The European Parliament,

–   having regard to its resolution of 7 September 2006 on European contract law(1),

–   having regard to its resolution of 23 March 2006 on European contract law and the revision of the acquis: the way forward(2),

–   having regard to its relevant resolutions of 26 May 1989(3), 6 May 1994(4), 15 November 2001(5) and 2 September 2003(6),

–   having regard to its resolution of 4 September 2007 on institutional and legal implications of the use of 'soft law' instruments(7),

–   having regard to its resolution of 4 September 2007 on better regulation in the European Union(8),

–   having regard to the Commission's report of 25 July 2007 entitled 'Second Progress Report on the Common Frame of Reference' (COM(2007)0447),

–   having regard to Rule 108(5) of its Rules of Procedure,

A.   whereas the Common Frame of Reference (CFR), which the Commission intends to be a 'toolbox' or handbook for the EU legislator, to be used when revising existing and preparing new legislation in the area of contract law, is not intended at present to have any binding legal effect and thus remains in the nature of soft law,

B.   whereas the CFR, for which the Commission intends to submit its approach in the form of a White Paper, will have indirect legal and practical effects and will to a great extent determine future legislative measures in the area of contract law,

C.   whereas the decision as to which parts of the research draft CFR are to be selected for the final CFR and the decision on the scope of the CFR are highly political in nature,

D.   whereas it is essential to ensure that the parts of the research draft selected for the CFR are coherent which each other, with the follow-up to the Commission Green Paper on the Review of the Consumer Acquis (COM(2006)0744) and with other Community legislation related to contract law,

E.   whereas the CFR is intended to be a better-regulation instrument for the purpose of ensuring consistency and good quality of EC legislation in the area of contract law; whereas, however, the aim of better regulation is not to limit the room for manoeuvre of the European Union co-legislators,

F.   whereas a point must come where the Commission decides whether or not to use its right of initiative and, if so, in which contract-law-related areas and on what legal basis,

1.  Welcomes the completion of the research draft CFR;

2.  Calls on the Commission to submit a clear plan for the process – to start after the research draft CFR has been provided – of selecting those parts of the research CFR which are to form part of the final Commission CFR;

3.  Urges the Commission to involve Parliament in this process before any procedural steps are taken;

4.  Calls on the Commission to follow up the work of the researchers as well as the outcome of the CFR workshops already held and of those new CFR workshops to be organised by the Commission's Directorate-General for Justice, Freedom and Security and its Internal Market and Services Directorate-General;

5.  Urges the Commission to coordinate the work on the CFR within the several Directorates-General involved under a transparent and formalised procedure in order to ensure consistency between the different contract-law-related areas;

6.  Urges the Commission to decide on the scope of the final CFR only after a broad discussion process with all the relevant groups, researchers and stakeholders, and also with the participation of Parliament; calls on the Commission, when deciding on the scope of the CFR, to take into account the position of Parliament, already set out in several resolutions;

7.  Reiterates its strong support for an approach based on a wider CFR on general contract-law issues going beyond the field of consumer protection;

8.  Underlines its conviction that a better-regulation approach to the CFR means that the CFR cannot be limited to merely consumer-contract-law-related issues and has to focus on general contract-law-related issues, for which a consistent approach to the review of the consumer acquis, and in particular a possible horizontal instrument in this area, must be ensured;

9.  Reiterates its request to the Commission that all the various possible options regarding the purpose and legal form of a future CFR instrument, including an optional instrument, should be kept open;

10.  Calls on the Commission once again to involve Parliament in the work on the CFR;

11.  Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission and the Council.

(1) OJ C 305 E, 14.12.2006, p. 247. (2) OJ C 292 E, 1.12.2006, p. 109. (3) OJ C 158, 26.6.1989, p. 400. (4) OJ C 205, 25.7.1994, p. 518. (5) OJ C 140 E, 13.6.2002, p. 538. (6) OJ C 76 E, 25.3.2004, p. 95. (7) Texts adopted, P6_TA(2007)0366. (8) Texts adopted, P6_TA(2007)0363.