The Relevance of the Rome I Regulation to International Commercial Arbitration in the European Union

In the European Union, the law applicable to contractual obligations in civil and commercial matters involving a conflict of laws problem is determined by the Rome I Regulation. Although arbitration agreements are excluded from the scope of the Regulation; the relevance of the Regulation to international commercial arbitration seated in the EU is not free from doubt. This uncertainty derives from the wording of the exclusion and from the debate whether an arbitrator sitting in a Member State, like a judge of a Member State's court, is bound to apply the rules of the Regulation. This article aims to deal with the issue by examining the extent of the arbitration agreements' exclusion under the Rome I Regulation and the application of the Rome I Regulation by arbitrators as a Union measure.