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Copyright

Marco B. M. Loos;

Published On

2025-06-05

Page Range

pp. 65–88

Language

  • English

Print Length

24 pages

4. Positive Integration

Harmonisation of National Law through Directives and Regulations

Chapter of: Uncovering European Private Law: A Student Handbook(pp. 65–88)
This chapter discusses ‘positive integration’ (i.e. the EU promulgating legislation in the form of directives and regulations to create a common market for its Member States) and its impact on the national private laws of EU Member States. The chapter discusses the differences between regulations and directives, highlighting advantages and disadvantages of both. Whilst regulations and so-called ‘maximum harmonisation’ directives seem to harmonise the laws of the Member States, they can be difficult to fit into the national legal system, threatening the latter’s coherence. Minimum harmonisation directives, on the other hand, seem easier to fit in, but in practice this is not always the case.

Furthermore, it is questioned whether positive integration is actually helping to create an internal market—other factors, such as language or physical distance might be bigger obstacles than different legal regimes. At the same time, an online market is emerging, and the EU has perhaps a better case for harmonisation of private law applying there. The chapter also touches upon other pressing questions, including: should only consumers be protected as weaker parties or should small business be regarded as in need of special protection as well? And should the EU maintain its focus on sales or also harmonise service contract law, especially in light of the call for a more sustainable private law and the upcoming servitisation?

Contributors

Marco Loos

(author)
Professor of Private Law at University of Amsterdam
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1374-4661

Prof. Dr. Marco B. M. Loos is Professor of Private Law, in particular of European consumer law, at the Amsterdam Law School and ACT. He studied Law at the University of Amsterdam (1987–1993) and subsequently wrote his Ph.D. thesis at Utrecht University (1993–1998). From 1997 to 2001 he worked as a lecturer at Tilburg University. He has worked at the University of Amsterdam since 2002, and since 2005 as a Full Professor. In addition, he currently is a member of the Board of Governors of the Consumentenbond (since 2015) and of the Stichting Voortgezet Onderwijs Amsterdam-Zuid (a combination of three schools of secondary education in Amsterdam, since 2021), and of the Stichting toetsing verzekeraars (since 2022; from 2018–2022 he was a member of the Stichting’s Board). Furthermore, he is a member of the Dutch Social-Economic Council’s Commission on Consumer Affairs (Commissie voor Consumenten-aangelegenheden, Sociaal-Economische Raad, since 2022) and of the Board of the Ius Commune Research School (since 2023, third term). He is also a Deputy Judge at the Court of Appeal of ’s Hertogenbosch (since 2015). Previously, he has been a member of several bodies for alternative dispute resolution. Loos specialises in European and Dutch contract law and European and Dutch consumer law. He publishes regularly on subjects of European consumer law, including standard contract terms, digital content, consumer sales, and enforcement of consumer law. See https://www.uva.nl/profiel/l/o/m.b.m.loos/m.b.m.loos.html