The Foundations Of European Private Law

There remains an urgent need for a deeper discussion of the theoretical, political and federal dimensions of the European codification project. While much valuable work has already been undertaken, the chapters in this volume take as their starting point the proposition that further reflection and critical thought will enhance the quality and efficacy of the on-going work of the various codification bodies. The volume contains chapters by representatives of the Common Frame of Reference, the Study Group and the Acquis Group as well as by those who have not been involved in particular projects but who have previously commented more distantly on their work - for instance those belonging to the Trento Group, and the Social Justice Group. The chapters between them represent the most comprehensive attempt so far to survey the state of the codification project, its theoretical, political and federal foundations and the future prospects for enforcement and compliance.

Since Anu Bradford's groundbreaking book on the Brussels Effect there is a vastly evolving literature on the EU as a global regulatory actor as well as the global reach of EU law. This edited collection connects to this debate. Yet, it shifts the focus from the currently predominant public law focus to investigating European and EU private law and to connecting to literature and research on transnational law. To that end, it proceeds first conceptually by introducing and giving shape to the notion of a “European Transnational Private Law” through four conceptual contributions by the editors. Secondly, it focuses on several sectors (finance, taxation, investment, consumer law, labour law) and topics (climate litigation, global value chains, non-discrimination) to trace sector-specifically the role of EU private law in relation to transnational legal ordering.

The private law of the Member States of the European Union has become more and more 'European'. The fact that the European Union is making ever more use of directives as an instrument to achieve private law goals, is, in this context, not the most important development. Of much more substance is the fact that one increasingly realises that a uniform European private law has to be created, in one way or another, in the near future, if a truly common European market is to function at all. Over the last decade, Europe has witnessed the emergence of a vigorous debate about the need for and the feasibility of a future European ius commune in the field of private law. This book critically discusses this debate and provides a systematic overview of the various initiatives taken and describes the fragmentary European private law that already exists (by way of European directives, international conventions, etc.). In addition, the author aims at making a contribution to the debate by suggesting that the experience (good or bad) of the so-called 'mixed legal systems' is of great importance to the European private law venture and to the development of a uniform private law for Europe. This idea is supported by insights from Law & Economics and illustrated by South African law in particular. This idea of 'European private law as a mixed legal system' is then applied to the law of contracts, torts and property. This book takes up the challenge to give a critical examination on the various methods of creating this ius commune. A detailed table of contents, list of abbreviations, bibliography, table of cases and index complete the book and make it a valuable study for everyone interested in European private law.

The book is a must read for anybody interested in the future development of European private law. European Private Law News This volume contains a valuable collection of essays by a group of reputable academics, each dealing with a particular aspect of the development of a substantive law of contract at European level. The contributors have a variety of interests and perspectives. The topic is clearly of great current interest throughout the European Union and beyond. Peter Stone, University of Essex, UK European Private Law after the Common Frame of Reference brings together several interesting contributions from a distinguished group of scholars, and sheds light on the important issue of legal harmonization from an interdisciplinary and comparative perspective. Francesco Parisi, University of Minnesota, US and University of Bologna, Italy The Common Frame of Reference has several potential functions, some reconcilable, others mutually exclusive. Its size, its shape, its true legal nature and its content all remain contested. Modest or ambitious, toolbox or code-in-waiting? Its chameleon character is its strength and simultaneously its weakness, and equally the reason why it has attracted such attention. In this book the editors have assembled a veritable who s who in the field and it is a terrific read. Stephen Weatherill, University of Oxford, UK This book paves the way for, and initiates, the second-generation of research in European private law subsequent to the Draft Common Frame of Reference (DCFR) needed for the 21st century. The book gives a voice to the growing dissatisfaction in academic discourse that the DCFR, as it stands in 2009, does not actually represent the condensed available knowledge on the possible future of European private law. The contributions in this book focus on the legitimacy of law making through academics both now and in the future, and on the possible conceptual choices which will affect the future of European private law. Drawing on experience gained from the DCFR the authors advocate the competition of ideas and concepts. This fascinating book will be a must-read for European lawyers, private lawyers in the Member States and academics dealing with conceptual issues of the future of the national and the European private law. Advanced students in both law and international business will also find this book invaluable, as will US scholars interested in the US EU comparison of different legal orders.

Papers originally presented at meetings of the Common Core of European Private Law Project.

In this volume, the Study Group and the Acquis Group present the first academic Draft of a Common Frame of Reference (DCFR). The Draft is based in part on a revised version of the Principles of European Contract Law (PECL) and contains Principles, Definitions and Model Rules of European Private Law in an interim outline edition. It covers the books on contracts and other juridical acts, obligations and corresponding rights, certain specific contracts, and non-contractual obligations. One purpose of the text is to provide material for a possible "political" Common Frame of Reference (CFR) which was called for by the European Commission's Action Plan on a More Coherent European Contract Law of January 2003.

In The New European Private Law, Martijn W. Hesselink presents a revised and supplemented collection of essays written over the last five years on European private law. He argues that the creation of a common private law in Europe is not merely a matter of rediscovering the old ius commune or of neutrally establishing the present 'common core' which may be codified in a European Civil Code. Rather, it is a matter of making choices, some of which may be highly controversial. In this book he discusses some of the most important choices which will have to be made with regard to culture, principles, politics, models, rights, concepts and structure in the new European private law.

Using insights from multilevel governance and pluralism, this book provides an in-depth analysis of the development of European private law in the Dutch and German legal order. The book focuses on the question whether the coexistence of national and European state and non-state actors is detrimental or beneficial for the predictability, consistency, accessibility and responsiveness of European private law. On the one hand, the discourse on multilevel governance draws attention to the possibility that problems may arise if interdependent actors do not sufficiently interact. This may be the case in European private law, where national and European legislators and courts have become increasingly interdependent on one another in ensuring that European private law develops predictably, consistently, accessibly, and responsively. The book analyzes the development of European private law by national and European state actors through codifications, blanket clauses, soft laws and general principles in the light of interdependence. In addition, non-state actors have played an increasingly important role in developing binding rules in European private law. This development necessitates more interaction between actors, and more attention for the potentially binding effect of privately developed rules on third parties' rights. The book accordingly develops a normative framework to determine the extent to which private actors should be able to develop binding rules, based on principles of democracy, private autonomy, and concerns for hetero-determination. On the other hand, pluralism perspectives advocate the development of European private law at different levels and jurisdictions in the light of responsiveness, regulatory competition, and opportunities for mutual learning. The book explores whether these benefits have materialized in the development of European private law, drawing attention to failed and successful instances of regulatory competition and mutual learning, and resulting innovations. The book sketches new governance techniques that may help interdependent actors take into account one another's initiatives and benefit from each other's insights, although they may also entail hetero-determination. (Series: Ius Commune Europaeum, Vol. 144) Subject: European Law, Private Law]