ADOPTED: Done at Lugano on 16 September 1988

REFERENCE: Lugano Convention, 1988

ENTERED INTO FORCE: 1 January 1992

DEPOSITARY: Swiss Federal Council

SECRETARY: Swiss Federal Council

IMPLEMENTATION

SIGNATURE, RATIFICATION AND ACCESSION

Article LXI

1. This Convention shall be opened for signature by the States members of the European Communities or of the European Free Trade Association.

2. The Convention shall be submitted for ratification by the signatory States. The instruments of ratification shall be deposited with the Swiss Federal Council.

Article LX

The following may be parties to this Convention:

• (a) States which, at the time of the opening of this Convention for signature, are members of the European Communities or of the European Free Trade Association;
• (b) States which, after the opening of this Convention for signature, become members of the European Communities or of the European Free Trade Association;
• (c) States invited to accede in accordance with Article LXII.

Article LXII

1. After entering into force this Convention shall be open to accession by:

• (a) the States referred to in Article LX (b);
• (b) other States which have been invited to accede upon a request made by one of the Contracting States to the depositary State. The depositary shall invite the State concerned to accede only if, after having communicated the contents of the communications that this State intends to make in accordance with Article LXIII, it has obtained the unanimous agreement of the signatory States and the Contracting States referred to in Article LX (a) and (b).

2. If an acceding State wishes to furnish details for the purposes of Protocol (1), negotiations shall be entered into to that end. A negotiating conference shall be convened by the Swiss Federal Council.

3. In respect of an acceding State, the Convention shall take effect on the first day of the third month following the deposit of its instrument of accession.

4. However, in respect of an acceding State referred to in paragraph 1 (a) or (b), the Convention shall take effect only in relations between the acceding State and the Contracting States which have not made any objections to the accession before the first day of the third month following the deposit of the instrument of accession.

Article LXIII

Each acceding State shall, when depositing its instrument of accession, communicate the information required for the application of Articles III, XXXII, XXXVII, XL, XLI and LV of this Convention and furnish, if need be, the details prescribed during the negotiations for the purposes of Protocol 1.

ENTRY INTO FORCE

Article LXI

3. The Convention shall enter into force on the first day of the third month following the date on which two States, of which one is a member of the European Communities and the other a member of the European Free Trade Association, deposit their instruments of ratification.

4. The Convention shall take effect in relation to any other signatory State on the first day of the third month following the deposit of its instrument of ratification.

DURATION

Article LXIV

1. This Convention is concluded for an initial period of five years from the date of its entry into force in accordance with Article LXI (3), even in the case of States which ratify it or accede to it after that date.

2. At the end of the initial five-year period, the Convention shall be automatically renewed from year to year.

3. Upon the expiry of the initial five-year period, any contracting State may, at any time, denounce the Convention by sending a notification to the Swiss Federal Council.

4. The denunciation shall take effect at the end of the calendar year following the expiry of a period of six months from the date of receipt by the Swiss Federal Council of the notification of denunciation.

ANNEXED PROTOCOLS

Article LXV

The following are annexed to this Convention:

— a Protocol 1, on certain questions of jurisdiction, procedure and enforcement,

— a Protocol 2, on the uniform interpretation of the Convention,

— a Protocol 3, on the application of Article LVII.

These Protocols shall form an integral part of the Convention.

REVISION

Article LXVI

Any Contracting State may request the revision of this Convention. To that end, the Swiss Federal Council shall issue invitations to a revision conference within a period of six months from the date of the request for revision.

DECLARATIONS

Declaration by the Representatives of the Governments of the States Signatories to the Lugano Convention which are Members of the European Communities on Protocol No. 3 on the application of Article 57 of the Convention

The Representatives of the Governments of the Member States of the European Communities . . .