CYIL vol. 14 (2023)

CYIL 14 (2023) UNRAVELING THE ENIGMA OF THE INTERPLAY BETWEEN THE VIENNA CONVENTION … Thus, the Vienna Convention holds immense significance in the realm of nuclear liability. It established a global standard and comprehensive framework for addressing civil liability for nuclear damage by determining the prerequisites for establishing liability, setting financial and time limits of liability, and establishing channels for compensation. The issue of nuclear liability relations encompasses both public law and private law elements deriving from sources at both the international and national levels. These relations present significant complexities, and the introduction of secondary legislation by the European Union (EU) has further complicated matters, despite the absence of direct EU legislative acts governing nuclear damage compensation. To date, the EU has not achieved unification or harmonization of nuclear liability rules through secondary legislation. No EU legislation has been adopted yet that would regulate concrete matters of nuclear damage compensation in this area (one of the contributing factors to the absence of EU legal regulation is the scope of competences of the EU) or that would be contrary to current or potential future nuclear liability legislation. 9 Although there may be a debatable nature regarding the European Union’s jurisdiction in the realm of material aspects pertaining to nuclear damage compensation, conflicts could arise between international nuclear liability rules and EU regulations in areas falling under EU jurisdiction that are also addressed in international instruments pertaining to nuclear liability law. These areas include jurisdiction, enforcement, and the recognition of decisions as well as the conflict-of-laws regimes. 10 2.1 Introductory reflections The Regulation (EC) No 864/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 July 2007 on the law applicable to non-contractual obligations (Rome II Regulation or Rome II) establishes a regime that governs the applicable law concerning non-contractual obligations involving a conflict of laws. The primary reason for the adoption of this type of regulation, which unifies the system of conflict-of-law rules of the Member States, was the fact that the possibilities of harmonisation of the substantive law of the Member States in non-contractual obligations are considerably hampered due to the significant differences between the individual legal systems in terms of discrepancies in the understanding of the non-contractual institutes. 11 The substantive scope of the Rome II Regulation is laid down in Articles 1 and 2. According to Article 1(1), the regulation shall apply in a situation involving a conflict of laws, to non-contractual obligations in civil and commercial matters. However, Rome II explicitly 9 NOVOTNÁ, M. VARGA, P., HANDRLICA, J. Strengthening of nuclear liability regime on national, international and European level: a tool to enhance nuclear new build (RW&W Science & New Media 2015), p. 75. 10 NOVOTNÁ, M., VARGA, P. The relation of the EU law and the nuclear liability legislation: Possibilities, limits, and mutual interaction (2014) 3 Societas et iurisprudentia , pp. 96–123. 11 On the conceptual differences in the legal regulation of non-contractual obligations in the countries of the European area, see VAN GERVEN, W. et al. Cases, Materials and Text on National, Supranational and International Tort Law. Ius Commune Casebooks for the Common Law of Europe (Hart Publishing 2000) pp. 2–8. VON BAR, CH. – DROBNIG, U. The Interaction of Contract Law and Tort and Property Law in Europe. A Comparative Study (Sellier – European Law Publishers 2004) pp. 26–28. 2. Rome II Regulation vs Vienna Convention

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