In Agro Foreign Trade and Agency [2017] EUECJ C-507/15 the European Court of Justice has delivered its judgment to the effect that agents operating outside EU member states are not afforded the protections given by the EU Council Directive 86/653/EEC even if their principal is based within a member state and the commercial agency agreement provides for the application of the law of a member state.
The ECJ considered that the purpose of the Directive was not to provide protection to agents based outside the EU who carried on their agency activities outside the EU.
On the other hand, it was recognised that the domestic implementation of the Directive might go beyond the requirements of the Directive in affording protection for agents in such circumstances.
Consequently, when advising a commercial agent operating outside of the EU, it is still important to consider whether the agency contract itself or the law of the country in which the agent operates or any other applicable law affords the agent protection akin to that provided by the Directive (where the agent operates in the EU) and the Commercial Agent (Council Directive) Regulations 1993 (where the agent’s activities take place in Great Britain)
