This work is inspired by the comparative study published in The Interaction of Contract Law and Tort and Property Law in Europe (ISBN 3 935808 20 8-Cloth-$79.00-2004). Out of a transnational (comparative and EU-oriented) perspective, the essays included discuss whether divergences of property law on contractual security rights in movables constitute an obstacle to the internal market and, if so, what solutions could be offered. Unification or harmonization of private international law cannot offer an adequate solution, while unification of domestic security laws could. However, the latter will take a very long time, partly due to the specific nature of property law. The contributing authors advocate the development of a European Security Right in Movables (ESRM) in addition to the respective contemporary national security rights. A real ESRM would clearly support free competition within the European Union. However, the development of an ESRM will take much time, in particular when dealing with the relation between that ESRM and domestic security rights in the member states. The reader will also find considerations on the contents of an ESRM and on the outlines of the required additional provisions.

This article utilizes a unique data set of property laws in 119 jurisdictions in the world to test convergence/divergence theories in comparative property law. Our theory predicts that first, the structure of property law among all jurisdictions in the world will converge, or is similar since some time in the distant past, as they all face the same, positive transaction costs in delineating property rights. Second, our theory posits that the style of property law will tend to converge when the doctrines in question are isolated, but diverge when they are interconnected. Our data and descriptive analysis support the theory. Doctrines regarding possession, sales, condominium, tenancy in common, and limited property rights serve as prominent examples.

Why property law needs globalization strategies -- Local to global : an institutional analysis -- Land -- Tangible goods, monetary claims, investment securities -- Intellectual property, data, and digital assets -- Security interests and proprietary priorities in insolvency

Property has long played a central role in political and moral philosophy. Philosophers dealing with property have tended to follow the consensus that property has no special content but is a protean construct - a mere placeholder for theories aimed at questions of distributive justice and efficiency. Until recently there has been a relative absence of serious philosophical attention paid to the various doctrines that shape the actual law of property. If the philosophy of property is to be more attentive to concepts lying between broad considerations of political philosophy and distributive justice on the one hand and individual rules on the other, what in this broad space needs explaining, and how might we justify what we find? The papers in this volume are a first step towards filling this gap in the philosophical analysis of private law. This is achieved here by revisiting the contributions of philosophers such as Hume, Locke, Kant, and Grotius and revealing how particular doctrines illuminate the way in which property law respects the equality and autonomy of its subjects. Secondly, by exploring the central notions of possession, ownership, and title and finally by considering the very foundations of conceptualism in property.

This volume of The Walter van Gerven Lectures series examines the relationship between European and national property law. One of the pillars of the economic constitution of the EU is what might be called "freedom of property." It is, however, not really clear what is meant by "property" and "property rights" in a private law sense. How can property rights, or rights against the world, be defined at a European level? Under the surface of the differing rules, European property law systems seem to share several leading policies and principles, yet existing differences should not be ignored. A search for common policies, principles, concepts, and rules is badly needed. The lecture documented in this book provides research, examining problem areas and presenting suggestions.