3. Globalising markets

Part of our research programme: 
integration of and interaction between legal orders
 

Increasing Europeanisation and globalisation of markets, together with efforts to remedy their negative effects, is one of the main driving forces behind legal integration and convergence. This is clearly the case in the European Union, which has at its core the future development of the internal market through law.

Also at a global level, there is the question of how integration of markets must be facilitated or curtailed by the law, and how access to markets is best provided for. The question is to what extent interaction is able to accommodate the development of global markets in the best possible way, paying attention to both commercial interests and the interests of weaker parties.

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Global markets research takes place 
in the following institutes and groups:

 GLaw-Net    ICGI    IGIR            
 MCEL     MCT    M-EPLI  ​ 
 METRO​   MICS

Providing access to markets
The focus is on the role of law and other norms in facilitating and curtailing markets, and in providing access to markets. These markets are defined as systems that enable the allocation and distribution of resources, products, services and information in society through the exercise of private autonomy. Therefore questions also arise about the most appropriate legal instruments for harmonisation (within the EU), unification and coordination and their effects on behaviour of market actors.

Overall institutional set-up
It also poses questions about the optimal mix between uniformity and diversity and the content of substantive rules in the areas of private law (including the law of contract and property), company law (in particular CSR), commercial law, procedural law and consumer law.

This pillar also studies the instruments developed in public law, and the overall institutional set-up for shaping and creating access to markets.

Global exchange of goods and services
One important sub-question will be what the role of law could be in facilitating or curtailing the global exchange of goods and services (taking place 'beyond the State'). This calls for an approach that combines study of positive law with comparative law, legal theory, legal history and sociological/empirical and economic analysis.