The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) landed another blow against arbitration in Europe!

This time the Court targeted the arbitration exclusion under the Brussels Regime intended to safeguard the autonomy of arbitration from undue interference. The repercussions of the Court’s most recent ruling have rippled throughout the European arbitration community, causing wide-spread concern and debate.

The interface between arbitration and the Brussels Regime on international jurisdiction as well as recognition and enforcement of court judgments has been subject to controversy for quite some time. On several occasions, the CJEU handed down preliminary rulings on this issue in an attempt to draw the line of demarcation between these two regimes. The effects of these rulings are wide-reaching and affect the attractiveness arbitration within the European Union. In its most recent decision (following a request for preliminary ruling of the English High Court, submitted a month before the United Kingdom withdrew from the European Union), the CJEU demonstrated its growing skepticism towards arbitration in a truly remarkable fashion. While the CJEU’s ruling has been widely criticized by scholars, the English High Court took one step further and declined to follow the CJEU’s judgment which it deemed to be ultra vires.

Against this backdrop, the question is again: Arbitration in Europe quo vadis?

Our Associate, Lukas Brunner, analyzed these new developments and their effects on the arbitration landscape in Europe. The outcome can be found in the latest edition of the Journal of International Arbitration (Volume 41, Issue 1) accessible under: https://kluwerlawonline.com/journalarticle/Journal+of+International+Arbitration/41.1/JOIA2024003