Festschrift Contribution on the International Nature of Choice-of-Court Agreements

The key question: Is it sufficient for two parties from the same EU member state to choose the courts of another member state in order to apply the Brussels Ia Regulation (Art. 25)? The ECJ answered in the affirmative, thereby reinforcing party autonomy and the predictability of jurisdiction (judgment on EUR-Lex). This article contextualizes the judgment within the body of case law and the European legal framework and addresses questions regarding the determination of the applicable substantive law under the Rome I Regulation.

The article appears under the title “Wie viel Internationalität genügt für eine Gerichtsstandsvereinbarung in Zivil- und Handelssachen nach Art. 25 Brüssel Ia‑VO? – Eine Einordnung der Inkreal-Entscheidung des EuGH” (How Much Internationality Is Required for a Choice-of-Court Agreement in Civil and Commercial Matters Under Article 25 of the Brussels Ia Regulation? A Contextual Analysis of the ECJ’s Inkreal Decision) in the Festschrift for Georgios Gounalakis (Nomos, 2025, pp. 177–200) and is available as an open-access publication in the Nomos eLibrary.