REPORT on the recommendation for a Council decision concerning the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the Convention on the Law applicable to Contractual Obligations, opened for signature in Rome on 19 June 1980

14.9.2007 - (COM(2007)0217 – C6‑0157/2007 – 2007/007(CNS)) - *

Committee on Legal Affairs
Rapporteur: Cristian Dumitrescu

DRAFT EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION

on the recommendation for a Council decision concerning the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the Convention on the Law applicable to Contractual Obligations, opened for signature in Rome on 19 June 1980

(COM(2007)0217 – C6‑0157/2007 – 2007/007(CNS))

(Consultation procedure)

The European Parliament,

–   having regard to the Commission's recommendation to the Council (COM(2007)0217)[1],

–   having regard to the EC Treaty,

–   having regard to the Treaty of Accession of Bulgaria and Romania,

–   having regard to Article 3, paragraph 4, of the Act of Accession of Bulgaria and Romania[2], pursuant to which the Council consulted Parliament (C6‑0157/2007),

–   having regard to Rule 51 of its Rules of Procedure,

–   having regard to the report of the Committee on Legal Affairs (A6‑0000/2007),

1.  Approves the Commission recommendation;

2.  Calls on the Council to notify Parliament should it intend to depart from the text approved by Parliament;

3.  Calls for the conciliation procedure provided for in the Joint Declaration of 4 March 1975 to be initiated should the Council intend to depart from the text approved by Parliament;

4.  Asks to be consulted again should the Council intend to amend the Commission proposal substantially;

5.  Instructs its President to forward its position to the Council and Commission.

• [1]  Not yet published in the Official Journal.
• [2]  Act concerning the conditions of accession of the Republic of Bulgaria and Romania and the adjustments to the Treaties on which the European Union is founded, OJ L 157, 21.6.2005, p. 203.

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

1. Introduction

The 2005 Act of Accession of Bulgaria and Romania introduced a simplified procedure for the accession of these two countries to the conventions (and protocols) concluded by Member States on the basis of Article 34 TEU or Article 293 ECT.

It is no longer necessary to negotiate and conclude specific protocols for accession to these conventions (which would have required ratification by the 27 States): Article 3, paragraph 3, of the Act provides simply that Bulgaria and Romania accede to the conventions and protocols by virtue of the Act of Accession. Paragraphs 3 and 4 of the said Article 3 provide that to this end the Council shall take a decision setting the date of entry into force of these conventions in relation to Bulgaria and Romania and shall make all adjustments required by reason of the accession of the two new Member States (notably, as a minimum measure, the adoption of conventions in Bulgarian and Romanian so that these versions are equally authentic). In order to do so, the Council acts on a recommendation from the Commission, after consulting the European Parliament.

Annex I to the Act of Accession lists the 7 conventions and protocols in the field of justice and home affairs. This list contains in particular:

· the Convention of 19 June 1980 on the Law applicable to Contractual Obligations, opened for signature in Rome on 19 June 1980,

· the Convention of 10 April 1984 on the accession of the Hellenic Republic to the Convention on the Law applicable to Contractual Obligations, opened for signature in Rome on 19 June 1980,

· the First Protocol of 19 December 1988 on the interpretation by the Court of Justice of the European Communities of the Convention on the Law applicable to Contractual Obligations, opened for signature in Rome on 19 June 1980,

· the Second Protocol of 19 December 1988 conferring on the Court of Justice of the European Communities certain powers to interpret the Convention on the Law applicable to Contractual Obligations, opened for signature in Rome on 19 June 1980,

· the Convention of 18 May 1992 on the accession of the Kingdom of Spain and the Portuguese Republic to the Convention on the Law applicable to Contractual Obligations, opened for signature in Rome on 19 June 1980,

· the Convention of 29 November 1996 on the accession of the Republic of Austria, the Republic of Finland and the Kingdom of Sweden to the Convention on the Law applicable to Contractual Obligations, opened for signature in Rome on 19 June 1980, and to the First and Second Protocols on its interpretation by the Court of Justice.

In accordance with Article 3, paragraph 6, the Commission has drawn up a proposal with a view to adding to this list the Convention on the accession of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and the Slovak Republic to the Convention on the Law applicable to Contractual Obligations, opened for signature in Rome on 19 June 1980, and to the First and Second Protocols on the interpretation thereof by the Court of Justice of the European Communities.

This recommendation for a Council decision put forward by the Commission seeks to make the adjustments required by reason of the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the above‑mentioned conventions and protocols, in accordance with Article 3, paragraph 4, of the Act of Accession.

As a result, the assent procedure does not apply, and Parliament is merely consulted.

II. Consequences of accession

The consequences of the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the Convention may be summarised as follows:

(a) the text of the 1980 Rome Convention and the protocols in Bulgarian and Romanian shall be authentic under the same conditions as the texts and instruments in the other languages of the Union;

(b) the courts of the new Member States may refer to the Court of Justice a question for a preliminary ruling concerning the interpretation of the provisions of the 1980 Rome Convention or the protocols;

(c) in accordance with Articles 23 and 24 of the Rome Convention, the new Member States may request that consultations be held on any new choice of law rule which a contracting party wishes to adopt or on multilateral conventions laying down rules of private international law concerning any of the matters governed by the Rome Convention;

(d) the new Member States may request that consultations be arranged in accordance with Article 25 of the Rome Convention;

(e) under Article 26, new Member States may also ask for the revision of the Rome Convention;

(f) in view of the universal scope of the Convention, the accession of Bulgaria and Romania does not change the situation between EU Member States as regards the applicable law.

III. Conclusions

While recalling that, even after the entry into force of the regulation on the law applicable to obligations which is at first reading in the codecision procedure, the Rome Convention will remain in force for Denmark and, possibly, also for the UK, your rapporteur recommends the adoption of the recommendation for a Council decision at the earliest opportunity in order to allow the two new Member States to bring their legislation into line with Community law.

PROCEDURE

Title	Accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the Convention on the Law applicable to Contractual Obligations, opened for signature in Rome on 19 June 1980
References	COM(2007)0217 - C6-0157/2007 - 2007/0077(CNS)
Date of consulting Parliament	7.6.2007
Committee responsible        Date announced in plenary	JURI 19.6.2007
Rapporteur(s)        Date appointed	Cristian Dumitrescu 25.6.2007
Date adopted	11.9.2007
Result of final vote	+: –: 0:	24 0 0
Members present for the final vote	Marek Aleksander Czarnecki, Bert Doorn, Monica Frassoni, Giuseppe Gargani, Lidia Joanna Geringer de Oedenberg, Othmar Karas, Piia-Noora Kauppi, Klaus-Heiner Lehne, Katalin Lévai, Alain Lipietz, Hans-Peter Mayer, Manuel Medina Ortega, Hartmut Nassauer, Aloyzas Sakalas, Francesco Enrico Speroni, Daniel Strož, Rainer Wieland
Substitute(s) present for the final vote	Janelly Fourtou, Jean-Paul Gauzès, Barbara Kudrycka, Michel Rocard, Jacques Toubon
Substitute(s) under Rule 178(2) present for the final vote	Albert Deß, María Sornosa Martínez
Date tabled	14.9.2007