EU Commercial Law
Fall 2012
Professor Mike Ramsey
(as substitute for Professors Jens Schovsbo and Vibe Ulfbeck)
___________________
Syllabus and description of course requirements
Change in course design
As previously announced, Professors Schovsbo and Ulfbeck are unable to teach the course this
semester. As a result, the course has been substantially redesigned, as set forth below. Anyone
who does not wish to continue in the course under the new design may drop the course.
Although there is no guarantee, it is probable that Professors Schovsbo and Ulfbeck will offer the
course in the Fall of 2013 (but it will not be offered before then).
Professor contact information
Office:
Office Hours:
Room 319, Warren Hall
1:30 pm – 2:30 pm Monday
1:30 pm – 4:30 pm Tuesday
1:30 pm – 2:30 pm Wednesday
Office telephone:
619-260-4145
Email:
mramsey@sandiego.edu
Professor’s website: www.mdramsey.com
Course webpage:
www.mdramsey.com/index_files/Page375.htm
Course Materials and Information
Information and materials for the course will be available at the course webpage
(www.mdramsey.com/index_files/Page375.htm). These materials include a set of readings
prepared for the course by Professors Schovsbo and Ulfbeck.
In addition, I recommend purchasing one (or both) of the following:
Karen Davies, Understanding European Union Law (4th ed., Routledge 2010)
Ralph H. Folsom, European Union Law in a Nutshell (7th ed., West 2011)
1
Overview of revised course requirements
This course will proceed more in the nature of an independent study than a course. Apart from
the initial organizational meeting on October 30, there will not be class meetings. Instead, I will
be available to meet individually with students in my office during class time on Tuesday (not
Thursday). Most learning in the course will, however, be self-directed, as would be the case in
an independent study.
The work product of the course will be a paper in the form of a research memorandum, as
described more specifically below, on a topic selected from a list of topics developed by
Professors Schovsbo and Ulfbeck. The paper is expected to be based to a significant degree
upon the readings that are available on the website, although outside research is permitted and in
some cases may be needed. A fully developed rough draft of the paper is due on December 3,
2012, with the final draft due December 14, 2012.
Grades will be given on the law school’s regular A-F letter grading scale. All of the grade in the
course will be determined by the final paper, except that failure to turn in the rough draft or the
final draft by the assigned date will result in an automatic ½-step reduction in the grade for the
course. In extraordinary cases extensions may be given if they are requested in advance of the
due date.
Details of the required paper
In preparing the paper, students should take the role of an attorney in the general counsel’s office
of a U.S. company that is considering business activities in the European Union for the first time.
The general counsel lacks systematic knowledge of the EU commercial law system and wishes a
basic summary of its key aspects. The nature and structure of the company’s EU business has
not been determined, so the paper should address matters generally rather than in terms of
particular facts. Each paper will address one of the specific areas in which the general counsel
wants an overview of EU law, and should be written with this setting in mind. Papers should be
20 to 30 pages in length, double spaced using reasonable margins and font, with footnotes as
appropriate (but, in keeping with the role of a corporate research memorandum, footnotes should
not be overused).
Papers should be in the form of a research memorandum addressed to the general counsel, and
thus should assume as their audience a sophisticated U.S. business lawyer with some general
knowledge of world affairs but little knowledge of EU law or structure. Each paper should set
forth a brief introduction to the structure of the EU before addressing the specific topic. Papers
may (but are not required to) include brief comparisons with U.S. law.
The paper topics are as follows:
1. The EU common market and the free flow of goods.
2. Basic contract law in the EU.
2
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
EU law relating to the sale of goods and to consumer contracts.
Product liability law in the EU.
EU law governing contracts for the carriage of goods.
Basic EU intellectual property law applicable to trademarks, designs, and patents.
EU intellectual property law relating to parallel imports and exhaustion.
Technology licensing in the EU and laws relating to refusals to license.
Papers will be evaluated with equal weight given to (a) substance, (b) organization and clarity of
presentation, and (c) professionalism (that is, attention to details such as appearance, style,
grammatical and typographical errors, and similar concerns).
Limited collaboration or other outside assistance is permitted, but papers must be entirely your
own work. All discussion that relies on outside sources must be footnoted, and all phrases and
sentences not your own must be in quotes and directly footnoted.
Writing credit is not available for this course.
Selection of paper topics
By 2:00 pm on Wednesday, October 31, each student should submit to me via email the list of
paper topics ranked in order of preference. I will assign topics based on an algorithm that
maximizes preferences and minimizes duplicate paper topics. Obviously there is no guarantee
that anyone will get their most preferred topic.
Reading assignments
As noted, the reading is available for download at the course webpage. The reading is divided
into 8 parts, corresponding to the 8 paper topics listed above. For each topic, the reading consists
of a set of powerpoint slides prepared by Professors Schovsbo and Ulfbeck and a collection of
excerpts from EU laws, treaties and cases (and for some topics, brief additional handouts).
Everyone should read Part 1 of the reading carefully because it contains basic information about
the EU’s structure that is important to all the papers. Each person should closely read the Part
that corresponds to that person’s paper topic, as this reading will be an important resource for the
paper. Each person should more generally review the remaining materials, paying closer
attention to the materials indirectly relevant to their paper topic (for example, readings for topic
#2 are also relevant to topic #3, and readings for topic #6 are indirectly relevant to topic #7).
3