Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2009

Abstract

Professor Christian Joerges delivered the Second Annual Herbert L. Bernstein Memorial Lecture in Comparative Law in 2003 and this article is based on his remarks. The article is included in the inaugural volume of CICLOPs that collects the first six Bernstein lectures. Professor Joerges puts forth a three part thesis concerning the “Europeanization of Private Law”, the process by which the European Community influences the legal and political policies of its member states within a framework of transnational cooperation. Joerges first establishes the eroding importance of the idea that legal systems operating at the national level fulfill the goals of Europeanization, arguing this to be the result of Europe being a multi-level system rather than a coalition of autonomous nation-states. He then discusses how the process of Europeanization defies the conventional modes of analysis provided by three different patterns of juridification, each attempting to square Europeanization within the framework of legal science. Finally, Joerges focuses on the normative issues raised by Europeanization as process, such as the role Europeanization plays in resolving the extra-territorial effects of policies enacted by the various nation-states within the Community. Throughout his paper, the Europeanization process is described as a useful tool for the members of the Community to coordinate mutually beneficial policies but also as a hindrance to the autonomous exercise of power within the territory of each individual member; illustrated by controversial cases coming out of France, Greece, and Spain.

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