Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue? Applying the General Concept of Concurrence on European Sales Law and International Air Law

Abstract

In the current multilevel legal order, private relationships are governed by rules rooted in different international, European and national regimes. Where these rules lead to conflicts, important questions arise. May they be applied simultaneously, or should one of the regimes be excluded in favour of the other? And if the latter is the case, who should make that choice: the claimant or the court?

To solve these questions, a method of interpretation is needed, crafted with private relationships in mind. This contribution seeks to uncover such a method, based on a comparative analysis of different European legal systems and an examination of two case studies: (1) the liability of airlines and (2) sales law in Europe. As such, it is interesting to legal practitioners, lecturers and students, as well as anyone interested in the intersection of European law and private law.

Keywords: Sturgeon, Nelson, 261/2004, Montreal, Montreal Convention, Warsaw, European private law, CESL, concurrence, interpretation, sales law