On Wednesday 13 February, MEPs approved by 546 votes to 35, with 62 abstentions, the draft report prepared by Pavel Svoboda (EPP, Czechia) on the proposal for a regulation on the law applicable to the enforceability of claims (see EUROPE 11979).
The vote confirms the European Parliament's position at first reading, as the Parliament plenary session has already approved the launch of interinstitutional negotiations in September.
The legislative proposal addresses the assignment of a claim, i.e. a situation in which a creditor transfers to another person the right to assert a claim.
The Parliament has made several amendments to the text. In particular, it explicitly excluded debtors and assignments made in insolvency proceedings from the settlement.
MEPs maintained the general principle that the enforceability of an assignment of claims would be governed by the law of the country where the assignor has his or her habitual residence at the time the assignment contract is concluded.
But they deleted the provisions of the proposal which provide that the assignor and the assignee may choose the law applicable to the assigned claim as the law applicable to the enforceability of an assignment of claims for the purpose of securitisation.
The text further specifies that the law applicable to resolve the priority conflict between assignees of the same claim should be the law applicable to the effectiveness of the assignment of the claim that was the first to become effective under its applicable law. If both assignments became effective at the same time, the law of the assignor's habitual residence should prevail.
The Council, for its part, has not yet adopted its position. The European Ministers of Justice had simply taken note, last December, of a progress report on this subject (see EUROPE 12153).
"The complexity of the proposal, its possible effect on financial markets and its links to other acts of Union law require further examination by legal and financial experts so that Member States may make informed decisions", the report concluded.
The Romanian Presidency is planning a debate at the Justice Council in March and hopes for a general approach by June. (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)