The Americanization of contract law: the merger clause in the European perspective

Abstract

It is a fact that the American contractual models and the American drafting style dominate the business environment. Professional operators use such models not only in international business relationships, but also when they enter into a purely domestic agreement. This means that professional operators circulate US contractual models for which the law of a civil law country is applicable.This paper explores the reasons underpinning such practice and how US contractual models react when they are subject to the law of a civil law country. In particular, considering the peculiarities of the US contract law, it is worth focusing on integration and interpretation that are based on two rules (parol evidence rule and plain meaning rule) that are quite the opposite of the principles applicable under the civil law.The analysis will specifically focus on the merger clause, which is unknown to the civil law tradition and instead is iconic of the US contract law sentiment, investigating if and how this clause can work under the law of a civil law country.