Germany,
 Willy BRANDT
 For the President of the French Republic,
 Michel DEBRÉ
 For the President of the Italian Republic,
 Guiseppe MEDICI
 For His Royal Highness the Grand Duke of Luxembourg,
 Pierre GRÉGOIRE
 For Her Majesty the Queen of the Netherlands,
 J.M.A.H. LUNS
 JOINT DECLARATION
 The Governments of the Kingdom of Belgium, the Federal Republic of Germany, the French Republic, the Italian Republic, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and the Kingdom of the Netherlands,
 On signing the Convention on jurisdiction and the enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters,
 Desiring to ensure that the Convention is applied as effectively as possible,
 Anxious to prevent differences of interpretation of the Convention from impairing its unifying effect,
 Recognizing that claims and disclaimers of jurisdiction may arise in the application of the Convention,
 Declare themselves ready:
 1.
 to study these questions and in particular to examine the possibility of conferring jurisdiction in certain matters on the Court of Justice of the European Communities and, if necessary, to negotiate an agreement to this effect;
 2.
 To arrange meetings at regular intervals between their representatives.
 In witness whereof, the undersigned Plenipotentiaries have signed this Joint Declaration.
 Done at Brussels this twenty-seventh day of September in the year one thousand nine hundred and sixty-eight.
 Pierre HARMEL
 Willy BRANDT
 Michel DEBRÉ
 Giuseppe MEDICI
 Pierre GRÉGOIRE
 J.M.A.H. LUNS
 PROTOCOL
 on the interpretation by the Court of Justice of the Convention of 27 September 1968 on jurisdiction and the enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters
 THE HIGH CONTRACTING PARTIES TO THE TREATY ESTABLISHING THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY,
 Having regard to the Declaration annexed to the Convention on jurisdiction and the enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters, signed at Brussels on 27 September 1968,
 HIS MAJESTY THE KING OF THE BELGIANS:
 M. Alfons VRANCKX,
 Minister of Justice;
 THE PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY:
 M. Gerhard JAHN,
 Federal Minister of Justice;
 THE PRESIDENT OF THE FRENCH REPUBLIC:
 M. René PLEVEN,
 Keeper of the Seals,
 Minister of Justice;
 THE PRESIDENT OF THE ITALIAN REPUBLIC:
 M. Erminio PENNACCHINI,
 Under-Secretary of State in the Ministry of Justice;
 HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE GRAND DUKE OF LUXEMBOURG:
 M. Eugène SCHAUS,
 Minister of Justice,
 Deputy Prime Minister;
 HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN OF THE NETHERLANDS:
 M. C.H.F. POLAK,
 Minister of Justice;
 HAVE AGREED AS FOLLOWS:
 Article 1
 The Court of Justice of the European Communities shall have jurisdiction to give rulings on the interpretation of the Convention on jurisdiction and the enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters and of the Protocol annexed to that Convention, signed at Brussels on 27 September 1968, and also on the interpretation of the present Protocol.
 Article 2
 The following courts may request the Court of Justice to give preliminary rulings on questions of interpretation:
 1.
 in Belgium: la Cour de Cassation — het Hof van Cassatie and le Conseil d'État — de Raad van State,
 in the Federal Republic of Germany: die obersten Gerichtshöfe des Bundes,
 in France: la Cour de Cassation and le