The Politics Of A European Civil Code

In 2003, the European Commission published its Action Plan on European contract law. That plan formed an important step towards a European Civil Code. In its Plan the Commission tried to depoliticise the codification process by asking a group of academic experts to prepare what it called a 'common frame of reference'. This paper, published in the European Law Journal in 2004, argued that drafting a European Civil Code involves making many choices which are essentially political. It further argued that the technocratic approach which the Commission had adopted in the Action Plan effectively excluded most stakeholders from having their say during the stage when the real choices were made. Therefore, before the drafting of the CFR/ECC starts, the Commission should have submitted a list of policy questions regarding the main issues of European private law to the European Parliament and the other stakeholders. Such an alternative procedure would have repoliticised the process. It would have increased the democratic basis for a European Civil Code and thus its legitimacy.

With a significant number of claims having been brought under NAFTA Chapter 11 in the last 3 years, public and professional interest in this topic has been growing significantly. Quite simply, anyone doing business under NAFTA, or anyone representing a company doing business under NAFTA, must be completely familiar with the provisions of Chapter 11. Combining expert commentary with complete primary source materials and case law, Kluwer Law International's "Investment Disputes Under NAFTA" is the must-have resource for anyone planning - or already involved in - a Chapter 11 claim. NAFTA's Chapter 11, like many treaties, sets forth rules for arbitration. Current procedures have been developed, in part, as cases have arisen and been resolved. This book enables anyone interested in these procedures to know exactly the current state of the law. Only "Investment Disputes Under NAFTA" delivers: Article-by-Article explanations of the ins and outs of Chapter 11; a valuable collection of key case law that has been affected by Chapter 11; accurate and thorough cross-referencing to help you quickly and easily find all relevant material; and logical organization of all materials as well as a complete index and table of cases. This one-of-a-kind resource is practice based and user-friendly. It is the only product to collect the body of NAFTA jurisprudence. It also incorporates substantial references to decisions in other investment treaty cases, decisions by mixed claims commissions and other arbitral bodies, Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal jurisprudence, and International Court of Justice decisions. Kluwer Law International's "Investment Disputes Under NAFTA" also contains charts presenting valuable information such as the arbitrators in each case, the rules under which the arbitrations have been conducted, and the remedies granted in each particular case

This collection of essays reflects both the diversity of the group's work and the common thread that runs through it. The core claim here is that the DCFR, despite the Commission's characterization of its proposals as purely technical, cannot escape politics. The intent is to critically identify and evaluate the model of social justice underlying the DCFR.

"A legal-political inquiry into the drafting of the uniform commercial code, the Vienna Sales Convention, the Dutch civil code and the European consumer sales directive in the context of the Europeanization of contract law."--T.p.

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.

This title explores the normative foundations of European contract law. It addresses fundamental political questions on contract law in Europe from the perspective of leading contemporary political theories. Does the law of contract need a democratic basis? To what extent should it be Europeanised? What justifies the binding force of contract and the main remedies for breach? When should weaker parties be protected? Should market transactions be considered legally void when they are immoral? Which rules of contract law should the parties be free to opt out of? Adopting a critical lens, this book interrogates utilitarian, liberal-egalitarian, libertarian, communitarian, civic republican, and discourse-theoretical political philosophies and analyses the answers they provide to these questions. It also situates these theoretical debates within the context of the political landscape of European contract law and the divergent views expressed by lawmakers, legal academics, and other stakeholders. This work moves beyond the acquis positivism, market reductionism, and private law essentialism that tend to dominate these conversations and foregrounds normative complexity. It explores the principles and values behind various arguments used in the debates on European contract law and its future to highlight the normative stakes involved in the practical question of what we, as a society, should do about contract law in Europe. In so doing, it opens up democratic space for the consideration of alternative futures for contract law in the European Union, and for better justifications for those parts of the EU contract law acquis we wish to retain.

Hugh Collins argues that the European Union should develop a civil code to provide uniform rules for contracts, property rights and protection against civil wrongs, thus drawing together the differing national traditions with respect to the detailed regulation of civil society. The benefits of such a code would lie not so much in facilitating cross border trade, but in establishing foundations for a denser network of transnational relations of civil society, which in turn would help to overcome the present popular resistance to effective and functional political institutions at a European level. These principled foundations for a more inclusive and less balkanised civil society in Europe also provide elements of a required European social model that offers necessary safeguards for consumers, workers and disadvantaged groups against the pressures of market forces in an increasingly global economic system.

In 1989 the European Parliament called for the elaboration of a European Civil Code and although the European Commission has not yet shown much enthusiasm for this idea, many legal scholars consider it to be a great challenge. the desirability and possible content of a European Civil Code. The book is divided into two parts. The first part examines the general issues which concern the unification of private law in Europe. private law that were considered to be appropriate for a unification on a European level. Because of the numerous reference made throughout the book to the UNIDROIT Principles for International Commercial Contracts and to the Principles of European Contract Law, these texts have been reproduced in an annex to this book.