Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Series editors' Preface
- Table of cases
- Table of treaties and legislation
- I Civil society and political union
- II The acquis communautaire in private law
- III The hidden code
- IV Private law and the Economic Constitution
- V Cultural diversity and European identity
- VI Respecting legal diversity
- VII Multi-level private law
- VIII Strengthening convergence
- IX Exploring the European Social Model
- Index
- CAMBRIDGE STUDIES IN EUROPEAN LAW AND POLICY
- References
II - The acquis communautaire in private law
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 26 February 2010
Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Series editors' Preface
- Table of cases
- Table of treaties and legislation
- I Civil society and political union
- II The acquis communautaire in private law
- III The hidden code
- IV Private law and the Economic Constitution
- V Cultural diversity and European identity
- VI Respecting legal diversity
- VII Multi-level private law
- VIII Strengthening convergence
- IX Exploring the European Social Model
- Index
- CAMBRIDGE STUDIES IN EUROPEAN LAW AND POLICY
- References
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 CodeThe Way Forward, pp. 28 - 62Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2008
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