Samenvatting International Business Law (IBL)
You can take the reader with you to the exam
HC1 Introduction .............................................................................................................................................. 4
What? .................................................................................................................................................................. 4
Why? ................................................................................................................................................................... 4
History ................................................................................................................................................................. 4
International principles of business ..................................................................................................................... 5
Interface between national and international business law ............................................................................... 5
Actors of international business law ................................................................................................................... 5
A) States .......................................................................................................................................................... 5
B) International organisations ......................................................................................................................... 7
C) Business ...................................................................................................................................................... 7
D) NGO’s .......................................................................................................................................................... 7
HC2 + HC3 Private international law ................................................................................................................. 8
I. Introduction ...................................................................................................................................................... 8
Terminology ..................................................................................................................................................... 8
Main functions ................................................................................................................................................ 8
Where to find PIL? ........................................................................................................................................... 8
Private international law in relation to international business law ................................................................. 8
II. Jurisdiction....................................................................................................................................................... 8
Conflict of laws versus jurisdictional conflicts? ............................................................................................... 8
Brussels I regulation (recast) 2012 .................................................................................................................. 9
III. Choice of law ................................................................................................................................................ 16
General approach .......................................................................................................................................... 16
Technical problems ........................................................................................................................................ 16
Contracts ....................................................................................................................................................... 16
HC4 + HC8 International trade & investment law ........................................................................................... 17
International trade law ..................................................................................................................................... 17
I. Institutional framework .............................................................................................................................. 17
II. Rules of internationale trade ..................................................................................................................... 19
III. Current tendencies in international trade ................................................................................................ 23
Investment law .................................................................................................................................................. 24
General .......................................................................................................................................................... 24
Framework .................................................................................................................................................... 24
HC5+HC6 Corporate mobility .......................................................................................................................... 26
Introduction & concepts .................................................................................................................................... 26
What? ............................................................................................................................................................ 26
Conflict of law (“lex societatis”) .................................................................................................................... 26
When real seat and incorporation clash ....................................................................................................... 27
What drives corporate mobility ? .................................................................................................................. 28
The race for corporate charters..................................................................................................................... 28
Corporate mobility in the EU: different techniques ........................................................................................... 29
1. Cross-border transfer of seat / freedom of establishment ....................................................................... 29
2. Cross-border conversions .......................................................................................................................... 34
3. European Company ................................................................................................................................... 36
Closing remarks ............................................................................................................................................. 37
1
, Other examples of common markets? ............................................................................................................... 37
HC7 ESG.......................................................................................................................................................... 37
ESG and its importance ..................................................................................................................................... 37
What? ............................................................................................................................................................ 37
Importance of ESG......................................................................................................................................... 39
The changing ESG landscape ............................................................................................................................. 39
ESG – a changing landscape .......................................................................................................................... 39
Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) .................................................................................... 40
Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) ........................................................................... 40
ESG litigation (risk) ............................................................................................................................................ 43
Evolution ....................................................................................................................................................... 43
How? ............................................................................................................................................................. 43
Shell ............................................................................................................................................................... 44
Different liability based on who was at fault ................................................................................................. 45
HC9-10 + 13-14 International Commercial Transactions .................................................................................. 46
International Contract Law ............................................................................................................................... 46
I. Sources of international contracts ............................................................................................................. 46
II. Genetics of international contracts ........................................................................................................... 48
III. The dynamic process of contract formation ............................................................................................. 49
A. International sale of goods ........................................................................................................................... 52
CISG ............................................................................................................................................................... 56
B. Building and construction projects ................................................................................................................ 61
Turnkey projects ............................................................................................................................................ 61
C. Transfer of technology and license contracts ................................................................................................ 63
Intellectual property (IP) ............................................................................................................................... 63
D. Distribution contracts.................................................................................................................................... 64
Franchising .................................................................................................................................................... 64
Dealership (= concessieovereenkomst) ......................................................................................................... 65
EU Directive on commercial agency (= handelsagentuur)............................................................................. 66
E. Financing: letters of credit ............................................................................................................................. 71
HC11-12 Cross-border insolvency ................................................................................................................... 72
Concepts ............................................................................................................................................................ 72
What? ............................................................................................................................................................ 72
Why? ............................................................................................................................................................. 72
How? ............................................................................................................................................................. 72
What? ............................................................................................................................................................ 72
Transnational laws: EU leads the way (again) .................................................................................................. 74
EIR (EU Insolvency Regulation) ...................................................................................................................... 74
ECJ, Kornhaas 11 December 2015 C-594/14 ................................................................................................. 76
Restructuring Directive 2019/1023 ............................................................................................................... 77
EU Proposal for substantive harmonization insolvency law .......................................................................... 78
Conclusions for EU ........................................................................................................................................ 78
Soft law: the MLCBI (Model Law Cross-Border Insolvency) ............................................................................... 78
4 principles: ................................................................................................................................................... 78
National laws (selection) ................................................................................................................................... 80
US Chapter 15 ............................................................................................................................................... 80
UK .................................................................................................................................................................. 80
2
,HC14 Digital law ............................................................................................................................................. 81
What? ................................................................................................................................................................ 81
DSA .................................................................................................................................................................... 81
AI-act ................................................................................................................................................................. 81
What .............................................................................................................................................................. 81
HC15 Competition law .................................................................................................................................... 83
Concepts ............................................................................................................................................................ 83
What? ............................................................................................................................................................ 83
Where? .......................................................................................................................................................... 83
Why? ............................................................................................................................................................. 83
When? ........................................................................................................................................................... 83
EU Competition law (vs. US antitrust law)......................................................................................................... 83
EU competition law ....................................................................................................................................... 83
Types ............................................................................................................................................................. 83
Importance of compliance ............................................................................................................................ 84
The legislative framework of Article 101 TFEU.............................................................................................. 84
US antitrust law (vs. EU competition law) ......................................................................................................... 86
Comp. with US ............................................................................................................................................... 86
EU vs. US ....................................................................................................................................................... 86
HC16 + HC17 International arbitration & investment dispute resolution ........................................................ 87
I. International arbitration ................................................................................................................................ 87
What? ............................................................................................................................................................ 87
Why? ............................................................................................................................................................. 87
Institutional vs. ad hoc .................................................................................................................................. 88
Arbitration clauses ........................................................................................................................................ 88
Enforceability ................................................................................................................................................ 89
II. Investment dispute settlement ...................................................................................................................... 91
What? ............................................................................................................................................................ 91
Why? ............................................................................................................................................................. 91
Investor-state dispute resolution (ISDS) ........................................................................................................ 91
Substantive claims and defenses (=> substantive legal standards protecting foreign investments) ............. 92
Specialised dispute resolution mechanisms (often international arbitration) .............................................. 92
Criticism......................................................................................................................................................... 96
Multilateral Investment Court (EU) ............................................................................................................... 96
3
, HC1 Introduction
What?
• International Business Law:
o Law of international business (international private law): body of rules that govern cross-border
business
o International law of business: body of rules determining state rights and obligations and relationship
between state and international organisations
Why?
• The theory of comparative advantage: when nations specialize in the production of things that they are
relatively good at supplying, and trade them for things that others are relatively good at supplying, the
world can produce more goods and services with the same resources and thus enable people to consume
more of the things they desire. This process of specialization will occur in the absence of excessive barriers
to trade as entrepreneurs pursue the profits associated with trade.
• Also: we find it important that there can be international agreements but they should also be regulated to
be safe (e.g. if there is no insolvency law, banks will not loan you anything because they have no guarantees)
• “the most broadly accepted economic theory of trade agreements rests on the value of cooperative efforts to
eliminate international terms of trade externalities among large countries”
History
• 1) Pre-GATT era
o ‘Mercantilism’: export is good, import is bad -> tariffs on import
o Protectionism: trade policies mostly set unilaterally (the nation chooses for themselves) and driven by
domestic politics
o Loss of colonies triggered search for open trade accords => they now feel the need to cooperate (bcs
otherwise other nations might have an advantage)
• 2) GATT era (GATT = general agreement on tariffs and trade)
o Formation of UN in 1945 made possible negotiations on multilateral trade institution (=> investing in
peace)
o Geneva 1947 / Havana 1948: tariff commitments (part I) + “general clauses” (part II) (GATT: general
agreement on tariffs and trade) (=> investing in the cooperation on trade)
▪ GATT is about the trade of goods
▪ Tariff commitments: sort of ceiling on tariffs => didn’t want someone of the group to have the
advantage of not having to abide by the ceiling on tariffs (should be a level playing field)
▪ Most favoured nations => see infra
▪ “General clauses”: patch the holes in the tariff commitments
▪ Also created some kind of dispute resolution system
o => From “treaty” to “institution”
• 3) The WTO
o Created on 1 January 1995
o Subsumed and supplanted GATT
▪ Subsumed: GATT got made part of the WTO
▪ Supplanted: parties to GATT refrained from it and became part of the WTO
o Not only goods, but also services (GATS) and IP (TRIPS) + procedures for settlement of disputes
o 166 members
• 4) Beyond WTO
o WTO is “dead” => states select their own trade partners instead of being forced into the massive body
of rules that is the WTO
▪ They are still part of WTO but they are not necessarily like-minded => they will focus on a
smaller group with like-minded nations (= PTA’s = preferential treatment agreements)
✓ 350+ PTAs in place, mostly bilateral
o Consensus by small group of major players used to be enough, but that has passed => too much
members (different characters)
o Other economies emerge, e.g. BRICS
o States have moved away from reliance on WTO for future progress
4
You can take the reader with you to the exam
HC1 Introduction .............................................................................................................................................. 4
What? .................................................................................................................................................................. 4
Why? ................................................................................................................................................................... 4
History ................................................................................................................................................................. 4
International principles of business ..................................................................................................................... 5
Interface between national and international business law ............................................................................... 5
Actors of international business law ................................................................................................................... 5
A) States .......................................................................................................................................................... 5
B) International organisations ......................................................................................................................... 7
C) Business ...................................................................................................................................................... 7
D) NGO’s .......................................................................................................................................................... 7
HC2 + HC3 Private international law ................................................................................................................. 8
I. Introduction ...................................................................................................................................................... 8
Terminology ..................................................................................................................................................... 8
Main functions ................................................................................................................................................ 8
Where to find PIL? ........................................................................................................................................... 8
Private international law in relation to international business law ................................................................. 8
II. Jurisdiction....................................................................................................................................................... 8
Conflict of laws versus jurisdictional conflicts? ............................................................................................... 8
Brussels I regulation (recast) 2012 .................................................................................................................. 9
III. Choice of law ................................................................................................................................................ 16
General approach .......................................................................................................................................... 16
Technical problems ........................................................................................................................................ 16
Contracts ....................................................................................................................................................... 16
HC4 + HC8 International trade & investment law ........................................................................................... 17
International trade law ..................................................................................................................................... 17
I. Institutional framework .............................................................................................................................. 17
II. Rules of internationale trade ..................................................................................................................... 19
III. Current tendencies in international trade ................................................................................................ 23
Investment law .................................................................................................................................................. 24
General .......................................................................................................................................................... 24
Framework .................................................................................................................................................... 24
HC5+HC6 Corporate mobility .......................................................................................................................... 26
Introduction & concepts .................................................................................................................................... 26
What? ............................................................................................................................................................ 26
Conflict of law (“lex societatis”) .................................................................................................................... 26
When real seat and incorporation clash ....................................................................................................... 27
What drives corporate mobility ? .................................................................................................................. 28
The race for corporate charters..................................................................................................................... 28
Corporate mobility in the EU: different techniques ........................................................................................... 29
1. Cross-border transfer of seat / freedom of establishment ....................................................................... 29
2. Cross-border conversions .......................................................................................................................... 34
3. European Company ................................................................................................................................... 36
Closing remarks ............................................................................................................................................. 37
1
, Other examples of common markets? ............................................................................................................... 37
HC7 ESG.......................................................................................................................................................... 37
ESG and its importance ..................................................................................................................................... 37
What? ............................................................................................................................................................ 37
Importance of ESG......................................................................................................................................... 39
The changing ESG landscape ............................................................................................................................. 39
ESG – a changing landscape .......................................................................................................................... 39
Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) .................................................................................... 40
Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) ........................................................................... 40
ESG litigation (risk) ............................................................................................................................................ 43
Evolution ....................................................................................................................................................... 43
How? ............................................................................................................................................................. 43
Shell ............................................................................................................................................................... 44
Different liability based on who was at fault ................................................................................................. 45
HC9-10 + 13-14 International Commercial Transactions .................................................................................. 46
International Contract Law ............................................................................................................................... 46
I. Sources of international contracts ............................................................................................................. 46
II. Genetics of international contracts ........................................................................................................... 48
III. The dynamic process of contract formation ............................................................................................. 49
A. International sale of goods ........................................................................................................................... 52
CISG ............................................................................................................................................................... 56
B. Building and construction projects ................................................................................................................ 61
Turnkey projects ............................................................................................................................................ 61
C. Transfer of technology and license contracts ................................................................................................ 63
Intellectual property (IP) ............................................................................................................................... 63
D. Distribution contracts.................................................................................................................................... 64
Franchising .................................................................................................................................................... 64
Dealership (= concessieovereenkomst) ......................................................................................................... 65
EU Directive on commercial agency (= handelsagentuur)............................................................................. 66
E. Financing: letters of credit ............................................................................................................................. 71
HC11-12 Cross-border insolvency ................................................................................................................... 72
Concepts ............................................................................................................................................................ 72
What? ............................................................................................................................................................ 72
Why? ............................................................................................................................................................. 72
How? ............................................................................................................................................................. 72
What? ............................................................................................................................................................ 72
Transnational laws: EU leads the way (again) .................................................................................................. 74
EIR (EU Insolvency Regulation) ...................................................................................................................... 74
ECJ, Kornhaas 11 December 2015 C-594/14 ................................................................................................. 76
Restructuring Directive 2019/1023 ............................................................................................................... 77
EU Proposal for substantive harmonization insolvency law .......................................................................... 78
Conclusions for EU ........................................................................................................................................ 78
Soft law: the MLCBI (Model Law Cross-Border Insolvency) ............................................................................... 78
4 principles: ................................................................................................................................................... 78
National laws (selection) ................................................................................................................................... 80
US Chapter 15 ............................................................................................................................................... 80
UK .................................................................................................................................................................. 80
2
,HC14 Digital law ............................................................................................................................................. 81
What? ................................................................................................................................................................ 81
DSA .................................................................................................................................................................... 81
AI-act ................................................................................................................................................................. 81
What .............................................................................................................................................................. 81
HC15 Competition law .................................................................................................................................... 83
Concepts ............................................................................................................................................................ 83
What? ............................................................................................................................................................ 83
Where? .......................................................................................................................................................... 83
Why? ............................................................................................................................................................. 83
When? ........................................................................................................................................................... 83
EU Competition law (vs. US antitrust law)......................................................................................................... 83
EU competition law ....................................................................................................................................... 83
Types ............................................................................................................................................................. 83
Importance of compliance ............................................................................................................................ 84
The legislative framework of Article 101 TFEU.............................................................................................. 84
US antitrust law (vs. EU competition law) ......................................................................................................... 86
Comp. with US ............................................................................................................................................... 86
EU vs. US ....................................................................................................................................................... 86
HC16 + HC17 International arbitration & investment dispute resolution ........................................................ 87
I. International arbitration ................................................................................................................................ 87
What? ............................................................................................................................................................ 87
Why? ............................................................................................................................................................. 87
Institutional vs. ad hoc .................................................................................................................................. 88
Arbitration clauses ........................................................................................................................................ 88
Enforceability ................................................................................................................................................ 89
II. Investment dispute settlement ...................................................................................................................... 91
What? ............................................................................................................................................................ 91
Why? ............................................................................................................................................................. 91
Investor-state dispute resolution (ISDS) ........................................................................................................ 91
Substantive claims and defenses (=> substantive legal standards protecting foreign investments) ............. 92
Specialised dispute resolution mechanisms (often international arbitration) .............................................. 92
Criticism......................................................................................................................................................... 96
Multilateral Investment Court (EU) ............................................................................................................... 96
3
, HC1 Introduction
What?
• International Business Law:
o Law of international business (international private law): body of rules that govern cross-border
business
o International law of business: body of rules determining state rights and obligations and relationship
between state and international organisations
Why?
• The theory of comparative advantage: when nations specialize in the production of things that they are
relatively good at supplying, and trade them for things that others are relatively good at supplying, the
world can produce more goods and services with the same resources and thus enable people to consume
more of the things they desire. This process of specialization will occur in the absence of excessive barriers
to trade as entrepreneurs pursue the profits associated with trade.
• Also: we find it important that there can be international agreements but they should also be regulated to
be safe (e.g. if there is no insolvency law, banks will not loan you anything because they have no guarantees)
• “the most broadly accepted economic theory of trade agreements rests on the value of cooperative efforts to
eliminate international terms of trade externalities among large countries”
History
• 1) Pre-GATT era
o ‘Mercantilism’: export is good, import is bad -> tariffs on import
o Protectionism: trade policies mostly set unilaterally (the nation chooses for themselves) and driven by
domestic politics
o Loss of colonies triggered search for open trade accords => they now feel the need to cooperate (bcs
otherwise other nations might have an advantage)
• 2) GATT era (GATT = general agreement on tariffs and trade)
o Formation of UN in 1945 made possible negotiations on multilateral trade institution (=> investing in
peace)
o Geneva 1947 / Havana 1948: tariff commitments (part I) + “general clauses” (part II) (GATT: general
agreement on tariffs and trade) (=> investing in the cooperation on trade)
▪ GATT is about the trade of goods
▪ Tariff commitments: sort of ceiling on tariffs => didn’t want someone of the group to have the
advantage of not having to abide by the ceiling on tariffs (should be a level playing field)
▪ Most favoured nations => see infra
▪ “General clauses”: patch the holes in the tariff commitments
▪ Also created some kind of dispute resolution system
o => From “treaty” to “institution”
• 3) The WTO
o Created on 1 January 1995
o Subsumed and supplanted GATT
▪ Subsumed: GATT got made part of the WTO
▪ Supplanted: parties to GATT refrained from it and became part of the WTO
o Not only goods, but also services (GATS) and IP (TRIPS) + procedures for settlement of disputes
o 166 members
• 4) Beyond WTO
o WTO is “dead” => states select their own trade partners instead of being forced into the massive body
of rules that is the WTO
▪ They are still part of WTO but they are not necessarily like-minded => they will focus on a
smaller group with like-minded nations (= PTA’s = preferential treatment agreements)
✓ 350+ PTAs in place, mostly bilateral
o Consensus by small group of major players used to be enough, but that has passed => too much
members (different characters)
o Other economies emerge, e.g. BRICS
o States have moved away from reliance on WTO for future progress
4
