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Document 02008R0593-20080724
Regulation (EC) N o 593/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 June 2008 on the law applicable to contractual obligations (Rome I)
Consolidated text: Regulation (EC) N o 593/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 June 2008 on the law applicable to contractual obligations (Rome I)
Regulation (EC) N o 593/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 June 2008 on the law applicable to contractual obligations (Rome I)
02008R0593 — EN — 24.07.2008 — 000.001
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REGULATION (EC) No 593/2008 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 17 June 2008 on the law applicable to contractual obligations (Rome I) (OJ L 177 4.7.2008, p. 6) |
Corrected by:
REGULATION (EC) No 593/2008 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL
of 17 June 2008
on the law applicable to contractual obligations (Rome I)
CHAPTER I
SCOPE
Article 1
Material scope
This Regulation shall apply, in situations involving a conflict of laws, to contractual obligations in civil and commercial matters.
It shall not apply, in particular, to revenue, customs or administrative matters.
The following shall be excluded from the scope of this Regulation:
questions involving the status or legal capacity of natural persons, without prejudice to Article 13;
obligations arising out of family relationships and relationships deemed by the law applicable to such relationships to have comparable effects, including maintenance obligations;
obligations arising out of matrimonial property regimes, property regimes of relationships deemed by the law applicable to such relationships to have comparable effects to marriage, and wills and succession;
obligations arising under bills of exchange, cheques and promissory notes and other negotiable instruments to the extent that the obligations under such other negotiable instruments arise out of their negotiable character;
arbitration agreements and agreements on the choice of court;
questions governed by the law of companies and other bodies, corporate or unincorporated, such as the creation, by registration or otherwise, legal capacity, internal organisation or winding-up of companies and other bodies, corporate or unincorporated, and the personal liability of officers and members as such for the obligations of the company or body;
the question whether an agent is able to bind a principal, or an organ to bind a company or other body corporate or unincorporated, in relation to a third party;
the constitution of trusts and the relationship between settlors, trustees and beneficiaries;
obligations arising out of dealings prior to the conclusion of a contract;
insurance contracts arising out of operations carried out by organisations other than undertakings referred to in Article 2 of Directive 2002/83/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 November 2002 concerning life assurance ( 14 ) the object of which is to provide benefits for employed or self-employed persons belonging to an undertaking or group of undertakings, or to a trade or group of trades, in the event of death or survival or of discontinuance or curtailment of activity, or of sickness related to work or accidents at work.
Article 2
Universal application
Any law specified by this Regulation shall be applied whether or not it is the law of a Member State.
CHAPTER II
UNIFORM RULES
Article 3
Freedom of choice
Article 4
Applicable law in the absence of choice
To the extent that the law applicable to the contract has not been chosen in accordance with Article 3 and without prejudice to Articles 5 to 8, the law governing the contract shall be determined as follows:
a contract for the sale of goods shall be governed by the law of the country where the seller has his habitual residence;
a contract for the provision of services shall be governed by the law of the country where the service provider has his habitual residence;
a contract relating to a right in rem in immovable property or to a tenancy of immovable property shall be governed by the law of the country where the property is situated;
notwithstanding point (c), a tenancy of immovable property concluded for temporary private use for a period of no more than six consecutive months shall be governed by the law of the country where the landlord has his habitual residence, provided that the tenant is a natural person and has his habitual residence in the same country;
a franchise contract shall be governed by the law of the country where the franchisee has his habitual residence;
a distribution contract shall be governed by the law of the country where the distributor has his habitual residence;
a contract for the sale of goods by auction shall be governed by the law of the country where the auction takes place, if such a place can be determined;
a contract concluded within a multilateral system which brings together or facilitates the bringing together of multiple third-party buying and selling interests in financial instruments, as defined by Article 4(1), point (17) of Directive 2004/39/EC, in accordance with non-discretionary rules and governed by a single law, shall be governed by that law.
Article 5
Contracts of carriage
To the extent that the law applicable to a contract for the carriage of passengers has not been chosen by the parties in accordance with the second subparagraph, the law applicable shall be the law of the country where the passenger has his habitual residence, provided that either the place of departure or the place of destination is situated in that country. If these requirements are not met, the law of the country where the carrier has his habitual residence shall apply.
The parties may choose as the law applicable to a contract for the carriage of passengers in accordance with Article 3 only the law of the country where:
the passenger has his habitual residence; or
the carrier has his habitual residence; or
the carrier has his place of central administration; or
the place of departure is situated; or
the place of destination is situated.
Article 6
Consumer contracts
Without prejudice to Articles 5 and 7, a contract concluded by a natural person for a purpose which can be regarded as being outside his trade or profession (the consumer) with another person acting in the exercise of his trade or profession (the professional) shall be governed by the law of the country where the consumer has his habitual residence, provided that the professional:
pursues his commercial or professional activities in the country where the consumer has his habitual residence, or
by any means, directs such activities to that country or to several countries including that country,
and the contract falls within the scope of such activities.
Paragraphs 1 and 2 shall not apply to:
a contract for the supply of services where the services are to be supplied to the consumer exclusively in a country other than that in which he has his habitual residence;
a contract of carriage other than a contract relating to package travel within the meaning of Council Directive 90/314/EEC of 13 June 1990 on package travel, package holidays and package tours ( 15 );
a contract relating to a right in rem in immovable property or a tenancy of immovable property other than a contract relating to the right to use immovable properties on a timeshare basis within the meaning of Directive 94/47/EC;
rights and obligations which constitute a financial instrument and rights and obligations constituting the terms and conditions governing the issuance or offer to the public and public take-over bids of transferable securities, and the subscription and redemption of units in collective investment undertakings in so far as these activities do not constitute provision of a financial service;
a contract concluded within the type of system falling within the scope of Article 4(1)(h).
Article 7
Insurance contracts
An insurance contract covering a large risk as defined in Article 5(d) of the First Council Directive 73/239/EEC of 24 July 1973 on the coordination of laws, regulations and administrative provisions relating to the taking-up and pursuit of the business of direct insurance other than life assurance ( 16 ) shall be governed by the law chosen by the parties in accordance with Article 3 of this Regulation.
To the extent that the applicable law has not been chosen by the parties, the insurance contract shall be governed by the law of the country where the insurer has his habitual residence. Where it is clear from all the circumstances of the case that the contract is manifestly more closely connected with another country, the law of that other country shall apply.
In the case of an insurance contract other than a contract falling within paragraph 2, only the following laws may be chosen by the parties in accordance with Article 3:
the law of any Member State where the risk is situated at the time of conclusion of the contract;
the law of the country where the policy holder has his habitual residence;
in the case of life assurance, the law of the Member State of which the policy holder is a national;
for insurance contracts covering risks limited to events occurring in one Member State other than the Member State where the risk is situated, the law of that Member State;
where the policy holder of a contract falling under this paragraph pursues a commercial or industrial activity or a liberal profession and the insurance contract covers two or more risks which relate to those activities and are situated in different Member States, the law of any of the Member States concerned or the law of the country of habitual residence of the policy holder.
Where, in the cases set out in points (a), (b) or (e), the Member States referred to grant greater freedom of choice of the law applicable to the insurance contract, the parties may take advantage of that freedom.
To the extent that the law applicable has not been chosen by the parties in accordance with this paragraph, such a contract shall be governed by the law of the Member State in which the risk is situated at the time of conclusion of the contract.
The following additional rules shall apply to insurance contracts covering risks for which a Member State imposes an obligation to take out insurance:
the insurance contract shall not satisfy the obligation to take out insurance unless it complies with the specific provisions relating to that insurance laid down by the Member State that imposes the obligation. Where the law of the Member State in which the risk is situated and the law of the Member State imposing the obligation to take out insurance contradict each other, the latter shall prevail;
by way of derogation from paragraphs 2 and 3, a Member State may lay down that the insurance contract shall be governed by the law of the Member State that imposes the obligation to take out insurance.
Article 8
Individual employment contracts
Article 9
Overriding mandatory provisions
Article 10
Consent and material validity
Article 11
Formal validity
Notwithstanding paragraphs 1 to 4, a contract the subject matter of which is a right in rem in immovable property or a tenancy of immovable property shall be subject to the requirements of form of the law of the country where the property is situated if by that law:
those requirements are imposed irrespective of the country where the contract is concluded and irrespective of the law governing the contract; and
those requirements cannot be derogated from by agreement.
Article 12
Scope of the law applicable
The law applicable to a contract by virtue of this Regulation shall govern in particular:
interpretation;
performance;
within the limits of the powers conferred on the court by its procedural law, the consequences of a total or partial breach of obligations, including the assessment of damages in so far as it is governed by rules of law;
the various ways of extinguishing obligations, and prescription and limitation of actions;
the consequences of nullity of the contract.
Article 13
Incapacity
In a contract concluded between persons who are in the same country, a natural person who would have capacity under the law of that country may invoke his incapacity resulting from the law of another country, only if the other party to the contract was aware of that incapacity at the time of the conclusion of the contract or was not aware thereof as a result of negligence.
Article 14
Voluntary assignment and contractual subrogation
Article 15
Legal subrogation
Where a person (the creditor) has a contractual claim against another (the debtor) and a third person has a duty to satisfy the creditor, or has in fact satisfied the creditor in discharge of that duty, the law which governs the third person's duty to satisfy the creditor shall determine whether and to what extent the third person is entitled to exercise against the debtor the rights which the creditor had against the debtor under the law governing their relationship.
Article 16
Multiple liability
If a creditor has a claim against several debtors who are liable for the same claim, and one of the debtors has already satisfied the claim in whole or in part, the law governing the debtor's obligation towards the creditor also governs the debtor's right to claim recourse from the other debtors. The other debtors may rely on the defences they had against the creditor to the extent allowed by the law governing their obligations towards the creditor.
Article 17
Set-off
Where the right to set-off is not agreed by the parties, set-off shall be governed by the law applicable to the claim against which the right to set-off is asserted.
Article 18
Burden of proof
CHAPTER III
OTHER PROVISIONS
Article 19
Habitual residence
For the purposes of this Regulation, the habitual residence of companies and other bodies, corporate or unincorporated, shall be the place of central administration.
The habitual residence of a natural person acting in the course of his business activity shall be his principal place of business.
Article 20
Exclusion of renvoi
The application of the law of any country specified by this Regulation means the application of the rules of law in force in that country other than its rules of private international law, unless provided otherwise in this Regulation.
Article 21
Public policy of the forum
The application of a provision of the law of any country specified by this Regulation may be refused only if such application is manifestly incompatible with the public policy (ordre public) of the forum.
Article 22
States with more than one legal system
Article 23
Relationship with other provisions of Community law
With the exception of Article 7, this Regulation shall not prejudice the application of provisions of Community law which, in relation to particular matters, lay down conflict-of-law rules relating to contractual obligations.
Article 24
Relationship with the Rome Convention
Article 25
Relationship with existing international conventions
Article 26
List of Conventions
Within six months of receipt of the notifications referred to in paragraph 1, the Commission shall publish in the Official Journal of the European Union:
a list of the conventions referred to in paragraph 1;
the denunciations referred to in paragraph 1.
Article 27
Review clause
By 17 June 2013, the Commission shall submit to the European Parliament, the Council and the European Economic and Social Committee a report on the application of this Regulation. If appropriate, the report shall be accompanied by proposals to amend this Regulation. The report shall include:
a study on the law applicable to insurance contracts and an assessment of the impact of the provisions to be introduced, if any; and
an evaluation on the application of Article 6, in particular as regards the coherence of Community law in the field of consumer protection.
CHAPTER IV
FINAL PROVISIONS
Article 29
Entry into force and application
This Regulation shall enter into force on the 20th day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
It shall apply from 17 December 2009 except for Article 26 which shall apply from 17 June 2009.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in the Member States in accordance with the Treaty establishing the European Community.
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