The Relationship Between Community Law and Private International Law

This note takes into consideration the evolution of the legal basis of the private international law rules common to the Member States and sets out to distinguish the following stages and categories of private international law legislation within the context of Europe: - private international law conventions concluded between Member States, but which have no legal basis in the Treaties; - agreements concluded between Member States under the third pillar following the adoption of the Maastricht Treaty; - acts of secondary legislation under Title IV of the EC Treaty, as introduced by the Amsterdam Treaty, which "communitise" earlier agreements; - new private international law rules contained in acts of secondary legislation amending private international law rules between the Member States and between those States and third countries which are directly adopted on the basis of the Title IV of the EC Treaty in the absence of an existing convention; - new Community rules adopted on the basis of Title IV in a field already partially governed by agreements concluded within a non-Community framework such as the Hague Conference on Private International Law, to which all the Member States are parties. This note shows that, having long been an external phenomenon, private international law rules are increasingly entering the Community framework. This development is the source of a body of original and autonomous European rules which apply to the Member States in their relationship among themselves and in their relationships with third countries. The note draws attention to the special role played by the European Parliament in the emergence of original European private international law rules. It also demonstrates the corresponding need for harmonisation of the new system of private international law rules common to the Member States with their existing international commitments under the Hague Conference, and for increased judicial control guaranteeing uniform applica