European Private Law

Please note that the following applies to the lectures held by Prof. Atamer. Information concerning the lectures of the other professors can be found on their respective websites.

In principle, all lectures will be held in class. Streaming and/or recording options are not available.

Although Switzerland is not formally a Member State of the European Union, European legislation is highly relevant for Swiss courts and jurisprudence, given that Swiss economic law was inspired by EU law to a high extent. The most important examples stem from fields such as EU Consumer Law, EU Competition Law, EU Company Law and EU Insurance Law. Building on the four market freedoms and the efforts of legislative alignment within the EU Single Market, the course aims at presenting the main precepts of substantive private law created by the European Union and to make students aware of the peculiarities of its application in Member States as well as in Non-Member States such as Switzerland. In the allotted four weeks Professor Atamer will focus on EU Consumer Law and give an overview of the legislation so far adopted and the future tendencies in the EU. The students will be motivated to discuss why and when consumers need to be protected by law as well as how this protection can be best granted. These insights will then be used to analyse Swiss law of consumer protection and to fathom whether it needs improvement in specific areas. The syllabus can be downloaded here (PDF, 202 KB). 

• Students should have attended at least a general contract law course, i.e. a general understanding of contract law is required.
• A good command of English is essential.

The necessary course material will be provided on a weekly basis before the respective classes on OLAT. Interested students may consult Howells/Twigg-Flesner/Wilhelmsson: Rethinking EU Consumer Law, 2018.

The exam will be conducted orally in the week of 5^th June 2023. The concrete examination-schedule will be published via OLAT on April 15.

Students that take the mobility exam will be examined in the week of July 10. 

Dear Students, please be advised that you are free to bring with you following texts: 

• Treaty on European Union
• Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union
• All Directives discussed in class.

No other texts are allowed during the oral exam. No legislative text will be provided by the Chair, students are responsible to bring their own materials.