View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Erasmus University Digital Repository A Major Step in the Harmonization of Procedural Law in Europe: the European Small Claims Procedure Accomplishments, New Features and Some Fundamental Questions of European Harmonization By Dr. Xandra E. Kramer•
[email protected] Published in A.W. Jongbloed (ed.), ‘ The XIIIth World Congress of Procedural Law: The Belgian and Dutch Reports’ 2008, Antwerpen: Intersentia, p. 253-283. The original page numbers are indicated in this text by [xx]. [253] I Introduction European civil procedural law has been in a constant state of flux since the coming into force of the Treaty of Amsterdam in 1999. The Treaty of Amsterdam introduced Article 65 of the EC Treaty, which empowers the Community to adopt measures in the field of judicial cooperation in civil matters having cross-border implications. The introduction of Article 65 EC Treaty was followed by numerous Community instruments in the field of civil procedure, mostly regulations that have direct binding force in the Member States. These have changed the face of litigation in the European Union. Most EU-regulations that have been established on the basis of Article 65 EC Treaty are “classical” private international law regulations.1 Their primary aim is to coordinate national procedures in cross-border disputes, and not to introduce harmonized procedures. A well-known example is Regulation no 44/2001 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters (Brussels I), which replaced the Brussels Convention of 1968.