Introduction

European rules in the area of contract law are traditionally issued for consumer transactions or in areas where one of the parties is in a clearly weaker contractual position, such as for commercial agency. European rules may be found also in areas with regulatory character and significant influence on commercial relationships, such as competition law or financial law. In contrast, commercial contract law has not been subject to any significant European activity.

This chapter analyses the implications of the process towards a European contract law for commercial contracts, considering, in particular, the desirability of a general European contract law applicable to both consumer and commercial relationships.

II The process

Before explaining the process towards Europeanisation of contract law, it is necessary to refer to a restatement of rules on contract law that goes under the name of Principles of European Contract Law (PECL).

(1) The PECL

The PECL were published in three volumes from 1995 to 2002 by the so-called Commission on European Contract Law, a group of academics established in 1982 under the leadership of the Danish professor, Ole Lando. The work on the PECL proceeded largely in parallel with the work on the UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts, and many members of one working group were also members of the other.