Published since May 1, 2005

European Review of Contract Law

ISSN: 1614-9939

Managing Editor: Stefan Grundmann

About this journal

This Journal deals with contract law and serves as a pan-European platform for discussion and analysis. The concept of a European Contract Law is still rather recent: the phrase was first coined in the 1990s. Since the early 2000s when this journal was created, European Contract Law has come to encompass an increasingly comprehensive body of law. There were three driving forces behind this development: the EC harmonisation of laws in the area of the internal market, a generally increased interest in comparative law discussions in contract law, and the European Commission’s Communication on European Contract Law, the Commission’s Action Plan and the Common Frame of Reference process. These developments brought about a changed climate of discussion. The foundations of contract law, examined from many perspectives and in view of various national legal systems and an increasing number of disciplines, are currently being discussed in great detail in the European arena. In 10 years contract law may be the first area of European private law to be regulated in a fully fleshed out European Code.

European Contract Law comprises diverse areas of the law such as sales, standard contract terms, distribution chains, marketing practices, research and development agreements, contract law copyright aspects, financial and investment services contracts, insurance contracts and e-commerce as well as non-discrimination within and beyond labour law and more generally, important aspects of labour contracts and other symbiotic contracts.

The importance and breadth of the field and the methods and questions involved are such that ERCL has established itself as the specialised European journal in this area. Since 2004 the standard of information and discussions on this platform have been consolidated: ERCL discusses the body of law in three sections: articles, case law, and literature on EC Contract Law. This takes place mainly in book reviews and, in addition, contains short sections on the most recent EC legislation, sectoral developments, national developments and other news. The Review focuses on existing law at the EC level and all rules influencing the formation, content and execution of contracts from default rules to regulation, from marketing aspects to the content of contracts, from consumer (and also labour) law to general contract law. The Review is open to a variety of approaches and provides the opportunity to read traditional 'dogmatic' explanations of the upcoming and existing law, assessments through comparative law studies as well as economic analysis and discussions of the philosophical foundations and major structural features. The Review is and has been the site of intense discussion of proposals for codification or, more generally, systemisation and comprehensive development of contract law at the EC level. The European Contract Law Code is too realistic an option and much too important not to be thoroughly discussed as transparently as possible with as many competing ideas and approaches as possible. Several special issues have followed this process in great detail. The journal is meant to help in establishing a functional market of ideas in one of the core areas of private law and one of the most important areas of European private law. ERCL is the journal covering this large body of law and the modern solutions to the problems encountered.

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Supplementary Materials

Topics

Volume 18 Issue 4

December 2022

Publicly Available November 28, 2022

Frontmatter

Page range: i-iii

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Article

Open Access November 28, 2022

Progress in EU Contract Law

Martijn W. Hesselink

Page range: 281-302

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Abstract

This article aims to contribute to the elucidation of the philosophical foundations of EU contract law through a critical discussion of different understandings of progress and their respective implications. Claims about progress and regress invariably refer to a normative or evaluative standard. Such standards, it is usually understood, allow us – backward-looking – to take stock and to determine how much progress (in our case) EU contract law has made, and provide us – forward-looking – with a sense of where (in our case) EU contract law should be going. Therefore, the core normative question in this contribution is: what if anything should count as progress in EU contract law? The article, first, examines understandings of progress that are immanent to EU contract law or to EU constitutional law, in particular the specific aims of directives and the various more general constitutionalised objectives. It, then, moves on to consider external standards for progress that have been suggested in the literature. These standards typically rely either on a teleological conception of the common or individual private law good, such as efficiency and self-authorship, or on a deontological conception of private law right, notably interpersonal and social justice. Subsequently, the article confronts recent post- and decolonial critiques of the very idea of progress and their implications for EU contract law and its study. Finally, it argues for a self-critical reflexive stance towards progress in EU contract law, grounded in a strong commitment to moral and epistemic equality, which requires overcoming unilateral universalisms.

EU Legislation

November 28, 2022

European Union Legislation and Actions

Rossella Delfino

Page range: 303-308

Book Review

Open Access November 28, 2022

Jan M. Smits: Contract Law: A Comparative Introduction

Michele Graziadei

Page range: 309-317

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Volume 18 (2022)

Volume 17 (2021)

Volume 16 (2020)

Volume 15 (2019)

Volume 14 (2018)

Volume 13 (2017)

Volume 12 (2016)

Volume 11 (2015)

Volume 10 (2014)

Volume 9 (2013)

Volume 8 (2012)

Volume 7 (2011)

Volume 6 (2010)

Volume 5 (2009)

Volume 4 (2008)

Volume 3 (2007)

Volume 2 (2006)

Volume 1 (2005)

European Reference Index for the Humanities

Submit

All contributions must be submitted in the European Review of Contract Law house style. The Editors will be happy to discuss proposed contributions and drafts with contributors.

General

Contributions should be double spaced and with a 2.54 cm (one-inch) margin on both sides of the page. Contributions must be submitted in English, German, or French. They should be accompanied by an abstract in English of 100-150 words in length. German authors should hand in also an abstract in German language, French authors also in French. The length of articles should not exceed 8,000 words, the length of reports (sectoral and national) 5,000 words, the Case Notes 3,000 to 3,500 words including abstract (applicable to articles and reports) and footnotes. No table of contents will be published not even in articles; it therefore is not needed.

Authors should submit their contribution as an attachment to an email addressed to:

schreiter@rewi.hu-berlin.de

The author’s name should appear under the title, and should be asterisked, with the author’s designation - in all contributions - just above the footnotes.

Guidelines Style Sheet
Special Requirements for Case Notes

Hybrid Open Access

In this journal, authors have the option to publish their article under an open access license. Open Access allows you as an author to retain copyright and share your findings with colleagues and interested parties worldwide without any restraints.
Please note that authors from institutions with which we have a transformative agreement can publish open access without paying an article processing charge (APC). More information on the eligible institutions and articles can be found　under the "Funding and Support" tab here.

Editorial

Managing Editor

Prof. Stefan Grundmann, LL.M. (Berkeley), Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (Germany)

Managing Board

Prof. Horatia Muir Watt, Sciences Po Law School (Paris, France)
Prof. Dr. Martijn W. Hesselink, European University Institute (Florence, Italy)
Prof. Hugh Collins, London School of Economics and Political Science (London, United Kingdom)
Prof. Fernando Gómez Pomar, Universitat Pompeu Fabra (Barcelona, Spain)

Consulting Board

Prof. Muriel Fabre-Magnan, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris, France)
Prof. Avv. Vincenzo Roppo, Università degli Studi di Genova (Genoa, Italy)
Prof. Avv. Guido Alpa, Università di Roma La Sapienza (Rome, Italy)
Prof. Em. Hugh Gurney Beale, School of Law - University of Warwick (Warwick, United Kingdom)
Prof. Em. Jacques Caillosse, Université Panthéon-Assas (Paris, France)
Prof. Bénédicte Fauvarque-Cosson, Judge at the Conseil d‘Etat (Paris, France)
Prof. Em. Dr. Daniel Friedmann, LL.M. (Harvard), The Buchmann Faculty of Law – Tel Aviv University (Tel Aviv, Israel)
Prof. Gerrit De Geest, Washington University in St. Louis (St. Louis, United States of America)
Prof. James R. Gordley, Tulane University (New Orleans, United States of America)
Prof. Aristides Hatzis, University of Athens (Athens, Greece)
Prof. Dr. Johnny Herre, Justice at the Swedish Supreme Court (Stockholm, Sweden)
Prof. Christophe Jamin, Paris,Sciences Po Law School (Paris, France)
Prof. Em. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Konstantinos Kerameus, Athens University (Athens, Greece)
Prof. Dr. Brigitta Lurger, LL.M. (Harvard), Universität Graz (Graz, Austria)
Prof. Ugo Mattei, Università degli Studi di Torino (Turin, Italy)
Prof. Dr. Denis Mazeaud, Universität Panthéon-Assas (Paris, France)
Prof. António Pinto Monteiro, Universidade de Coimbra (Coimbra, Portugal)
Prof. Dr. Jerzy Rajski, University of Warsaw (Warsaw, Poland)
Prof. Dr. Karl Riesenhuber, M.C.J., Ruhr-Universität Bochum (Bochum, Germany)
Prof. Dr. Martin Schauer, Universität Wien (Vienna, Germany)
Prof. Dr. Pietro Sirena, Università commerciale Luigi Bocconi (Milan, Italy)
Prof. Jules Stuyck, KU Leuven (Leuven, Belgium)
Prof. Paul Varul, Attorney at Law at Law Firm VARUL (Tartu, Estonia)
Prof. Em. Dr. Lajos Vékás, Eötvös Loránd University (Budapest, Hungary)
Prof. Em. Stephen R. Weatherill, University of Oxford (Oxford, United Kingdom)
Prof. Em. Dr. Harm Peter Westermann, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen (Tubingen, Germany)
Prof. Dr. Dr. Thomas Wilhelmsson, University of Helsinki (Helsinki, Finland)

(Deutsch)

Online ISSN: 1614-9939
Print ISSN: 1614-9920
Type: Journal
Language: English
Publisher: De Gruyter
First published: May 1, 2005
Publication Frequency: 4 Issues per Year