The Constitutional Foundations of European Contract Law A Comparative Analysis

• Provides a detailed assessment of the EU's competence to regulate contract law and an extensive comparative analysis of the US contract law framework
• Outlines the context for the debate about European contract law and its chronological development at the European level
• Covers recent developments, including the relevant changes brought by the Lisbon Treaty and activities at the European level, such as the Common Frame of Reference, the Consumer Rights Directive and the proposal for a Regulation on a Common European Sales Law
• Enables in-depth understanding of the approach taken to the approximation of contract law in the US and techniques employed in the American setting
• Foreword by Professor Dr. Koen Lenaerts, Vice-President of the Court of Justice of the European Union

Situated within the context of the ongoing debate about European contract law, this book provides a detailed examination of the European Union's competence in the field of contract law. 

It analyses the limits of Union competence in relation to several relevant Treaty provisions which potentially confer competence on the Union to adopt a comprehensive contract law instrument and the exercise of Union competence in connection with 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, including enhanced cooperation, an intergovernmental treaty and certain American techniques. Setting forth an elaborate account of the context for this debate and its chronological development at the European level, this book charts the discussions relating to the European Union's competence to regulate contract law and offers a comparative analysis of the approach taken to the approximation of contract law in the American setting. 
Setting forth a detailed account of the context for this debate and its chronological development at the European level, the book charts the discussions that have occurred within and outside the EU relating to the transnational competence to regulate contract law. Situating European constitutional law within the continued debate about European contract law, it also reflects upon the contract law structure of the United States and examines the viability of alternative and complementary routes to the adoption of a comprehensive instrument of substantive contract law.

Readership: Scholars and students of EU, US, Comparative and International law and policy; practitioners and lawmakers working in European private law, International business transactions and global sales.