New Directions in European Private Law

This book brings together leading scholars and practitioners, to explore contemporary challenges in the field of European private law, identify problems, and propose solutions. The first section reassesses the existing theoretical framework and traditional legal scholarship on which European private law has developed. The book then goes on to examine important and practical topics of geo-blocking and standardisation in the context of recent legislative developments and the CJEU case law. The third section assesses the challenging subject of adequate regulation of online platforms and sharing economy that has been continuously addressed in the recent years by European private law. A fourth section deals with the regulatory challenges brought by an increasing development of artificial intelligence and blockchain technology and the question of liability. The final section examines recent European legislative developments in the area of digital goods and digital content and identifies potential future policy directions in which the European private law may develop in the future.

1. Political Disruption, Technological Disruption and the Future of EU Private Law
Roger Brownsword, King's College London, UK
2. Standardisation of Agreement in EU Law. An Adieu to the Contracting Parties?
Francisco de Elizalde, IE University, Spain
3. Schools of Thought in European Private Law
Cristina Poncibò, University of Turin, Italy, and Oscar Borgogno, University of Turin, Italy
4. The Geo-blocking Regulation and the Digital Single Market Strategy
Valeria Falce, Universit à Europea di Roma, Italy, and Giusella Finocchiaro, University of Bologna, Italy
5. The Case Law of the Court of Justice of the European Union on Directive 98/34/EC Laying Down a Procedure for the Provision of Information in the Field of Technical Standards and Regulations (Directive 2015/1535) and Its Impact on Private Law Relations
Eileen Sheehan, Court of Justice of the European Union
6. Beyond Regulation: The Collaborative Economy in Need of New General Principles of EU Law?
Vassilis Hatzopoulos, Panteion University, Athens, Greece
7. Activating EU Private Law in the Online Platform Economy
Menno Cox, Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology of the European Commission
8. Blockchain Law: Between Public and Private, Transnational and Domestic
Georgios Dimitropoulos, HBKU College of Law, Qatar
9. Civil Liability and New Technologies
Michel Cannarsa, Lyon Catholic University, France
10. Harmonising Private Law in Cyberspace: The New Directives in the Digital Single Market Context
Andrej Savin, Copenhagen Business School, Denmark
11. Epilogue – New Directions, but Which Ones?
Hans-W Micklitz, European University Institute, Italy