Highlights regarding the EC proposal for a common European sales law, Alina Popescu

On 11 October 2011, the European Commission launched a proposal (COM (2011) 635 final) for a Regulation on a Common European Sales Law (CESL), seeking to foster cross-border trade within the EU by introducing a set of uniform rules for business-to-consumer and business-to-business cross-border sale agreements (in the latter case, provided that one of the parties is a SME). With a timeframe for adoption that is yet unclear, the proposal is currently at the heart of debates amongst stakeholders and legal practitioners. This article provides a quick briefing on the main principles of the CESL proposal as well as on some of the questions surrounding the CESL both from a legal perspective and a practical standpoint.