Proposed EU Regulation contradicts national and international law

IRU warns against the predictable conflict situation that would result from the proposed EU Regulation on the law applicable to contractual obligations, including those concerning road transport.

The IRU’s General Assembly today adopted a Position on the proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the EU Council of Ministers on the law applicable to contractual obligations including those concerning road transport, such as contract of carriage, which could be adopted as early as January 2008.
The IRU is concerned about the predictable negative consequences for the road transport industry of this EU Regulation, intended to replace the Convention on the law applicable to contractual obligations (Rome, 1980). This proposal would, among other things, change rules for the conflict of laws when a contract of carriage applies.
When analysed in-depth, the draft Regulation clearly contradicts the provisions of:
- international private law (CMR Convention, CVR Convention, Vienna Convention of 1969),
- Community law existing in the area of transport (Regulations on cabotage of goods and passengers)
- national legislation of some EU Member States which have already incorporated the CMR Convention into their national legislation.
“The current proposal’s disregard for tried and tested transport legislation would drastically undermine a country’s interest in joining existing proven legal instruments. The EU’s attempt to reinvent the wheel will only create unnecessary duplication and more difficulties for international road transport”, said Christian Piaget, IRU Head of Legal Affairs.
The IRU warns that this EU proposal could expose EU Member States to a serious violation of international private law and damage the satisfactory rules which have existed for many years, to the detriment of the road transport industry, and as a consequence, of trade and travel as a whole.
The IRU calls on the EU not to create new rules. At a minimum, it is crucial to ensure that any new rules with regards to transport of passengers and goods by road are compatible with those set in the Rome Convention of 1980.