Overriding Mandatory Provisions
Definition
Overriding mandatory provisions are provisions the respect for which is
regarded as crucial by a country for safeguarding its public interests,
such as its political, social or economic organization.
OMPs in EU
(1) Difficulty to Define
Because OMPs have an ad hoc nature, it is difficult to clarify which
provisions are OMPs. The interests of the states would justify which
provision should be regarded as OMPs.
(2) Many rules of EU origin are in fact mandatory, as the necessity to
create EU law is often triggered by the need for special protection; it is
closely interwoven with the functioning of the internal market. For instance,
EU consumer law.
(3) The OPMs in EU for Instance
(a) Eco Swiss Case – Competition Law in EU
The EU competition rules, particularly the prohibition of Article 101 of
TFEU, are a matter of public policy.
(b) Provisions of Labor law aiming to protect EU internal Market
(c) Posted Workers Directive (Recital 34 of the Rome I Regulation)
(d) Directive on the Return of Cultural Objects
【注意】Ingmar Case – Agency Directive – Not belong to OMPs 但
是却有 OMPs 的效果
It is essential for the EU legal order that a principal established in a nonMember State, whose commercial agent carries out his activity within the
EU, cannot evade those provisions by using a choice of law clause. 另
外需要注意，该案法院并没有将其作为 OPMs。同时，也没有将其作
为普通强行法，因为根据罗马条例 I 的第 4（3）条，如果案件的所有
因素都仅与欧盟相关，那么选择使用的法律不应当排除欧盟强行法。
但是本案显然不是这样，委托人是美国公司，这与欧盟不相关，因此
不能适用罗马条例 I 的第 4（3）条。
这一点在 Unamar Ruling 当中得到了印证。这个案件中比利时方是
代理人，保加利亚方是委托人。比利时的代理法规范比欧盟的 Agency
Directive 更有利于代理人，因此比利时的代理人以公共政策为由要求
适用比利时法律，而非欧盟的指令。欧洲法院虽然没有明说，但是明
显在这种案件中依据罗马条例第 4（3）条，在没有非成员国因素干扰
时，直接适用了欧盟指令作为 OMPs。
从上述这些案件中可以看出，为了保护欧盟的四个自由（Four
Freedoms）、维护统一内部市场（Protect the functioning of the internal
market）所强制施行的规范，可能要比罗马条例 I 和 II 更为优先地适
用。这是由欧盟的多层次、多部门法律系统所决定的。