TheCityUK Condemns Blow To European Judicial Cooperation
Date
04/05/2021
The European Commission has today issued a communication [1] to EU Member States with a non-binding recommendation that they should vote to block the UK’s ascension to the 2007 Lugano Convention [2].
Commenting on the news,
Miles Celic, Chief Executive Officer, TheCityUK, said,
It’s hard to understand this decision or see how this recommendation helps SMEs and individuals across Europe who benefit most from the clarity and cost savings the Lugano Convention brings to cross-border legal disputes.
“All of the non-EU parties to Lugano: Iceland, Norway and Switzerland, have indicated their support for the UK’s application and a relationship with the Single Market is not listed as a requirement of membership of the Convention. We now hope that EU Member States will vote to support the UK’s application, as doing so has clear benefits for the citizens of all signatories to the treaty. However, other mechanisms exist which mean UK court judgments will continue to be enforceable throughout EU and EFTA.