Spanish Law Applicable to Commercial Agents
As part of a series concerning the law applicable to commercial agents in the member states of the EU, the authors give an overview with especially practice-oriented information. The Spanish law applicable to commercial agents (“Ley sobre Contrato de Agencia – LCA”) is based on the commercial agents EC directive and is therefore similar to German law.
It is characteristically, that the commercial agent is never part of the arranged contract himself, what distinguishes him from an authorised dealer. As he is self-employed he is not subjected to employment law like an employed commercial agent. The contract with the commercial agent does not require a special form but a written contract is recommended. If the contract with the commercial agent is subjected to another states’ law, the peremptory norms of the LCA have to be observed. The commercial agent has the duty to bring forward the business of the company, but he is basically not sharing liability. The company is obliged to pay a commission or a fixed salary. The contractual relationship may be terminated by an ordinary or extraordinary notice of cancellation or may be a fix-term contract from the first. Onto the termination of the contract the commercial agent has a claim to compensation and a claim for damages, except for cases of personal negligence.
Karl H. Lincke
Mariscal Abogados
Despacho internacional Eurojuris España
Tags: commercial agent, commercial agent EC directive, Karl H. Lincke, LCA, Mariscal Abogados
