Paper on EUROPEAN CONTRACT LAW by Paul Abbiati October 2011 Summary of Paper:

Paper on European Contract Law: Summary At end of September 2011 The European Commission said that a new pan-European contract law will not cover insurance and financial services contracts A European Commission spokesman said that the full proposal for the new law will be published in the middle of October 2011.

Paper on European Contract Law: Summary: '28th regime' of pan-EU contract law The Commission’s plans to create a '28th regime' of pan-EU contract law to encourage cross border trade will not cover financial services and insurance contracts.

Paper on European Contract Law: Summary: An Insurance-specific contract law could be created An Insurance-specific contract law could be created Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding has said an insurance-specific contract law could be created. A EU Commission study will be carried out in 2012 on insurance contracts

Paper on European Contract Law: Summary: Right for the new contract law to be used for a transaction completed between parties in the same country Justice Commissioner spokesman said that he could not confirm whether the October proposals will include a right for the new contract law to be used for a transaction completed between parties in the same country.

Paper on European Contract Law: Summary:Background The European Commission first announced that it would look into developing a pan-European contract law last year. The new law would run in conjunction with the national contract laws in the 27 EU member states. The European Commission has previously said that a new contract law 1. would improve consumer confidence in online cross-border trading and 2. reduce a significant cost burden for businesses.

Paper on European Contract Law: Summary: An optional European contract law ? An optional European contract law could be chosen freely by consumers and businesses in their contractual relations as an alternative to the existing national contract laws when they want to buy or sell goods across a national border. It could save a small online business wishing to trade in Europe an estimated €9,000 in legal and translation fees per market – or over €230,000 if they wanted to take their business EU-wide," source the EU Commission.

Paper on European Contract Law: Summary: EU Commission opened dialogue with representatives from the insurance industry to "open dialogue" on the "possible added value" an insurance-specific contract law EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding met with representatives from the insurance industry at the end of September 2011 to "open dialogue" on the "possible added value" an insurance-specific contract law could bring.

Paper on European Contract Law: Summary: Right for the new contract law to be used for a transaction completed between parties in the same country Paul Abbiati is an -EU Commission CFR-net expert member -Spoke at the Swedish EU Presidency Conference on EU Contract Law on behalf of business, October 2009 -Co-Chair of the ICC Task Force on EU Contract Law 2006-2010 e-mail: law@abbiati.co.ukAbbiati, -EU Commission CFR-net expert member -Speaker at the Swedish EU Presidency Conference on EU Contract Law on behalf of business, October 2009 -Co-Chair of the ICC Task Force on EU Contract Law 2006-2010 e-mail: law@abbiati.co.uk

Paper on European Contract Law: Summary: the Paper’s author: Paul Abbiati spoke at The Swedish EU Presidency Conference on EU Contract Law on behalf of business, October 2009 -EU Commission CFR-net expert member -Speaker at the Swedish EU Presidency Conference on EU Contract Law on behalf of business, October 2009 -Co-Chair of the ICC Task Force on EU Contract Law 2006-2010 e-mail: law@abbiati.co.uk

Paper on European Contract Law: Summary: The European Law Institute Paul Abbiati is a Fellow of The European Law Institute -EU Commission CFR-net expert member -Speaker at the Swedish EU Presidency Conference on EU Contract Law The European Law Institute (ELI) is an independent non-profit organisation established to initiate, conduct and facilitate research, make recommendations and provide practical guidance in the field of European legal development behalf of business, October 2009 -