Summary
Under Art. 5(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 44/2001 of 22 December 2000, Italian courts do not have jurisdiction over the proceedings for summary judgment brought by an Italian company for the payment of the price of a batch of industrial compressors and spare parts sold to a Slovenian company, as the goods were physically delivered at the buyer’s seat in Slovenia and no evidence has been found of a clear agreement to derogate from the fact-based criterion, i.e. of a clear and unequivocal agreement to deliver the goods in Italy. To this purpose, on the one hand no relevance must be recognized to the ex works clause contained in the general terms and conditions of sales unilaterally drafted by the seller, as it is not meant to determine the place of delivery but to fix the price and/or the effect of the transportation risk; on the other hand, the terms and clauses generally recognised and applied in international commercial usage, such as the Incoterms, could affect the issue of determining jurisdiction only in so far as they enable that place to be clearly identified.