Rome Regulations: Commentary 4th ed

Rome Regulations is an article-by-article ‘German-style’ commentary on the Rome I, II and III Regulations on European Union (EU) conflict of laws. It describes and explains black letter law as represented by the jurisprudence of the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) and the Member State courts. The law applicable to contractual and non-contractual obligations in cross-border civil and commercial matters in the EU is the remit of the so-called Rome I and II Regulations that entered into force in 2009, supplemented by the Rome III Regulation of 2012, dealing specifically with divorce and legal separation. The fourth edition reflects significant developments since 2020, including landmark CJEU decisions advancing a common European understanding of the Regulations' central provisions, the post-Brexit landscape of EU-UK relations in private international law, and the increasing intersection of economic sanctions with conflict of laws principles. The commentary has been recognized as a leading authority by the EU and national courts alike.

The commentary, authored by leading scholars of conflict of laws for an international readership and drawing on a wide spectrum of case law and scholarship, highlights contemporary developments and long-term implications of the Rome Regulations, such as the following:

• principles of interpretation and autonomous EU law concepts
• limiting the effects of forum shopping
• limiting the trade-restricting effects of the fragmentation of national private laws
• ensuring the free movement of persons
• enhancing legal certainty and predictability
• the post-Brexit framework and the UK’s adoption of Rome I and II into domestic law, and
• the intersection of economic sanctions and overriding mandatory provisions

This edition is a cornerstone resource in handling European cases involving questions of conflict of laws.

In the current era of globalization, where communication, transaction, and migration across borders have transformed from exceptional to omnipresent phenomena, this edition provides uniquely comprehensive coverage on the European rules of the conflict of laws, covering all three Rome regulations. The fourth edition addresses emerging challenges, including the proliferation of economic sanctions regimes, the evolving EU-UK relationship post-Brexit, and recent CJEU jurisprudence. Renowned conflict of laws scholars analyse every provision of the regulations in a systematic and thorough manner, making them accessible to a broad international legal audience. The result is an indispensable companion for academics, judges, lawyers and legal practitioners in their day-to-day work.