For the sake of clarity, consistency and an appropriate measure of flexibility, the rapporteur has opted for a flexible general rule which should apply to all torts/delicts in the absence of a choice of law or of special rules set out in the succeeding articles, together with a provision indicating circumstances in which, exceptionally, that rule may be displaced by virtue of the existence of a manifestly closer connection with a country other than that indicated by the general rule.

For example, the concepts of " delict'' and " quasi-delict'' have been replaced, in civil law, by the notion of " extracontractual civil liability'. '

– (ES) Madam President, if something characterises the production of this report on terrorism, it has not just been the rigour and know-how of the rapporteur, Mr Watson, whom I would expressly like to congratulate, but also the willingness and understanding of almost all the political groups in this House to reflect not only their rejection and condemnation of terrorism, the people involved in it and the methods it uses, but also to reach a consensus on the legal instruments which we must create at European level in order to combat and pursue the crimes involved in terrorist activity and organised crime.

Prisons have become more overcrowded in recent years in almost all EU countries, not because more people are being imprisoned (the number of prison sentences handed down is actually falling everywhere) but because sentences are becoming heavier, which means that people spend longer in prison than was the case during the 1970s (although Germany, Austria and Finland are exceptions to this rule).

The changes made to the act deal mainly with the fact that in civil law, the notions of delict and quasi-delict were replaced in 1994 by that of extracontractual civil liability.

Concepts such as " delict" and" quasi-delict" were replaced by the concept of " extracontractual liability" .