LORD CHANCELLOR'S DEPARTMENT HOUSE OF LORDS LONDON SWIA OPW
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Our ref: EI 61/104/20
19 June 1986
Dear Markin,
Joint EEC/EFTA "Exequatur" Working Party Meeting
2-4 June 1986
Thank you for your letter of 2 June 1986 to which I am somewhat belatedly replying. I am also grateful to Ian Mathers for the helpful comments in his letter of 28 May.
I now enclose a copy of my note of the EEC co-ordination meeting on 2 June and of the EEC/EFTA Working Party meeting on 3-4 June. The Council Secretariat have now produced a
consolidated text of a draft convention (GC-EXEQ/7/86) with such parts as differ from the 1968 Brussels Convention (as amended by the 1978 Accession Convention) underlined.
Apart from the discussion of Article 17 (agreements on jurisdiction) and Articles 60-69 (final clauses) the UK has not been particularly exposed. The French and Germans are especially concerned with Switzerland's attempt to derogate from Article 5 (1) of the Convention in respect of persons domiciled in Switzerland. I would be most grateful for the comments of copy addressees on any of the points which have been raised, but I would suggest that it is Article 17 and the final clauses which need particular attention.
Article 17
You (and Ian Mathers) will recall from previous meetings that the EFTA delegations at first sought a provision which would have confined jurisdiction agreements to those which were "in writing or clearly evidenced in writing, including an exchange of letters, telegrams, or telexes or incorporated in a bill of lading". This formula would, of course, have removed from the Parallel Convention the reference to the agreement being in a form in international trade or commerce which accords with practices in that trade or commerce of which the parties are ought to have been aware, which was inserted in the 1968 Convention by the 1978 Accession Convention.
MR Eaton Esq
Legal Adviser
Foreign and Commonwealth office
London
SW1A 2AH
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