in Estonia: Influences of Harmonisation

Estonia has become known as one of the most reform-inclined countries in Europe. Rapid restructuring of the economy in the spirit of liberalism, reform of the entire private law system upon the principle of private autonomy, and adaptation of the legal system to the EU accession requirements were completed swiftly and without long discussions.*1 The fi rst laws were the reform laws, the aim of which was to support economic reforms, but also the fi rst parts of the new Civil Code were adopted quite soon after the regaining of independ-ence.*2 The legislative process was from the beginning to be largely infl uenced by the decision of the Estonian Parliament from 1992 on the continuity of legislation, but, fortunately, this was only a parliamentary policy decision and did not indicate a direction that it was obligatory to follow. In practice, the recommendation to use old laws or drafts from the fi rst independence to draft the new legislation on contract law was ignored.*3 The Law of Obligations Act*4, adopted on 28 September 2001 and entering into force on 1 July 2002, has been infl uenced by the most important sources of European harmonised private law, such as the Principles o