Alternative Ways to Ius Commune

In 2011, two major instruments of European contract law were published: the 2011 Consumer Rights Directive (CRD) was enacted and the proposal for a Common European Sales Law (CESL) was launched. Both instruments aim at improving the internal market. Whereas the CRD aims at B2C contracts, the CESL may be applied, as an optional instrument, both to B2C and B2B contracts. In this book, both instruments are discussed. Decock and Chirita approach the CRD from an historical and a competition law perspective; Van Schagen argues that the way the CESL is drafted endangers its chances of being applied in practice. De Bruijn, Dang Vu, Kruisinga, Jansen and Keirse address several matters regarding the remedies for non-conformity under the CESL. The book opens, however, with three more general papers. Loos and Keirse first address the development of European private law, from the 1975 Consumer Policy Programme to the CRD and the CESL. Wouters addresses the relationship between private law, global governance and the European Union, and Boele-Woelki draws attention to the harmonisation of European matrimonial property law.

This book thus represents the most important developments in the area of European private law. As such, it will provide important insights for the practitioner and academic interested in the course of these developments.