Parlamento Europeo - Garantizar una cooperación eficiente con el Reino Unido en asuntos civiles

El Parlamento Europeo ha publicado el estudio "Garantizar una cooperación eficiente con el Reino Unido en asuntos civiles. Situación tras el Brexit y opciones de cooperación futura", encargado por el Departamento de Derechos de los Ciudadanos y Asuntos Constitucionales del Parlamento Europeo a petición de la Comisión JURI. En él se analizan las implicaciones del Brexit en relación con el tema de la cooperación judicial en materia civil.

"Ensuring Efficient Cooperation with the UK in civil law matters. Situation after Brexit and Options for Future Cooperation", Policy Department for Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs, Directorate-General for Internal Policies.

This study, commissioned by the European Parliament’s Policy Department for Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs at the request of the JURI Committee, analyses the implications of Brexit in relation to the profile of judicial cooperation in civil matters. It examines the existing legal framework in order to identify the areas of law in respect of which there is a gap in the relationship between the EU and the UK. It assesses the consequences of the UK's failure to accede to the 2007 Lugano Convention. Concludes that the conclusion of new treaties between the EU and the UK should be pursued in relation to those areas where there is a regulatory gap, with particular reference to the area of human rights.

CONCLUSIONS:
• The rationale that should animate the EU's activity in its relations with the UK in the area of judicial cooperation must, in my opinion, at present follow two directions that are not convergent for the time being.
• The UK, or more properly London, has for years been a very important jurisdictional hub, attracting, as a rule by virtue of exclusive jurisdiction clauses, litigation of other economic profile and high specialization. The Commercial Court also carries out an important activity related to arbitral judgments, which also have a privileged seat in London. As we have seen, the UK’s exit from the EU entails a potential vulnus to the attractiveness of the English judicial pole, and, in parallel, may facilitate a competition on the legal services level with other EU specialized courts.
• At present, therefore, it seems premature, at least in the medium term, to assume a UK accession to the Lugano Convention, with the consequent applicability to it of the regime provided by Regulation No. 44/2001.
• Moreover, it is inevitable that judicial cooperation between the EU and the UK should continue, reknitting where possible the threads of the discourse interrupted by Brexit. In particular, certain matters, other than those directly involving international trade, should be identified where ensuring an appropriate level of cooperation with the UK is in the primary interest of EU citizens (and UK citizens, by the way).
• We have indicated as possible areas for immediate cooperation the following:

- Divorce and Legal Separation;
- Maintenance Obligations;
- Small Claims;
- Cross-Border Insolvencies;
- Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs).

• These are (apart from SLAPPS, which have a special connotation) widespread disputes that potentially involve the rights of vulnerable sections of the population and should be regulated.
• In this way, a climate of mutual trust could be rebuilt, which in any case seems indispensable in EU-UK relations, for reasons that it is even unnecessary to recall.

 

Texto del Informe [aquí]

 

Agradezco la información a Aurelio López-Tarruella (Universidad de Alicante).