EUPillar Uratec NV v Thyssen Polymer GmbH - A.R.04/635

Summary

The defendant is a manufacturer of plastic profiles for windows and door systems. The claimant is a company specialised in the manufacturing of doors and windows and wanted to start using the plastic profiles of the defendant. The defendant would pay part of the cost of adjusting the machines of the claimant to accept the new profiles. The defendant contests the jurisdiction of the Belgian courts. The contract between the parties is not a (pure) sales agreement, therefore Art. 5(1)(a) is applicable in this case. In order to know the place of performance, the law applicable to the contract must first be determined. According to the European Contracts Convention, the applicable law is the law of the residence of the party performing the characteristic performance. This is the performance that is being paid for. In this case this is the adjustment of the machine. The defendant intervened to coordinate the adjustment of the machines, but the actual material adjustments would be carried out by the claimant. Since the claimant performs the characteristic obligation, the agreement between the parties is most closely linked to Belgium, i.e. the state where the claimant has her central administration. Belgian law is applicable. According to Belgian law, debts are to be collected at the debtor’s place. In this case, the debtor resides in Germany. The place of performance of the obligation in question, i.e. collecting the compensation for the adjustment of the claimant’s machines, is Germany. The Belgian court has no international jurisdiction. Short critique: this case was confirmed on appeal, see decision "Antwerpen, 30 March 2006"