Electronic Contracts and the Harmonization of Contract Laws in Europe - An Action Required, A Mission Impossible?

Abstract

The use of information technologies allows parties to enter into contracts in a manner that provides speed, ease, on a mass scale and with a cross?border range with which traditional means of contracting cannot easily compare. It also impacts several traditional concepts of contract law and the legal criteria based thereon. The focus of this paper is on the formation of contracts by electronic means. The ongoing discussion has resulted in establishing in the Member States certain legal rules aimed at answering the questions raised by the procedure of contract formation by electronic means. It is argued that, in order to promote electronic commerce in Europe and to eliminate the lack of predictability connected with electronic transactions, the harmonization of such rules at the European level could be the appropriate means. It is submitted that harmonizing the law concerning the formation of electronic contracts should not be made in isolation of the efforts aimed at the harmonization of contract law in general such as the Principles of European Contract Law. Therefore, the article further reflects on the applicability, for the purpose of electronic commerce transactions, of the provisions of the Principles of European Contract Law dealing with contract formation.