Special clauses protecting the seller or the buyer in contracts concerning energy supply in the wholesale energy market
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Master Thesis
Author
Γεωργάτσου, Ευαγγελία - Άννα
Date
2016View/ Open
Keywords
Energy -- Economic aspects ; Energy industries -- Law and legislation -- European Union countries ; Energy supplyAbstract
From the strict and rigid latin pacta sunt servanda principle, which underlines the
sanctity of contracts, to Nelson Mandela’s tragic ascertainment that “only free men
can negotiate and enter into contracts”, it is clear that agreements are the
backbone of modern civil society and trade. Trade means faster growth, higher
living standards, and new opportunities through commerce.
All commercial and industrial activity is inseparably linked with the continuous use,
and hence supply, of energy. Thus, in the field of energy supply, certainty and
accuracy is of outmost importance. Bearing this in mind, legal practitioners from
different countries and legal systems strive to create a safe and anticipated
contractual environment for both sellers and buyers of energy products.
The effort to create a common international or regional legal framework in contract
law and the vast stipulation of General Terms of Reference in energy contracts
render rather clearly that globalized energy trade calls for globalized legal
approaches and solutions. To that end, special clauses included in such contracts
are anticipated both to perform as summoned and to be comprehensible to
business professionals from different legal systems and business cultures. In reality
most of the special clauses found in modern contracts are rather a result of
business trends than legal practice, even so these clauses must conform to certain
legal standards.
The above interactive “mechanism” has led to both, a modern lex mercatoria (the
so called “new new lex mercatoria”) that has evolved from the medieval sense of
the term to established transnational systems of law with codified legal rules (eg.
The Unidroit Principles), and to regional and international attempts offering
alternative solutions and soft law guidance.