The Limitations of Party Autonomy in European Conflict of Laws

Abstract

The heading "free choice of law" can be found in every provision of the European conflict of law rules, regardless of the legal field. For the ex-YU states that are striving to join the EU, the question arises when reforming their international private law as to how this increased party autonomy should be considered. On the one hand, the decision is related to the answer to the general question of what approach to take for a possible adoption of the rules of the European conflict of law rules, given that the European conflict of law rules mainly consist of regulations or proposed regulations. The options range from no consideration, on the grounds that the regulations would be applied immediately in the event of accession, to deciding on the degree of compliance in order to move closer to the EU requirements at a certain speed. This text looks for limitations on party autonomy that apply throughout European conflict of law rules and that give shape to the general principle of party autonomy. Finally, a proposal for the codification of party autonomy in the general part of the national international private laws to be created in the region is made, which is based on previous regulations on party autonomy in European conflict of laws and takes into account the relevant criticism.