Cross‑Border Mediation: Towards a Balanced Framework for Cross‑Border Dispute Resolution in the European Union

Abstract

This paper takes the entry into force of the Singapore Convention on Mediation on 12 September 2020 as an opportunity to reconsider whether the European Union has reached its once ambitious goal to create a balanced relationship between mediation and litigation in cross-border disputes. After a brief overview of the current legal framework for cross-border mediation in the EU in the first section, the meaning of the concept of a balanced relationship and its implications for the regulation of mediation in cross-border disputes are analysed. Starting with the observation that the use of cross-border mediation is still very limited, this second section argues that attempts to establish a balanced relationship in quantitative terms are misguided. Instead of attempting to correct alleged decision deficits by the parties to a dispute, the paper emphasises the regulatory responsibility of European legislators to create a level playing field for different cross-border dispute resolution mechanisms. In this respect, the third section identifies the surprising absence of private international law rules in the EU’s mediation framework as a structural disadvantage of mediation, as compared to litigation and arbitration. The last part of the paper examines in detail the interaction between mediation and the Brussels Ia Regulation to provide specific examples of legal obstacles to cross-border mediation and potential ways to overcome them.