet."

Internet law expert Michael Hancock, who co-heads ICC's work on jurisdiction issues related to e-commerce, added: "Companies providing services to customers outside the European Union could be sued under a variety of laws, depending on where the claimant happened to live or simply has a product."

ICC has long maintained that for online transactions involving consumers, the law that should be applied is that of the country where the provider is physically located or has sold the products or services. "That principle is vital to the development of e-commerce, " Mr Hancock, partner of the international law firm Salans, said.

He said the ICC was in no way reassured by a formal clarification it had received from the EU stating that Rome II would not affect the 'country of origin' principle enshrined in the E-Commerce Directive. "Far from creating clarity and consistency, this draft does precisely the opposite."

Mr Hancock added: "The Rome II regulation in its present form should be rejected by the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers because it simply does not promote a liberal, international marketplace for goods and services, which is in everyone's interest."

ICC Commission on Commercial Law and Practice