The proposed new digital single market contact law directives: A new start for digital European contract law?

The proposal for a directive on certain aspects of contracts for the supply of digital content and the proposal for a directive on certain aspects of contracts for the online and other distance sale of goods were presented by the European Commission, in December 2015, as a “modified proposal” for the Regulation on a Common European Sales Law (pCESL) aiming to fully harmonise in a targeted way the key mandatory rights and obligations of the parties to a contract for the supply of digital content and the online sales of goods. This chapter examines, using a three-perspective comparative analysis, to which extent the European Commission by bringing forward these proposals has actually moved away from the pCESL project and started again and, if it has done so, whether these proposals as they currently stand form an adequate replacement for the rebirth of a truly digital European Contract Law.