Wolters Kluwer. Constitutional Values and European Contract Law. Stefan Grundmann KLUWER LAW INTERNATIONAL. Law & Business

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1 KLUWER LAW INTERNATIONAL Constitutional Values and European Contract Law Stefan Grundmann Wolters Kluwer Law & Business AUSTIN BOSTON CHICACO NEW YORK THE NETHERLANDS

2 Table of Contents Parti Constitutional Values and European Contract Law: An Overview 1 1 Constitutional Values and European Contract Law: An Overview 3 (Stefan Grundmann) I Introduction 4 II National Constitutions and Private Law 5 III EC Fundamental Freedoms and Private Law 8 IV Enlarging thè Perspective: EC Constitutional Freedoms, Rights and Strutturai Principles and Private Law 10 1 Three Dimensions 10 2 Fundamental Rights 11 3 Constitutional Strutturai Principles 14 V Future Perspectives: Finding A Coherent System for Ali Three Dimensions across thè Different Areas of Private Law 16 1 National Laws Differ 16 2 The Three Dimensions Differ 17 3 Areas of Private Law May Differ 17

3 x Table of Contents Part2 The Start: National Constitutions and Private Law 19 2 Fundamental Rights in National (Namely German) Contract Law 21 (Johannes Hager) I Introduction 22 II The Effects of Fundamental Rights 22 1 The Core Approaches 22 2 Artide 1(3) German Constitution and Laws 23 3 Application to Contracts 25 4 The Federai Constitutional Court as a 'Super-Appellate' Court 28 III The Effect of Fundamental Rights on Acts of Private Parties, in Particular on Contract Law 28 1 No Exception for Private Autonomy 28 2 Application to Testamentary Contracts 28 3 Application to Family Law 29 4 Application to Life Assurance 30 IV The European Dimension 33 1 The General Approach of thè European Court of Human Rights 33 2 The Role of Freedom of Contract in This Approach 34 V Summary 34 3 Subordinating Contract Law to Fundamental Rights: Towards a Major Breakthrough or towards Walking in Circles? 35 (Olha O. Cherednychenko) I Introduction 36 II Towards thè Subordination of Contract Law to Fundamental Rights in German Law 37 III The Complexity of Subordinating Contract Law to Fundamental Rights 41 IV Is There a Need for thè Subordination of Contract Law to Fundamental Rights? 45 V Should Contract Law in Europe Be Harmonized through thè Horizontal Effect of Fundamental Rights? 48

4 Table of Contents xi VI A Plea for a Complementary Relationship between Fundamental Rights and Contract Law 49 VII The Need for Further Differentiation between Kinds of thè Horizontal Effect of Fundamental Rights in Contract Law 54 1 Direct Horizontal Effect 55 2 Strong Indirect Horizontal Effect 56 3 Weak Indirect Horizontal Effect 57 Vili Concluding Remarks 59 Part3 The First Dimension on thè EC Level: Fundamental Freedoms 61 4 Fundamental Freedoms and European Contract Law 63 (Stefan Leible) I Introduction 63 II The Function of thè Fundamental Freedoms in thè Internai Market 64 III Fundamental Freedoms and Private Law 65 1 Party Autonomy as a Starting Point 65 2 Fundamental Freedoms and Member States' Regulatory Systems 66 3 Default Rules or Mandatory Law? 68 4 May National Law Escape Contrai Where thè Conflict Rules Violate a Fundamental Freedom? 69 5 Discriminating Rules of Private Law 71 6 Neutral Rules at thè Core of Private Law (Law of Obligations, Liability, Property Law) 71 IV Horizontal Effect of thè Fundamental Freedoms 72 1 Direct Horizontal Effect 73 a) Case Law of thè ECJ 73 b) Personal View 76 e) Exception for Collettive Action? 78 2 Indirect Effect 80 a) Restrictions Caused by Rules 80 b) Restrictions Not Caused by Rules 82 V Six Propositions 84

5 xii Table of Contents Part4 The Second Dimension on thè EC Level: Fundamental Rights, Namely Equality and Human Dignity 85 5 Fundamental Rights, Fundamental Freedoms and Contract Law 87 (Arthur S. Hartkamp) I Introduction 88 II Horizontal Effect of Provisions in thè EC Treaty and in thè ECHR 89 1 The EC Treaty: Discrimination and Fundamental Freedoms 89 a) Discrimination 89 b) Fundamental Freedoms: Free Movement of Goods 90 e) Application to Quasi-public Undertakings 91 d) Borderline Cases 92 e) Free Movement of Workers, Freedom of Establishment and to Provide Services 93 f ) The 'Exceptions' or Grounds of Justification 95 2 Fundamental Rights: The ECHR 97 a) The ECHR and Its Role in Contract Law 97 b) The ECHR and Horizontal Effect 98 e) The ECHR and a Mitigated Form of Horizontal Effect 99 3 The EC Treaty and thè ECHR Compared 102 a) No Uniform Approach: The EC Treaty and thè ECHR 102 b) No Ground for Horizontal Application of Fundamental Rights 103 e) In Favour of a Unitary Approach of Ali Freedoms 104 III Interpretation of Contracts in thè Light of thè EC Treaty and in thè ECHR The Core Question to Be Asked The EC Treaty Regulations: Directives The ECHR 108 IV Conclusions Anti-discrimination Rules in European Contract Law 111 (Nuno Manuel Pinto Oliveira & Benedita MacCrorie) I II Introduction: The Principle of Equality in European Contract Law 111 An Assessment of Directives 2000/43 and 2004/113 from thè Perspective of thè Constitutional Principle of Autonomy 112

6 Table of Contents xiii 1 Collision between thè Constitutional Principles of Autonomy, Freedom of Contract and Equality The Constitutional Protection of Autonomy, as Freedom of Contract in Portugal and Germany The Harmonization of Autonomy, Freedom of Contract, and Equality: The Distinction between thè Public and thè Private Spheres of thè Individuai 115 III An Assessment of Directives 2000/43 and 2004/113 from thè Perspective of thè Constitutional Principle of Equality Hierarchy between Different Grounds of Discrimination: Alterable or Unalterable Characteristics? A Critique of thè External and Internai Justifications for thè 'Hierarchisation of Equality' 119 IV Conclusion Human Dignity in a Different Light: European Contract Law, Social Dignity and thè Retreat of thè Welfare State 123 (Maria Rosaria Morella) I Introduction 124 II Uses and Misuse of Human Dignity in Western Law 126 III A Modest Proposai 130 IV Social Dignity in thè European Constitutional Tradition 131 V Social Dignity as a Legai Concept 135 VI Social Dignity, Welfare State Expectations and Privatization Housing Health Insurance Long Term Care Insurance (LTCI) Services of General Interest Access to Credit 145 VII Conclusion Social Rights, Human Dignity and European Contract Law 149 (Aurelia Colombi Ciacchi) I Social Rights in thè Classifications of Fundamental Rights 150 II Beyond thè Dichotomy of Social Rights vs. Liberty Rights: The Social Dimension of Fundamental Rights Horizontality in Contract Law 152 III Human Dignity, Good Faith and Good Morals: More Similarities than Differences 156 IV Constitutionalization of Contract Law and Democratization of Legai Ethics 157

7 xiv V Table of Contents Constitutionalization Malpractice and Constitutionalization Good Practice Co-determining European Private Law(s) and Constitutionalization Process(es) 161 (Giovanni Comande) I Casting Doubts and Introducing Some Thesis Framing thè Terminology and thè Subject Matter Unfolding thè Thesis 167 II The Complex Interplay between Constitutional Values, Economie Rights and Private Law A Plural Notion of European Contract Law And Its Manifold Outcomes 172 III The Peculiar Dimension of European Private Law and its 'Constitutional Embeddedness' with EC Economie Freedoms Fundamental Rights Discourse in European Private Law The Manifold Spirit of European Private Law(s) The Market's Invisible Hand Shakes thè Visible Hand of Constitutional Values in Private Law The Dialogue between Constitutional Values and EC Fundamental Freedoms in a Social Oriented European Law 179 IV Uncertain Distinctions among Constitutional Values, Case Law Trends and Legitimacy in National and Supranational Constitutionalization Discourse Input frani Some European Constitutions and thè Missing Distinction in thè EU Constitutional Treaty National Case Law on thè Relevance of Fundamental Rights in Contract Law: Some Lessons for thè EU 186 a) From thè Application of General Constitutional Principles 188 b) And Economie Rights 191 V From National to National: Sharing Rules to Share Values The Sustainability and Desirability of Common Frame(s) of Constitutional Reference in European Private Law A Tentati ve Conclusion: Towards a European Civic Citizenship 199

8 Table of Contents xv Part5 The Third Dimension on thè EC Level: Constitutional Structural Principles The Institutional Perspective: The European Economie and Social Constitution and thè Role of Contract Law 205 (Giuseppe Vettori) I Introduction 206 II The Cases Personal Dignity The Relevance of Disparity of Power Competition and Social Rights Trusts and Movement of Goods 209 III The Constitutional Relevance of Private Autonomy 210 IV Principles, Rights and Rules: The Role of Contract Law 211 V The Hedgehog and thè Fox European Contract Law and Economie Welfare: A View from Law and Economics 215 (Fernando Gomez) I Introduction 216 II Market Versus Contract: Contract and Cooperation in Economie Exchange Biological Kin Selection Selfish Cooperation Altruism (or Fairness) Reciprocity in Contractual Relationships External Enforcement Mechanisms (Notably Contract Law) 226 III Economie Welfare and Contract Law: Efficiency and Distribution 228 IV The Proper Scope of European Contract Law 236 V Conclusions European Contract Law: A Matter of Consumer Protection, Citizenship, or Justice? 241 (Martijn W. Hesselink) I Introduction 242 II Consumer Protection 242

9 xvi Table of Contents 1 The Community Policy of Consumer Protection Contract Law as Consumer Protection 243 a) Protective Rules 243 b) Categorical Protection 243 e) A Uniform Concept 244 d) A Corollary to thè Internai Market 244 e) A Limited Set of Interests An Expanding Scope for a Limited Perspective 247 III Citizenship European Union Citizenship Contract Law as a Matter of Citizenship A Broader Perspective, but a Narrower Basis 251 IV Justice A European Area of Freedom, Security and Justice Contract Law as a Matter of Justice 254 a) The Need for a Common European Concept of Justice 254 b) Theories of Justice in Contract Law 256 (1) The Mirage of Social Justice (Hayek) 256 (2) Welfare Maximization (Kaplow & Shavell) 257 (3) Commutative Justice (Canaris) 257 (4) Contract as Promise (Fried) 258 (5) Two Principles of Justice (Rawls) 258 (6) Capabilities (Sen, Nussbaum) The Need for a Genuine Area of Civil Justice 260 V A Matter of Consumer Protection, Citizenship or Justice? The European Commission's U-turn Roaming for Rights, or: Citizenship as Consumer Protection Back to Justice 264