Projekat “Zajedničko Jezgro Evropskog Privatnog Prava” dve decenije kasnije: beskrajni početak

The paper discusses the aim, method and organization of the 'Common Core of European Private Law' Project, a scholarly initiative started in 1993 by Ugo Mattei and Mauro Bussani. Up to now, the Project has involved more than three hundred scholars, most of them from Europe and the United States, and has published eighteen volumes in a dedicated series by Cambridge University Press. After surveying the state-of-the-art of comparative 'integrative' initiatives in Europe, the paper presents the goals of the 'Common Core project', and describe its cultura! assumptions and working methodology. In light of these features, the paper will tackle the main differences between the 'Common Core' approach and a series of apparently similar European comparative law enterprises. The paper will then draw some conclusion on the short and longterm perspective of European harmonization efforts.