The Quest to Find a Law Applicable to Contracts in the European Union - A Summary of Fragmented Provisions

Abstract:     
In the European Union Regulation No. 593/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the law applicable to contractual obligations (the so called Rome I regulation) governs which law to apply to contracts containing international elements. With the continuing internalization of business activities, such rules have elementary importance. However, beside the unified rules of the regulation, numerous EU rules exist, which also have relevance. This is because of a provision in Rome I, which states that the regulation shall not prejudice the application or adoption of rules of the institutions of the EU which lay down rules concerning particular areas of contractual law. As an effect, several rules exist which override the provisions of Rome I. Thus, the present system of rules is fragmented, which may cause serious malfunctions in the legal practice. Most of these provisions can be found in consumer law directives, but other fields like employment law may also be of relevance. The article tries to collect these hidden” provisions and analyze their effect to the Hungarian legal regime.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 46

Keywords: EU private international law, conflict-of-laws, consumer law, contract law, EU commercial law

JEL Classification: K12, K2, K20

Accepted Paper Series