Internal Market Legislation and the Private Law of the Member States. The Impact of Fundamental Rights

Abstract

Fundamental rights have gained increasing importance in the regulation of the Internal Market through legislative harmonization. Since they do so irrespective of whether the instrument is of a private law nature (or not) or capable of affecting private law relationships (or not), this will inevitably reflect on the domestic legal orders which have to implement the legislation. Taking this as its starting point, this paper analyses the interplay between EU fundamental rights in internal market legislation (more specifically consumer law legislation) on the one hand, and the national private law, on the other. It identifies and discusses the mechanisms by which the former can have an effect on the latter, thereby revealing the nature, degree and potential of the impact, which is arguably already strong, as well as the role that the Charter of Fundamental Rights may play in this respect.