Speaking after an exchange of views at today's meeting of the Legal Affairs Committee with Commissioner Frattini, Diana Wallis MEP, rapporteur on the Rome II Regulation on applicable law, described the Commissioner's intention to delete defamation from the scope as 'incredibly disappointing'. The Comissioner declared that he would not fight for inclusion of the 'defamation clause' in the draft regulation on applicable law across the EU because Member States cannot find a common solution.
"We know only too well that this issue has been politically sensitive with the media, but why give up in the search for a solution now? The Parliament indicated a starting point which the media agreed to at first reading; this should have been built on not disregarded.
"The failure to deal with this aspect of applicable law will leave a gaping hole in the legislation in a world where media is increasingly global and editors need certainty about which law will apply to their publications. Leaving it out just perpetuates the uncertainty about which of 25 or more legal regimes might apply and helps no-one, least of all the media."
The Austrian Presidency has indicated that it would seek political agreement in April and a Common Position in May.
Parliament has co-decision rights with Council and adopted its first reading position in July 2005 with a majority of 450 in favour following a compromise formula proposed by the rapporteur on the issue of defamation in the media.
The European Commission put forward a proposal on 22 July 2003 for a regulation on the law applicable to non-contractual obligations. The proposal, known as 'Rome II', deals with the law applicable to non-contractual obligations (eg. cross-border disputes arising from incidents such as negligence, defamation; where there is no contract between the parties).
