The book deals with the process of harmonising international private law in the Member States of the EU and its presumed development towards the unification of parts of selected parts of their national legislation. Further on, it focuses on the European research projects that have taken place in the EU in recent years, in particular the project of the Lando Commission, called the Principles of European Contract Law (PECL). It analyses the core provisions of the Principles in view of their potential impact on the two dominating European legal cultures - civil law a common law