Abstract
This paper seeks to reconceptualize European regulatory private law through the lens of the principle of sustainable development, as articulated in in Article 3 (3) of the Treaty on European Union (TEU), and in the context of the EU sustainable finance framework. The central objective is to examine whether, and to what extent, European regulatory private law can be understood as encompassing the EU sustainable finance framework, thereby reflecting a normative and functional evolution in the role of regulatory private law within the Union’s legal order.
To this end, the first section undertakes a critical review of the existing literature on European regulatory private law. Traditionally, this body of law has been understood as a set of legislative instruments that recalibrate private autonomy in order to facilitate more efficient market outcomes, particularly in contexts where market mechanisms alone are insufficient to correct structural inefficiencies or asymmetries. This corrective function is often justified by reference to the need for a well-functioning internal market, where private law is deployed not merely as a framework for individual transactions, but as a regulatory tool that serves broader economic and social objectives.
However, the emergence of centrality of the principle of sustainable development in the European Union’s policy making requires a rethinking of the foundations of European regulatory private law.
The second part of this paper maps the legal bases of two groups of EU laws: those traditionally considered part of the European regulatory private law framework, and of those that form the EU sustainable finance framework. Based on this mapping, it compares the differences and commonalities in the legal bases identified across both groups.
In this context, the paper explores - also through a literature review - whether the interpretation of the shared legal basis reflects an evolution in the foundational legal concepts, due to a more concrete application of the sustainable development principle.
To assess this, laws from both groups that rely on the same legal bases are paired and their core provisions compared in terms of aims and functions. The objective is to determine whether these shared legal bases have been subject to evolutive usage aligned with sustainability goals.
The analysis is expected to support the conclusion that the current definition of European regulatory private law — anchored in the idea of the social market economy —has become outdated, given the evolving interpretation of legal bases in the context of sustainable finance and the increasing legal relevance of the sustainable development principle.
Based on the literature review and the analysis above, the paper formulates a definition of European private regulatory law that includes the EU sustainable finance framework within its scope. This redefinition acknowledges the growing interdependence between private law and public regulatory objectives and supports the broader theory that European private law has shifted from autonomy to functionalism in competition and regulation. In light of this, the paper ultimately reflects on the objectives of EU competition law under EU primary law with particular attention to the normative role of the sustainable development principle in the context of the interaction between competition, private autonomy and regulation.
To this end, the first section undertakes a critical review of the existing literature on European regulatory private law. Traditionally, this body of law has been understood as a set of legislative instruments that recalibrate private autonomy in order to facilitate more efficient market outcomes, particularly in contexts where market mechanisms alone are insufficient to correct structural inefficiencies or asymmetries. This corrective function is often justified by reference to the need for a well-functioning internal market, where private law is deployed not merely as a framework for individual transactions, but as a regulatory tool that serves broader economic and social objectives.
However, the emergence of centrality of the principle of sustainable development in the European Union’s policy making requires a rethinking of the foundations of European regulatory private law.
The second part of this paper maps the legal bases of two groups of EU laws: those traditionally considered part of the European regulatory private law framework, and of those that form the EU sustainable finance framework. Based on this mapping, it compares the differences and commonalities in the legal bases identified across both groups.
In this context, the paper explores - also through a literature review - whether the interpretation of the shared legal basis reflects an evolution in the foundational legal concepts, due to a more concrete application of the sustainable development principle.
To assess this, laws from both groups that rely on the same legal bases are paired and their core provisions compared in terms of aims and functions. The objective is to determine whether these shared legal bases have been subject to evolutive usage aligned with sustainability goals.
The analysis is expected to support the conclusion that the current definition of European regulatory private law — anchored in the idea of the social market economy —has become outdated, given the evolving interpretation of legal bases in the context of sustainable finance and the increasing legal relevance of the sustainable development principle.
Based on the literature review and the analysis above, the paper formulates a definition of European private regulatory law that includes the EU sustainable finance framework within its scope. This redefinition acknowledges the growing interdependence between private law and public regulatory objectives and supports the broader theory that European private law has shifted from autonomy to functionalism in competition and regulation. In light of this, the paper ultimately reflects on the objectives of EU competition law under EU primary law with particular attention to the normative role of the sustainable development principle in the context of the interaction between competition, private autonomy and regulation.