European Tort Law in Western Europe

International audienceIs there a culture of European tort law in Western Europe? Based on a chronological approach, this chapter gives a critical assessment of the assumption that national tort law systems have already undergone a massive Europeanisation. Despite an undeniable incidence of European Union law on tort law and considerable academic research in this field, tort law cultures in Western Europe still seem to remain founded on national structures and ways of thinking. The author addresses the question as to why national tort law cultures are so reluctant to adopt the broader phenomenon of the Europeanisation of law and draws parallels to the adjacent legal field of insurance law, which has become over the past years a more fertile ground for European legal culture