From the 17th December 2009, Regulation 593/2008/EC (“Rome I”) will be used to determine the governing law of contracts. Rome I will be applied by the courts of all EU member states (except Denmark) to all contracts concluded on or after that date.
Rome I is not very different from the Rome Convention. However, there are some specific changes, including:
eight new rules for specific types of contract on the applicable law in the absence of choice;
additional circumstances in which an express choice of law may be modified; and
new rules for contracts of carriage, contracts of insurance, consumer contracts, and personal employment contracts.
The Rome Convention will continue to apply to contracts entered into before the 17th December 2009.
Please note that, like the Rome Convention, Rome I does not apply to:
revenue and customs and administrative matters;
arbitration and jurisdiction agreements;
certain company matters;
certain life assurance contracts; or
contractual obligations arising out of bills of exchange and other negotiable instruments.
(In fact, the Rome Convention did not apply to any insurance contracts covering risks in EU member states.)
We recommend that companies’ standard agreements, in particular, are reviewed to ensure that any minor changes required by the introduction of Rome I are made, to avoid the possibility of any uncertainty causing disputes in the future.
Added: 17th December 2009
