EU Arbitration Law

Mon, 06 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Limited Express Competence of the EU in Arbitration

The European Union has no express legislative competence over arbitration in the Treaties, and arbitration has historically been treated as a matter for member state law, international convention, or party autonomy. Article 1(2)(d) of the Brussels I Recast Regulation (1215/2012) expressly excludes “arbitration” from the scope of the Regulation on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters. This exclusion preserves the primacy of the New York Convention and the national procedural law of the member states in matters of arbitration. The precise scope of the arbitration exclusion has been the subject of significant CJEU jurisprudence. In Rich v Società Italiana Impianti (Case C-190/89, 1991), the Court held that the exclusion extends to proceedings ancillary to arbitration, including the appointment of arbitrators. In Van Uden Maritime v Deco-Line (Case C-391/95, 1998), the Court distinguished between proceedings that are ancillary to arbitration (excluded) and proceedings that relate to the substance of the dispute or seek provisional measures (not excluded). In Gazprom (Case C-536/13, 2015), the Court confirmed that the Brussels I Regulation does not preclude a member state court from recognising and enforcing an arbitral award that prohibits a party from bringing proceedings before a court of another member state, because the award itself falls within the arbitration exclusion.

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EU Arbitration Law

The Limited Express Competence of the EU in Arbitration