Developments after this edition

Developments after this edition

75.Full version of the DCFR. The full version of the DCFR was submitted to the European Commission at the end of December 2008. It will soon be reproduced in book form as a larger publication. The outline and full editions will differ in that the latter will contain the comments and the comparative notes supplemented by an index and bibliographic tables.

76.Consumer credit contracts not covered. The DCFR does not contain any model rules on consumer credit law. This is the subjectmatter of a Directive which was only adopted during the concluding phase of the work on the DCFR.55 The DCFR could not be revised in time to take account of it.

77.Evaluating the DCFR. The research teams which combined their endeavours under the 6th Framework Programme for Research will have concluded their work with the publication of the DCFR. The network will continue to exist only until the end of April 2009. The discussion about the DCFR and about the CFR which will possibly develop from it will, however, go on. The researchers offer to be a part of that development and the implementation of new forms of cooperation between the various legal professional groups, but must point out that fresh funding would have to be found to make that possible.

78.CFR. The creation of a CFR is a question for the European Institutions. We suggest that they make decisions about the questions of legal policy which arise in this context only after consultation with the various groups involved. If desired, the researchers remain willing to participate.

54We would strongly urge that if anything like this were done, the Comments should be re-written to explain that in most systems the rules apply also to non-contractual obligations.

55Directive 2008/48/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2008 on Consumer Credit Contracts and abrogating Directive 87/102 /EEC, OJ L 133/66 of 22 May 2008

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79.Square brackets. The square brackets in Interim Outline Edition II. – 9:404 (Meaning of “unfair” in contracts between a business and a consumer) (now II. – 9:403) remain. The question here is whether the control on unfair terms in a contract between a business and a consumer should apply (a) only to terms which have not been individually negotiated or (b) to any terms which have been supplied by the business. The practical consequences of keeping or removing the words “which has not been individually negotiated” would probably not be great in this context (given that most terms supplied by the business would in any event not be individually negotiated) but the question is a delicate one and better left to a political decision. The square brackets in Interim Outline Edition III. – 5:108 (Assignability: effect of contractual prohibition) have been deleted as it proved possible to reach a decision in favour of a less complicated solution than that formerly presented in paragraph (5).

80.The CFR as the basis for an optional instrument. What has been said about the purposes of the CFR relates to its function as a legislators’ guide or toolbox. It is still unclear whether or not the CFR, or parts of it, might at a later stage be used as the basis for one or more optional instruments, i. e. as the basis for an additional set of legal rules which parties might choose to govern their mutual rights and obligations. In the view of the two Groups such an optional instrument would open attractive perspectives, not least for consumer transactions. A more detailed discussion of this issue, however, seems premature at this stage. It suffices to say that this DCFR is consciously drafted in a way that, given the political will, would allow progress to be made towards the creation of such an optional instrument.

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