Challenges in Legal Education and the Development of a New European Private Law

These are exciting times for European private law. After many years of research the publication of the Draft Common Frame of Reference in the form of the interim outline edition of 2008 and, in particular, of the Outline Edition in 2009, is set to change the landscape of legal education in private law. Although many universities are likely to continue a traditional curriculum based on national law, possibly with comparative influences, for some universities this will be an occasion to move from a comparative to more truly European curriculum. The change to a European-based curriculum is controversial in legal education as the need to train nationally qualified lawyers remains. However, there are some experiences with the setting up of a European-based curriculum that might demonstrate a possibility of how to do this.