JJUA55018U European Private Law

The course aims to foster the understanding of the law-making process at EU level and of the underlying values and policies related to European private law. It is also meant to raise awareness for the practical relevance of the EU origin of national rules in the field of private law, to be demonstrated by numerous examples of ECJ case law.

 EU private law has come a long way and is constantly developing and expanding. It started with particular areas of consumer law and has gradually moved into the core of private law, such as unfair contract terms and sales law. Attempts are being made to transform this area from a patchwork of directives and regulations into a coherent field of law with great influence on national private law as a whole. A recent attempt of systematisation has been made with the Consumer Rights Directive 2011/83/EU. The final goal is a big codification project, the Common Frame of Reference; a start was made with a proposed Regulation on a Common European Sales Law in October 2011. The course will look at structural issues of systematisation and harmonisation, analyse the contribution of the European Court of Justice and deal with the most important legislation. Core areas are the law of unfair contract terms, sales law, distance selling law and credit law but the course also deals with travel law (package travel, air travel and railways services) and the influence of special areas such as energy and telecommunications law and anti-discrimination law on private law. Finally, it looks at enforcement issues, in particular with new forms of collective actions that have been developed in the Member States.