Description

Modern society is full of linked contracts. Linked contracts, in the broadest sense of the word, can be defined as a plurality of separately concluded contracts that are somehow interrelated. However, contract law is still primarily centered on traditional contractual relations between (just) two parties. This book explores the legal consequences of the existence of linked contracts and provides insights for practice and academia within this new phenomenon. Several examples of linked contracts are covered, including: purchase financing, which consists of a sales contract and a credit contract financing the purchase (Part I) * cartel agreements, which consist of a framework contract and subsequent contracts to execute the framework contract (Part II) * linked contracts concluded within the framework of a construction project (Part III) * a chain of sales contracts between a producer and consumer or end user (Part IV). The book concludes with an analysis of the provisions on linked contracts in the Draft Common Frame of Reference, the Consumer Rights Directive, the Draft Optional Instrument, and a preliminary approach for a general regulation of the concept of linked contracts. The book is the result of the fruitful collaboration within the research program Contract Law and Law of Obligations in general of the Ius Commune Research School (www.iuscommune.eu). "Linked Contracts" was the theme of the workshop on contract law during the 15th Ius Commune Conference in Leuven. (Series: Ius Commune Europaeum - Vol. 103)