Law making in the European union: On globalization and contract law in divergent legal cultures

Louisiana Law Review

Volumn 67, Issue 4, 2007, Pages 1181-1203

  Smits, Jan M ^a  

^a MAASTRICHT UNIVERSITY   (Netherlands)

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EID: 34547937269     PISSN: 00246859     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Review

References (120)

1. Thomas Friedman, THE WORLD IS FLAT (2005);
2. Noreena Hertz, THE SILENT TAKEOVER: GLOBAL CAPITALISM AND THE DEATH OF DEMOCRACY (2001);
3. William Twining, GLOBALISATION AND LEGAL THEORY (2000).
4. See Jan M. Smits, Diversity of Contract Law and the European Internal Market, in THE NEED FOR A EUROPEAN CONTRACT LAW: EMPIRICAL AND LEGAL PERSPECTIVES 153-86 (Jan M. Smits ed., 2005).
5. The most important economic union outside of Europe is the North American Free Trade Agreement ("NAFTA"), formed between the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
6. On the UCC, for example, see J.J. White & R.S. Summers, UNIFORM COMMERCIAL CODE (2000).
7. On the term "legal culture," see discussion infra Part VI.
8. Cf. Konrad Zweigert & Hein Kötz, AN INTRODUCTION TO COMPARATIVE LAW 68 (Tony Weir trans., 1998).
9. Cf. Reinhard Zimmermann, The Civil Law in European Codes, in THE CIVILIAN TRADITION AND SCOTS LAW: ABERDEEN QUINCENTENARY ESSAYS 259 (David L. Carey Miller & Reinhard Zimmermann eds., 1997).
10. Austria has a special position as its AGB of 1811 is, like the French Civil Code, a natural law code.
11. Cf. Zweigert & Kötz, supra note 6, at 280.
12. Cf. Norbert Reich, Transformation of Contract Law and Civil Justice in New EU Member Countries, in RIGA GRADUATE SCHOOL OF LAW WORKING PAPERS 21 (2004).
13. PRINCIPLES OF EUROPEAN CONTRACT LAW PARTS I AND II (Ole Lando & Hugh Beale eds., 2000);
14. PRINCIPLES OF EUROPEAN CONTRACT LAW PART III (Ole Lando et al. eds., 2003).
15. For a critique of the European principles approach, see Jan M. Smits, The Future of European Contract Law: On Diversity and the Temptation of Elegance, in TOWARDS A EUROPEAN lUS COMMUNE IN LEGAL EDUCATION AND RESEARCH 239 (Michael Faure, Jan Smits & Hildegard Schneider eds., 2002).
16. See, e.g., Reinhard Zimmermann, Roman Law and the Harmonisation of Private Law in Europe, in TOWARDS A EUROPEAN CLVIL CODE 21 (Arthur Hartkamp et al. eds., 2004).
17. See EUROPEAN PRTVATE LAW (Jan M. Smits et al. eds., 2006);
18. FUNDAMENTAL TEXTS ON EUROPEAN PRIVATE LAW (O. Radley-Gardner et al. eds., 2003).
19. See Council Directive 2002/47, art. 3, 2002 O.J. (L 168) 43 (EU);
20. Council Directive 2000/31, art. 9, § 1, 2000 O.J. (L 178) 1 (EU);
21. Council Directive 1994/47, art. 4, 1994 O.J. (L 280) 83 (EU);
22. Council Directive 1990/314, art. 4, § 2, 1990 O.J. (L 158) 59 (EC);
23. Council Directive 1987/102, art. 4, 1987 O.J. (L 42) 48 (EC).
24. See Council Directive 2000/31, art. 9, §1, 2000 O.J. (L 178) 1 (EU).
25. See id., art. 11.
26. See Council Directive 1999/93, art. 5, 1999 O.J. (L 13) 12 (EU).
27. See Council Directive 2002/65, arts. 3-5, 2002 O.J. (L 271) 16 (EU);
28. Council Directive 2000/31, arts. 5-6, 10, 2000 O.J. (L 178) 1 (EU);
29. Council Directive 1997/7, arts. 4-5, 1997 O.J. (L 144) 19 (EU);
30. Council Directive 1994/47, art. 3, 1994 O.J. (L 280) 83 (EU);
31. Council Directive 1990/314, arts. 3-4, 1990 O.J. (L 158) 59 (EC).
32. See Council Directive 1993/13, art. 5, 1993 O.J. (L 095) 29 (EC).
33. See id.
34. See Council Directive 2000/31, art. 10, § 3, 2000 O.J. (L 178) 1 (EU).
35. See Council Directive 1999/44, arts. 2-3, 5, 1999 O.J. (L 171) 12 (EU);
36. Council Directive 1990/314, art. 5, § 2, 1990 O.J. (L 158) 59 (EU).
37. See Council Directive 2002/65, art. 6, 2002 O.J. (L 271) 16 (EU);
38. Council Directive 1999/44, art. 3, 1999 O.J. (L 171) 12 (EU);
39. Council Directive 1997/7, art. 6, 1997 O.J. (L 144) 19 (EU);
40. Council Directive 1994/47, art. 5, 1994 O.J. (L 280) 83 (EU);
41. Council Directive 1990/314, arts. 4-5, 1990 O.J. (L 158) 59 (EC);
42. Council Directive 1985/577, art. 5, 1985 O.J. (L 372) 31 (EC).
43. See Council Directive 1999/44, art. 6, 1999 O.J. (L 171) 12 (EU).
44. See Council Directive 2000/35, art. 3, 2000 O.J. (L 200) 35 (EU).
45. See Jan M. Smits, European Private Law: A Plea for a Spontaneous Legal Order, in EUROPEAN INTEGRATION AND LAW 55 (2006).
46. Olivier Remien, Über den Stil des Europäischen Privatrechts, 60 RABELSZEITSCHRIFT 8 (1996).
47. Communication on European Contract Law, COM (2001), Nov. 7, 2001;
48. Communication on a More Coherent Contract Law-An Action Plan, COM (2003), Dec. 2, 2003;
49. Communication on European Contract Law and the Revision of the Acquis: The Way Forward, COM (2004), Nov. 10, 2004 [hereinafter The Way Forward].
50. The Way Forward, supra note 29, at 3, 14.
51. R.I.V.F. Bertrams, ENIGE ASPECTEN VAN HET WEENS KOOPVERDRAG 72 (1995).
52. Id. at 76-77.
53. See generally F. Badosa Coll, ". . . Quae ad lus Cathalanicum Pertinet": The Civil Law of Catalonia, Ius Commune and the Legal Tradition, in REGIONAL PRIVATE LAWS AND CODIFICATION IN EUROPE 136 (Hector L. MacQueen et al. eds., 2003).
54. See S. Espiau Espiau, Unification of the European Law of Obligations and Codification of Catalan Civil Law, in REGIONAL PRIVATE LAWS AND CODIFICATION IN EUROPE, supra note 33, at 180.
55. Hector L. MacQueen, SCOTS LAW AND THE ROAD TO THE NEW IUS COMMUNE (2000);
56. THE CONTRIBUTION OF MIXED LEGAL SYSTEMS TO EUROPEAN PRIVATE LAW (Jan M. Smits ed., 2001).
57. For a critical view, see Robin Evans-Jones, Receptions of Law, Mixed Legal Systems and the Myth of the Genius of Scots Private Law, 114 L.Q. REV. 228 (1998),
58. and Jacques Du Plessis, Comparative Law and the Study of Mixed Legal Systems, in THE OXFORD HANDBOOK OF COMPARATIVE LAW 477 (Mathias Reimann & Reinhard Zimmermann eds., 2006).
59. Consolidated Version of the Treaty Establishing the European Community, 2002 O.J. (C 325) 33, 64.
60. Directive 93/13 on Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts, Preamble, 1993 O.J. (L 095) 29.
61. Smits, supra note 27, at 11.
62. Case C-376/98, Germany v. European Parliament & Council, 2000 E.C.R. I-8419.
63. Id. at I-8524.
64. See, e.g., Ole Lando, Is Codification Needed in Europe?, 1 EUR. REV. PRIVATE L. 157 (1993).
65. Communication on European Contract Law, 2001 O.J. (C 255) 30-32;
66. cf. Communication on a More Coherent Contract Law-An Action Plan, 2003 O.J. (C 063) 7-9.
67. See C. Ott & H.-B. Schäfer, Die Vereinheitlichung des Europäischen Vertragsrechts: Ökonomische Notwendigkeit oder Akademisches Interesse?, in VEREINHEITLICHUNG UND DIVERSITÄT DES EUROPÄISCHEN ZIVILRECHTS IN TRANSNATIONALEN WIRTSCHAFTSRÄUMEN 209 (C. Ott & H.-B. Schäfer eds., 2002).
68. Id. at 213.
69. Cf THE NEED FOR A EUROPEAN CONTRACT LAW: EMPIRICAL AND LEGAL PERSPECTIVES (Jan M. Smits ed., 2005); D. Staudenmayer, The Commission Communication on European Contract Law: What Future for European Contract Law?, 10 EUR. REV. PRIVATE L. 255 (2002).
70. Stewart Macaulay, Non-contractual Relations in Business: A Preliminary Study, 28 AM. SOC. REV. 55 (1963).
71. Cf. Reactions to the Communication 2001, Addendum to Communication on a More Coherent Contract Law-An Action Plan, COM (2003) 68 final, 2003 O.J. (C 63) 6.
72. I still find representative the reaction of Orgalime (organizing 130,000 companies in the engineering industry): "It will of course always to some extent be easier to trade with companies and persons from your own country. This has, however, more to do with ease of communication, traditions and other factors, which are not dependent on contract law." See http://europa.eu.int/comm/ consumers (last visited Mar. 21, 2007).
73. See Europa, DG Health and Consumer Protection, http://ec.europa.eu/ dgs/health_consumer/events/event42_en.html (last visited Apr. 4, 2007).
74. See Explanatory Memorandum to the Proposal for a Directive Concerning Unfair Business-to-Consumer Commercial Practices in the Internal Market, COM (2003), June 18, 2003, at 4.
75. But see Stefan Vogenauer & Stephen Weatherill, The European Community's Competence to Pursue the Harmonisation of Contract Law-An Empirical Contribution to the Debate, in THE HARMONISATION OF EUROPEAN CONTRACT LAW 105 (Stefan Vogenauer & Stephen Weatherill eds., 2006).
76. Smits, supra note 27, at 15.
77. Even if the costs of legal diversity are considerable, they have to be weighed against the costs of creating a uniform law. Also, other arguments against uniform law have to be assessed. See discussion infra Part V.
78. Cf. Jan M. Smits, Convergence of Private Law in Europe: Towards a New lus Commune?, in COMPARATIVE LAW: A HANDBOOK (forthcoming 2007).
79. Pierre Legrand, Against a European Civil Code, 60 MOD. L. REV. 44. (1997).
80. Paul G. Mahoney, The Common Law and Economic Growth: Hayek Might Be Right, 30 J. LEGAL STUD. 503, 505 (2001).
81. Id. at 511.
82. Legrand, supra note 55, at 44;
83. Pierre Legrand, European Legal Systems Are Not Converging, 45 INT'L & COMP. L.Q. 52, 61-62 (1996).
84. Legrand himself sums up these, and other, qualifications of his own work by others. See Pierre Legrand, Antivonbar, 1 J. COMP. L. 13, 37 (2006).
85. Esin Örücü, An Exercise on the Internal Logic of Legal Systems, 7 LEGAL STUD. 310, 317-18 (1987).
86. See discussion infra Part VI.
87. Gunther Teubner, Legal Irritants: Good Faith in British Law or How Unifying Law Ends up in New Divergences, 61 MOD. L. REV. 11, 12 (1998).("Legal irritants cannot be domesticated; they are not transformed from something alien into something familiar ....").
88. The Way Forward, supra note 29;
89. European Parliament Resolution on the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council - A More Coherent European Contract Law - An Action Plan 2004 O.J. (C 076E) 95.
90. Smits, supra note 27, at 55-98.
91. See generally Charles Tiebout, A Pure Theory of Local Expenditures, 64 J. POL. ECON. 416 (1956).
92. Another argument in favor of legal diversity is that it allows for experimentation. See New State Ice Co. v. Liebmann, 285 U.S. 262, 311 (1932) (Brandeis, J., dissenting) (states as experimenting laboratories).
93. F.C. Von Savigny, VOM BERUF UNSERER ZEIT FÜR GESETZGEBUNG UND RECHTSWISSENSCHAFT 78 (1814).
94. There are other objections as well. See Smits, supra note 27, at 89-96.
95. See, e.g., Catherine Barnard, Social Dumping and the Race to the Bottom: Some Lessons for the European Union from Delaware?, 25 EUR. L. REV. 57 (2000).
96. Case C-212/97, Centros v. Erhvervs-og Selskabsstyrelsen 1999 E.C.R. 1-1459.
97. 1980 Rome Convention on the Law Applicable to Contractual Obligations, 1998 O.J. (C 027) 34 (consolidated version).
98. Cf. Ugo Mattei, COMPARATIVE LAW AND ECONOMICS (1997); Jan M. Smits, A European Private Law as a Mixed Legal System, 5 MAASTRICHT J. EUR. & COMP. L. 328 (1998).
99. Alan Watson, LEGAL TRANSPLANTS 95-101 (1974).
100. See also Jan M. Smits, Legal Culture as Mental Software, or: How to Overcome National Legal Culture?, in PPIVATE LAW AND THE MANY CULTURES OF EUROPE (forthcoming 2007).
101. See generally Lawrence Friedman, The Place of Legal Culture in the Sociology of Law, in LAW AND SOCIOLOGY: CURRENT LEGAL ISSUES (Michael Freeman ed., 2006);
102. John Henry Merryman & David S. Clark, COMPARATIVE LAW: WESTERN EUROPEAN AND LATIN AMERICAN LEGAL SYSTEMS CASES AND MATERIALS 28-29 (1978).
103. Cf. David Nelken, Legal Culture, in ELGAR ENCYCLOPEDIA OF COMPARATIVE LAW 372, 378-79 (Jan M. Smits ed., 2006).
104. See generally Geert Hofstede, CULTURES AND ORGANIZATIONS: SOFTWARE OF THE MIND (2d ed. 1997);
105. Geert Hofstede, CULTURE'S CONSEQUENCES (2d ed. 2001) [hereinafter Hofstede, CULTURE'S CONSEQUENCES].
106. Hofstede, CULTURE'S CONSEQUENCES, supra note 76, at 9.
107. Id. at 10.
108. Amartya Sen, IDENTITY AND VIOLENCE; THE ILLUSION OF DESTINY (2006).
109. Id. at 150.
110. Amartya Sen, DEVELOPMENT AS FREEDOM 5 (1999).
111. "[W]e see ourselves as members of a variety of groups-we belong to all of them. A person's citizenship, residence, geographic origin, gender, class, politics, profession, employment, food habits, sport interests, taste in music, social commitments, etc. make us members of a variety of groups." Id. at 4.
112. See Vogenauer & Weatherill, supra note 51, at 105.
113. Teubner, supra note 62, at 16.
114. See also Gunther Teubner, GLOBAL LAW WITHOUT A STATE (Gunther Teubner ed., 1997).
115. See Martijn W. Hesselink, The Politics of a European Civil Code, 10 EUR. L.J. 675, 678-81 (2004).
116. See Ralf Michaels, Private or International? Two Economic Models for Private International Law of Torts 26 (Duke Law School Working Paper Series, Paper No. 18, 2005).
117. On an optional regime of mortgage credit, Green Paper - Mortgage Credit in the EU, COM (2005), July 19, 2005.
118. See also Green Paper on Financial Services Policy, COM (2005), May 3, 2005.
119. This cannot be elaborated in the context of this article. See Smits, supra note 27, at 66-89.
120. See generally Hertz, supra note 1.