Evolution and Current State of International Private Law in the European Union

The article discloses the formation, development and modern state of private international law in the European Union. The concept of “European private international law”, including an analysis of the term in a narrow, wide and broadest sense is revealed in the article. The author analyses three main stages in the development of the private international law in the EU, in particular: formation (1957 ‒ 1999); active development ‒ after the entry into force of the Amsterdam Treaty (1999 ‒ 2009); modern period ‒ after the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty (2009 ‒ present). This article examines the limits of EU legislation as the source of a single law and highlights the difficulties associated with projects on the codification of private law in the EU. Such an approach may be appropriate in the current state of EU integration if it is limited by the rules of binding contract law and the provisions of private international law. Further harmonization of private law in Europe also requires significant changes in the institutional structure for the creation of uniform rules and the development of new methods of regulation.

There are three features of the development of the private international law in the EU: 1) the gradual transition from internationalization to Europeanization; 2) evolution to reduce the “flexibility” of conflict regulation of contractual relations through greater certainty in application; 3) if in 1999 the international convention was the source of unification of the private international law, then after this date the regulation becomes the standard source of unification.

Private international law in the EU can be defined as the interconnection and interaction between the systems of national law of the EU Member States and the system of uniform (unified) legal norms aimed at regulating private legal relations with a foreign element within the EU. European private international law can be seen in a narrow sense (conflict of law), broad sense (covers conflict and conflict law) and the broadest sense (complemented by substantive and procedural law).