Brussels, 02/02/2011 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission's consultation period on EU contract law (the rules which apply to companies and consumers who sell and buy goods and services) came to an end at midnight on Monday 31 January. The Commission will now analyse the submissions it has received, it said in a press release on Monday, at which time it had received 181 responses. At the start of July 2010, the Commission launched a Green Paper on a European contract law to facilitate trade within the EU and get rid of legal differences between EU member states which bring additional costs to transactions and lead to legal insecurity, particularly for small businesses (SMEs). The Commission's Green Paper put forward a range of different policy options from the publication of (non-binding) model contract rules to the creation of a full-fledged European Civil Code, replacing all national rules on contracts. The Commission hopes to bring forward proposals in the autumn. (S.P./transl.rt)