Negative Integration, European Private Law, and the Government’s Role in the Marketplace

Abstract

On the surface, the deregulatory character of Europe's initial use of negative legal integration in the 1950s appears to have little bearing on today's positive integration of consumer rights protection through European private law (EPL). This chapter argues to the contrary. On closer inspection, EPL is cut from the same political cloth as negative European integration. The reason is that both negative and positive legal integration permit the use of contract law as a tool of private market regulation for the sake of societal wealth maximisation. The chapter concludes, therefore, that describing, supporting, or criticising the current state or trajectory of EPL should consider these utilitarian underpinnings related to the government's regulatory role in the marketplace.