Rules for the Transfer of Movables: A Candidate for European Harmonisation or National Reforms?

Comparative research in the area of property law is gaining importance. Against the background of the current discussion of developing model rules, aimed at facilitating European private law harmonization, and of ongoing law reform projects in a number of EU Member States, this volume addresses key issues in the field of the transfer of corporeal movable property. Authors from various European countries discuss classical issues of property law, such as the dichotomies of "consensual" versus "delivery" and "causal" versus "abstract" transfer systems, good faith acquisition, and the role of party autonomy in the field of the transfer of ownership. In addition, a special focus is given to the less well-known - but at least equally fundamental - difference between "unitary" transfer approaches, as applied in continental Europe, and the "functional" approach, as followed in Scandinavian countries. Further contributions discuss fiduciary transfers, avoidance in bankruptcy, the question of where to draw the line between obligatory and proprietary rights, the role of intellectual property rights, possession, and the EU law basis for the harmonization of property law. These contributions were presented at a conference held in Salzburg in February 2007, forming part of the activities of the working group "Transfer of Movables" within the "Study Group on a European Civil Code."