By way of a brief introduction, this contribution sketches a general theoretical framework for the understanding of the Europeanisation of private law. It refers to analyses of the European Union as a multi-level system of governance, suggesting that the much criticised patchwork character of European private law initiatives reflects the lack of a hierarchical order, and that Europe's legal pluralism will inevitably result in disintegrative effects within formerly national legal systems. Accordingly, it argues that legal scholarship should try to imagine and conceptualise a 'law of Europeanisation' rather then some pan-European system that might be codified or compiled out of Europe's common legal heritage. In view of the non-hierarchical and pluralist character of the EU's politics, it assigns to the European judiciary the primary responsibility for 'supervising' this process, for responding to concerns about practical compatibility and normative coherence, and envisages an interactive adjudication process. The recent Dietzinger judgment of the ECJ is presented with a view to substantiating all of these analytical, normative and institutional suggestions about the Europeanisation process. Unlike most of the many, very critical commentators of this judgment, especially in Germany, the author defends the view that the ECJ should not be criticised for its restrained interpretation of the impact of European consumer protection legislation, and suggests that this judgment should rather be understood as instigating new reflections on normatively doubtful practices within and among Europe's legal systems and allowing for a diversity of approaches to the handling of these issues.
European Review of Private Law