Opinion of Mr Advocate General Lenz

Mr President,

Members of the Court,

A. The background of the proceedings with which this opinion deals goes back to 1977.

B. My views on the matter are as follows:

C. In view of the foregoing I propose that the Court give the following answer to the reference of the Bundesgerichtshof:

1 Translated from the German.

2 See Judgment of the Court of 14 December 1977 in Case 73/77, Sanders v van der Putte, [1977] ECR 2383, 2390 et seq.; Judgment of 15 November 1983 in Case 288/82, Duijnstee v Goderbauer, [1983] ECR 3663, 3676 et seq.

3 See footnote 1.

4 See the remarks of Mr P. Jenard in his Report on the Brussels Convention, under the heading Enforcement of Judgments (OJ 1979, C 59, p. 36).