The “Principles of European Tort Law”*

Abstract

The author presents the major aspects of the Principles of European Tort Law (PETL). These have been drafted by the European Group on Tort Law in order to provide a basis for discussing a future harmonisation of tort law in Europe, which must be achieved not only by some codification on the EU level, but also by way of gradual convergence of the laws at their own initiative. The Principles of European Tort Law are not a mere restatement of the law as is, not least due to the fact that there are significant differences between the European jurisdictions when it comes to attributing a loss. Indeed, many concepts that are commonly accepted at present are being preserved, since there is no obvious need to abandon the experience accumulated throughout Europe so far. Nevertheless, the Principles try to merge these traditional approaches with a modern perspective on how the law of torts should develop in the future.