The European Commission is hoping to speed up work with a view
to adopting the Lugano Convention which will allow for the
straightforward recognition of civil and commercial rulings among
the fifteen Member States of the EU and Iceland, Liechtenstein,
Norway, Switzerland and Poland.
To this end, the Commission yesterday announced its adoption of
a recommendation for a Council Decision authorising the opening of
negotiations with a view to adopting the new Lugano Convention.
The 1988 Lugano Convention allows for civil and commercial
rulings to circulate between the Member States of the European
Union, Poland and the Member States of the European Free Trade
Association (EFTA). The Geneva-based EFTA comprises Iceland,
Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.
The agreement basically aims to make the provisions of the
Brussels Regulation (which replaced the Brussels Convention on 1st
March 2002) applicable to relations between the Member States, the
EFTA States and Poland. The Brussels Regulation defines the powers
of the Member States in civil and commercial matters and sets up a
simplified mechanism for the recognition and enforcement of civil
and commercial rulings.
The Lugano Convention will establish a system identical to that
set out in the Brussels Regulation to ensure that the resulting
solutions are applied in a uniform manner in a judicial area larger
than that of the European Union.
