Crépuscule des idoles: De la fragmentation du sujet à la fragmentation du contrat

Abstract

The development of European Union law plays a fundamental role in the transformation of contract law in civil law systems. This article assesses these transformations of continental legal systems through the notion of juridical subject. It is argued that the evolution of a different conception and regulation of the juridical subject derives from a new conception of competition and of the market order, which involves a major transformation of the function of contract law and of the founding notions of this legal field. The transformations brought forth by a new conception of the market order and the development of the European Union are assessed on the basis of examples taken by French, German and Italian law. Just as the unity of the juridical subject and of the contract stemmed from a specific philosophical and economic approach, the same is true for the present fragmentation, which stems from a new understanding which challenges the foundations and the functions of private law.