ROME I REGULATION A—MOSTLY—UNIFIED PRIVATE INTERNATIONAL LAW OF CONTRACTUAL RELATIONSHIPS WITHIN—MOST—OF THE EUROPEAN UNION Professor Dr. Volker Behr * I. INTRODUCTION The year 2009 was an important year in the development of unified private international law in the European Union. At the beginning of the year, Regulation (EC) No. 864/2007 on the law applicable to non-contractual obligations (Rome II) entered into force. And at the end of the year 1 2 Regulation (EC) 593/2008 on the law applicable to contractual obligations (Rome I) followed suit. Hence, within one year significant parts of the 3 4 private international law relevant to international business transactions have been unified within most of the Member States of the European Union. Further segments are to follow up on these developments. 5 * Professor of Law Emeritus, University of Augsburg, Germany. The author gratefully acknowledges the invaluable assistance he received from the editorial board of the Journal of Law and Commerce. He especially thanks Erin Wilson who assumed the difficult task of checking and adapting citations and helped to make legible the text of a nonnative speaker. 1. Commission Regulation 864/2007, On the Law Applicable to Non-Contractual Obligations, 2007 O.J. (L 199) 40 [hereinafter Rome II]. 2. Rome II art. 32 (“This Regulation shall apply from 11 January 2009, except for Article 29, which shall apply form 11 July 2008.”), Rome II art. 31 (“This regulation shall apply to events giving rise to damage which occur after its entry into force.”). 3. Commission Regulation 593/2008 (Rome I), On the Law Applicable to Contractual Obligations, 2008 O.J. (L 177) 6 [hereinafter Rome I]. 4. Rome I art. 29 (This Regulation “shall apply from 17 December 2009 except for Article 26 which shall apply from 17 June 2009.”). Rome I art. 28 (This Regulation “shall apply to contracts concluded after 17 December 2009.”). 5. As to Rome III, see Commission Proposal for a Council Regulation Amending Regulation (EC) No 2201/2003, Jurisdiction and Introducing Rules Concerning Applicable Law in Matrimonial Matters, COM (2006) 399 final (July 17, 2006); as to Rome IV, see Commission Green Paper on Conflict of Laws in Matters Concerning Matrimonial Property Regimes, Including the Question of Jurisdiction and Mutual Recognition, COM (2006) 400 final (July 17, 2006); as to Rome V, see Green Paper on Succession and Wills, COM (2005) 65 final (Mar. 1, 2005). 233