A European Commission proposal to make civil law rulings in one EU country apply across the community as a whole, is not popular on the floor of the Dutch Parliament.

This proposal would mean that rulings in another EU country on contract, family or inheritance law, would apply in the Netherlands as well. But a Dutch court would not be involved.

For example, if a Spanish judge were to order a Dutch company to pay damages in Spain, a bailiff could come knocking on the door, without the intervention of a Dutch judge.

Corruption

The aim of the new measure is to make court rulings in civil cases across the EU, less complicated.

But there are fears in the Dutch parliament, that the judicial system in some eastern European countries is open to corruption. MPs say they are concerned this could lead to Dutch nationals becoming the victims of corrupt court decisions.

Jeroen Recourt, of the coalition Labour party, PvdA, said the biggest danger is that decisions would be taken in countries where the legal system is not on a par with Dutch standards, and there would be no possibility to turn to a Dutch court.

“Because not all EU countries have courts with the same level of quality and integrity as the Netherlands,  we are afraid harmonisation will lead to poorer quality here”, he said.

“Without the involvement of a Dutch judge, we run the risk of importing decisions that are not up to our standards, or even, in the worst case scenario, based on corruption”, he added.

Cross-border law

Such concerns are shared by all parties and are becoming the focus of heated debate in the Dutch parliament. MPs agree that, while they support the European ambition to harmonise civil law, this demands huge confidence in the legal systems of all EU countries.

Dutch MPs fear that civil law harmonisation will be a threat to the high standards of the judicial system in the Netherlands. So, they are only likely to support the European Commission's proposal, if there are guarantees that quality will be maintained - through cross-border training and support for judges throughout the European Community.