Selection of law in the European judicial space – the present and the future

This article deals with the choice of law. The national regulations in the European Area were replaced by the Rome Convention on the Law Applicable to Contractual Obligations. This convention is an international treaty form and is now considering to be transformed into a Community regulation (so called Rome I. regulation).
The limits of the choice of law are mentioned, including the mandatory rules as well as the ordre public. We can see a revolutionary change in the proposal for the Rome I. regulation – the thing is that this enables the choice of a non-State body of law like UNIDROIT principles or the Principles of European Contract Law. Thus, many questions are arising with it. Article 4 (applicable law in the absence of choice) contains newly fix rules, which are good for the practice. The definition of the consumer contract is no more restrictive. Online shopping will be made easier. Article 8 of the regulation tries to define the mandatory rules. Terminological problems in particular language versions are continuing. It could be added, that this can be eliminated by the interpretation of the European Court of Justice.