The Common Frame of Reference on European Contract Law in the Context of English and German Law

2008年4月18日，欧盟理事会通过了《欧洲合同法共同参考框架》（CFR）。CFR是“合同法领域的一套定义、一般原则和现代规则”。它的主要目的是作为“更好地制定法律的工具”，这应该指导立法者。此外，它还可以作为直接适用的合同法规则的基础，也许以一项可选文书的形式。从长远来看，它甚至可以作为未来欧洲民法典的基础。本研究建议着眼于这种CFR与欧盟成员国法律之间的关系，以德国和英国法律为例。它将研究这些规则将如何与它们将在其中运作的法律环境相互作用。CFR规则必须与CFR范围之外的国内合同法规则相吻合，也必须与国内财产法、侵权法和不当得利法相吻合。他们必须在不同的程序法的背景下工作。CFR还将成为各成员国立法和法官制定的合同法改革的标准，并将影响对国内合同规则的解释。该提案包括对CFR的一种特殊用途的案例研究。一个可选的工具可以允许消费者通过点击一个“蓝色按钮”来选择基于CFR的规则与企业签订电子远程销售合同。案例研究是调查这将对其他规则产生的广泛影响，例如管辖权，法律选择，物权法，不正当竞争法以及控制标准条款的集体诉讼

On 18 April 2008, the Council of the European Union endorsed the creation of a Common Frame of Reference on European Contract Law (CFR). The CFR is "a set of definitions, general principles and moden rules in the field of contract law". It is primarily intended as "a tool for better law making', which should guide the legislator. It could furthermore form the basis of directly applicable rules on contract law, perhaps in the form of an optional instrument. In the long run, it might even serve as the basis of a future European Civil Code. The present research proposal looks at the relationship between this CFR and the laws of EU member states, as exemplified by German and English law. It will look at how these rules will interact with the legal environment in which they are to operate. CFR rules will have to dovetail with domestic rules on contract law outside the scope of the CFR, and also with domestic property, tort and unjust enrichment law. They will have to work in the context of different procedural laws. The CFR will also serve as a yardstick for legislative and judge made contract law reform in the Member States, and will influence the interpretation of domestic contract rules. The proposal includes a case study on one particular use which could be made of the CFR. An optional instrument could allow e.g. consumers to choose CFR based rules for their electronic distance sales contract with a business by clicking on a "blue button". The case study is to investigate on the wide-ranging repercussions this will have on other rules e.g. on jurisdiction, choice of law, property law, unfair competition law, and for collective proceedings for the control of standard terms