Upon reference of the Austrian Supreme Court (OGH), the CJEU has held in its judgement of Sep. 6, 2012 in Case C-190/11 (Mühlleitner) that the consumer’s possibility of bringing proceedings before the courts of his Member State against a trader domiciled in another Member State is not subject to the condition that the contract was concluded at a distance. While the Brussels Convention required until 2002 that the consumer should have taken in the Member State of his domicile the steps necessary for the conclusion of the contract, the current Brussels I Regulation which came into force on Marc 1, 2002, no longer contains such a condition. By that amendment the European Union legislature intended to ensure better protection for consumers.
