Maastricht European Private Law Institute
The Maastricht European Private Law Institute (M-EPLI) conducts fundamental research in the field of European private law, covering not only the law of contract, property and tort, but also European procedural law, European legal theory and European legal history. Special focus is on exploring the consequences of Europeanisation and globalisation in the field of private law.
Meet M-EPLI's Directors!
Research
M-EPLI conducts fundamental research in the field of European private law and related areas. Our belief is that in an age of Europeanisation and globalisation law should be studied as an international phenomenon. M-EPLI crosses borders between both national jurisdictions and the classical areas of law. A post-national legal science cannot take the distinction between public and private law as a starting point, but has to question the relevance of this distinction. Where useful, it also involves other disciplines (such as political science, economics and psychology).
M-EPLI’s research covers both the ‘integration’ and ‘interaction’ poles of the Faculty’s research programme. M-EPLI has three research lines 1. Convergence and divergence of private law, 2. Transnational legal method and 3.Changing conceptions of private law.
M-EPLI’s research takes place in the following streams:
- Values
- Digitalisation
- Markets
News
M-EPLI Blog
- Law
Law and Revolution? A Reading of Pašukanis
On 26 November 2025, M-EPLI welcomed Professor Michele Spanò, Associate Professor in Social Philosophy and Law at Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes. His talk explored the emergence of legal norms and their operation in modern society though the lens of Evgeny Pašukanis’ 1924 work, The General Theory of Law and Marxism. Spanò presented a compelling case for why this nearly century-old text remains crucial for understanding the relationship between law, capitalism, and social transformation.
- Law
The Need to Constantly Revisit Our Understanding of ‘Ownership’
On 12th November 2025, the Maastricht European Private Law Institute (M-EPLI), together with the Research Project “Revocable Properties”, organised a Roundtable on 'Novel and Recurrent Challenges in Ownership’, in which, next to more general-theoretical property questions, more in particular the possibility of temporary ownership was discussed as introduced in the Catalan Civil Code.
- Law
Property & Democracy
On 16 April 2025, M-EPLI hosted Professor Dr Bram Akkermans from Maastricht University’s Faculty of Law and Professor Dr Lorna Fox O’Mahony from the University of Essex, England, to discuss the evolving role of private property within liberal democratic systems. Their proposal centred on the idea that private property is not merely a legal construct but a crucial interface between the economic, social, and environmental constitutions. The discussion was moderated by both speakers together with Dr. Kate O’Reilly from Maastricht University.
- Law
Rethinking Vulnerability: How Consumer Law Forgets About Elders
On March 13, 2025, M-EPLI welcomed Professor Bianca Gardella Tedeschi from the University of Eastern Piedmont in Italy to present her groundbreaking research on recognising elders as vulnerable consumers in EU consumer law. The presentation, moderated by Dr. Daniel On, sparked a vibrant discussion led by Carolina Lisboa about the complex intersection of aging, autonomy, and consumer protection.
- Law
Comparative Insights on the Role of Values in Contract Law
M-EPLI welcomed Dr. Timothy Dodsworth on 19 February as a speaker in the M-EPLI Talks series. Dr. Dodsworth’s talk entitled, The Underlying Values of German and English Contract Law, focused on looking at German and English court decisions to extract insights into how legal systems balance competing values in contract law.