Jurisdiction in civil and commercial matters

See EESC opinion in all languages under Related documents at the end of this page.

Key points

The EESC

• supports the initiative of the EP and the Council, which is essential for legal certainty and security in relation to unitary patent protection in the European Union;
• is pleased with the simplicity of the four new provisions to be added to the Brussels I Regulation; it considers these to be necessary, sufficient, duly justified and timely;
• regrets that it was not consulted at a timely stage on the proposals for regulations to implement enhanced cooperation on ensuring unitary patent protection and on the package establishing the Unified Patent Court, in view of its previous opinions on these subjects;
• raises some questions at this late stage on the structure and functioning of the Court, which it believes need to be discussed in depth.

Other relevant EESC opinions:

• Jurisdiction in civil and commercial matters (CESE 795/2011 - INT/566)
• Community Patent Court (CESE 521/2004 - INT/225)
• Jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgements in civil and commercial matters (CESE 233/2000 - INT/50)