This book introduces and develops the paradigm of the organisational contract in European contract law. Suggesting that a more radical distinction should be made between contracts which regulate single or spot exchanges and contracts that organize complex economic activities without creating a new legal entity, the book argues that this distinction goes beyond that between spot and relational contracts because it focuses on the organizational dimension of contracting and its governance features.

Stefan Grundmann (1958) is married, with three children. He has held the chair for German, European and International Private Law at Humboldt University since 2004. In 2013, he became professor for transnational law at the European University Institute (Florence), while retaining the chair at Humboldt University. He has been visiting professor at King's College London, at Rome I University, 'La Sapienza' and LUISS, at Oxford and Cambridge universities, at Herzlya University (Tel-Aviv), at NYU and Harvard University. He is founding president and current president of the Society of European Contract Law (SECOLA). He is co-founder and president (of the steering committee) of the European Law School (Berlin/London/Paris/Rome) and director of several institutes in the universities where he holds or has held chairs. He is a member of the board of the German Society of Comparative Law. Moreover, he is a member of the European Law Institute and of its council. His research interests include contract law, company and banking law, legal theory, including comparative and European private law. His publications include European Contract Law (1999), European Company Law (2004, 2007, 2011/12); and several com­mentaries on banking and German contract law in German, European Company Law in English (2007) and in Chinese (forthcoming). He is co-editor of several journals including the European Review of Contract Law (editor-in-chief).