Category Archives: European Private Law
David Watson, ‘The Prosecco/Prošek war: is the EU geographical indication system falling flat?’
ABSTRACT The EU geographical indication system provides a high level of protection to food and drink names. While the system was originally designed to diversify agricultural production, improve farmer income and provide accurate information to consumers, the EU now also justifies protection by arguing that GIs preserve traditional culture and increase sustainability. However, an alternative […]
Marietta Auer, ‘Can Kantians Be Realists? German Critics of American Legal Realism (1930-1970)’
ABSTRACT This article confronts American Legal Realism with critiques by two German authors writing in the first and second halves of the twentieth century, namely, Hermann Kantorowicz and Josef Esser. Both authors were among the most progressive legal scholars of their generation, were intimately familiar with the writings of American legal realists, and shared many […]
Schabio and Shahin, ‘User control and GDPR compliance in social media privacy policies: A comparison of Facebook, YouTube, Snapchat, WeChat, TikTok, and BeReal’
ABSTRACT This study examines the privacy policies of social networking sites launched at different stages of Web 2.0 to assess (a) the extent to which they enable user control over personal information and (b) their GDPR compliance. We analyze two early-stage platforms (Facebook, YouTube), two mid-stage platforms (Snapchat, WeChat), and two late-stage platforms (TikTok, BeReal). […]
Call for Papers – Comparative European Tort Law
In 2026, the Annual Conference on European Tort Law (ACET) sees its 25th anniversary; among the celebrations for this milestone, the conference will host a new session offering emerging scholars and those at the more junior end of the academy (up to approximately six years after completing a doctorate) the opportunity to present their work […]
Valentin Pinel le Dret, ‘Culpa est immiscere: The Evolution of Negotiorum Gestio in French Law (1804-2016)’
ABSTRACT This article studies the evolution of negotiorum gestio (la gestion d’affaires) in French law, from its codification in 1800-1804 to its reform by the Ordonannce of 10 February 2016. It shows how negotiorum gestio has evolved from an institution originally intended to safeguard the autonomy of individuals in the conduct of their civil and […]
‘EU modernises consumer dispute resolution: An overview of the new ADR Directive’
On 25 September 2025, the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee (IMCO) of the European Parliament approved the text of the political agreement on the Alternative Disputes Resolution for Consumer Disputes Directive. This Directive establishes a framework for resolving through ADR procedures contractual domestic and cross-border consumer disputes arising from the sale of goods or […]
Andhov, Kania, Saljic and Schrøder-Hansen, ‘Culpa in Contrahendo: A Solar Eclipse between Contract and Public Procurement Law?’
ABSTRACT The realm of contemporary EU public procurement is expanding in complexity. This complexity arises not only from the incorporation of sustainability concerns and the procurement of diverse technological solutions but also from an increasing reliance on negotiated procedures. The growing interest in these methods within the EU highlights the need to explore their legal […]
Charlotte Ducuing, ‘Data Protection Without Romance: The Power Asymmetries that the GDPR Does Counter’
ABSTRACT A clear and consensual conceptualization of the power asymmetries that data protection seeks to address is missing. That modern bigness translates into multifaceted power issues results in multiple branches of the law being increasingly called upon to respond, illustrated by the recent adoption of the EU digital package. Such an endeavor requires consistency between […]
Moreno-Cervera de la Cuesta and Aránguez Díaz, ‘Forging the Corporate Duty to Mitigate Climate Change: Milieudefensie v Shell’
ABSTRACT The appellate judgment in Milieudefensie v ShelL reaffirms the corporate duty to mitigate climate change under Dutch tort law. However, the Court of Appeal overturned the lower court’s imposition of an absolute 45% emissions reduction target by 2030, deeming it inappropriate. This decision provides two key lessons for future litigation. First, while the court […]
Gutsche, Engler, Gleue, Möller and Ziegler, ‘The expressive function of legal norms: Experimental evidence from the Supply Chain Act in Germany’
ABSTRACT Legal norms can have a direct effect on individual behavior through legal enforcement. However, according to the ‘expressive function of law,’ they can also indirectly affect individual behavior by shaping related social norms. Since evidence for this expressive function is scarce, we consider a new law on corporate due diligence for the protection of […]