The Gazette 1989

GAZETTE

FEBRUARY

1989

international, whether through expansion, diversification or joint venture. Equally, as regards the consumer, the Single Market will bring him into increasing contact with goods and services from throughout the Community. Thus in the future an Irish citizen may carry out transactions using a bank account anywhere in Europe, to buy goods and services provided by any European firm. The products and services which he buys may have been certified by, say, an Italian agency. Following the "Cassis de Dijon" case, the Com- mission will ensure that if goods are lawfully manufactured and marketed in one Member State, they must be allowed free entry into other Member States. Thus, those once rather seemingly extra- ordinary situations which used to be described in the Private Inter- national Law examination papers - whereby an Irish firm insures itself with a Dutch company against the loss of goods in transport within Italy on the basis of a contract signed in Brussels and paid for in sterling out of the Irish firm's German bank account - will become increasingly familiar. As business transactions become increasingly international so will the law which will regulate them. Legal Services And here I come to the nub of my message today. In the provision of legal services and advice, the forces of competition which are being released throughout the

lead to a process of industrial con- solidation and regrouping across national boundaries requiring a vigilant Community control over mergers, acquisitions, joint ven- tures, etc. so as to prevent the emergence of non-competitive situations. There is no need to exemplify the way in which the Pace of transfrontier industrial restructuring has quickened with the 1992 deadline and there can be no doubt but that this activity will intensify. Businessmen and their advisers in their day-to-day business activities will become more and more conscious of the relevance of Community competit- ion rules in the months and years ahead. These developments will require also a strengthening of the Judiciary. The Single Act therefore provided for the establishment of a new Court of First Instance to supplement the work of the Court of Justice. It is proposed that this Court will deal in particular with competition and perhaps trade protection issues. At the same time, the Commission is giving active encouragement to efforts to promote national enforcement of Community law, particularly as concerns competition. Thirdly, in the words of the Single Act, the Single Market is an area without internal frontiers in which the free movement of goods, persons, services and capital is ensured. We have already seen that the emerging business configura- tion will as a result be increasingly

European Community will apply with equal strength. I have three reasons for saying so. Firstly, if the type of international situation which I have described above becomes more and more frequent, the component of European and of Private International Law will become increasingly important in legal proceedings. Only lawyers who are versed in these branches of law can carry out such work. But of their very nature, such legal situations can be dealt with by lawyers from any of the countries associated with the situation. Thus there is no automatic reason why an Irish firm in, say, a joint venture with a Belgian company will auto- matically turn to Irish rather than Belgian lawyers for legal advice and representation. What the Irish firm will be looking for is knowledge of the total legal implications of the situation and advice which is competent and efficient. The internal market will bring the typical Irish firm into contact with non- Irish lawyers and in an increasing number of instances they will be as well placed to act for it as Irish lawyers. Of course, the inverse will be true; non-Irish firms will come into increasing contact with Irish lawyers and will be able to avail of their services. In legal services as in every other aspect of the Single Market, there will be no protected home market. This will provide the opportunity and the threat which is the double-edged sword of com- petition.

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