Litigation on the Common Market Level

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to demonstrate that, within the sphere of the Common Market, the subject matter of must be entirely reconsidered. The establishment of intimate economic and legal relations among the six states of the E.E.C. by the Treaty of Rome, the expansion of their commercial exchanges, as well as the projects of harmonization of their legislations in various fields makes revision of prior conceptions indispensable. Before the Common Market entered into effect, a question of in each of these countries was generally examined from the national viewpoint and only by way of exception from an viewpoint. Among the states members of the E.E.C., moreover, only Germany and Italy recognize international civil procedure as an independent subject matter.l But it must also be emphasized that international civil procedure is an integral part of the national laws of these countries and has no direct connection with the civil of another country.2 For example, in case of litigation involving a German, a Frenchman, and an Italian, an Italian jurist will study the questions presented from the viewpoint of Italian procedural law (diritto processuale civile internazionale), but he will not undertake an examination of the laws of civil of other states members of the Common Market, in the case contemplated those of Germany and France in particular.3 Yet here is the whole problem. Effective resolution of a legal question within the E.E.C. must today be reached taking account of the procedural laws of all the member states; in other words, it must be resolved on a Common Market level.