Against the background of the selective nature, lacking coherence and frequent inejfectiveness of Community legislation in the field of general private law, this article reviews three outstanding ius commune compilations which might be able to remedy such defects by providing a broader and more coherent basis for existing and future harmonisation and codification efforts. In order to render the underlying approach of « bottom-up » harmonization more effective, this article further suggests the establishment of a European Law Institute following the American example. Such an institution should be able to prepare, rationalise, co-ordinate and disseminate research projects as well as legislative proposals, and would contribute to the emergence...