The Constitutional Foundations of European Contract Law: A Comparative Analysis
Kathleen Gutman
Abstract
This book provides a cohesive assessment of the extent of the EU’s competence in the field of contract law and an extensive comparative study of the American contract law framework. It analyses the limits of Union competence in relation to several relevant Treaty provisions that potentially confer competence on the Union to adopt a comprehensive contract law instrument and the exercise of Union competence through the operation of the principles of subsidiarity, proportionality, and sincere cooperation. It also explores the viability of several alternative and complementary routes to the adopti ... More
This book provides a cohesive assessment of the extent of the EU’s competence in the field of contract law and an extensive comparative study of the American contract law framework. It analyses the limits of Union competence in relation to several relevant Treaty provisions that potentially confer competence on the Union to adopt a comprehensive contract law instrument and the exercise of Union competence through the operation of the principles of subsidiarity, proportionality, and sincere cooperation. It also explores the viability of several alternative and complementary routes to the adoption of such an instrument, such as enhanced cooperation, an intergovernmental treaty, and certain so-called ‘softer’ models, which include the American techniques of Restatements, uniform and model laws, and the Uniform Commercial Code. To lay the groundwork for this analysis, this book sets forth an elaborate account of the context for the debate about European contract law and its chronological development at the European level through present day events, including the Draft Common Frame of Reference, the Consumer Rights Directive, and the proposed Regulation on a Common European Sales Law. Fundamentally, it is an interdisciplinary work cutting across several fields of EU law and a novel comparative work on the approach taken to the approximation of contract law in the EU and the US.
Keywords:
European contract law,
European private law,
constitutionality,
competence,
comparative study
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2014 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780199698301 |
| Published to Oxford Scholarship Online: March 2015 |
DOI:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199698301.001.0001 |
