The Commission on European Contract Law is scheduled to publish in April 2002 Part III of the Principles of European Contract Law [hereinafter European Principles]. The Commission on European Contract Law is an independent body of experts from each of the Member States of the European Union. The Commission, popularly known as the Lando Commission, was formed under the auspices of Professor Ole Lando following two resolutions of the European Parliament calling for the development of a European codification of private law. European Principles promises to play a significant role in the development of a harmonized contract law for the European Union. Part I of European Principles was published in 1995. It deals with issues of performance, non-performance, and remedies. A revised Part I, along with Part II, were published in 1998. Together, Parts I and II cover core issues of contract law including formation, validity, interpretation, performance, remedies, and authority of agents. Part III covers issues including the effects of illegality, assignment, assumption, statutes of limitations, conditions, procedural issues involving plurality of parties, and capitalization of interest. The desire to harmonize legal regimes in order to make trade easier is not new. The medieval lex mercatoria3 is an example of an extra-legal attempt by merchants to bridge the legal and cultural divides across different nations. At the end of the twentieth century, globalization and the volume of international transactions has led to the idea of a new lex mercatoria. Of "prime importance" to the continued development of international trade is the internationalization of commercial law.
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