Building European Private International Law: Twenty Years' Work by GEDIP

During the last twenty years, private international law has been significantly transformed in Europe. Since its creation in 1991, the European Group for Private International Law (EGPIL, commonly known as GEDIP) sustained this evolution. Composed of specialists of private international law who are also interested in European law, the Group focuses on the interaction between these two fields of research. The work of the Group is led in regard of international instruments of various nature, in particular those of the Hague Conference on Private International Law and the European Convention for the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms. The issues covered by the annual meetings are chosen and analysed on an independent way without mandate from European or international institutions. The aim is to foster progress of knowledge by using an issue-by-issue method.
This working method allowed the Group to develop new tools which turned out to sustain the preparation of several European acts in civil and commercial matters, namely, the Regulations Brussels II, Rome I, Rome II and Rome III, as well as possibly the forthcoming Regulation on succession or the revision of the Brussels I Regulation. The GEDIP documents reflect the evolving debate on private international law in Europe since twenty years. Their publication into a monograph at the occasion of the GEDIP's 20th anniversary aims to improve their dissemination and is accompanied by a detailed index to facilitate their consultation.