Legal Innovation in European Contract Law: Within and Beyond the (Draft) Common Frame of Reference

Abstract

The Europeanization of contract law has continuously developed over the past 25 years. It is now at a defining stage, with the Draft Common Frame of Reference (DCFR) recently being published. This article is not primarily concerned with the substance of this instrument, but with the process of legal innovation it might trigger. The hypothesis is that the adoption of such a rulebook will have a significant impact on the future development of European contract law. Yet the nature and likely effects of such impact are difficult to predict, given that functions, elements and purposes of the new instrument still need to be identified and defined. In any event, the DCFR will modify the pattern of future legal change in European contract law. The crucial question is: Will it provide a dynamic framework for legal innovation?

Keywords: Legal Innovation, European Contract Law, Common Frame of Reference, European Civil Code, Costs of Lawmaking, Stickiness of Virtual Defaults, Multi-Layered System of Contract Laws

JEL Classification: K12