European Contract Law

Recommended Prerequisites

Law of Obligations I (Contracts) is recommended. A working knowledge of English is indispensable. 

Teaching Methods

Classes will be both theoretical and practical in nature: all topics will be subjected to a theoretical analysis, and the differences and similiarites between various European contract law systems will also be studied by examining practical problems and their solutions. The curricular unit will also occasionally benefit from the collaboration with faculty members from other European universities, who specialize in some of the topics from the syllabus.

Learning Outcomes

To understand the role played by the acquis communautaire in the convergence of contract law in the EU; the promotion of "harmonization" of contract law that followed, which bolstered the organization of various work groups, aimed at creating a true EU-wide Restatement of contract law; the increasing criticism to the goals of said promotion; what the many soft law instruments, stemming from this fertile evolution, reveal about that which is shared among many European contract law systems; and the solutions offered by these legal systems to many of the main problems in contract law (including their respective historical evolution).   

Work Placement(s)

No

Syllabus

1. The acquis communautaire and the convergente of contract law in the EU;

2. The promotion of "harmonization" of contract law that followed and the goal of creating a EU-wide contract law Restatement;

3. The criticism to these objectives;

4. Instruments of soft law steming from the promotion of harmonization;

5. Main problems in contract law and the solutions offered by various European contract law systems;

5.1. Historical evolution;

5.2. Spanish law;

5.3. French law;

5.4. Italian law;
5.5. German law;

5.6. English law. 

Head Lecturer(s)

João António Pinto Monteiro

Assessment Methods

Assessment
Frequency: 100.0%

Bibliography

Hein Kötz, European Contract Law, 2.ª ed., Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2017

Lucinda Miller, The Emergence of EU Contract Law, Exploring Europeanization, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2011.