European Contract Law and the Digital Single Market

The EU is committed to making the Single Market fit for the digital age, by enhancing the protection of consumers and data subjects, while providing businesses with the legal certainty they need to invest in this field and support growth and innovation.

In this context, European Contract Law and the Digital Single Market, an edited collection consisting of carefully selected contributions by leading scholars, addresses the impact of digital technology on European Private Law in light of the latest legislative developments including the EU Regulation of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on free movement of such data, as well as the European Commission’s proposals of 9 December 2015 for a Directive on the supply of digital content, for a Directive on online and other distance sale of goods and for a Regulation on the cross-border portability of online content services in the internal market.

The book analyses new and urgent issues in the field of contract, data protection, copyright and private international law: namely the EU approach to personal information as a tradeable commodity and as the object of a fundamental right of the individuals concerned, the protection of consumers’ and users’ rights in contracts for the supply of digital content and on online and other distance sales of goods, the cross-border portability of online content services, the new features of standard contracts in the digital market and the issues surrounding the emergence of the so called platform economy.

Introduction
. European Contract Law and the Digital Single Market: Current Issues and New Perspectives

Part I. The impact of digital technology on private law relationships
. Disruptive Technology - Disrupted Law? How the Digital Revolution Affects (Contract) Law

Part II. Data as a tradeable commodity and the new instruments for their protection
. Data as a Tradeable Commodity
. Jurisdiction Regarding Claims for the Infringement of Privacy Rights under the General Data Protection Regulation

Part III. The legislative instruments for a digital single market
. A European Market for Digital Goods
. Supply of Digital Content. A New Challenge for European Contract Law)
. Reflections on Remedies for lack of Conformity in light of the Proposals of the EU Commission on Supply of Digital Content and online and other Distance Sales of Goods
. The Proposal of the EU Commission for a Regulation on ensuring the Cross-border Portability of Online Content Services in the Internal Market
. The Law Applicable to Consumer Contracts in the Digital Single Market

Part IV. New features of standard contracts in the digital market
. Standard Terms and Transparency in Online Contracts
. Contracts Concluded by Electronic Means in Cross-border Transactions

Part V. Online platforms in the "sharing economy"
. Crowdsourcing Consumer Confidence. How to Regulate Online Rating and Review Systems in the Collaborative Economy
. Online Dispute Resolution Platform. Making European Contract Law more Effective