HOSZIG KFT V ALSTOM POWER THERMAL SERVICES

Case C-222/15, Court of Justice of the European Union - 7 July 2016

Conflict of laws - Jurisdiction clause - Clause inserted in the general conditions - Consent of the parties to those conditions - Validity and precision of such a clause - Rome I Regulation - Brussels I Regulation, article 23

Several contracts had been concluded by H, the claimant and T, the legal predecessor of the defendant, for the manufacture and supply of metal structures to be used in works on a number of existing power plants located in France. The business relationship had commenced by T inviting H to submit a tender and providing T's general terms and conditions, which contained among other clauses a law and jurisdiction clause providing for Paris court jurisdiction and French law to apply. The first contract had been concluded on 16 December 2010 and the instruments witnessing the contracts made reference to T's general terms and conditions. A dispute regarding the performance of the contracts arose and H commenced litigation before the referring court, the Court of Pecs in Hungary. H argued as follows. It was unreasonable to apply French law and the contracts must be considered in the light of Hungarian law under which T's general terms and conditions would not be a part of the contract. Since the manufacture was to take place in Hungary the jurisdiction was with Hungarian courts according to the Brussels I Regulation. The reference to "Paris courts" did not meet the requirements of Brussels I, article 23(1). T for its part argued that Rome I and Brussels I applied so as to confer jurisdiction upon French courts.