This briefing note explains the problems which the Common European Sales Law (CESL) sets out to solve, to what extent it actually achieves those goals and where the proposal leaves room for improvement. The paper focuses on consumer contracts concluded between parties located within the EU. It intentionally leaves the many complicated and technical details of Private International Law aside in order to make the basic structures of the current system more visible so that the usefulness of a CESL can be better appraised.

The forthcoming Directive on Consumer Rights is part of a far-reaching European development in the field of consumer law and general contract law. The European Commission has initiated the long expected broad shift to full harmonisation. This puts the national laws and all lawyers applying it under new challenges. In future, the Member States will be prohibited from deviations not only "downwards" but also "upwards". In particular the relation between (EC and national) consumer law and general contract law is under question. The Czech EU Presidency in the first half of 2009 gave the occasion for a conference organised by the Charles University, the Acquis Group and the Czech European Consumer Center at Prague. Leading contract law scholars, policy makers and stakeholders from across Europe put the Proposal under close scrutiny from political, legal and practical angles. This volume contains the results of the conference and thus responds to the question of the extent to which the Proposal offers indeed perspectives for European consumer law. It also contains a position paper elaborated by the Acquis Group in the aftermath of the conference which highlights strengths and weaknesses and suggests improvements of the Proposal.

The Research Handbook on EU Consumer and Contract Lawtakes stock of the evolution of this fascinating area of private law to date and identifies key themes for the future development of the law and research agendas. This major Handbook brings together contributions by leading academics from across the EU on the latest developments and controversies in these important areas of law. The Handbookis divided into three distinct and thematic parts: firstly, authors examine a range of cross-cutting issues relevant to both consumer and contract law. The second part discusses specific topics on EU consumer law, including the consumer image within EU law, information duties and unfair contract terms. The final part focuses on a number of important subjects which remain current in the development of EU contract law and presents a number of innovative solutions to the challenges presented in parts one and two. This timely and insightful Handbook will provide both a comprehensive survey of this area of law for the novice researcher and fresh food-for-thought for scholars who have been researching this area of law for many years. Contributors include:E.A. Amayuelas, H. Beale, J.M. Bech Serrat, C. Busch, R. Canavan, P. Cartwright, O.O. Cherednychenko, G. Comparato, G. Cordero-Moss, A. Cygan, L. Gillies, M. Graziadei, M.W. Hesselink, G. Howells, C. Mak, V. Mak, H.-W. Micklitz, B. Pozzo, P. Rott, J. Rutgers, J.M. Smits, Y. Svetiev, E.T.T. Tai, C. Twigg-Flesner, W.H. van Boom, J. Watson, F. Zoll

European Contract Law unification projects have recently advanced from the Draft Common Frame of Reference (2009) to a European Commission proposal for an optional Common European Sales Law (2011) which is to facilitate cross-border marketing. This book investigates for the first time how CESL and DCFR rules would interact with various aspects of domestic law, represented by English and German law. Nineteen chapters, co-authored by British and German scholars, examine such interface issues for eg pre-contractual relationships, notions of contract, formation, interpretation, and remedies, extending to non-discrimination, third parties, transfers or rights, aspects of property law, and collective proceedings. They go beyond a critical analysis of CESL and DCFR rules by demonstrating where and how CESL rules would interact with neighbouring areas of English and German law before English and German courts, how domestic traditions might influence the application, which aspects might motivate sellers and buyers to choose or reject CESL, and which might serve as model for national legislators. The findings are summarized in the final two chapters.

This briefing note provides general comments on the CESL and an overview of the level of consumer protection in the CESL, particularly the unfair contract terms. Furthermore, the note concentrates on the remedies provisions, analysing the legal guarantee provisions and other rights of the buyer from the viewpoint of a consumer organization.

This book presents a complete and coherent view of the subject of Common European Sales Law from a range of European perspectives. The book offers a comparison of the CESL with the CISG, as well as pre-existing instruments, including the Draft Common Frame of Reference (DCFR) and the Principles of European Contract Law (PECL). It analyses the process of enactment of CESL and its scope of application, covering areas such as the sale of goods, the supplying (licensing) of digital content, the supply of trade-related services, and consumer protection. It examines the design of the CESL bifurcating businesses into large and small-to-medium sized enterprises, and the providing of rules covering digital content and the supply of trade-related services. Lastly, it studies the field of application of the CESL combined with the already existing EU consumer protection laws, as well as nation-specific laws.​

This book asks what is European consumer access to justice, and how we can improve it by means of procedural and substantive laws?

In October 2008, the European Commission published the Proposal for a Consumer Rights Directive - a proposal that suggests far-reaching changes to the core of consumer contract law. Four current directives are replaced by a new overarching piece of legislation. In doing so, full harmonization should, for the most part, take the place of the minimum standard presently in force in the EU. Although a welcomed initiative, the extent and possible effects of the Proposal have certainly brought a number of issues to the fore. In January 2009, legal experts - from universities, legal practices, and the civil service - met at Manchester University to address the issues raised by the Proposal and to address the question of the extent to which the Proposal can indeed contribute to the modernization and harmonization of European consumer contract law. This book contains the proceedings of the conference, and includes papers that analyze, criticize, and suggest improvements for the Proposal.

In October 2011, the European Commission introduced its Proposal for a Regulation on a Common European Sales Law (CESL) which covers inter alia international business sales – a subject already regulated by the Convention of International Sale of Goods (CISG) which was ratified by 78 member states. How does this new Proposal fit the existing uniform sales law? How have other regions of the world managed the coexistence of global and regional sales law unification? What can Europe learn from the U.S. experience concerning the CISG and the Uniform Commercial Code? What can we learn from the African OHADA which made CISG more or less the internal law of 17 African states, what from Australia where CISG and common law exist alongside? All these questions are intensely discussed in this highly recommendable book written by renowned authors like Larry DiMatteo, Harry Flechtner, Franco Ferrari, Robert Koch, Ulrich Magnus and Bruno Zeller.

At its plenary session of 26 February 2014 in Strasburg, the European Parliament voted in favour of the Common European Sales Law (CESL). The legislative resolution, which was adopted by a large majority, includes two amendments which significantly extend the protection of consumers against unfair terms, not only to individually negotiated terms but also to core terms, including price terms. The combined effect of these two amendments is that contract prices, including individually negotiated prices, in consumer contracts would become subject to unfairness control. So, if these amendments will be supported by the European Commission and the Council, this will bring a major increase in consumer protection compared not only to the Commission's proposal, but also to the minimum level of protection that the unfair terms directive of 1993 currently requires the Member States to maintain in their national laws. In this contribution to the Festschrift for Hugh Beale, I argue that there is good reason for the Council and Commission to support these amendments. Extending the unfairness control in the CESL to individually negotiated terms and core terms, including price terms, contributes to avoiding injustice, increasing consumer protection and consumer confidence. At the same time, the control of individually negotiated terms and core terms does not represent any interference with private autonomy, not even if personal freedom is understood in a purely formal libertarian sense, since no one will be obliged to opt into the CESL. Nor is the unfairness control of core terms impracticable or is it likely to lead to legal uncertainty. It will even be easier, in most cases, to assess the unfairness of the contract price - and to predict its assessment - than in the case of non-core terms, since the price on a reasonably well functioning market will be available as a reference price.