Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-xtgtn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-25T00:50:28.132Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Chapter 1 - Introductory Observations

from Part I - Sources of European Law and Their Influence on National Private Law

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 September 2018

Get access

Summary

SUBJECT OF THIS BOOK: CURRENT EUROPEAN LAW AND PRIVATE LAW

Any consideration of the influence of European law on national private law (which for the purposes of this book embraces property law and the law of obligations, including contract law and the law on unlawful acts and unjust enrichment, but excludes family law and the law of succession) will obviously focus primarily on the law currently in force, i.e. the treaties (the EU Treaty, the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights), secondary legislation, and the case law of the European Court of Justice, which is based on the treaties and secondary legislation. Another important source is the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), because this Convention, too, influences matters governed by the general provisions of national private law. This segment of a national private law system – which is gaining in importance – could be referred to as ‘European private law’.

THE CONCEPT OF EUROPEAN PRIVATE LAW

In jurisprudence, the term ‘European private law’ does not have an established meaning. It is oft en used in a narrower sense than above, namely when it is taken to include the influence of the law of the European Union on private law but not the influence of the ECHR. Oft en, however, it is used in a wider sense, when it is understood to also include:

  • (a) Rules adopted within the context of the European Union and relating to matters of international procedure and private international law. Such rules were originally adopted in the form of treaties and subsequently transformed into Regulations. See no. 193 below. This book, which is devoted to substantive (private) law, will not deal with the merits of these provisions.

  • (b) Treaties in the field of private law concluded within a broader context than the ‘regional’ European context, where all or virtually all member states of the Union are signatories to such a treaty. The most important of these is the Vienna Sales Convention or CISG (UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods, Vienna 1980). Such treaties fall outside the scope of this book, which is limited to private law based on the European Treaties mentioned in no. 1 above.

  • Type
    Chapter
    Information
    European Law and National Private Law
    Effect of EU Law and European Human Rights Law on Legal Relationships between Individuals
    , pp. 3 - 28
    Publisher: Intersentia
    Print publication year: 2016

    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.)

    Save book to Kindle

    To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

    Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

    Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

    Available formats
    ×

    Save book to Dropbox

    To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

    Available formats
    ×

    Save book to Google Drive

    To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

    Available formats
    ×