Different views on the Common European
Sales Law, which will be the subject of European parliamentary debate and a
vote this week, may be related to ideas about to what extent a common culture
underlies legal harmonisation projects in the EU. A collection of essays on this topic, edited
by Kai Purnhagen and Geneviève Helleringer and based on a conference they organised in December 2011 (on which we posted earlier, 'For no man is an island'), has just been published. It takes the following
perspective:
'European harmonisation efforts such as a
European civil code, European constitutional treaties, European principles, and
European fundamental rights are frequently criticised for building on or
creating a European legal culture that does not exist; in reality what we have
is European legal pluralism. Some have argued that the pluralistic structure of
European law hinders the development of a community, which is a necessary
requirement for a European legal culture. And if there can be no common
European legal culture then there is no basis for harmonising exercises.
The contributors to this book explore in
different legal areas whether in fact the contrary is true. Cultural pluralism
might indeed be a distinctive feature of European legal culture. Diversity is
not something that is in opposition to, but rather constitutes a new, different
understanding of European legal culture. The contributions demonstrate in
detail how such an approach inter alia in the areas of private, corporate,
administrative and constitutional law furthers understanding of a developing
European legal culture, how it offers theoretical and doctrinal insights, and
how it adds critical perspective.'
More information and a table of contents is
available on the publisher's website.
