Coherence and Consistency in European Consumer Contract Law: A Progress Report The European Commission’s Action Plan COM(2003) 68 final and the Green Paper on the Modernisation of the 1980 Rome Convention COM(2002) 654 final

German Law Journal

Volumn 4, Issue 4, 2003, Pages 333-372

  Calliess, Gralf Peter ^a  

^a NONE

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EID: 85175850783     PISSN: None     EISSN: 20718322     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/S2071832200016011     Document Type: Article

References (158)

1. Bacon, DE DIGNITATE ET AUGMENTIS SCIENTARUM, engl. translation, Works V (edited by J. Speddings et al.), London 1869, 8th Book, Titel I, Aphorism 8.
2. See Wieacker, DAS SOZIALMODELL DER KLASSISCHEN PRIVATRECHTSGESETZBÜCHER UND DIE ENTWICKLUNG DER MODERNEN GESELLSCHAFT, 1953;
3. see as well Franz Wieacker, Tony Weir (trans.), and Reinhard Zimmermann, A HISTORY OF PRIVATE LAW IN EUROPE, Oxford UP 1996; Unger, LAW IN MODERN SOCIETY, 1976, p. 194 et passim;
4. Atiyah/Summers, FORM AND SUBSTANCE IN ANGLO-AMERICAN LAW, Oxford UP 1987;
5. Calliess, PROZEDURALES RECHT, 1999, Chapter 1.
6. Micklitz, A Comment on Party Autonomy and Consumer Regulation in the European Community - A Plea for Consistency, in: Grundmann/Kerber/Weatherill (ed.), PARTY AUTONOMY AND THE ROLE OF INFORMATION IN THE INTERNAL MARKET, 2001, 197.
7. Collins, REGULATING CONTRACTS, Oxford UP 1999
8. See Thibierge-Guelfucci, Libres propos sur la transformation du droit des contrats, REVUE TRIMESTRIELLE DE DROIT CIVIL 1997, 357 ff. (“principe de fraternité contractuelle”);
9. Lurger, GRUNDFRAGEN DER VEREINHEITLICHUNG DES VERTRAGSRECHTS IN DER EUROPÄISCHEN UNION, 2002, 370 ff., 376 ff. (“Prinzip der Rücksichtnahme und Fairness” = principle of consideration and fairness). On the “principle of good faith”
10. see Zimmermann/Whittaker (eds.), GOOD FAITH IN EUROPEAN CONTRACT LAW, Cambridge UP 2000; and on the “duty to deal fairly” in contract law see as well Commission of the European Communities, Green Paper on EU Consumer Protection, COM(2001) 531 final http://europa.eu.int/comm/consumers/cons_int/safe_shop/fair_bus_pract/green_pap_comm /fair_comm_greenpap_en.pdf
11. see as well the overview and follow-up at http://europa.eu.int/comm/consumers/cons_int/safe_shop/fair_bus_pract/index_en.htm, and the Proceedings of the SECOLA Conference of May 2002 in London (www.secola.org).
12. See MacCormick, LEGAL REASONING AND LEGAL THEORY, Oxford UP 1978, 73;
13. Kelsen, GENERAL THEORY OF LAW AND STATES, Harvard UP 1946, 14; Luhmann, DAS RECHT DER GESELLSCHAFT, 1993, 223 ff., 231 f.
14. See the contributions to Grundmann (ed.), SYSTEMBILDUNG UND SYSTEMLÜCKEN IN KERNGEBIETEN DES EUROPÄISCHEN PRIVATRECHTS, 2000;
15. Joerges, Interactive Adjudication in the Europeanisation Process? A Demanding Perspective and a Modest Example, EUROPEAN REVIEW OF PRIVATE LAW (ERPL) 2000, p. 1 ff.;
16. Micklitz (supra note 3); Schlechtriem, Wandlungen des Schuldrechts in Europa - wozu und wohin, ZEITSCHRIFT FÜR EUROPÄISCHES PRIVATRECHT (ZEUP) 2002, p. 213 ff.;
17. Calliess, The Limits of Eclecticism in Consumer Law: National Struggles and the Hope for a coherent European Contract Law. A Comment on the ECJ’s and the FCJ’s “Heininger”- decisions, GERMAN L.J. Vol. 3 No. 8 - 1 July 2002 - Private Law, available at www.germanlawjournal.com/past_issues.php?id=175;
18. Commission of the European Communities, Communication on European Contract Law, 2 July 2001, COM(2001) 398 final: http://europa.eu.int/comm/consumers/cons_int/safe_shop/fair_bus_pract/cont_law/cont_la w_02_en.pdf
19. Consumer Policy Strategy 2002-2006, Communication of 7 May 2002, COM(2002) 208 final: http://europa.eu.int/eurlex/ pri/en/oj/dat/2002/c_137/c_13720020608en00020023.pdf
20. Lando/Beale, (ed.), PRINCIPLES OF EUROPEAN CONTRACT LAW PARTS I & II, 2000; (Part I & II 1999, Part III 2002) available at http://www.cbs.dk/departments/law/staff/ol/commission_on_ecl/pecl_full_text.htm
21. www.sgecc.net
22. See www.secola.org
23. See as well the work of the Trento Group (www.jus.unitn.it/dsg/common-core/home.html)
24. see Bussani/Mattei (eds.), THE COMMON CORE OF EUROPEAN PRIVATE LAW. ESSAYS ON THE PROJEKT, Kluwer Law International 2002;
25. the Gandolfi Group: Giuseppe Gandolfi (ed.), CODE EUROPEÉN DES CONTRATS - AVANT-PROJET, Milano 2001; and there are a lot more “Groups”.
26. See Micklitz 2001; and there are a lot more “Groups”; Consumer Policy Strategy 2002-2006, COM(2002) 208 final; the work of the “Acquis Group” (www.jura.uni-bielefeld.de/Lehrstuehle/Schulte-Noelke/Institute_Projekte/Acquis_Group/index.html) is dedicated to this topic
27. see Schulte-Nölke/Schulze (eds.), EUROPÄISCHES VERTRAGSRECHT IM GEMEINSCHAFTSRECHT, Schriftenreihe der Europäischen Rechtsakademie Trier, Vol. 22, 2002
28. See Grundmann/Kerber, European System of Contract Laws - A Map for Combining the Advantages of Centralised and Decentralised Rulemaking, in: Grundmann/Stuyck (eds.), AN ACADEMIC GREEN PAPER ON EUROPEAN CONTRACT LAW, (Kluwer) 2002, draft PDF available at www.secola.org
29. Leuven Conference; Grundmann, Binnenmarktkollisionsrecht - vom klassischen IPR zur Integrationsordnung, RABELSZ 69 (2000) 457-477;
30. Grundmann, Internationales Privatrecht als Verfassungsordnung, RIW 2002, 329 ff.
31. See the compilation at Schulze/Zimmermann (eds.), BASISTEXTE ZUM EUROPÄISCHEN PRIVATRECHT, 2nd Ed. 2002;
32. and the commentaries at Grundmann, EUROPÄISCHES SCHULDVERTRAGSRECHT, ZGR Sonderheft 15, 1999.
33. See ECJ of 20 February 1979 (C 120/78) “Cassis de Dijon”; and the Commission White Paper on the Single Market COM (1985) 310; see also Epiney in: C.Calliess/Ruffert (eds.), KOMMENTAR ZU EUV UND EGV, 2nd Ed. July 2002, Art. 28 EGV (EC-Treaty) No. 20 et seq.
34. Consolidated version at OJ C 27 of 26 January 1998, p. 34-46: http://europa.eu.int/eurlex/ pri/en/oj/dat/1998/c_027/c_02719980126en00340053.pdf see as well www.romeconvention. org/
35. See Foss/ Bygrave, International Consumer Purchases Through The Internet: Jurisdictional Issues Pursuant To European Law, IJL&IT 2000 8 (99);
36. Heiss, in: Czernich/Heiss (eds.), EVÜ - DAS EUROPÄISCHE SCHULDVERTRAGSÜBEREINKOMMEN. Kommentar, 1999, Art. 5; Magnus in: STAUDINGER, EGBGB, Art. 29 (2002).
37. Directive 97/7/EC, OJ 1997 L 144/19 http://europa.eu.int/comm/consumers/cons_int/safe_shop/dist_sell/index_en.htm
38. See the country reports in Spindler/Börner (ed.), E-COMMERCE-LAW IN EUROPE AND THE USA, 2002, where sometimes it is not reported, wether the term days is restricted to working days or not.
39. Magnus, in: STAUDINGER (2002), Art. 28 EGBGB Note 653-655
40. Directive 2000/31/EC, OJ L 178/1 http://europa.eu.int/smartapi/cgi/sga_doc?smartapi!celexapi!prod!CELEXnumdoc&lg=en&n umdoc=32000L0031&model=guichett
41. Spindler, Herkunftslandprinzip und Kollisionsrecht - Binnenmarktintegration ohne Harmonisierung? Die Folgen der Richtlinie im elektronischen Geschäftsverkehr für das Kollisionsrecht, RABELSZ 2002, 633, 684f.
42. Vgl. Glatt, VERTRAGSSCHLUSS IM INTERNET, 2002, p. 123 ff.;
43. otherwise Maack, DIE DURCHSETZUNG DES AGB-RECHTLICHEN TRANSPARENZGEBOTS IN INTERNATIONALEN VERBRAUCHERVERTRÄGEN, 2001, p. 155 ff., 186
44. Para. 355 (3) Sentence 3 German Civil Code (BGB), which was introduced as a result of the ECJ’s Heininger decision, see Calliess DIE DURCHSETZUNG DES AGB-RECHTLICHEN TRANSPARENZGEBOTS IN INTERNATIONALEN VERBRAUCHERVERTRÄGEN www.germanlawjournal.com/past_issues.php?id=175
45. The reason fort he unavailability of market-insurance in case of guarantees or late cancellations due to a failure of informing the consumer properly about his rights is simply, that there are involved to many potential moral hazards on the side of the seller. An insurer offering a respective police, thus, would attract too many bad risks. See only Wehrt, Warranties, in: Bouckaert/De Geest (eds.), ENCYCLOPEDIA OF LAW AND ECONOMICS, Volume III., 2000, S. 179 ff.
46. For a detailed analysis see von Bar/Lando/Swann, Communication on European Contract Law: Joint Response of the Commission on European Contract Law and the Study Group on a European Civil Code, ERPL 2002, 182, 199 ff.
47. Drasch, DAS HERKUNFTSLANDPRINZIP IM INTERNATIONALEN PRIVATRECHT, 1997, p. 288 et passim 28
48. See Roth, Europäischer Verbraucherschutz und BGB, JURISTENZEITUNG (JZ) 2001, 475;
49. Calliess, Nach der Schuldrechtsreform: Perspektiven des Verbrauchervertragsrechts, ARCHIV FÜR DIE CIVILISTISCHE PRAXIS (ACP) 203 (2003), forthcoming.
50. See ECJ Case C-376/98, Judgement of 5 October 2000, http://curia.eu.int/jurisp/cgibin/ form.pl?lang=en&Submit=Submit&docrequire=alldocs&numaff=C-376%2F98&datefs=&datefe=&nomusuel=&domaine=&mots=&resmax=100, where the ECJ annulled the Directive 98/43/EC on advertising and sponsorship of tobacco products for not being covered by the powers specifically conferred on the Community under Art. 95 EC-Treaty, since the Directive in question in fact did not “genuinely have as its object the improvement of the conditions for the establishment and functioning of the internal market.” (No. 81 ff., 84).
51. See only Roth, Der Einfluss des Europäischen Gemeinschaftsrechts auf das Internationale Privatrecht, RABELSZ 1991, 623;
52. Basedow, Der kollisionsrechtliche Gehalt der Produktfreiheiten im europäischen Binnenmarkt: favor offerentis, RABELSZ 1995, 1, 15.
53. Starting with ECJ of 20 February 1979 (C 120/78) “Cassis de Dijon”, where the ECJ ruled, that a rule prescribing a minimum alcohol percentage for liquor is improportionate, if an information rule will suffice; see as well Epiney in: Calliess/Ruffert (eds.), KOMMENTAR ZU EUV UND EGV, 2nd Ed. July 2002, Art. 28 EGV (EC-Treaty) No. 25. https://doi.org/10.1017/S2071832200016011 Published online by Cambridge University Press 32 Art. 153 (1) EC-Treaty and Art. 38 Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (OJ C 364/1 of 18. December 2000).
54. See Reich, BÜRGERRECHTE IN DER EUROPÄISCHEN UNION, 1999, p. 266 f. (“passive Marktfreiheiten”) with extensive reference to the ECJ.
55. See Grundmann BÜRGERRECHTE IN DER EUROPÄISCHEN UNION, 1999 Part 1 Note 80, 118
56. Spindler, Herkunftslandprinzip und Kollisionsrecht - Binnenmarktintegration ohne Harmonisierung? Die Folgen der Richtlinie im elektronischen Geschäftsverkehr für das Kollisionsrecht, RABELSZ 2002, 633
57. Commission communication to the Council and Parliament concerning the European contract law, COM(2001) 398 final, (OJ C 255/1 of 13.9.2001): https://doi.org/10.1017/S2071832200016011
58. Published online by Cambridge University Press http://europa.eu.int/comm/consumers/cons_int/safe_shop/fair_bus_pract/cont_law/cont_la w_02_en.pdf;
59. all comments and follow-up documents available at http://europa.eu.int/comm/consumers/cons_int/safe_shop/fair_bus_pract/cont_law/index_ en.htm
60. See only Grundmann/Stuyck (eds.), AN ACADEMIC GREEN PAPER ON EUROPEAN CONTRACT LAW, (Kluwer) 2002;
61. von Bar/Lando/Swann, Communication on European Contract Law: Joint Response of the Commission on European Contract Law and the Study Group on a European Civil Code, ERPL 2002, 182-248;
62. Staudenmayer, The Commission Communication on European Contract Law and the Future Prospects, 51 INTERNATIONAL AND COMPARATIVE LAW QUARTERLY (2002), 673-688;
63. Schlechtriem, Wandlungen des Schuldrechts in Europa - wozu und wohin, ZEUP 2002, 213 ff.;
64. Kötz, Alte und neue Aufgaben der Rechtsvergleichung, JZ 2002, 257 ff.;
65. Schwintowski, Auf dem Weg zu einem Europäischen Zivilgesetzbuch, JZ 2002, 205 ff.;
66. Sonnenberger, Privatrecht und Internationales Privatrecht im künftigen Europa: Fragen und Perspektiven, RECHT DER IINTERNATIONALEN WIRTSCHAFT (RIW) 2002, 489 ff.;
67. Grundmann, Internationales Privatrecht als Verfassungsordnung, RIW 2002, 329 ff.;
68. Ott/Schäfer, Die Vereinheitlichung des europäischen Vertragsrechts. Ökonomische Notwendigkeit oder akademisches Interesse, in: Ott/Schäfer (ed.), VEREINHEITLICHUNG UND DIVERSITÄT DES ZIVILRECHTS IN TRANSNATIONALEN WIRTSCHAFTSRÄUMEN, 2002, p. 203 ff.;
69. Eidenmüller, Obligatorische versus optionales europäisches Vertragsgesetzbuch, in: Ott/Schäfer (ed.), VEREINHEITLICHUNG UND DIVERSITÄT DES ZIVILRECHTS IN TRANSNATIONALEN WIRTSCHAFTSRÄUMEN, 2002, p.237 ff.
70. COM(2002) 654 final. http://europa.eu.int/eurlex/ pri/en/dpi/gpr/doc/2002/com2002_0654en01.doc
71. see as well http://europa.eu.int/comm/justice_home/news/intro/news_160103_2_en.htm
72. 39 COM(2003) 68 final http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/com/cnc/2003/com2003_0068en01.pdf
73. See Green Paper COM(2002) 654 final at 1.6
74. See the Executive Summary in COM(2001) 398 final.
75. See the summary of the consultation process in the Action Plan COM(2003) 68 final, Part 3
76. E.g. Schlechtriem/Schmidt-Kessel, Urteilsanmerkung zu BGH-Urteil vom 25.11.1998 - VIII ZR 259/97, Grenzüberschreitender Kauf, Vereinbarung deutschen Rechts in AGB, Mängelrüge, Verzicht, Verwirkung, in: EWIR 1999, 257;
77. see as well the thorough analysis at von Bar/Lando/Swann, Communication on European Contract Law: Joint Response of the Commission on European Contract Law and the Study Group on a European Civil Code, ERPL 2002, 182, 194 ff.
78. See von Bar/Lando/Swann, Communication on European Contract Law: Joint Response of the Commission on European Contract Law and the Study Group on a European Civil Code, ERPL 2002, 182, 206 ff.
79. See Ott/Schäfer, Die Vereinheitlichung des europäischen Vertragsrechts. Ökonomische Notwendigkeit oder akademisches Interesse.
80. See Action Plan COM(2003) 68 final, Executive Summary, Paragraph 1.
81. See Green Paper COM(2002) 654 final at 1.6
82. See Schmid, Legitimitätsbedingungen eines Europäischen Zivilgesetzbuchs, JZ 2001, 433;
83. Schmid, Neuordnungsperspektiven im europäischen Privatrecht. Plädoyer für ein Europäisches Rechtsinstitut und für “Restatements” über europäisches Recht, in: JAHRBUCH JUNGER ZIVILRECHTSWISSENSCHAFTLER 1999, 33.
84. COM(2002) 208 final 50 COM(2002) 654 final 51 See the overview at http://europa.eu.int/comm/justice_home/fsj/civil/fsj_civil_intro_en.htm
85. See the Follow-up of the consultation on a preliminary draft proposal for a Council Regulation on the law applicable to non-contractual obligations (“Rome II”) at http://europa.eu.int/comm/justice_home/unit/civil/consultation/contributions_en.htm;
86. see as well Hamburg Group for Private International Law, Comments on the European Commission’s Draft Proposal for a Council Regulation on the Law Applicable to Non-Contractual Obligations, RABELSZ 2003, 1-56.
87. Explanatory Report on the Convention on the accession of the Republic of Austria, the Republic of Finland and the Kingdom of Sweden, available at: http://www.romeconvention. org/instruments/i_rep_afs_en.htm
88. ECJ Case 150/77, judgement of 21 June 1978
89. Council Regulation (EC) No 44/2001 of 22 December 2000 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters, OJ L 012, 16/01/2001 p. 1-23, available at http://europa.eu.int/smartapi/cgi/sga_doc?smartapi!celexapi!prod!CELEXnumdoc&lg=en&n umdoc=32001R0044&model=guichett
90. See again Grundmann, EUROPÄISCHES SCHULDVERTRAGSRECHT, 1999.
91. There are, of course, general mandatory protection rules like § 138 BGB, which protect any party, including, but not limited to consumers: an example is the protection of private guarantors (see BVerfG, NJW 1994, 36), which are not protected by Community measures, if the credit agreement secured by the guarantee is not a consumer contract: see ECJ Case C-45/96 - Dietzinger, ECR 1998 I-1199.
92. This was illustrated by the Heininger-Case of the ECJ and the resulting reform of the German reform of the law of obligations: see Calliess www.germanlawjournal.com/past_issues.php?id=175;
93. see as well Safferling, Re-Kodifizierung des BGB im Zeitalter der Europäisierung des Zivilrechts - ein Anachronismus?, in: JAHRBUCH JUNGER ZIVILRECHTSWISSENSCHAFTLER 2001, p. 133 https://doi.org/10.1017/S2071832200016011 Published online by Cambridge University Press
94. Rauscher, Gran Carnaria - Isle of Man - Was kommt danach? Plädoyer für einen europäischen Ordre Public, EUROPÄISCHE ZEITSCHRIFT FÜR WIRTSCHAFTSRECHT (EUZW) 1996, 650-653; BGHZ 135, 124 = NJW 1997, 1697: no right to revocation under HWiG (legislation transposing Directive 85/577/EEC on contracts concluded away from business premises into German law) in case of a contract on a time-share in a flat located in Spain, concluded between a German tourist and a business domiciled on the Isle of Man on ocassion of a promotion event in the respective holiday resort, to which the tourist was invited while walking around in the streets of the Spanish city.
95. See e.g. Art. 6(2) of the Unfair Contract Terms Directive (1993/13/EC); Art. 9 Timeshare Directive (1994/47/EC); Art. 12(2) Distance Selling Directive (97/7/EC); Art. 7(3) Consumer Sales Directive (1999/44/EC); Art 11(3) Distance Financial Services Directive (2002/65/EC)
96. See Green Paper at 3.1.1.1.
97. Basedow, Materielle Rechtsangleichung und Kollisionsrecht, in: Schnyder/Heiss/Rudisch (eds.), INTERNATIONALES VERBRAUCHERSCHUTZRECHT, 1995, 11, 34
98. Accessible at http://www.drt.ucl.ac.be/gedip.
99. BGHZ 135, 124 ff.
100. See Magnus, in: STAUDINGER (2002), commentary on Art. 29 a EGBGB
101. Klauer, DAS EUROPÄISCHE KOLLISIONSRECHT DER VERBRAUCHERVERTRÄGE ZWISCHEN RÖMER EVÜ UND EG-RICHTLINIEN, 2002, 174 ff.
102. ECJ Case 381/98, judgment of 9 November 2000
103. See Green Paper at 3.2.8.3s
104. See Savigny, SYSTEM DES HEUTIGEN RÖMISCHEN RECHTS, Vol. 8, 1849.
105. See ECJ Case 150/77 - Bertrand, ECR 1978, 1431 N 17 ff.; ECJ Case C-269/95 - Benincasa, ECR 1997 I-3767 N 13; both on the restrictive interpretation of Art. 13, 14 of the 1968 Brussels Convention; see as well on the consumer concept in the Directives ECJ Case C-361/89 - Di Pinto, ECR 1991 I-1189 N 15-19; ECJ Case C-45/96 - Dietzinger, ECR 1998 I-1199; On the restrictive interpretation Art. 5 Rome Convention = Art. 29 EGBGB see the German FCJ in: BGHZ 135, 124 (133 ff.).
106. BGHZ 135, 124
107. BGHZ 135, 124
108. BGHZ 123, 124
109. See Magnus, in: STAUDINGER (2002), Art. 29 EGBGB N 45 ff.; Heiss, in: CZERNICH/HEISS, EVÜ, 1999, Art. 5 N 14 ff.
110. See e.g. the terms and conditions of www.Amazon.com for E-Books, where only limited rights of use (personalised on screen reading, making a certain amount of hard copies) are transferred to the “buyer”, which is technically ensured by a personally registered software (e.g. Acrobat EBook Reader).
111. Accessible at http://www.drt.ucl.ac.be/gedip
112. See, text available at http://europa.eu.int/smartapi/cgi/sga_doc?smartapi!celexapi!prod!CELEXnumdoc&lg=EN&n umdoc=32001R0044&model=guichett
113. See Reich, BÜRGERRECHTE IN DER EU, 1999, p. 262: “Unter Verbraucher wird … jeder Unionsbürger verstanden, der auf dem Binnenmarkt für Waren- und Dienstleistungen als Nachfrager auftritt und damit seine persönlichen Bedarfe befriedigen will.”
114. See: “supply … to a person”
115. See Art. 1(1) Directive 85/577/EEC on contracts concluded away from business premises, see http://europa.eu.int/comm/consumers/cons_int/safe_shop/door_sell/index_en.htm
116. “contracts under which a trader supplies goods or services to a consumer”; Art. 1(2) c) Consumer Credit Directive (87/102/EEC) as amended, see the overview on the issue including the proposol for reform at: http://europa.eu.int/comm/consumers/cons_int/fina_serv/cons_directive/index_en.htm
117. "‘credit agreement’ means an agreement whereby a creditor grants or promises to grant to a consumer a credit” (= Art. 2(c) of the reform proposal); Art. 2(1) Distance Selling Directive (97/7/EC), see http://europa.eu.int/comm/consumers/cons_int/safe_shop/dist_sell/index_en.htm
118. "‘distance contract means any contract concerning goods or services concluded between a supplier and a consumer under an organized distance sales or service-provision scheme run by the supplier”; Art. 1(1) Unfair Contract Terms Directive (93/13/EEC), see http://europa.eu.int/comm/consumers/cons_int/safe_shop/unf_cont_terms/index_en.htm
119. “contracts concluded between a seller or supplier and a consumer”; Art. 2(1) in connection with Art. 1(2) a) - c) of the Consumer Sales Directive (1999/44/EC), see http://europa.eu.int/smartapi/cgi/sga_doc?smartapi!celexapi!prod!CELEXnumdoc&lg=en&n umdoc=31999L0044&model=guichett: “seller must deliver goods to the consumer”.
120. The consideration offered by the consumer must - of course - not be a adequate. However, there is no need for contractual consumer protection in case of a gratuitous promise of a business. The scope of this concept is best described by the term “entgeltliche Leistung” (something like: performance in exchange for a (i.e. any) consideration) used in section 312(1) German Civil Code (the “BGB”) with regard to door-step selling. The problem of a contract without consideration was addressed as well in ECJ Case C-45/96 - Dietzinger, ECR 1998, I-1199, where the ECJ ruled that the Door-Step-Selling Directive 85/577/EEC is applicable to a guarantee, although the guarantor receives no consideration himself, since the guarantee is connected to the credit agreement and the creditor provides a service (credit) to a third party (the debtor). However, according to the ECJ the credit agreement itself must be a consumer credit in order for the Directive being applicable to the guarantee. See as well BGH, NJW 1998, 2356.
121. All three problems are implicitly adressed by the solutions proposed by the Grenn Paper at 3.2.7.3
122. See Reich/Nordhausen, VERBRAUCHER UND RECHT IM ELEKTRONISCHEN GESCHÄFTSVERKEHR, 2000, which propose to generally apply the acquis of the European consumer protection directives as the “mandatory law of the forum” instead of the law of the consumers’ home-state.
123. See as well Grundmann, Binnenmarktkollisionsrecht - vom klassischen IPR zur Integrationsordnung, RABELSZ 69 (2000) 457-477, proposing the application of the business’ home-state law in combination with a direct application of the acquis, where necessary.
124. Art. 5 Rome Convention is interpreted by many authors in the light of the solution of Art. 2 a) CISG (see hereto Ferrari, in: Schlechtriem (ed.), CISG-KOMMENTAR, 3rd ed. 2000, Art 2 N. 15 ff.), which interpretation builds on the report of Guliano/Lagarde (OJ C 282 of 31/10/1980 S. 1-50): see Magnus, in: STAUDINGER (2002), Art. 29 EGBGB N. 38; Heiss, in: Czernich/Heiss, EVÜ, Art. 5 N. 8; Glatt, INTERNETVERTRÄGE, 2002, p. 105-109;
125. Foss/Bygrave, International Consumer Purchases Trough the Internet, INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF LAW AND IT 2000 8(99). However, this interpretation is contested and not yet supported by precedence.
126. See e.g. Fallenböck, INTERNET UND INTERNATIONALES PRIVATRECHT, 2001, at 61 (commenting on the solution of the UCITA), and 107;
127. see as well Nimmer, Through the Looking Glass: What Courts and UCITA Say About the Scope of Contract Law in the Information Age, 38 DUQ. L. REV. (2000) 255, 262 ff.; Art. 109 b) UCITA 2002 reads as follows: (1) An access contract or a contract providing for electronic delivery of a copy is governed by the law of the jurisdiction in which the licensor was located when the agreement was entered into. (2) A consumer contract that requires delivery of a copy on a tangible medium is governed by the law of the jurisdiction in which the copy is or should have been delivered to the consumer.
128. See Magnus, in: STAUDINGER (2002), Art. 28 EGBGB Note 653-655;
129. Glatt, VERTRAGSSCHLUSS IM INTERNET, 2002, p. 123 ff.;
130. Maack, DIE DURCHSETZUNG DES AGB-RECHTLICHEN TRANSPARENZGEBOTS IN INTERNATIONALEN VERBRAUCHERVERTRÄGEN, 2001, p. 155 ff., 186;
131. Reich/Nordhausen, VERBRAUCHER UND RECHT IM ELEKTRONISCHEN GESCHÄFTSVERKEHR, 2000 at 86 ff.
132. See only Heiss, RABELSZ 2001, 634 ff., 650: “Wo Art. 5 EVÜ greift, will er [der Unternehmer, GPC] überhaupt keine Rechtswahl, zumal sie ihn nur belasten kann.” (Where Art. 5 is applicable, the business does not want a choice of law, since it will result to the detriment of the business)
133. After the accession of the 10 candidate states in 2004.
134. For the use of that term see generally Beck, GEGENGIFTE - DIE ORGANISIERTE UNVERANTWORTLICHKEIT, 1988; in the context of private law legislation see only Safferling.
135. I.e. an illusion or fabrication of the mind or fancy. This term was used by Christian Joerges at the May 2002 Conference of SECOLA in London, in this context indicating that the “active consumer” is a fabrication of the Commission in order to annex competencies in consumer protection law.
136. According to a survey of the European Mail Order and Distance Selling Trade Association (EMOTA) of 30.09.2002 (www.emota-aevpc.org/) this is true even for distance selling: “Sales to consumers in other states directly across borders are still insignificant (no more than 3%) as a part of total sales due to existing barriers. Companies prefer to work together with or acquire a local firm in order to profit from their knowledge of the local market, consumer attitude and interpretation of local legislation (“think international, act local”).”
137. It has to be taken into account, that a transformation of the Consumer Sales Directive (1999/44/EC) limited to consumer contracts would have led to an unbearable fragmentation of the German civil law codification “BGB”. Therefore, the German legislator decided to reform the general sales contract provisions in the BGB, which apply as well to consumer-to-consumer and business-to-business transactions. Thus the active consumer contracts, the regulation of which the Directive is heading for (see considerations 2-5 of the Directive), account for far less then one per cent of all covered transactions.
138. Directive 1999/44/EC: http://europa.eu.int/smartapi/cgi/sga_doc?smartapi!celexapi!prod!CELEXnumdoc&lg=en&n umdoc=31999L0044&model=guichett
139. See Roth, Europäischer Verbraucherschutz und BGB, JURISTENZEITUNG 2001, 475, at 477 ff.
140. See J.Raz, The Rule of Law and ist virtue, 93 LAW QUARTERLY REVIEW (1977) 195-202.
141. See von Bar/Lando/Swann, Communication on European Contract Law: Joint Response of the Commission on European Contract Law and the Study Group on a European Civil Code, ERPL 2002, 182, 230 (paragraph 84).
142. See Action Plan COM(2003) 68 final, Paragraph 14.
143. Refering to the German saying: “To tackle the Devil with Beelzebub” (the prince of the devils)
144. The Green Paper in ist introduction simply states: " The present document does not intend to examine the relationship between a possible future instrument and the Internal Market rules. For the Commission it is clear, however, that such an instrument should leave intact the principles of the Internal Market laid down in the Treaty or in secondary legislation.”
145. In the Isle-of-Man Case decided by the FCJ (BGHZ 135, 124), for instance, the lower Courts had not even tried to solve the case under the laws of the Isle-of-Man. The whole argument was just about the applicability of the German protection rules. Thus, the FCJ in its decission simply presumed, that the contract would be enforceable under the law of the Isle-of-Man (at II 2 and 3).
146. For a very good analysis and a sceptical result with regard to the prerequisites of a competition in both mandatory as well as dispositive private law see Kieninger, WETTBEWERB DER PRIVATRECHTSORDNUNGEN IM EUROPÄISCHEN BINNENMARKT, 2002
147. See for the following ideas Grundmann, especially in RIW 2002.
148. See Grundmann, Europäisches Verbrauchervertragsrecht im Spiegel der ökonomischen Theorie - Vertragsinformationsrecht im Binnenmarkt, in: Ott/Schäfer (ed.), VEREINHEITLICHUNG UND DIVERSITÄT DES ZIVILRECHTS IN TRANSNATIONALEN WIRTSCHAFTSRÄUMEN, 2002, 284 ff.
149. See for potential inverse effects of consumer protection only: Joerges, VERBRAUCHERSCHUTZ ALS RECHTSPROBLEM, 1981, p. 127; Schäfer, in: Grundmann (ed.), SYSTEMBILDUNG UND SYSTEMLÜCKEN IN KERNGEBIETEN DES EUROPÄISCHEN PRIVATRECHTS, 2000, p. 559 ff.
150. See Ferrari, in: Schlechtriem (ed.), CISG-KOMMENTAR, 3rd ed. 2000, Art 2 N. 15 ff.
151. Which interpretation builds on the report of Guliano/Lagarde (OJ C 282 of 31/10/1980 S. 1-50): see Magnus, in: STAUDINGER (2002), Art. 29 EGBGB N. 38; Heiss, in: Czernich/Heiss, EVÜ, Art. 5 N. 8;
152. Glatt, INTERNETVERTRÄGE, 2002, p. 105-109;
153. Foss/Bygrave, International Consumer Purchases Trough the Internet, INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF LAW AND IT 2000 8(99), all with further references.
154. See Spindler/Börner (eds.), E-COMMERCE RECHT IN EUROPA UND DEN USA, 2003, at 281.
155. An exception may be a characteristic performance, which usually can be used for private use only, or a contract, where the volume or value usually is only demanded by businesses: see Ferrari, in: Schlechtriem (ed.), CISG-KOMMENTAR, 3rd ed. 2000, Art 2 N. 17 f.; However, the majority of all products and services can be used for private and/or professional use. Thus, there should be a clear distinction in advance, based on the external circumstances or the representations of the parties.
156. See www.dell.co.uk
157. See the detailed analysis at Calliess, Nach der Schuldrechtsreform: Perspektiven des Verbrauchervertragsrechts, ARCHIV FÜR DIE CIVILISTISCHE PRAXIS (ACP) 203 (2003), forthcoming.
158. See supra para. 38 with note 85