Crowdfunding in the EU: private international law issues by design

Abstract

The new EU regulatory framework - the ECSPR-, is intended to boost cross-border crowdfunding, which will potentially result in increased incidence of issues of jurisdiction and applicable law. At present, the main actors in the crowdfunding process regularly conclude contracts incorporating standard clauses, including on the choice of court and law. Considering different private international law capacities in which these actors may act, especially investors (professional/trader, consumer, party sustaining damage), the relations among them are often predisposed to limitations regarding the acceptability, scope and validity of the electio fori and electio iuris. Both aspects are dealt with in detail offering a view on the interpretation and application of key points in the crowdfunding context. It is submitted that, while many of the existing choice-of-court and choice-of-law clauses would necessitate revision, ordering by design the issues of jurisdiction and applicable law in the cross-border crowdfunding is preferable to their ordering by default.