The Disorderly Infiltration of EU Law in Civil Procedure

Since 1968 the European Union (or the European Economic Community as it then was) has legislated in the field of civil procedure. These rules do not replace domestic laws and codes of civil procedure, but gradually take over aspects in the field: it infiltrates. The purpose of this article is to show that this infiltration is chaotic rather than logical. It discusses certain aspects of the scope of EU legislation in the field of civil procedure, provisional measures, the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments and systemic hurdles for a more logical delineation between the EU and domestic spheres of the law. It shows the disorderly infiltration without offering a definite solution, taking the view that such disorderliness is inescapable in light of the current state of EU law on civil procedure and political realities.