scholarly journals Characteristics of modern European contract law

Pravovedenie ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 64 (2) ◽  
pp. 201-221
Author(s):  
Reiner Schulze ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Contract Law ◽  
Digital Content ◽  
Property Law ◽  
Private Law ◽  
Digital Products ◽  
European Contract ◽  
Legal Doctrine ◽  
Digital Services ◽  
The One ◽  
European Contract Law

European contract law has recently entered a new phase in its development as a result of the introduction of new legislation responding to the challenges posed by digitalization and, in particular, the supply of digital content and digital services. Whereas the new legislation contains several characteristics which reflect a continuity of concepts already well-established in European contract law, several innovations have been necessary in order to take account of the specific features of these digital products and the manner in which they are supplied. The legislative responses will play a pivotal role not only in consumer protection but for European contract law. This article will focus in particular on two new “twin” directives: Directive 2019/770 on certain aspects concerning contracts for the supply of digital content and digital services and Directive 2019/771 on certain aspects concerning contracts for the sale of goods. In examining the core features of these two Directives, this article will consider how their new and innovative characteristics which respond to the challenges of digitalization can contribute towards a modern European contract law. These new approaches in European legislation clearly show that the further development of contract law is facing challenges that go beyond this area of law. The modernization of contract law therefore raises questions that must ultimately be directed at clarifying the overarching features of European private law as a whole. Finally, the relationship between the law of obligations, on the one hand, and property law or intellectual property law, on the other, and possibly a new definition of the boundaries and interaction between these areas, can be considered if contract law recognizes data as an asset, but it will not be able to guarantee sufficient protection of these assets with its instruments alone. Embedding the new concepts, principles and rules in the field of contract law in the development of private law as a whole, in line with the changes in the “digital age”, will therefore remain a major task for legislation and legal doctrine in the EU and beyond.

Harmonisation of European Contract Law: Citizenship, Diversity and Effectiveness

2005 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 81-99
Author(s):  
Hugh Collins
Keyword(s):  
European Commission ◽  
Contract Law ◽  
Frame Of Reference ◽  
Legislative Process ◽  
Private Law ◽  
European Law ◽  
European Contract ◽  
Common Frame Of Reference ◽  
European Contract Law ◽  
Code Civil

Proposals from the European Commission to work towards greater harmonisation of contract law, and indeed private law more generally, have been described in terms that apparently distance these plans from the introduction of a code civil europa. Nevertheless, the programme for developing ‘non-sector-specific measures’ into a ‘common frame of reference’ constitutes in its fundamentals and aspirations the ambition to create a European law of contract. And the method for the construction of this code replicates the process devising the great European codes of the nineteenth century: a painstaking scholarly endeavour to find consistency and coherence in the divergent national private law systems, except that no legislative process is foreseen.

Harmonisation of European Contract Law: Citizenship, Diversity and Effectiveness

2005 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 81-99
Author(s):  
Hugh Collins
Keyword(s):  
European Commission ◽  
Contract Law ◽  
Frame Of Reference ◽  
Legislative Process ◽  
Private Law ◽  
European Law ◽  
European Contract ◽  
Common Frame Of Reference ◽  
European Contract Law ◽  
Code Civil

Proposals from the European Commission to work towards greater harmonisation of contract law, and indeed private law more generally, have been described in terms that apparently distance these plans from the introduction of a code civil europa. Nevertheless, the programme for developing ‘non-sector-specific measures’ into a ‘common frame of reference’ constitutes in its fundamentals and aspirations the ambition to create a European law of contract. And the method for the construction of this code replicates the process devising the great European codes of the nineteenth century: a painstaking scholarly endeavour to find consistency and coherence in the divergent national private law systems, except that no legislative process is foreseen.

scholarly journals Digital Technology as a Challenge to European Contract Law

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan Grundmann ◽  
Philipp Hacker
Keyword(s):  
Digital Technology ◽  
Big Data Analytics ◽  
Contract Law ◽  
Regulatory Framework ◽  
The Other ◽  
Digital Content ◽  
European Contract ◽  
Digital Platforms ◽  
Digital Objects ◽  
The One

AbstractOffering an overview of the interactions between digital technologies and contract law, we identify three pillars in this architecture: the regulatory framework; digital interventions over the life cycle of the contract; and digital objects of contracting. The regulatory framework, which itself may draw on digital technology to effectively pursue its ends, shapes, and is shaped by, the other two pillars. More specifically, on the one hand, we show how four key technologies – digital platforms, Big Data analytics, artificial intelligence, and blockchain – are being used at different stages of the contractual process (from the screening for contractual partners to formation, enforcement and interpretation) and engender novel market dynamics that, in many instances, necessitate regulatory responses. On the other hand, digitally facilitated contracting increasingly relates to digital content as the object of the contract; however, while this area has notably been the subject of the proposed Directive on Contracts for the Supply of Digital Content and thus has received some first ‘European structure’, we argue that a number of important blind spots remain that fail to be addressed by the directive. All in all, the use of digital technology in contracting will likely reinforce an adaptive, relational view and practice of contracting. This increased fluidity engenders a vast potential for preference-conforming, time-sensitive contracts; however, to the extent that it also mirrors novel asymmetries of information and power, the ordering mechanisms of the law may simultaneously be more needed than ever.

Introduction

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Martijn W. Hesselink
Keyword(s):  
Contract Theory ◽  
Contract Law ◽  
Private Law ◽  
European Law ◽  
European Contract ◽  
Methodological Nationalism ◽  
Political Theories ◽  
Normative Foundations ◽  
European Contract Law

This chapter provides the introduction to the book. It sets out how it will explore the normative foundations of European contract law by addressing fundamental political questions on contract law in Europe from the perspective of leading contemporary political theories. It states the book’s main aims and starting points, and introduces its methodology. The chapter also explains how the approach and focus of this study differs from all other contributions to contract theory, private law theory, and the theory of European law—in particular how it aims to move the debate beyond acquis positivism, market reductionism, normative intuitionism, private law essentialism, and methodological nationalism.

European Contract Law

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reiner Schulze ◽  
Fryderyk Zoll
Keyword(s):  
21St Century ◽  
National Level ◽  
Contract Law ◽  
Court Decisions ◽  
Private Law ◽  
European Contract ◽  
Eu Legislation ◽  
Fundamental Information ◽  
Different Sources ◽  
European Contract Law

This 3rd edition provides information on core EU legislation as well as academic projects in order to unlock the content, approaches and objectives of European contract law. European contract law is not only a core aspect of European private law but also plays a highly important role in the development of contract law at national level. However, European contract law’s contribution and significance are often overlooked and its content, approaches and objectives not fully understood. This revised and updated 3rd edition unlocks European contract law by providing fundamental information about core EU legislation, court decisions, and academic projects in order to show how a system arises from the interaction between the different sources. Moreover, this 3rd edition takes into account the recent legislative responses to digitalization and the development of a contract law for the 21st century.

Harmonisation of European Contract law the Influence of Comparative law

2001 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 877-900 ◽  
Author(s):  
Klaus Peter Berger
Keyword(s):  
European Integration ◽  
Decisive Role ◽  
Comparative Law ◽  
Contract Law ◽  
Private Law ◽  
European Contract ◽  
Strong Link ◽  
German Association ◽  
European Contract Law

It is generally acknowledged today that comparative law plays a decisive role in the harmonisation of European private law, in particular of European contract law.1 Dölle has emphasised this strong link between comparative law and European integration as early as 1950 in his report on the refoundation of the German Association of Comparative Law:

scholarly journals WEWNĘTRZNY RYNEK UBEZPIECZEŃ A HARMONIZACJA KONTRAKTU UBEZPIECZENIOWEGO

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 41
Author(s):  
Zdzisław Brodecki ◽  
Katarzyna Malinowska
Keyword(s):  
Product Liability ◽  
Contract Law ◽  
Insurance Contract ◽  
Private Law ◽  
European Contract ◽  
Insurance Contracts ◽  
General Contract Law ◽  
European Insurance ◽  
The Impact ◽  
European Contract Law

Tendencies on Internal Insurance Market vis a vis Harmonization of European Insurance Contract LawSummaryIn the paper, the authors describe the main contemporary process which takes place w ithin the insurance contract law in Europe - viz the Euro-merge of private law, as well as the evolution of the insurance contract law during the last decades. The process o f the unification of European private law will also affect the insurance contract law. First of all the impact o f the development o f the ideas shaped in a form of general contract law drafted as the Restatement of the Principles of European Contract Law by the „Lando Group” is undeniable. These rules also applicable to some extent to insurance contracts show that the process of the unification o f insurance contract law cannot be stopped and that it will constantly develop. There can also be observed a process of a specific European com m on law being developed in Europe in different branches, such as product liability, consumer protection, etc. This already influences the harmonization o f the European insurance contract law, and the obstacles to harmonization, existing even ten years ago, have disappeared. The Restatement o f Insurance Contract Law being in preparation by the „Group of Innsbruck” will probably constitute a basis for a future codification o f the insurance contract law.

The future of contract law: Three conversations at the Cape

Acta Juridica ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 3-36
Author(s):  
R Brownsword
Keyword(s):  
Contract Law ◽  
Private Law ◽  
Legal Doctrine ◽  
The Third ◽  
The Future ◽  
Regulatory Approach ◽  
Rules And Principles ◽  
Consumer Contracts ◽  
The One ◽  
New Phenomena

This contribution considers the future of the English law of contract in the form of three conversations that are alert to the disruptive impact of technologies on both the content of legal rules and the way that lawyers think – and indeed on the kind of conversations that lawyers have with one another. The first conversation is concerned with ‘coherence’ in contract law, with the application of general principles to novel fact situations and to new phenomena, with the smoothing of tensions within the law, and with the internal integrity of legal doctrine. The second conversation focuses on a tension between, on the one hand, what may be called a traditional private law ‘coherentist’ concern for doctrinal integrity and the primacy of principle over policy and, on the other hand, a more ‘regulatory’ approach to contracts, especially to consumer contracts, in which policy and instrumental rationality prevail. The third conversation focuses on the use of emerging transactional technologies (such as blockchain-supported smart contracts and AI) that have the potential to displace the rules and principles of contract law. Instead of legal code governing transactions, might we find that technological coding does all the work, making, performing and enforcing ‘contracts’? Each conversation suggests a different future for contract law. The first conversation suggests that contract law will have difficulty in living up to the private law ideal of coherence; the second suggests that coherentism will struggle to survive as it is challenged by an increasingly regulatory approach to the governance of transactions; and the third suggests that, in a world of smart transactional technologies, there is a serious question mark about the relevance of contract law as a body of rules that governs transactions.

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