Brussels, 21/05/2010 (Agence Europe) - Seeking to boost cross-border trade and to ensure strong rights for consumers, the European Commission, on Friday 21 May, convened an expert group to propose ways to improve contract law in the European Union. During the summer, it will launch a public consultation exercise (which will remain open until the end of January 2011) on the most appropriate way forward to improve coherence in contract law. The group of 18 contract law experts, lawyers and consumer representatives met for the first time today in Brussels. A possible solution could be an optional European contract law (or “28th system”). For example, an Irish retailer, unfamiliar with French law, who is dealing with a French supplier could opt for European law for the contract. Or again, a Polish consumer shopping on the Internet could push a “blue button” on the website and choose the European contract law instrument, which would guarantee a high level of consumer protection.
On 26 April 2010, the Commission set up an expert group on a Common Frame of Reference in the area of European contract law (Commission Decision 2010/233/EU). This group will meet once a month until May 2011. It brings together legal academics, people practising contract law on a daily basis, such as lawyers and notaries, and consumer and business representatives.
Legal scholars, funded by the EU's overall research programme, have been working on this complex area of private law for many years. Their work resulted in a Draft Common Frame of Reference. The new group will prepare a user-friendly text in simple language. Their draft will follow the various stages in the life cycle of a contract - from pre-contractual duties and the formation of a contract to remedies for the breach of a contract and the consequences of termination.
Jonathan Faull, Director General for the Justice, Freedom and Security Directorate-General at the European Commission, chaired the first meeting, which focused on concrete questions related to the definition of the contract, its interpretation and formation. The European Parliament and the Council have observer status at the group's meetings.
On 19 May 2010, the Commission presented a Digital Agenda, which stressed the potential of a European contract law for completing a digital Single Market for the benefit of consumers and businesses. (L.C./transl.rt)