The proposed Common European Sales Law – the lawyers’ view - Rome - 11.04.2012
11 April 2012 – Together with the Consiglio Nazionale Forense (the Italian Bar Association), the CCBE organised a conference in Rome on “The proposed Common European Sales Law – the lawyers’ view”. The aim of the conference was to promote a debate among legal practitioners regarding the main legal issues of the proposal. Speaking at the conference were Luigi Berlinguer, Co-Rapporteur at the European Parliament, and Dirk Staudenmayer, Head of the relevant Unit at the European Commission, as well as expert lawyers from different jurisdictions across Europe. The conference was characterised by a lively and fruitful debate, with both Mr Berlinguer and Mr Staudenmayer showing openness to different viewpoints.
In her opening address, Marcella Prunbauer-Glaser recalled the CCBE’s early interest in a European contract law and its call, already in 2009, for EU sales law applicable in business-to-business and business-to-consumer contracts and not limited to cross-border contracts. She said that, whilst there is no CCBE position yet on the Commission’s proposal and some CCBE members are less favourable to the idea, the proposal is consonant with past CCBE positions on European contract law. She stressed that the doubts recently expressed by the CCBE about the validity of the legal basis chosen would not stop it from actively contributing, as was shown by the organisation of this conference.