This volume addresses two main topics, "lex mercatoria" - a transnational law of commerce - and "contract law harmonization in the EU". Both are clear exponents of the diminishing role of the nation state as law-maker, and of the impact of the processes of globalization and regional integration upon the traditional system of compartmentalized and differentiated legal jurisdictions. Part one is concerned with the regulation of cross-border commercial agreements. It clarifies and systematizes the legal framework applicable to cross-border commercial agreements, in consonance with the important changes brought about after the release of the so-called Restatements of International Contract Law - the "UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts" and the "Principles of European Contract Law". Special focus is placed on the doctrine of the lex mercatoria and the application of non-national rules in the practice of international commercial arbitration and by national courts. Part two approaches the debate of a European contract law from a critical angle.
The book argues that in order to promote intra-community trade in the EU preference should be taken for monitored self-regulation rather than for imposed legal harmonization. This work deals with international contract law from a practical, theoretical and political viewpoint. It is useful for practitioners as it provides an insight into cross-border contracting with references to choice of law issues, self-regulation and relevant arbitral and judicial caselaw. It also describes the impact of the legislative intervention of the Community in the field of contract law, the transposition of EC law into national law and some of the current approaches to contract law in several European countries.