The introduction of the euro on 1st January has taken European Union a great step forward. The frontiers between the member-countries of the EU are rapidly losing their significance. Nevertheless, they still separate the areas of jurisdiction of diverse legal systems in Europe. Supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), German jurists are now embarking on the creation of foundations for a common European civil code aimed at unifying hitherto independent legal systems. This will involve co-operation with partners from every area of jurisdiction in the European Union and in neighbouring potential member-countries.
Dr. Christian von Bar, professor of jurisprudence in Osnabrück, is co-ordinating the project, which he has initiated together with Professor Dr. Ulrich Dobnig and Dr. Jürgen Basedow from the Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Private Law in Hamburg.
"We would like to raise the treasure buried in the knowledge and experience acquired within the national legal systems", says Professor von Bar, "and to make it accessible to the general public in a concentrated form". Creating the foundations for a European civil code is the greatest task facing European jurists in the 21st century. Now that the Single Market has a common currency, the requirement for a common legal code valid throughout Europe, and especially for one governing the distribution of wealth, has assumed vastly greater importance.
Bar realised that not only do European jurists lack a uniform code of law, but they often do not even know where they agree over a matter and where not. Hence the project is starting with a systematic stock-taking exercise, of which the first step will be to make detailed comparative analyses of the legal systems applicable in the member-countries of the European Union in order to arrive at basic regulations for a civil wealth-distribution code. The jurists also wish to discover the requirement for harmonisation of the legal systems, to provide possible alternatives, and to present their advantages and disadvantages.
In 1993, the DFG awarded Professor von Bar the Leibniz Prize, its most highly endowed prize for German scientists and scholars. Over the past five years, with the aid of this prize money of 1.5 million marks, he has already reviewed and systemised European criminal law. One book containing the results has already appeared, the second is due to appear this year already.
In the course of the next two years, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft will provide approximately 2.2 million marks (1.13 million euros) in support of this project. A further 1.1 million marks (0.56 million euros) for the third year of the project have been placed in prospect. The individual national promotional organisations have still not given their assent to the financing of the sub-projects of the European partners in this research. The project has been scheduled to cover a total period of six years.