Modelle europäischer Privatrechtsharmonisierung

Harmonization of Private Law in Europe: Procedural Harmonization as a New Path Towards the Approximation of National Laws in the EU? The article offers an overview on the variety of regulatory approaches towards the harmonization of private law in Europe, covering both negative and positive harmonization, including full, minimum, and optional harmonization. Particular attention is devoted to what appears to be a new model of harmonization, which is referred to in this article as procedural harmonization. Procedural harmonization occurs where the EU legislature or, in some cases, the EU Court of Justice confines itself to setting common European procedural standards for the protection of certain individual rights, without harmonizing the substance of those rights. The article draws on a number of examples from EU employment law, which is an important element of the system of EU private law, though it is often marginalized in European private law discourse.