The Future of Contract Law in Europe

Abstract

This paper reflects upon the future of contract law in Europe. It considers the changing roles of legislatures, courts, academics and private actors as a result of Europeanisation and globalisation. It is both investigated how substantive contract law may be affected by future developments (the ‘law of the future’) and how the place of contract law in society as a whole may change (the ‘future of law’). The approach is based upon the premise that if one legal actor becomes less important, other actors can be expected to fill the vacuum, meaning that the roles of the various actors involved in law making are closely interlinked.

Keywords: European contract law, Globalisation, Futurology, Legal actors, Judicial activism, Trust-building