International commercial courts and EU law: easing the tension.

This article examines the legal nature and challenges of international commercial courts (ICCts) within the European Union (EU), focusing on whether ICCts should be considered self-standing adjudicative bodies or specialized chambers of larger courts. Using the Netherlands Commercial Court (NCC) as a case study, it highlights how this ambiguity affects the applicability of the EU's Brussels I bis Regulation on cross-border litigation, particularly regarding choice-of-court agreements, compulsory jurisdiction, and access to the Court of Justice of the European Union's (CJEU) preliminary ruling procedure under Article 267 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). The article identifies potential tensions arising from stricter national formal requirements conflicting with EU law and discusses the importance of legal certainty for enforceability and mutual trust among Member States. It proposes two reform options for national lawmakers: either structuring ICCts as self-standing courts with compulsory jurisdiction or clearly integrating them as chambers within larger courts, both aimed at enhancing clarity and ensuring compatibility with EU law.