Report on the Conference “European Constitutionalisation of Private Law”

Abstract

The Constitution and private law. These notions which were originally considered to be far apart from each other became the subject-matter of the conference entitled “European Constitutionalisation of Private Law”, which was organized by Amsterdam University’s Institute for Private Law on 28 March 2003. The very title of the conference appears to require immediate clarification due to the increasing use of the notion of “constitutionalisation” in different contexts. As was mentioned in the introductory speech by J.W. Rutgers, University of Amsterdam, the term “constitutionalisation of private law” can concern two things. On the one hand, it may be used in the context of the impact of EC law on the national private law of the Member States. On the other hand, it may be also used to indicate the effect of fundamental rights on private law. The main focus of the present conference was on the first aspect of constitutionalisation, although the second aspect also received attention.