Towards a European Sales Law — Legal Challenges Posed by the Directive on the Sale of Consumer Goods and Associated Guarantees

This introductory paper sets out the questions dealt with in the other papers on sales law in this special issue of the European Review of Private Law. The first question is how the Directive will be implemented: in a separate act, within existing sales law, or as a catalyst for law reform. Three substantive issues are then highlighted: how to define the consumer, the hierarchy of remedies, and guarantees. Finally, the effects of the Directive on the ongoing debate concerning the harmonization of private law in Europe are considered.