Applicable law to distribution contracts in the European Union Regulation 593/2008 (Rome I)

• Author: William Fernando Martínez-Luna
• Position: PhD in Law at Carlos III University of Madrid, Master in Private Law at Carlos III University of Madrid
• Pages: 255-289

Int. Law: Rev. Colomb. Derecho Int. Bogotá (Colombia) N° 28: 255-290, enero - junio de 2016

APPLICABLE LAW TO DISTRIBUTION

CONTRACTS IN THE EUROPEAN UNION

REGULATION 593/2008 (ROME I)*

LA LEY APLICABLE A LOS CONTRATOS DE

DISTRIBUCIÓN EN EL REGLAMENTO DE

LA UNIÓN EUROPEA 593/2008 (ROMA I)

WILLIAM FERNANDO MARTÍNEZ-LUNA**

Reception date: June 21th, 2016

Acceptance date: July 21th, 2016

Availability online: July 30th, 2016

TO CITE THIS ARTICLE / PARA CITAR ESTE ARTÍCULO

Martínez-Luna, William Fernando, Applicable Law to D istribution Con-

tracts in the Eu ropean Unió n Regulati on 593/20 08 (Rome I), 28 International

Law, Revista Colo mbiana De recho Internaci onal, 255-290 (2016). http://

dx.doi.org/10.11144/ Javeriana.il14-28.aldc

doi:10.11144/Javerian a.il14-28.ald c

ISS N:1692 -8156

* This paper is p art of the project re sults El impacto d e la globalización en l as relaciones pr ivadas

internacion ales y su repercu sión en el Derecho i nternacional p rivado colombia no, Resolución

011 de 2014, Universidad Jorge Tadeo L ozano.

** PhD in Law at Carlos I II University of Ma drid, Maste r in Private Law at C arlos III Universit y of

Madrid, Ma ster in Inter national Busines s Law and Internat ional Litigation at Rey Jua n Carlos

University of Mad rid, Lawyer of Santo Tomás Universit y, Senior Lecturer (Profes or Titular)

at Jorge Tadeo Lozano Univer sity. Contact: williamf .martinezl@ut adeo.edu.co

Int. Law: Rev. Colomb. Derecho Int. Bogotá (Colombia) N° 28: 255-290, enero - junio de 2016

256 WILLIAM FERNANDO MARTÍNEZ-LUNA

ABSTRACT

The applica ble law to the Inter national Contra ct of Distribut ion of the

European Union p resented a lot of d ifcultie s under the appli cation of the

Rome Convention of 1980, subsequ ently this un iform legal norm r equired

establish ing the law appl icable to the i nternation al contract , to identify t he

charact eristic performan ce in such legal relation ship. The character istic

performa nce of the dist ribution contr act could not be d etermi ned in a

uniform way, bec ause some of the c ourts of the Est ates which m ade part of

it understoo d that it was carri ed out by the distributo r, others maintain ed

that is was the g rantor of the mer chandi ze, whil e others con sidered t hat this

contract cou ld not be est ablished u nder char acter istic per formanc e theory.

The Rome I Regulat ion from the Europe an Union has made i mportant

modicat ions regarding deter mining the applic able law to this contract,

since it has e stablished in a r igid and direct way the nor m of the habitual

country of re sidence of th e distributor for th is legal relat ionship to be

applied. Th e present paper pret ends to analyze if t he rigid determ ination

of the law applicab le to the distribution c ontract in the Regulat ion of the

European Union Rome I, m anages to solve interp retation problems pre-

sented on the Rome C onvention of 1980, bringing leg al certaint y through

the foresee able applicable law to the inte rnational contract .

Keywords: European Union; Pr ivate International Law; Rome I Reg ula-

tion on applicab le law to contract ual obligation s; distribut ion contract;

Rome Convention

Int. Law: Rev. Colomb. Derecho Int. Bogotá (Colombia) N° 28: 255-290, enero - junio de 2016

257

APPLICABLE LAW TO DISTRIBUTION CONTRACTS IN THE

EUROPEAN UNION REGULATION 593/2008 (ROME I)

RESUMEN

La ley aplicab le al contrato internacio nal de distribució n en la Unión Euro-

pea presentó muc has dicultades bajo la a plicación del Convenio de Ro ma

de 1980, pu es esta norma jurídica u niforme requería, para e stablecer la ley

aplicable al co ntrato internaci onal, ide nticar la presta ción característ ica de

esa relación ju rídica . La prestaci ón caracterí stica del cont rato de distrib ución

no pudo ser d eterminada d e manera un iforme, pues un os tribuna les de los

Estados parte e ntendían que l a llevaba a cabo el dis tribuidor; otros sosten ían

que era el conced ente de las merca ncías; mient ras que otros consi deraban

que a este contrato no p odía establecérsele un a prestación característi ca. El

Reglamento Ro ma I de la Unión E uropea ha hech o importantes mod ica-

ciones en cu anto a la determinació n de la ley aplicable a este contrato, p ues

ha establecido d e manera rígida y di recta, que a esta relación ju rídica le sea

aplicable la ley d e la residencia h abitual del dist ribuidor. El prese nte artículo

pretende ana lizar si la determin ación rígida de la l ey aplicable al contrato d e

distribuci ón en el Reglamento de l a Unión Europea Ro ma I logra soluciona r

los problemas i nterpretativos presentados en el C onvenio de Roma de 198 0,

para otorgar seguri dad jurídic a mediante la previsi bilidad de la ley apli cable

al contrato internacional.

Palabras clave: Unión Europea; Derecho Internacional Privado; Reglamento

Roma I sobre la ley a plicable a las obligaciones con tractuales; contrato d e

distribución; Convenio de Roma

SUMMARY

INTRODUCTION.- I. THE INTERNATIONAL DISTRIBUTION CONTR ACT.- A. Introductory

 II. APPLICABLE LAW TO THE DISTRIBUTION CON-

TRACT IN THE ABSENCE OF CHOICE BY TH E PARTIES IN THE EUROPEAN UNION.- A. The

applicable law to the di stribution contra ct in the Rome Convention of 1980.- 1.

The distri bution contract had a characte ristic performer.- 2. The Distri bution

 B. The applicable

law to the distrib ution contract i n the Rome I Regulation.- 1. Intro ductory

             

covered by Art. 4.1.f of the Rome I Regulation.- CONCLUSIONS.- BIBLIOGRAPH Y.