European Contract Law

This volume provides a comprehensive presentation of European contract law. It analyses the growing body of private law rules on an EU level and their interplay with domestic law and legal methodology. This includes new features in contract law such as smart contracts, digital content, and the right to repair for consumers. Issues of choice of law as well as questions of law enforcement in the internal market are explored in detail to give a complete picture of the contractual obligation in European private law.

The book is divided in four parts. The first part establishes the institutional and methodological foundations of European contract law. The second part deals with substantive contract law in its various forms and shapes that have evolved in EU law. This includes both general principles such as formation, interpretation, and breach of contract, and specific types of contracts. The third part analyses cross-border issues, namely the Rome I Regulation on the law applicable to contractual obligations. Finally, the fourth part places European contract law in the broader context of EU private law, focusing on overarching issues like coherence, the role of the courts, and Alternative Dispute Resolution.

Legal academics and law students alike will find in this volume a well-structured and systematic account of European contract law. With its focus on regulatory issues and court practice, it also meets the needs of legal practitioners and regulators working in the field of EU private law.