Introduction

Pure economic loss is one of the most discussed topics of European tort law scholarship. Fascination with the subject (which may at first glance appear dry and technical) has developed into a wealth of literature about this frontier notion. It stands at the cutting edge of many questions: how far can tort liability expand without imposing excessive burdens upon individual activity (or, as some may wish, to what extent should tort rules be compatible with the market orientation of the legal system)? How should the tort law of the twenty-first century – or the provisions of a projected European code – approach this issue? As a matter of policy, should the recovery of pure economic loss be the domain principally of the law of contract? To these and others we add our own modest question: is there a common core of principles, policies and rules governing tortious liability for pure economic loss in Europe? There has never been a universally accepted definition of ‘pure economic loss’. Perhaps the simplest reason is that a number of legal systems neither recognize the legal category nor distinguish it as an autonomous form of damage. Nevertheless, where the concept is recognized, as in Germany and common law systems, it is apparently associated with a rule of no liability and there a definition is likely to be found. The contrasting approaches here obviously do not follow the familiar common law/civil law divide, for civil law is itself divided to some extent over this question.