The High-Level Forum on Justice for Growth held its fourth and final session in Brussels on Tuesday 18 November.
In front of representatives of the Member States, the European Parliament and a number of professional organisations, the European Commissioner for Justice, Michael McGrath, gave a concluding speech on the whole cycle of reflection which began eight months earlier, in March, to modernise civil law, company law and the digitalisation of justice, with competitiveness in mind.
He explained that the discussions had confirmed the overall effectiveness of the existing framework, although there had been some openness to updating certain fundamental texts. He said that the Commission intended to “prioritise the revision” of the Brussels I bis Regulation, the cornerstone of cross-border civil and commercial relations.
Furthermore, on the subject of third-party funding of litigation, the Commissioner noted that the discussions had confirmed that there was no need for European legislation at this stage. The Commission will therefore give priority to monitoring the directive on representative shares.
The work also provided an opportunity to discuss the adaptation of private law to the digital economy. Commissioner McGrath welcomed the support expressed for the soft law initiative on automated contracts announced in the EU’s ‘Apply AI Strategy’ (see EUROPE 13724/2), and confirmed that the future Data Union Strategy (https://aeur.eu/f/jib ) would take account of the recommendations on contractual models for data access and use.
On the subject of company law, Michael McGrath also confirmed the ambition of a 28th regime capable of offering “digital, simple, flexible and rapid procedures” to innovative companies.
The Commission therefore plans to present its legislative proposal by March 2026 and to examine the possibility of using qualified majority voting. In addition, a revision of the Shareholder Rights Directive is expected by the end of 2026.
The Chair of the European Parliament’s Committee on Legal Affairs, Ilhan Kyuchyuk (Renew Europe, Bulgarian), welcomed the relevance of the Forum’s work, saying that “its conclusions provide a very valuable analysis” for future legislative work. He confirmed that Parliament’s position on the 28th regime would be adopted in early December.
For further information: https://aeur.eu/f/jic (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)