Overriding Mandatory Provisions and Arbitration: A Cadmean Victory for Commercial Agents?

Abstract

In a recent decision, the Austrian Supreme Court declared an arbitration clause invalid in the light of the European Court of Justice’s Ingmar decision since it was to be expected that the arbitral tribunal would not apply articles 17 and 18 of the Commercial Agents Directive. According to the Supreme Court’s reasoning, that is the case wherever the parties have chosen a lex causae for their main contract which does not contain provisions similar to articles 17 and 18 Commercial Agents Directive. In the view of the authors, such understanding of the commercial agents directive is neither required by the principle of effectiveness of EU law, nor is it justifiable under the regime of the New York Convention.