The <span class='italic'>acquis communautaire</span> in private law

Hugh Collins

doi:10.1017/CBO9780511620010.004

II - The acquis communautaire in private law

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 26 February 2010

Hugh Collins

Show author details

Hugh Collins: Affiliation:
London School of Economics and Political Science

Book contents

Get access

Summary

Although it is premature to speculate about the possible outcome of the reflection, it is important to explain that it is neither the Commission's intention to propose a “European civil code” which would harmonise contract laws of Member States, nor should the reflections be seen as in any way calling into question the current approaches to promoting free circulation on the basis of flexible and efficient solutions.

In this passage, the European Commission presents itself as entering a period of reflection about the future of European private law. Before the pondering has barely commenced, however, it insists defensively that it has no intention of proposing a European Civil Code, nor even a more limited project for harmonisation of contract law. Nevertheless, the Commission acknowledges that it continues to examine how European legislation and other initiatives might facilitate cross-border trade within the European Union.

The statement reveals tensions within the thinking of the Commission: on the one hand, it is too soon to be sure where its deliberations regarding the improvement and harmonisation of the law for the purposes of facilitating trade within the single market may lead; on the other hand, the Commission insists that it knows already, despite the impossibility of speculation, that its ruminations will not lead to proposals for a civil code or to inflexible solutions. This self-contradictory and politically nuanced sentence is, however, significant for a number of reasons.

Type: Chapter
Information: The European Civil Code
The Way Forward
, pp. 28 - 62

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511620010.004 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Book purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Weatherill, S., ‘The European Commission's Green Paper on European Contract Law: Context, Content and Constitutionality’ (2001) 24 Journal of Consumer Policy339CrossRef Google Scholar

Weatherill, S., ‘Why Object to the Harmonization of Private Law by the EC?’ (2004) 12 European Review of Private Law633Google Scholar

Weatherill, S., ‘Reflections on the EC's Competence to Develop a “European Contract Law”’ (2005) 13 European Review of Private Law405Google Scholar

Kenny, M., ‘The 2003 Action Plan on European Contract Law: Is the Commission Running Wild?’ (2003) 28 European Law Review538Google Scholar

Ziller, J., ‘The Legitimacy of the Codification of Contract Law in View of the Allocation of Competences between the European Union and its Member States’, in M. W. Hesselink (ed.), The Politics of a European Civil Code (The Hague: Kluwer Law International, 2006) 89Google Scholar

Gerven, W., ‘Codifying European Private Law: Top Down and Bottom Up’, in Grundmann, S. and Stuyck, J. (eds.), An Academic Green Paper on European Contract Law (The Hague: Kluwer Law International, 2002) 405Google Scholar

Caruso, D., ‘Private Law and Public Stakes in European Integration: The Case of Property’ (2004) 10 European Law Journal751CrossRef Google Scholar

Lurger, B., ‘Political Issues in Property Law and European Unification Projects’, in M. W. Hesselink (ed.), The Politics of a European Civil Code (The Hague: Kluwer Law International 2006) 33Google Scholar

Sparkes, P., European Land Law (Oxford: Hart Publishing, 2007)Google Scholar

Boele-Woelki, K., ‘The Road Towards a European Family Law’ (1997) 1 European Journal of Comparative Law: www.ejcl.org/11/art11-1.htmlGoogle Scholar

Martiny, D., ‘Is Unification of Family Law Feasible or Even Desirable?’, in Hartkamp, A., Hesselink, M., Hondius, E., Joustra, C. and Perron, E.du (eds.), Towards a European Civil Code, 2nd edn (Nijmegen: Ars Aequi Libri; The Hague: Kluwer Law International, 1998) 151Google Scholar

,Commission on European Family Law, www2.law.uu.nl/priv/cefl; Boele-Woelki, K., Braat, B. and Sumner, I. (eds.), European Family Law in Action (Antwerp and Oxford: Intersentia, 2003)Google Scholar

Boele-Woelki, K. (ed.), Common Core and Better Law in European Family Law (Antwerp and Oxford: Intersentia, 2005)Google Scholar

Reich, N., ‘The “November Revolution” of the European Court of Justice: Keck, Meng, and Audi Revisited’ (1994) 31 Common Market Law Review459Google Scholar

Weatherill, S., ‘After Keck: Some Thoughts on How to Clarify the Clarification’ (1996) 33 Common Market Law Review885Google Scholar

Maduro, M. P., ‘Harmony and Dissonance in Free Movement’, in Andenas, M. and Roth, W.-H. (eds.), Services and Free Movement in EU Law (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002) 41Google Scholar

Weatherill, S., ‘Recent Developments in the Law Governing the Free Movement of Goods’ (2006) 2 European Review of Contract Law90CrossRef Google Scholar

Weiler, J. H. H., ‘The Community System: The Dual Character of Supranationalism’ (1982) 1 Yearbook of European Law257Google Scholar

Scharpf, F., Governing in Europe: Effective and Democratic? (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999) 49CrossRef Google Scholar

Weatherill, S., ‘Pre-Emption, Harmonization and the Distribution of Competence to Regulate the Internal Market’, in Barnard, C. and Scott, J. (eds.), The Law of the Single European Market (Oxford: Hart Publishing, 2002)Google Scholar

Lomnicka, E., ‘The Home Country Control Principle in the Financial Services Directives and the Case Law’, in Andenas, M. and Roth, W. -H. (eds.), Services and Free Movement in EU Law (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002)Google Scholar

Basedow, J., ‘Codification of Private Law in the European Union: The Making of a Hybrid’ (2001) European Review of Private Law 35, 38Google Scholar

Roth, W.-H., ‘Transposing “Pointillist” EC Guidelines into Systematic National Codes – Problems and Consequences’ (2002) 6 European Review of Private Law 761Google Scholar

Rutgers, J. W., ‘The Rule of Reason and Private Law or the Limits to Harmonization’, in A. Schranen (ed.), The Rule of Reason (Groningen: Europa Law Publishing, 2005) chapter 9Google Scholar

Reich, N., ‘Competition Between Legal Orders: A New Paradigm of EC Law?’ (1992) 29 Common Market Law Review861Google Scholar

Truihé-Marengo, E., ‘Towards a European Law of Contracts’ (2004) 10 European Law Journal463, 471CrossRef Google Scholar

Schulte-Nolke, H., ‘EC Law on the Formation of Contract – from the Common Frame of Reference to the “Blue Button”’ (2007) 3(3) European Review of Contract Law332CrossRef Google Scholar

Weatherill, S., ‘Breach of Directives and Breach of Contract’ (2001) European Law Review 177Google Scholar

Gerven, W., ‘Harmonization of Private Law: Do We Need It?’ (2004) 41 Common Market Law Review505, 526Google Scholar

Schulze, R., ‘Precontractual Duties and Conclusion of Contract in European Law’ (2005) 13 European Review of Private Law841Google Scholar

Lopez-Tarruella, A., ‘A European Community Regulatory Framework for Electronic Commerce’ (2001) 38 Common Market Law Review1337CrossRef Google Scholar

Kryczka, K., ‘Electronic Contracts and the Harmonization of Contract Laws in Europe – An Action Required, A Mission Impossible?’ (2005) 13 European Review of Private Law149Google Scholar

Murray, A. D., ‘Entering Into Contracts Electronically: The Real W.W.W.’, in Edwards, L. and Waelde, C. (eds.), Law and the Internet: A Framework for Electronic Commerce (Oxford: Hart Publishing, 2000) 17Google Scholar

Murray, A. D., ‘Contracting Electronically in the Shadow of the Law’, in L. Edwards (ed.), The New Legal Framework for E-Commerce (Oxford: Hart Publishing, 2005)Google Scholar

Basedow, J., ‘A Common Contract Law for the Common Market’ (1996) 33 Common Market Law Review1169, 1176Google Scholar

Bogdandy, A., Mavroidis, P. C. and Mény, Y., European Integration and International Co-Ordination (The Hague: Kluwer Law International, 2002) 219Google Scholar

Sefton-Green, R. (ed.), Mistake, Fraud and Duties to Inform in European Contract Law (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005)CrossRef

Very, R. W., Towards a European Unfair Competition Law (Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff, 2006)Google Scholar

Henning-Bodewig, F., Unfair Competition Law (The Hague: Kluwer Law International, 2006)Google Scholar

Grundmann, S., ‘The Structure of European Contract Law’ (2001) 9 European Review of Private Law505CrossRef Google Scholar

Reich, N., ‘Protection of Consumers’ Economic Interests by the EC' (1992) 14 Sydney Law Review 23, 25Google Scholar

Lando, O., ‘Liberal, Social and “Ethical” Justice in European Contract Law’ (2006) 43 Common Market Law Review 817, 822Google Scholar

Grundmann, S., Kerber, W. and Weatherill, S. (eds.), Party Autonomy and the Role of Information in the Internal Market (Berlin and New York: Walter de Gruyter, 2001)CrossRef

Howells, G., Janssen, A. and Schulze, R., Information Rights and Obligations (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2005)Google Scholar

Gerven, W., ‘Of Rights, Remedies and Procedures’ (2000) 37 Common Market Law Review501CrossRef Google Scholar

Gerven, W., ‘Harmonization of Private Law: Do We Need It?’ (2004) 41 Common Market Law Review505.Google Scholar

Schepel, E. g. H., ‘The Enforcement of EC Law in Contractual Relations: Case Studies in How Not to “Constitutionalize” Private Law’ (2004) 12 European Review of Private Law661Google Scholar

Monti, G., ‘Anticompetitive Agreements: The Innocent Party's Right to Damages’ (2002) 27 European Law Review282Google Scholar

Afferni, G. (2007) 2 European Review of Contract Law179

Mankowski, P., ‘Information and Formal Requirements in EC Private Law’ (2005) 13 European Review of Private Law779Google Scholar

Joerges, C., ‘Disintegrative Effects of Legislative Harmonization: A Complex issue and a Small Example’, in Bussani, M. and Mattei, U. (eds.), Making European Law, Essays on the ‘Common Core’ Project (Università delgi studi di Trento, 2000) 103Google Scholar

Nuotio, K. (ed.), Europe in Search of ‘Meaning and Purpose’ (Helsinki: Forum Iuris, 2004) 107

Ciacchi, A. C. (ed.), Protection of Non-Professional Sureties in Europe: Formal and Substantive Disparity (Baden-Baden: Nomos, 2007)CrossRef Google Scholar