While I have attempted in this book to consider, as a whole, the cooperation between the English courts and the European courts, it is nevertheless clear that there are limits to the scope of the research that I have undertaken. My views of the English law will always remain those of a German lawyer who was not educated in the common law system and who is not fully familiar with all its nuances and implications. The reader, it is hoped, will accept my apologies for missing those nuances but will nevertheless benefit from an outsider's view of the English legal system.

The project could not have been undertaken without the help and support of many people. I would like to thank first and foremost Stephen Weatherill, Professor of Law at the University of Oxford, for his invitation to join Somerville College. I would also like to thank the following persons for their substantial input into my research: Paul Gurowich of the Office of Fair Trading; Francis F. B. Reynolds, Professor of Law at the University of Oxford; Lord Hoffmann; Harriet Hall, legal adviser at theNational Consumer Council; Arthur Hugh Vaughan QC, barrister; Michael Beloff QC, barrister; Lord Goff of Chieveley; Stuart Isaacs QC, barrister; Tony Askham, solicitor; Eileen Brennan, legal adviser at the Consumers’ Association; Advocate-General Walter van Gerven; Paul Diamond, solicitor; Pauline Matthews of the Equal Opportunities Commission; Brian Bercusson, Professor of Law at the University of Manchester; and the anonymous referees who read the manuscript of this book.