Under  the distinguished patronage of Mr. Nicolas Sarkozy, President of the Republic

 Civil law, a "vector for Competitiveness”

Under the leadership of the Chairman of the study group on European legal systems, Deputy Sébastien Huyghe, and Maître David-Gordon Krief, a member of the Economic, Social and Environmental Council was held on October 27 at the National Assembly, in partnership with the Fondation pour le Droit Continental.

Mr. Michel Mercier, Garde des Sceaux, Minister of Justice and Freedoms, opened the colloquium.

The discussions will take the form of two round tables: Why choose civil law in international transactions? and The tools made available by civil law.

In actuality, the French policy and economic decision-makers, as was the case with their counterparts in the countries of continental Europe, belatedly became aware of the worldwide competition that exists between legal systems, and which constitutes but one facet of the overall economic globalization. As a result, they still underestimate the economic impact of the choice of law to be applicable to business transactions.

Thus, and taking into account the increasingly invasive nature of the common rules in the French legal system, it is has become increasingly urgent to give serious consideration to the promotion of the civil law among all of the economic players.

The objective of this colloquium is precisely to initiate some in-depth reflection on the influence of France and those of its companies that operate in foreign countries, and the stakes involved in enhancing the civil law within the framework of global economic competition.

At the end of the colloquium, a  Joint Declaration of 15 proposals was presented to and adopted by all of the participants.

The Steering Committee, presided by Mr. Michel Grimaldi, was assigned the task of drafting an explanation of the reasons underlying these 15 proposals and how they will be implemented. The text will be finalized following discussions with the Working Group chaired by Deputy Sébastien Huyghe and Mr. David Gordon-Krief.

The resulting document will then be officially submitted to the Garde des Sceaux, Minister of Justice and Freedoms, as well as to the President.

The working papers will be published and disseminated on this website during the 1^st quarter of 2012.

Download the program (in french)