Finished projects
Common European private law of the natural person
The subject matter of the Common European Private Law of the natural person are the legal principles that the private law of the European states bundles in the person of the individual. Modern personal law is private law based on fundamental rights. It safeguards the unavailability of the body and dignity. It guarantees that a person is not downgraded to a mere thing. It guarantees access to the private legal system. It limits heteronomy to an indispensable minimum. It defines gender as a legal concept. And it gives people new freedoms in the choice of their name. Personal law concerns everyone. It is therefore at the center of many legal policy debates and new developments throughout Europe.
Research project by Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Christian von Bar as part of the Permanent Seminar on the Common European Private Law of the Natural Person with an international research team.
The book has been published by C.H.Beck in the series Jus Commune Europaeum.
Common European property law
Common European Property Law develops property law for the first time as a sub-discipline of European private law. The first volume deals with the basic principles, the subjects of property law and the subjective property rights to be found in the European Union. The book can also be used as a reference work on the property rights of the Member States. However, the real focus is on capturing the national wealth of knowledge and experience without the monotony of country reports in an overall presentation that is free of contradiction and repetition. The second volume analyzes the law of possession, the legal transfer of property rights and the legal remedies available for their protection.
Research project by Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Christian von Bar as part of the Permanent Seminar on Common European Property Law with an international research team.
Both volumes have been published by C.H.Beck in the series Jus Commune Europaeum.
Model Rules on Online Platforms
About the project
Background information
The digital economy is increasingly shaped by online platforms serving as marketplaces where customers can buy goods or arrange services (e.g. Airbnb, Uber, Amazon). Their dynamics can be difficult to reconcile with the currently existing regulatory framework at EU level. The applicable law only regulates bilateral consumer-supplier relations. Platforms, on the other hand, are often triangular-based business models that require the customer and supplier not only to make an agreement between each other, but also that they each conclude an agreement with the relevant platform operator. The result is that in many situations consumers that conclude contracts through online platforms are left without effective consumer protection. These platforms vary widely, and any regulation will have to provide for a range of measures depending on whether the platform is merely a 'facilitator', is actually the supplier, or just presents itself as such.
Objectives of the project
The aim of the project is to develop model rules on online intermediary platforms that set out a balance between conflicting policy options, and demonstrate what potential regulation at EU or national level could look like. They could define the criteria for distinguishing whether a platform operator is only a 'facilitator' or is the actual supplier. In addition, they could specify the duties and obligations of the platform operator, making it clear under which conditions the operator may be liable for a non-performance by the supplier. Specific regard is given to the question of what are the basic requirements for the transparency and fairness of online reputation systems (e.g. ratings and reviews), which are a key feature of many online platforms. The ELI Instrument on online intermediary platforms could become a European frame of reference for the law of internet platforms, and thereby contribute to the formulation of a value-based European approach to platforms.
Work
The work on online intermediary platforms was initiated in November 2015, when a conference 'Platform Services in the Digital Single Market' was held in the European Legal studies Institute. Later, a Research Group on the Law of Digital Services was established, and prepared and published a discussion draft of a directive on online intermediary platforms. The draft was received with broad interest, also from the ELI general assembly, where, in September 2016, several members of the research group proposed launching an ELI project on the subject. On September 7, 2016, the ELI Council identified the proposal for a project on "Draft Model Rules on Contractual Aspects of Online Intermediary Platforms" as a project that originated outside of the ELI and should be adopted under Section 8 of the ELI Project Guidelines. It was developed by Christoph Busch (Osnabrück), Gerhard Dannemann (Berlin), Hans Schulte-Nölke (Osnabrück/Nijmegen), Aneta Wiewiorowska-Domagalska (Osnabrück) and Fryderyk Zoll (Krakow/Osnabrück), who will also act as Reporters. Initial findings, including a draft legislative proposal, were presented at the 2016 Annual Conference.
The crisis of the Rule of Law Conference
About the project
The rule of law is not only a universal legal category, but also a political, sociological and philosophical concept. The political developments that have recently taken place in several Member States of the EU have brought the rule of law under the European spotlight. This conference will therefore focus on discussing the foundations of the rule of law, i.e. the functioning and the dilemmas of the judiciary (constitutional as well as ordinary courts), as well as the impact that the political changes have on the state's legitimacy. When is legitimacy based on a constitution exhausted, and does a "revolutionary" legitimacy then take over? What, in this case, should be the reaction of the EU? The future of the EU and its members will also be debated, considering the impact that the crisis of the rule of law has on their functioning, and the changes that are taking place in the democratic settings of EU Member States.
Time and place
The conference took place at European Legal Studies Institute, Süsterstraße 28, 49074 Osnabrück, on 5 and 6 February 2018.
Study Group on a European Civil Code
The Draft Common Frame of Reference (DCFR) contains the results of the work of the Study Group on a European Civil Code (the "Study Group") and the Research Group on Existing EC Private Law (the "Aquis Group"). The former Commission on European Contract Law (the "Lando Commission") provided the basis for much of Books II and III; it was on their Principles of European Contract Law (PECL) that the Study Group and the Acquis Group built. The Acquis Group concentrated on existing Community Law in the area of general contract law. The Study Group's main focus was on the remaining material. Nearly two hundred and fifty people of different generations collaborated in the research groups over a period of more than twenty-five years. They have reflected important areas of private law in principles, definitions and model rules. The perspective is thoroughly European and the fundamental basis of the work has been scholarly research and impartial thought and argument on the basis of that research. Model rules, with comments and notes, bring together rules derived largely from the legal systems of the Member States and the over-arching Community law. Principles explain the main underlying value judgements. Definitions bring to the defined terms and concepts the shared experience and ideas of jurists from thirty jurisdictions.