EGPIL Document - 5th Meeting

The European Group for Private International Law,

at its Fifth Session held in Geneva between 29 September and 1 October 1995,

Having considered the action taken following the proposal made during its session held in 1993 in Heidelberg for a Convention on jurisdiction and the enforcement of judgments in matters of family law and succession,

Having taken note of the decision of the Council of the European Union of 25 September 1995 to proceed with negotiations on a European Convention on jurisdiction and the enforcement of judgments in matrimonial proceedings together with ancillary orders concerning custody of children,

Conscious of the specific responsibility of the European Union for the creation of a European judicial area,

Recalling that all the Member States of the European Union are also members of the Hague Conference on Private International Law,

Desiring that international instruments prepared by different bodies should operate harmoniously,

Invites the Governments of the Member States and the Council of the European Union :

to recognize the importance of cooperation between different international organizations with responsibilities in the same field;
o to take full account of the initiatives taken by other organizations with competence in matters of civil law; and
o to ensure that the work of the European Union is harmonized with that initiated in the wider international environment.

to organize a continuing cooperation between the institutions of the European Union and the Hague Conference on Private International Law through the establishment of regular contacts between their representatives and the exchange of all appropriate information, for example by inviting a representative of one institution to report, at the appropriate time, on its work to the other institution and to make relevant documents available;
to disseminate, in due course and in the appropriate form, information on the draft proposals of the European Union on judicial cooperation in civil matters, as was done at the time of the drafting of the 1980 Rome Convention on the Law Applicable to Contractual Obligations; and
to ensure that, particularly with regard to custody, the work being done within the European Union is effectively harmonized with that done within the Hague Conference on Private International Law.


	Declaration on Cooperation between the European Union and other International Organizations in Matters of Civil Law The European Group for Private International Law, at its Fifth Session held in Geneva between 29 September and 1 October 1995, Having considered the action taken following the proposal made during its session held in 1993 in Heidelberg for a Convention on jurisdiction and the enforcement of judgments in matters of family law and succession, Having taken note of the decision of the Council of the European Union of 25 September 1995 to proceed with negotiations on a European Convention on jurisdiction and the enforcement of judgments in matrimonial proceedings together with ancillary orders concerning custody of children, Conscious of the specific responsibility of the European Union for the creation of a European judicial area, Recalling that all the Member States of the European Union are also members of the Hague Conference on Private International Law, Desiring that international instruments prepared by different bodies should operate harmoniously, Invites the Governments of the Member States and the Council of the European Union : to recognize the importance of cooperation between different international organizations with responsibilities in the same field; o to take full account of the initiatives taken by other organizations with competence in matters of civil law; and o to ensure that the work of the European Union is harmonized with that initiated in the wider international environment. More specifically, it invites them : to organize a continuing cooperation between the institutions of the European Union and the Hague Conference on Private International Law through the establishment of regular contacts between their representatives and the exchange of all appropriate information, for example by inviting a representative of one institution to report, at the appropriate time, on its work to the other institution and to make relevant documents available; to disseminate, in due course and in the appropriate form, information on the draft proposals of the European Union on judicial cooperation in civil matters, as was done at the time of the drafting of the 1980 Rome Convention on the Law Applicable to Contractual Obligations; and to ensure that, particularly with regard to custody, the work being done within the European Union is effectively harmonized with that done within the Hague Conference on Private International Law.