Civil and commercial judicial cooperation: transmission and service of documents between the Member States, Brussels and The Hague conventions

The committee adopted a report by Mr Kurt LECHNER (EPP/ED, D) approving the Commission proposal which it felt would improve the procedures for the cross-border transmission of legal documents in civil or commercial matters and help to protect citizens' rights. It welcomed the standardisation of forms and rules at EU level. However, the committee also adopted a number of amendments to the proposal. The first of these sought to turn the proposal into a regulation rather than a decision, so that it was binding and directly applicable. The committee also felt that there were too many derogations and adopted various amendments aimed at removing them. Lastly, it tabled several amendments with a view to making the text more precise in places and adding certain technical stipulations.