Cour de cassation; 2022-04-06; Com., 6 avril 2022, pourvoi n°21-12.816
Decision by national courts in the field of European Union law — ECLI:FR:CCASS:2022:CO00235
Date: 2022-04-06
Subject matter: Judicial cooperation in civil matters
Origin: France

82022FR0406(51)_ENG_SUMJURE
JURE summary
JURE summary
This case examined by the Cour de Cassation (hereinafter ‘the Supreme Court’) concerned the determination of the place where services were provided.
The French company Epoka (hereinafter ‘the defendant’) sued the Luxembourgish company Banque de Luxembourg (hereinafter ‘the plaintiff’) in the tribunal de commerce de Paris (hereinafter ‘the Court of First Instance’). It did so because the plaintiff stopped ordering from it services pertaining to its communication.
The case was brought before the cour d’appel de Paris (hereinafter ‘the Court of Appeal’). The plaintiff claimed that the French courts had no jurisdiction. However, the Court of Appeal ruled otherwise, on the grounds that the services provided by the defendant were intellectual services, produced in France.
The plaintiff appealed to the Supreme Court. It claimed that the Court of Appeal infringed Article 7(1)(b) of the Brussels I Regulation (recast) (1), which provides that ‘the place of performance of the obligation in question shall be: […] in the case of the provision of services, the place in a Member State where, under the contract, the services were provided or should have been provided’.
According to the plaintiff, the services were provided in Luxembourg since they were received there.
The Supreme Court agreed with this reasoning and set aside the judgment of the Court of Appeal.
(1) Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2012 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters (recast).