European Union – Jurisdiction. The Court of Justice of the European Union gave a preliminary ruling, deciding, among other things, that arts 23(5) and 24 of Council Regulation (EC) No 44/2001 should be interpreted as meaning that, in a dispute concerning the non-performance of a contractual obligation, in which the applicant had brought proceedings before the courts of the member state in which the respondent had its seat, the jurisdiction of those courts could stem from art 24 of that regulation where the respondent did not dispute their jurisdiction, even though the contract between the two parties contained a clause conferring jurisdiction on the courts of a third country.