Rome I Regulation (Regulation 593/2008) and Party Autonomy - Research Paper Example

It is perhaps the ambit of consumer protection as manifested by Article 6 of EC Regulation 593/2008 that challenges the concept of party autonomy more than any other provision under the Regulation.Even so, the Rome I Regulation purports to expand upon its predecessor, the Rome Convention, by increasing and enhancing party autonomy. This paper will critically analyze the principle of party autonomy in the context of EC Regulation No 593/2008 and will argue that its commitment to party autonomy is compromised by the council’s overriding focus on promoting unity among the Member States.

Moreover, it will be argued that while EC Regulation No 593 modifies the Rome Convention, it does not, in principle, improve upon the concept of party autonomy.Party autonomy has never been an absolute right with the result that limitations have always been set on the right to choose the applicable law. The European Union, for instance, has set a number of standards calculated to contain the right of parties to chose an applicable law. Those limits are structured around the preservation of free and open market within the European Union, to the extent that there is tension between “private initiative vs state policy”.

3 The Rome Convention has typically restricted party autonomy by applying the proviso that the parties’ choice of law cannot be freely applied when the application of the chosen law “would be manifestly incompatible with public policy.”4 As will be borne out in the discussion that follows, EC Regulation 593/2008 does not purport to alter this position.EC Regulation No 593/2008 of June 2008 titled Regulation on the Law Applicable to Contractual Obligations replaces the Rome Convention which previously managed the law applicable to contracts.