From a status to a transaction-based approach? Institutional design in European contract law

This article forms part of a special edition of the Common Market Law Review.

Publishers Abstract:
In this essay, the analysis of pre-contractual information in European contract law with special reference to the Common European Sales Law will be used to substantiate a broader claim: the weakness of a status-based approach to European contract law (ECL) and the desirability to move to a transaction-based approach, which includes reference to supply chains.

The intuition is that the determination "if" and "how" disclosure should occur is, in both cases, a consideration primarily dependent on the type of transaction parties engage in, whether it is a standardized or a customized one. Only within this distinction might the status of the parties, whether consumers or traders, play a role. Without engaging in a full examination of specific rules, this essay suggests that the pillars should be changed from status to transaction, and that the sales regime should be organized around transaction technologies.