Second Regime and Optional Instrument for European Contract Law – the Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee of the EU
Optional Code CES Statement for a DCFR 2010 English
Optinal Code CES Statement in Deutsch
Code Optional Comité Èconomique et Sociale en Francais
CES Committee releases Proposal for a 28th regime which puts the choice of national contract law und competitive pressure
1.8 The optional regime should therefore:
a) be conceived as a „2nd Regime“ in each Member State, thus providing parties with an option between two regimes of domestic contract law;
b) be defined at EU level and enacted by EU regulations;
c) facilitate interaction between parties in the drafting process;
d) contain provisions of mandatory law ensuring a high level of protection for the weaker party, at least similar to those granted by the EU or national mandatory rules, applicable whenever necessary;
e) limit the option of the parties to a choice of the entire instrument thus avoiding the possibility of „cherry-picking“.
3.1.5 A „2nd Regime“ would be particularly helpful in areas where private international law (Rome I) forbids or restricts the free choice of law by the parties, as is the case with transport (Article 5 Rome I), consumer (Article 6 Rome I), insurance (Article 7 Rome I) and employment (Article 8 Rome I) contracts. The optional instrument could even apply to internationally mandatory rules (Article 9 Rome I) provided that it takes sufficient care of the general interest protected by such rules . However, this 2nd regime should not apply to labour law or employment contracts in force in the Member States of the European Union3.2.2 This can be safeguarded by three means:
a) First of all, the „2nd Regime“ would have to provide for mandatory rules itself and to apply a high level of protection for the weaker party ;
b) Secondly, any exclusion of particular provisions of the „2nd Regime“ by agreement must be prevented in order to forbid a „mix“ of national law and the „2nd Regime“ by choosing the most relaxed standards from each source of law;
c) Consumer should be informed about the optional instruments through general consumer information provided by consumer organisations as well as a pre-contractual duty of the entrepreneur to inform the consumer that the contract offered is subject to the optional instrument.
… The network on „Common Principles of European Contract Law“ (CoPECL-Network) has recently finished its Draft Common Frame of Reference[1] and submitted it to the European Commission. Clearly, those rules provide the European legislator with a model which it could use when enacting an optional instrument as advocated by Commissioner Reding[2]. What is still needed is a rule on the optional application of the CFR/Common Principles in line with the already existing proposal of Article 1:102 PEICL[3].