Hess Burkhard, Towards a Uniform Concept of Habitual Residence in European Procedural and Private International Law?

At present, European private international and procedural law is deeply fragmented with almost 20 different instruments exerting an effect – sometimes in a more general , sometimes in a very sectorial way . It appears that the EU lawmaker is not following a general strategic plan but addresses different issues whenever there is a need for legislative action . Nevertheless, the Union strives for a coherent and systematic interpretation of the instruments as recital no 7 of the Rome I Regulation demonstrates . However, the fragmentation of the legal landscape impedes legal practice. In this regard, it is a truism that cross-border cases are still a rare exception (amounting to less than 5 % of all cases) and not routine in the everyday business of courts and parties (the situation of businesses operating in cross-border settings might be different to some extent) . The EU...