UNIFORM RULES FOR CONTRACT LAW OF THE EUROPEAN UNION

Authors

  • Shpresa Alimi-Memedi University of Tetovo, Republic of North Macedonia

Keywords:

contract, principles of contract law, contract law of Еuropean Union, unification, internal (common) market

Abstract

One of the objectives of the European Union is to achieve economic integration by establishing and
protecting a common, single or internal market, which aims to guarantee the famous four freedoms: the free
movement of goods, capital, services and people. Regulation of the turnover of goods and rendering services within
the internal market is under the jurisdiction of contract law regulations. Based on the founding act of the community,
the Union is authorized to adopt legal instruments, enabling the development and functioning of the internal market,
through creation of community contract law and harmonization of the private law of member states. Due to the
different contract laws of the member states, the EU recorded problems in terms of reaching an agreement,
interpreting and applying the contracts in cross-border relations, while taking some initiatives for removing
obstacles to free trade. In the interest of improving the functioning of the internal market and increasing the overall
coherence of European contract law, the „soft law” appears as a substitute where primary and secondary law cannot
achieve the desired results in legal transactions. In this direction, a large number of research projects were developed
that contributed to the drafting of common rules or model rules in the field of contract law in Europe. In every
activity and their acts, they started from legal principles as the most general rules on which other solutions are based.
In addition to academic initiatives, the European Commission has also become active in this area, issuing a series of
communications regarding the development of more coherent European contract law. The EU has not yet adopted a
comprehensive, uniform regulation on contract law, and therefore the law in this area mainly concerns specific
areas. In the EU, among the areas of contract law, consumer protection law has been elaborated to the greatest
extent.
All activities for unification of contract law within the European Union, in favor of the common European market,
were incomplete, due to the diversity of the positive laws of the member states, the different views of the legal
theory and lack of political will. However, their contribution cannot be denied, as each represents a step forward
towards a more coherent and unified European contract law. In our paper from efforts to unify European contract
law we will analyze the Lando Principles or Principles of European Contract Law (PECL) and the Draft Common
Frame of Reference (DCFR).

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Published

2022-09-30

How to Cite

Alimi-Memedi, S. (2022). UNIFORM RULES FOR CONTRACT LAW OF THE EUROPEAN UNION. KNOWLEDGE - International Journal , 54(1), 199–205. Retrieved from https://ikm.mk/ojs/index.php/kij/article/view/5560