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This paper begins by briefly outlining private law's evolution alongside the emergence of the Nation States; it then aims to set out the mutual influence of these concepts on national culture, tradition and identity in order to highlight the significance of the political, economic and legal as well as social and cultural contexts in which the processes of integration and Europeanisation occur. Against this background, the scope for European private law to emerge as a plural, multi-level construct and a dynamic endeavour is recognised. Building on this analysis of the significance of the diversity and commonality of cultures, traditions and identities in national private law development, institutionalised at the Union level in the principle of unitas in diversitate, the paper explores the need for a single, common European notion of culture, tradition or identity. This examination is undertaken with reference to an example, namely the evolution of the concept of consumer, from its national foundations to its engagement in Union legislation and CJEU jurisprudence. Drawing conclusions as to the need for such a common, European concept, the paper advances a plea for the recognition of a shift in the perspective of legal development, to one which acknowledges the dynamic evolution of private law within a pluralist, multi-level regulatory construct.

Defence date: 4 September 2014 ; Examining Board: Professor Fabrizio Cafaggi, EUI (Supervisor); Professor Hans-W. Micklitz, EUI; Professor Geneviève Saumier, McGill University; Professor Carla Sieburgh, Radboud University Nijmegen ; This thesis seeks to determine whether, and if so, in what form, comparative analysis constitutes a theoretical and methodological component of the Europeanisation of private law; following a review of legislative efforts at harmonisation, the thesis evaluates the CJEU as a "comparative laboratory". It begins with an exploration of the nature of Europeanisation and integration, which highlights the significance of the political, economic and legal as well as social and cultural contexts in which these processes occur. In light of this initial analysis, from which the significance of the national foundations of private law also comes to the fore, the European space is advanced as one of commonality and diversity of legal cultures and traditions. Recognising the unlikelihood of the codification of private law, the thesis makes a plea for the recognition of a shift in the perspective of legal development, to one which acknowledges the dynamic nature of private law as it emerges within a pluralist, multi-level construct of regulation. Against this background and in light of the contextual perspective to which it gives rise, the thesis argues that comparative analysis might facilitate the development of such a perspective, particularly in light of the role of the courts, both national and European. Notwithstanding this potential, a critical assessment of contemporary comparative law reveals its theoretical and methodological poverty and illustrates the need for a developed understanding of "complex" comparison, engaging this aforementioned shift in perspective. The foundations of the evaluation of the CJEU as a "comparative laboratory" are brought to light via a socio-legal assessment of its constitution and jurisdiction; the evaluation thereafter intertwines the theoretical and case-based analyses, engaging the preliminary reference procedure as a fundamental epistemological standpoint and concretising the discourse with three case examples of CJEU jurisprudence, in which conflicts of a private law nature arise. These case analyses provide the foundations for the construction of two classifications, namely of the sources of comparison in the CJEU and of the context and purposes for which comparison is engaged, both of which illustrate the existence of comparative analysis as a tool of interpretation. A second round of evaluation advances and facilitates the understanding of the relevance of comparative analysis not only as a tool of interpretation but also as a second-order device, in respect of the CJEU's development of its "meta-mechanisms" of Europeanisation and integration, essentially building on the analysis undertaken to ask why comparative analysis should be engaged by the Luxembourg Court.

This paper aims to further the classification discourse by examining the importance and function of taxonomical structures in private law. The paper begins by considering the extent to which it is possible to develop, establish and maintain a classificatory scheme that constitutes a genuine reflection of the law and more generally, the value in searching for such coherence in law. The discourse developed within the paper is based on an assumption that there is a significant need for taxonomy, both within and beyond the boundaries of national law. This paper will introduce some of the issues which are of particular relevance at both the national level, through a consideration of taxonomy and classification in the development of the civil and the common legal traditions, and the transnational level, through an analysis of the attempts to develop legal taxonomy within the context of European private law (examining in particular, the Draft Common Frame of Reference).

EU consumer law affords a number of substantive rights to consumers. Often however, the protection of these rights is undermined as a consequence of the complexity and lack of knowledge in the Member States of EU consumer legislation and case law. This volume presents a comparative examination of the enforcement of these rights in the EU Member States, with an extensive empirical evaluation of national procedural rules and practices. Following a comprehensive assessment of the nature and characteristics of EU consumer law, the volume identifies and evaluates key procedural themes that shape the equivalent and effective protection of EU consumer rights in light of European Court of Justice case law. Alongside The Luxembourg Report on European Procedural Law, Volume I: Impediments of National Procedural Laws to the Free Movement of Judgments, this volume offers the most comprehensive, empirically driven comparative investigation of national civil procedure thus far undertaken in Europe. Using an extensive dataset comprising hundreds of interviews and responses to a multi-language online survey, it examines the rules of civil procedure in all EU Member States and identifies their impact on the protection of consumers under EU consumer law. This volume will be of interest for all practitioners, academics and policymakers with a focus on judicial cooperation, civil justice and consumer protection and will facilitate a better understanding of the impact of national procedural laws on the effectiveness of EU consumer protection.