Tamas Dezso Ziegler Practical Aspects of the New Silk Road Cooperation

Contract law (substantive law) General introduction „Toolkit” to cooperation. Contract law (substantive law) Private international law (conflict of laws) Public procurement and state aid

EU and member states’ law EU law: like federal law in the US EU law has supremacy and direct effect over member states’ law

EU and member states law Competencies: Treaty on the Functioning of the EU Treaty on the European Union Disputes between member states and the EU National Parliaments are also legislators EU commercial policy: exclusive EU competence EU infringement procedure: EU has the right to „punish” a country

Substantive contract law EU contract law: mostly for consumer law issues 28 member states: all different systems Continental systems: civil code (Hungarian Civil Code, Bürgerliches Gesetzbuche, Code Civile in France, etc.) UK system: case law mixed with certain laws

Private international law EU has very important rules Rome I regulation (Regulation No. 593/2008) on the law applicable to contracts Similar to the Chinese Act: Act on the Application of Laws over Foreign-related Civil Relationships

Private international law Contracts: Choice of law is available (just like in Chinese law, see Act on the Application of Laws over Foreign-related Civil Relationships, Article 41. However, in a number of cases choice is limited in China (Chinese-foreign joint ventures) Absence of choice: China: “principle of closest connection” („habitual residence of the party whose performance obligation can be the best to embody the essential characteristics of the contract”) Absence of choice: EU: (a) sale of goods: the law of the country where the seller has his habitual residence; (b) services: law of the country where the service provider has his habitual residence c) otherwise:  the law of the country where the party required to do the characteristic performance has his habitual residence.

Public procurement and state aid Very strict EU rules: Public procurement: processes cannot be used discriminatively State aid: generally, states may not „aid” (help) companies „Twenty-seven of the 28 national EU ambassadors to Beijing have compiled a report that sharply criticizes China’s “Silk Road” project, denouncing it as designed to hamper free trade and put Chinese companies at an advantage… The unusually biting contents, which only Hungary’s ambassador refused to sign, are part of the EU’s preparations for an EU-China summit in July.” (Handelsblatt)

Public procurement and state aid Atomic plant (Paks 2 – Russian business) – EU actions: State aid Procurement

Public procurement and state aid Belgrade-Budapest railway „The segment in Serbia, with an investment of 350 million U.S. dollars, was kicked off at a ceremony at Zemun railway station in Belgrade by Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic, Minister of Construction, Transportation and Infrastructure Zorana Mihajlovic, and Wang Xiaotao, deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission of China…. The railway linking Budapest with Belgrade is the first cross-border project jointly realized by Serbia, Hungary and China within the framework of the cooperation between China and the Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC)… It has a total length of 350 km, with 184 km in Serbia. It is designed for electrified passenger and cargo trains with a maximum speed of 200 km per hour.”

Public procurement and state aid Belgrade-Budapest train line: