ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of the pioneering role played by consumer contract law in the transition of European contract law from an academic project to positive law. In European Community law, in contrast, consumer law has taken the pioneering role in the area of contract law. European consumer law then began to take shape both in areas of public and private law. Even a cursory glance at European consumer contract law shows that the legal acts in this sector do not contain exclusively consumer law principles. The principles of European contract law discernible from an analysis of existing Community law constitute one of the 'basic sources' for the composition of the Common Frame of Reference. The assimilation of consumer contract law into the general interrelationships of European contract law extending beyond this sector enables an integration of consumer law into the whole structure of the evolving European contract law.
