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From the history of European private law

https://doi.org/10.30729/2541-8823-2025-10-2-69-91

Abstract

It is well known that private international law (PIL) is one of the main instruments for regulating private legal relations involving a “foreign element.” Its crucial role in the integration processes of the European Union/European Community can hardly be overestimated, especially considering that their ultimate aim is the establishment of a single internal market through the free movement of persons, goods, services, and capital across the entire territory of the Union/Community.

However, despite its undeniable significance, PIL constitutes only one element of the broader private law framework governing civil and commercial transactions within the EU. Therefore, it seems appropriate to examine the challenges faced by the Community in the field of PIL in the broader context of the EU’s efforts to develop a socalled “European private law”. This initiative is inherently fraught with contradictions, as EU law, by its very legal character, is public law. In this regard, it is necessary to undertake a historical overview of the issue in order to better understand the underlying preconditions that have prompted the formulation of this complex objective, as well as the obstacles the Community encounters in pursuing its realization.

About the Author

Yuriy Yumashev
Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Federation

Yuriy Yumashev  — Doctor of Legal Sciences, Professor, Chief Scientific Associate of the International Law Sector of the Institute of State and Law 

10 Znamenka St., Moscow, 119019



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Review

For citations:


Yumashev Yu. From the history of European private law. Kazan University Law Review. 2025;10(2):69-91. https://doi.org/10.30729/2541-8823-2025-10-2-69-91

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ISSN 2541-8823 (Print)
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