Position Paper on the Feasibility Study carried out by the Expert Group on European Contract Law

First, the Notaries of Europe welcome the opportunity given to them to express their opinion in the context of the Sounding Board, especially as it has been possible to include some of our comments in the Expert Group’s draft text, to the benefit of legal certainty. Even so, it should be stressed that a number of essential points still require adaptation. Lack of clarity in the draft text goes a good deal further than the use of general legal phraseology such as the notion of ‘good faith and fair dealing’ (Art. 8) which will be interpreted differently according to the national jurisdiction. The actual scope of the instrument is not described and therefore must be clarified. Clarification of how it will link with the conflict-of-law rules in the Rome I regulation is also necessary. Hence our wish for the Commission to take into account the observations that follow so that its proposal will contain a clear and concise instrument that is easy to use in practice.