The Eye of the Storm: on the Case for Harmonising Principles of Damages as a Remedy in Contract Law
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Lesley Jane Smith
Abstract
Taking the current work on refining the contract law acquis as its starting point, this article considers whether there is a case for greater harmonisation of the law of damages in contract law within the EU. The law of damages is a platform for enforcing contractual interests. As long as remedies in general and damages in particular remain subject to divergent national solutions, the Community will have difficulties in achieving its goal of coherency in contract law.
By demonstrating the complexities surrounding this area of law and discussing recent decisions of the European Court of Justice, it argues that the current inconsistencies in the law of damages justify action at community level. The article outlines possible options for the Community that are consistent with the current climate of political, legal and social integration within the EU. It concludes by demonstrating that Europe could use the medium of contract law and the law of damages to deliver social and economic justice.
© Walter de Gruyter
Articles in the same Issue
- Introduction
- The Constitutional Competence of the EU to Deliver Social Justice
- Social Justice, Constitutional Principles and Protection of the Weaker Contractual Party
- The Constitutionalization of European Contract Law: Judicial Convergence and Social Justice
- Social Justice and the Market in European Contract Law
- An Optional Instrument and Social Dumping
- The Alchemy of Deriving General Principles of Contract Law from European Legislation: In Search of the Philosopher's Stone
- The Eye of the Storm: on the Case for Harmonising Principles of Damages as a Remedy in Contract Law
- Abuse of Dominant Position: A System of Undistorted Competition or Social Protection?
- The Old and the New Limits to Freedom of Contract in Europe
- Social Justice and European Identity in European Contract Law
- ECJ – CaixaBank France
- European Community Legislation and Actions
- The European Commission's Common Frame of Reference Project: a progress report
- Other News
Articles in the same Issue
- Introduction
- The Constitutional Competence of the EU to Deliver Social Justice
- Social Justice, Constitutional Principles and Protection of the Weaker Contractual Party
- The Constitutionalization of European Contract Law: Judicial Convergence and Social Justice
- Social Justice and the Market in European Contract Law
- An Optional Instrument and Social Dumping
- The Alchemy of Deriving General Principles of Contract Law from European Legislation: In Search of the Philosopher's Stone
- The Eye of the Storm: on the Case for Harmonising Principles of Damages as a Remedy in Contract Law
- Abuse of Dominant Position: A System of Undistorted Competition or Social Protection?
- The Old and the New Limits to Freedom of Contract in Europe
- Social Justice and European Identity in European Contract Law
- ECJ – CaixaBank France
- European Community Legislation and Actions
- The European Commission's Common Frame of Reference Project: a progress report
- Other News
