Agreement between the European Community and the Kingdom of Denmark on Jurisdiction and the Recognition and the Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters.

Silvia BORTOLOTTI | EU | 2005-12-14

Silvia BORTOLOTTI

View CV

The aim of this agreement is to apply the provisions of Regulations 44/2001 and its implementing measures to the relations between the European Community and Denmark in order to achieve a uniform application and interpretation of the provisions of Regulation 44/2001 and its implementing measures in all member States.

As a matter of fact, Denmark does not participate in Title IV of the Treaty in accordance with Article 1 and 2 of the Protocol on the position of Denmark annexed to the Treaty on the European Union and the Treaty establishing the European Community. As a consequence, Community instruments adopted in the field of, among others, judicial cooperation in civil matters were not applicable in Denmark.

One of these Community instruments was Council Regulation (EC) No. 44/2001 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgment in civil and commercial matters. This regulation replaced the Brussels Convention of 1968 in the same matter, to which Denmark was party.

The result was an unsatisfactory legal situation in which Denmark continued to apply the old rules of the Brussels Convention but compelled, at the same time, the other Members States to apply the same rules, when the latter had to recognize and enforce Danish decisions.

In view of finding a solution to said unsatisfactory legal situation, the Commission considered it to be in the Community interest to extend to Denmark the provisions of Regulations 44/2001. After in depth discussions, the Commission accepted to negotiate parallel agreement with Denmark, provided that the following conditions were fulfilled: such a solution would have to be of an exceptional nature and apply for a transitional period only, the participation of Denmark in the Community regime would have to be fully in the interest of the Community and its citizens, the requirements imposed on Denmark would have to be identical to those imposed on all member States, so as to ensure that rules with the same content were applied in Denmark and in the other member States.

Some of the more significant provisions contained in the agreement are the following:

  • appropriate rules on the role of the Court of Justice to ensure the uniform interpretation of the instrument applied by parallel agreement between Denmark and the other member States;
  • a mechanism to enable Denmark to accept future amendments by the Council to the basic instruments and the future implementing measures to be adopted under Article 202 of the EC Treaty;
  • a clause providing that the agreement is considered terminated if Denmark refuses to accept such future amendments and its implementing measures;
  • rules specifying Denmark’s obligations in negotiation with third countries for agreements concerning matters covered by the parallel agreement;
  • the possibility of denouncing the parallel agreement by giving notice to the other contracting party.

The text of the above mentioned agreement can be found in the International International Conventions Section of the website.

Print this article