Acquis Group

European Research Group on Existing EC Private Law (Acquis Group)

Welcome to the Homepage of the Acquis Group. The Acquis Group, founded in 2002, currently consists of more than 40 legal scholars from nearly all EC Member States.

As a reaction on activities of EU institutions in the field of European contract law, the Acquis Group targets a systematic arrangement of existing Community law which will help to elucidate the common structures of the emerging Community private law. For this purpose, the Acquis Group primarily concentrates upon the existing EC private law which can be discovered within the acquis communautaire. The research of the Acquis Group will be published as "Principles of the Existing EC Contract Law".

*New*
The Acquis Principles

(Latest update: May 2009)
This featured version of Acquis Principles will be published together with comments in the
volume “Principles of the Existing EC Contract Law (Acquis Principles) – Contract II:
General Provisions, Delivery of Goods, Package Travel and Payment Services”, edited by the
Research Group on the Existing EC Private Law (Acquis Group), Munich 2009: Sellier
European Law Publishers. The present version is however subject to minor changes.

*New* Excerpt from the Commission Communication on the DCFR and the CFR (10 June 2009, forwarding to the CoPECL-Homepage)

The Academy of European Law (ERA) - Conference "The Draft Common Frame of Reference" Trier, 6-7 March 2008

"Common Frame of Reference and Existing EC Contract Law"

(edited by Reiner Schulze, release in April 2008)

The book contains the proceedings of the symposium "Common Frame of Reference and Existing EC Contract Law" held in Münster in December 2007, including chapter 8 of the Acquis-Principles with comments.
The book can be ordered at www.sellier.de

Draft of the Acquis-Principles

(Latest update: February 2008)
This featured page provides besides the original English Acquis-Principle official translation into French, German, Italian and Polish.

Draft Common Frame of Reference - Interim Outline Edition in print (29 December 2007)
The Draft Common Frame of Reference (DCFR) prepared by the Study Group on a European Civil Code and the Research Group on EC Private Law (Acquis Group) has gone to print. The work can also be ordered as a book for € 9,90 at www.sellier.de (ISBN 978-3-86653-059-1). The title of the print edition which is to be published in February 2008 will be: “Principles, Definitions and Model Rules of European Private Law. Draft Common Frame of Reference (DCFR). Interim Outline Edition.” (ISBN 978-3-86653-059-1). A pre-version is available on-line at www.law-net.eu/en_index.htm)

Draft Common Frame of Reference
delivered to the Commission (28 December 2007)
The Draft Common Frame of Reference (DCFR) prepared by the Study Group on a European Civil Code and the Research Group on a EC Private Law (Acquis Group) has been delivered to the Commission.

Since May 2005, the Acquis Group is part of the Joint Network on European Private Law. By the end of 2008 this network will deliver a proposal for the so-called "Common Frame of Reference" containing the "Common Principles of European Contract Law" (CoPECL).

The next Acquis Group Plenary Meeting will take place in October 2010 in Ljubljana. For further details see "activities / meetings".

Cover Note by the Presidency of the European Council (19.07.2008):

Excerpt from the Presidency's conclusions, among others, with regard to the DCFR...

" [...] 20. The European Council underlines the need to rapidly follow up the project to establish a common frame of reference for European contract law. [...] "

Press Release of the Council of the European Union (Justice and Home Affairs, April 18th, 2008)
Excerpt from the full text (which can be obtained from the Homepage of the Council) on European Contract Law

German Presidency of the EU
"Germany supports the goal of the European Commission to examine the provisions of Community private law, particularly consumer contract law, for consistency and coherence. The objective is to establish a European frame of reference containing instructions for consolidating existing legislation and for future legislation. The Presidency will organize a conference on European contract law, providing a discussion platform for legal policymakers, academics and legal practitioners."
(cf. page 19 of the Presidency Programme, "More legal certainty for citizens and business")

EC Consumer Law Compendium,
18 December 2006

European Parliament (Committee on Legal Affairs) Hearing: "Common frame of reference: what next in European contract law?", 21 November 2006