Focused on divergent sales laws: EC will present its proposals and two new Eurobarometer surveys later this month
Wednesday 12 October (date to be confirmed): European Commission proposes European Contract law to boost trade and expand consumer choice
The European Commission will present proposals to bring more coherence to contract laws in the EU. Despite the success of the EU’s Single Market, barriers to cross-border trade remain. Many of these result from divergent sales laws between the 27 Member States. They make selling abroad complicated and costly, especially for small firms. Traders who are dissuaded from cross-border transactions due to contract law obstacles forgo at least €26 billion in intra-EU trade every year. Meanwhile, 500 million consumers in Europe lose out on greater choice and lower prices because fewer firms compete, particularly in smaller national markets. The Commission’s proposals will aim to break down these barriers.
The background:
Under the Europe 2020 strategy (IP/10/225), the Commission is tackling bottlenecks in the Single Market to drive economic recovery. This includes making progress towards a European contract law.
In July 2010, the Commission put forward several options in a Green Paper for a more coherent approach to contract law.
The event:
The Commission will present its proposals and publish two new Eurobarometer surveys. Vice-President Reding will hold a press conference and a technical briefing will also be held (to be confirmed).
The sources:
Contract law in the EU: http://ec.europa.eu/justice/contract/index_en.htm
Vice-President Reding’s website: http://ec.europa.eu/commission_2010-2014/reding