Annexes to COM(2008)131 - Pursuant to the second subparagraph of Article 251 (2) of the EC Treaty concerning the common position of the Council on the adoption of a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on certain aspects of mediation in civil and commercial matters

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dossier COM(2008)131 - Pursuant to the second subparagraph of Article 251 (2) of the EC Treaty concerning the common position of the Council on the ...
document COM(2008)131 EN
date March  7, 2008
agreements between the parties. The Commission fully agrees with this, as the Directive affects rules on judicial proceedings in the Member States which cannot always be modified by agreements between the parties.

The obligation to publish the European Code of Conduct for Mediators in the Official Journal, which was prevented by the fact that the Code of Conduct is not an act of the institutions, has been replaced by an obligation to publish the Code of Conduct on the Internet. In addition, the Commission is committed to including a reference to the Code of Conduct in the EU-Bulletin when it will inform about the adoption of the Directive. These obligations are acceptable to the Commission.

As to the review clause in Article 11, the common position requires the Commission's report to consider the development of mediation throughout the European Union, which is acceptable to the Commission.

Overall, the Commission can accept the common position which, although modifying some features of the initial Commission proposal, remains faithful to the objective of facilitating access to dispute resolution and of promoting the amicable settlement of disputes by encouraging the use of mediation and by ensuring a sound relationship between mediation and judicial proceedings.

4. CONCLUSION

The Commission accepts the common position in the light of the fact that it includes the key elements of its initial proposal.