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Key items for financial services:
Law applicable to contractual obligations (
The Parliament approved the
The approved text provides, as a general rule, that, in the case of a contract between a professional and a consumer, the latter should be advantaged by the choice of the court. In fact, the adopted states that the applicable law should in general be the most familiar one, i.e. the law of the country where the consumer has his habitual residence.
EP successfully proposed to make an exception to the general rule that consumer's law should always apply. In fact, it will be possible for the parties involved in the dispute to make a choice of law. This will enable an e-trader to be free to impose his law when proposing a contract to a consumer.
In addition, the approved regulation also provides that the choice of the applicable law is always subject to the rules of the consumer's country of residence, thus offering a solution that is at the same time consumer-friendly and small business-friendly.
As far as individual contracts of employment are concerned, where the law applicable has not been chosen by the parties, the contract would be governed by the law of the country in which the employee habitually carries out his work.
Obligations arising out of family relationships, from matrimonial property regimes, wills and succession are excluded from the scope of the regulation.
The Parliament called on the Commission to present, no later than two years after the date of application, a report on the implementation of this regulation.
Together with the recently approved Rome II regulation on non-contractual matters, this regulation provides a complete set of Community rules of private international law relating to contractual and non-contractual obligations
Debate on the future of Europe with the participation of the Spanish Prime Minister, Member of the European Council
MEPs debated the future of
Spanish Prime Minister Rodriguez Zapatero told the European Parliament meeting in Brussels in its plenary session that "in Spain, the notion of Europe is associated with our longing for peace, freedom, democracy and prosperity" and that "we owe a lot to Europe, and the people of Spain consider this project, in the first place, with a sense of deep gratitude".
Now, however, the challenge is to create the "
"Too often have we heard that
Mr Zapatero also stressed that "our economic model is inconceivable if fairness is absent". Stable, decent employment was required, as well as continued solidarity among Member States through cohesion policy.
Jaime Mayor Oreja (EPP/ES) argued that words were not enough and that deeds were needed, for example to transpose EU directives and comply with the
His group believed in the need not just to reinforce the EU but also to strengthen
Graham Watson (
Now is not the time to go back to a French drawing board nor to follow a new British plan for a glorified free trade zone.
Andrew Duff (