This volume aims to present a concise introduction to the interaction of European law and national private law. The various sources of European law are discussed in sequence: the TFEU, the general principles of Union law, directives, regulations, the EU Charter and the ECHR. For each source I indicate the nature and form of its significance for national private law. Particular attention is devoted to the review of national private law legislation against European legislation that has direct effect, to direct effect of European law on legal relationships between individuals, to indirect effect of European law on the same legal relationships via the open standards of national law, and to interpretation issues arising as a result of the interaction between European law and national law.

Since the first edition of this book (2012), which was reviewed by Norbert Reich in ZEuP 2014, pp. 446–448, academic discussion on European private law has increased in volume and in depth. The bibliography at the end of this book mentions five collections of essays which bear testimony to that development: General Principles of EU Law and European Private Law; The Involvement of EU Law in Private Law Relationships; Constitutionalization of European Private Law; Pluralism and European Private Law; and The Influence of EU Law on National Private Law. Some other books worth mentioning are Norbert Reich, General Principles of EU Civil Law, and Norbert Reich, Hans-W. Micklitz, Peter Rott and Klaus Tonner, European Consumer Law. This survey is limited to books in the English language.

As these titles show, one of the reasons for the lively academic discourse is the fact that the general principles of EU law and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, the latter of which entered into force in 2009, have rapidly gained in importance for private law, even if the contours of that influence are by no means clear as yet. The relevance of fundamental rights for EU private law is discussed in Chapters 3 and 6 of this volume.

The ECJ case law on subjects relevant for private law flows lavishly. In this edition nearly fifty new judgments are reported. Moreover, there are several new directives and regulations on private law related subjects.