of the Action Plan, German Version. Action Plan, 82. defined terms. I ask for a more open system where definitions are used as a sort of commentary for specific use in a specific legal field. So the terminology and meaning of terms may differ in consumer contract law from the use of the same terminology in banking law. If, for example, we take the notion of property in German law, there we can find one notion of property in the Grundgesetz, the fundamental rights, and another in civil law. A definition cannot do more than to serve as a concept for specific 40 application. The German formalistic Civil Law Codification is largely unreadable 41 as far as a non-German lawyer is concerned. Without any special indication as to the use of terminology this codification can rarely be understood. If we remain with the German language we must realise that with a knowledge of German legal language the other German-speaking legal systems of Switzerland and Austria are not automatically accessible. Very simple terms have different meanings. When a German speaks of Besitz, he means factual possession. However, an Austrian lawyer understands Besitz as the factual possession including the animus domini. What a German understands under Besitz, is for an Austrian Innehabung.21 If we now shift these language problems to the level of the language 42 used in the official legal language of the European Union we can expect far more problems in [page 7] the future than on the level of different legal systems using the same national language, but not a common legal language. Private law is that part of the law that is the closest to the European 43 Union Citizen. Within Private Law many personal issues are dealt with. Family law, the law of succession as well as sales law form part of the everyday lives of citizens. Unfortunately the standard of accessibility is very different in the Member States. See Rudolfo Sacco, Einfuhrung in die Rechtsvergleichung, 2001, p. 42 s. SiSU cisgw3.law.pace.edu/ 5