Principles of European Law on Service Contracts: background, genesis, and drafting method

The Principles of European Law on Service Contracts (PEL SC) were drafted between 1999 and 2006 by the Tilburg Team of the Study Group on a European Civil Code (SGECC). A slightly modified version of the PEL SC has recently been implemented in Book IV.C of the Draft Common Frame of Reference (DCFR). The purpose of the meeting of the Private Law Division of the German Association of Comparative Law on September 18, 2009 in Cologne was to investigate to what extent the PEL SC reflect the experience of the major European jurisdictions and how they may be evaluated against the background of these experiences. Given that purpose, this paper elaborates on the background of the PEL SC, their genesis, and the method of devising them. The following are the main issues addressed in this paper. Who was actually involved – and in what capacity – in the research and how did the quality assurance system used by the SGECC operate in the course of the project (II.)? What is generally regarded to be the key feature of the research approach taken by the Tilburg Team (III.)? This involves the decision not to start drafting the PEL SC on the basis of national rules that already existed for several specific service contracts but, instead, to opt for a functional analysis of all kinds of services frequently rendered in practice. The paper concludes with a few thoughts on the question how others might proceed in further evaluating the PEL SC, in light of the research approach adopted by the Tilburg Team (IV.)