Die Zweispurigkeit des europäischen IPR

The Two-Track Nature of European Private International Law. The Transformation of Classic Conflict-of-Law Doctrine by European Regulatory Law. The article diagnoses a structural duality within European private international law. Namely, alongside classical coordination-PIL (Rome I-III), which coordinates legal orders on the premise of their fundamental equality, a distinct regulatory-PIL has emerged (GDPR, DSA, CSDDD) that purposefully extends European standards to third-state actors. Drawing on the concept of Lebenslügen (»life lies«, i. e. necessary acts of self-deception), the article deconstructs six classical doctrines - neutrality, multilateralism, decisional harmony, rule structure, separation from public law, and separation from procedural law. Whereas they remain valid for coordination-PIL, they generate systematic mischaracterizations when applied indiscriminately to regulatory-PIL. The article develops criteria for assigning instruments to either track and argues for a critically constructive engagement with the regulatory instrumentalization of private international law.