The Instrumentalisation of Private International Law: Quo Vadis? Rethinking the 'Neutrality' of Private International Law in an Era of Globalisation and Europeanisation of Private International Law

Private International Law is known as a very abstract, legal-technical and inaccessible discipline. Yet it is striking that PIL issues are conspiciously often interwoven with a number of heated, topical socio-legal debates, see for example the debate on transnational corporate social responsibility, the debate on posting of employees from Eastern to Western Europe, the debate on residency and social-security entitlements of foreigners based on family relationships. Both where it concerns situations governed by European PIL rules and national PIL rules, the question arises what position PIL should take in the forces at play and to what extent PIL can or should still adopt a "neutral" position.