Das Prinzip der Einheit der Schuldrechtsverordnungen im Europäischen Internationalen Privat- und Verfahrensrecht, Eine methodologische Untersuchung über die praktische Konkordanz zwischen Brüssel I-VO, Rom I-VO und Rom II-VO

The Principle of Unity in the European Private International Law and Procedural Law Governing Contractual and Non-Contractual Obligations, A Methodological Examination of the Practical Concordance between the Brussels I, Rome I and Rome II Regulations The following conclusions can be drawn about European private international law and procedural law:1. The two crucial questions of every trial having an international dimension – the question of international jurisdiction and that of the applicable law – are to be separated (principle of separation in European private international law and procedural law).In principle, in European private and procedural law, there is no automatic correlation between forum and ius.2. The regulatory purpose of the Brussels I Regulation differs from that of its sister regulations on the conflict of laws, Rome I and Rome II. European procedural law, at its source, seeks to protect the defendant, and therefore the place of general jurisdiction follows the Roman law principle of actor sequitur forum rei. By contrast, private international law, by use of the principle of the closest connection, aims to apply the law which is most closely related to the relevant subject matter. This difference consequently leads to conceptual differences between the Brussels I Regulation on the one hand and the Rome I and Rome II Regulations on the other (e.g. several venues and one legal system).3. The question of synchronization with respect to Brussels I, Rome I and Rome II needs to be resolved on the level of interpretation. With respect to the predecessors of these regulations, the European Court of Justice had similarly resorted to an interpretation correlation.Besides the autonomous interpretation of the respective regulation on the vertical interpretation axis, the concordance imperatives of the recitals in the Rome I and Rome II Regulation have to be considered (on the horizontal interpretation axis). These must be taken into account in the course of a purposive interpretation, and they argue against relativity of the respective legal terms and for a consistent interpretation beyond the limits of each regulation.The general concordance imperatives in recitals no. 7 of the Rome I and Rome II Regulations need to be distinguished from the special concordance imperatives (see recital 17 phrase 1 of the Rome I Regulation and recital 24 phrase 2 of the Rome I Regulation). Between the Regulations there is an interpretation correlation; all three instruments of European private international law and procedural law must be seen and interpreted as a single mutually connected entity (coherence of interpretation). This is a question of practical concordance.4. Whoever deviates from a synchronized interpretation and endorses a relativity of the legal terms carries the burden of argumentation and has to give purposive reasons for this opinion. Otherwise, the principle of the unity of the Regulations applies.