The Theory of Institutional Competition in European Contract Law

Institutional competition has been extensively discussed in the literature on European contract law. This chapter introduces the main findings of this theoretical debate. The findings are not cohesive. There has been disagreement on many of the most important parameters of institutional competition. These disagreements range from whether institutional competition in European contract law takes place at all, whether this competition is beneficial or detrimental to welfare and the European economy and whether it renders the Commission’s harmonization efforts superfluous or, on the contrary, makes them all the more necessary. The aim of this chapter is not to dissolve these disagreements or to evaluate the opposing opinions, but to introduce the concept of institutional competition in European contract law from a general point of view and to portray the various existing views and opinions about it.