unilateral extension to a territory of which they knew nothing and perhaps did not trust. I explained that while I saw the force of these arguments, I did not think we could change our position but we would go away and consider it again and I requested
I also that the word "reluctance" should remain in the minutes. pointed out that the UK felt somewhat hurt that it was always the leading protagonist in this field when many other states had territory, whether within or outside Europe, which was not part of that country as far as a schoolboy learns it. reaction from both Spain ("the whole of the Kingdom of Spain" includes the Canary Islands etc) and France (DOM and TOM). seemed to come as something of a surprise to the EFTA countries who would go away and think about it.
15
This drew a
This
The 'Swiss reservation" was discussed and much pressure was again put on Switzerland who would return at the next meeting with a list of all statutory and case law exceptions to Art.59
of their Constitution.
On the second day, we went over largely the same ground again but the EFTA countries had had an opportunity to consider the various proposals made by the EC and could now give their considered reaction.
On Article 16(1) the EFTA countries could accept the three months maximum duration and the fact that the two parties must be domiciled in the same country for jurisdiction to be shifted but they were still concerned about the necessity for both parties to be natural persons and the question of agreement at all or certainly agreement after the dispute had arisen.
On the question of maintenance (Article 17(6)) there was a suggestion that the question of maintenance should be excluded altogether but it was not clear whether or not maintenance agreements (on jurisdiction) were permitted under the Brussels Convention and some confusion arose about whether there were states where agreement to refer jurisdiction elsewhere was forbidden after the disputes had arisen. Carpenter suggested waiting for the result of IVECO v Van Hool which would, it was hoped, make clearer the relationship between national law and the Convention or
@
the essential validity (as opposed to the game) of jumsdiction agreements.
16...