European Contract Law - the Way Forward? Report With Evidence: 12th Report of Session 2004-2005 (House of Lords Paper 95 Session 2004-05)

In October 2004 the Commission published "European contract law and the revision of the acquis: the way forward" (COM (2004) 651 final). Its most important element is the preparation of a Common Frame of Reference (CFR) which will set out legal terms, fundamental principles and coherent model rules of contract law. The CFR will be used to improve existing Community contract law - the acquis, mainly consumer protection directives - and the drafting of future measures. This report examines the proposals in detail, especially the CFR. The Committee concludes that the CFR is welcome in principle, but its preparation must not delay much needed reforms of the acquis. The Commission must ensure that the preparation of the CFR, which will be expensive, produces value for money. The Committee recommends that industry, commerce, legal practitioners and consumers must be closely involved in the preparatory work.