Background to the Involvement of the EC in ADR

1993 December	Brussels European Council Meeting Agreed remit of Sixth Intergovernmental Conference to review the Treaty of the European Union (the Maastricht Treaty of February 1992)
1997 October	Treaty of Amsterdam Treaty resulting from the Sixth IGC concluded. Includes provisions in the field of judicial cooperation in civil matters.
1998 March 30	Commission Recommendation Commission Recommendation on the principles applicable to the bodies responsible for out-of-court settlement of consumer disputes
1998 December 3	Action Plan Justice and Home Affairs Council Action Plan includes proposals for judicial cooperation in civil matters.
1998 December	European Council Meeting at Vienna Approval of Action Plan.
1999 May 1	Treaty of Amsterdam Treaty comes into force.
1999 October	European Council Meeting at Tampere, Finland Determines that “Alternative, extra-judicial procedures should … be created by Member States”.
2000 March 22	European Extra-Judicial Network (EEJ-NET) Commission Working Document
2000 September	European Extra-Judicial Network (EEJ-NET) Commission presents a proposal for a decision establishing the network
2001	Commission Affirmation Affirmation by the Commission of the rights of consumers to access to ADR
2001 February 1	FIN-NET Press Release on launch of FIN-NET
2001 April 4	Commission Recommendation Commission Recommendation on the principles for out-of-court bodies involved in the consensual resolution of consumer disputes
2001 May 28	European Judicial Network (EEJ-NET) The Council reaches the Council decision on the EEJ-NET
2001 November 27	SOLVIT Commission Communication on Effective Problem Solving in the Internal Market
2002 March 1	SOLVIT The Council endorses the SOLVIT scheme
2002 April 19	Green Paper on alternative dispute resolution in civil and commercial law COM(2002) 196 final
2002 April 19	Green Paper Commission forwards Green Paper to Parliament
2002 April - October	Consultation on Green Paper Summary of Responses Individual Published responses: AEB CEDR Chartered Institute of Arbitrators CPR Law Society of England & Wales Law Society for Scotland
2002 September 17	FIN-NET Press Release on Commission moves to prepare extension of FIN-NET financial services complaints network to future Member States
2002 May 1	Council Regulation (EC) No 743/2002 Established a general Community framework of activities to facilitate the implementation of judicial cooperation in civil matters
2002 July 1	Reference to Committees The President of Parliament announces that he has referred, for their opinions, the Green Paper to: - the Committee on Legal Affairs and the Internal Market as the committee responsible - the Committee on Citizens' Freedoms and Rights, Justice and Home Affairs, - the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs, - the Committee on Environment, Public Health and Consumer Policy (C5‑0284/2002)
2002 September	FIN-NET European Commission publishes consumers' guide to FIN-NET
2002 October 29	ADR Group Debate on Green Paper Proposals Transcript of debate between John Redwood MP and Stephen York versus Keith Vaz MP and Quentin Smith on proposals.
2002 November 1	View of UK Government Baroness Scotland writes to the Select Committee on European Scrutiny stating the Government’s view that the regulation of ADR is to be avoided, and that this view is broadly supported by the other UK respondents to the Green Paper who have copied their replies to the Minister.
2002 December 11	Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the Green Paper Opinion on the Green Paper
2003 February 19	Opinion of the Committee on Citizens' Freedoms and Rights, Justice and Home Affairs Opinion on the Green Paper
2003 February 21	Report of the Committee on Legal Affairs and the Internal Market Report on the Green Paper
2003 February 21	Agenda
2003 March 12	Green Paper - European Parliament Resolution Resolution on the Commission's Green Paper
2004 July 2	Code of Conduct Code of Conduct launched at Conference in Brussels
2004 October 22	Draft Directive on certain aspects of mediation in civil and commercial matters Draft published CEDR Commentary on Draft ASA Response CCBE Response
2004 October 25	Draft Directive on certain aspects of mediation in civil and commercial matters Press Release
2004 October 28	Draft Directive on certain aspects of mediation in civil and commercial matters submitted to Presidency Annex to Draft
2004 November 16	Draft Directive on certain aspects of mediation in civil and commercial matters The Council decided to consult the European Economic and Social Committee, under Article 95 of the Treaty establishing the European Community.
2004 November 29	Draft Directive on certain aspects of mediation in civil and commercial matters Opinion of Legal Service on the Draft Directive. Only a heavily redacted version is in the public domain.
2005 June 9	Report of the the European Economic and Social Committee Report on the Directive
2005 June 23	Report of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Report on the Directive
2005 July 29	Presidency Revises Draft Directive on certain aspects of mediation in civil and commercial matters Revised Draft published
2005 September 14	Draft Directive on certain aspects of mediation in civil and commercial matters Legal Affairs Committee of the European Parliament discuss the draft proposal
2005 November 8	Presidency Further Revises Draft Directive on certain aspects of mediation in civil and commercial matters Revised Draft published
2005 December 1	Council consideration of Draft Directive on certain aspects of mediation in civil and commercial matters The Council reached common understanding on the text of a draft Directive on mediation in civil and commercial matters, subject to the definition of cross-border crisis and the application of the principle of subsidiarity.
2006 April 20	Public Hearing of JURI on Draft Directive Agenda Paper - Richard Butler Supplementary Paper - Richard Butler
2006 June 1	Council consideration of Draft Directive on certain aspects of mediation in civil and commercial matters Expected date for debate or examination of draft.
2006 September 6	JURI Rapporteur - Draft Directive The JURI Rapporteur, Arlene McCarthy, produces Report and Draft Directive for approval of Parliament
2006 December 20	Legal Affairs Committee of the European Parliament to consider draft directive Report scheduled for adoption in Legal Affairs Committee of the European Parliament, 1st or single reading - Agenda and Amendments to Draft Directive
2007 March 23	Legal Affairs Committee of the European Parliament to consider draft directive Report scheduled for adoption in Legal Affairs Committee of the European Parliament - Report
2007 March 29	European Parliament - European Parliament legislative resolution on first reading on the proposed directive. Significant changes (33 amendments) made to Commission draft. Adopted Text
2007 March 29	European Commission - Indicates partial agreement with adopted text.
2007 November 5	Agreement under co-decision procedure - A communication from the Chairman of the European Parliament's Committee on Legal Affairs to the Chairman of the Permanent Representatives Committee confirms agreement.
2007 November 8/9	Council reaches common position - The Council (Justice and Home Affairs) reached political agreement on a common position. Reasons
2008 February 11	Invitation to permanent representatives - The Permanent Representatives Committee is therefore invited to suggest that the Council adopt the common position. Text
2008 March 7	Commission confirms common position - A communication from the Commission to the Parliament confirms agreement to common position.
2008 March 12	European Parliament - Recommendation for second reading
2008 April 14	European Parliament - Tabled report for second reading
2008 April 23	European Parliament - Resolves to approve common position
2008 May 23	Directive 2008/52/EC
2011 May 21	Member states required to give effect to Directive 2008/52/EC

Euro Mediation

Alternative Dispute Resolution at the European Community Level