“Over recent years, discussion has intensified on possible harmonization of substantive private law, in particular contract law.”

The dream of unifying, or harmonizing, the law is an old one. For some, especially in Europe, it is a dream of a return to the golden age of a jus commun. For others a unified law is an important symbol of a unified nation. A more immediately pragmatic dream is that the unification of commercial law will reduce the cost of transborder transactions and thereby increase international trade. Although pragmatic, such a dream is still idealistic. As stated in the Preamble to the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG),

The quotation that opens this foreword is from a Communication of the European Commission and was meant to apply primarily to developments in the European Union. However, it applies equally well to developments with a universal application and particularly to the CISG. To date 67 States that conduct more than two-thirds of international trade have made the CISG positive law by becoming party to it. The CISG is directly applicable to international sales of goods in those States, unless the parties to the contract exclude its application.