Bulk Transactions: A New Category of Civil Law in Germany?

Abstract

The article analyses provisions of German civil law that establish special rules applicable to legal transactions, which are typically concluded in a large number of cases and comparable conditions (bulk transactions). Four examples are used to reveal, in terms of their ratio, four different types of rules introducing a special regulation of bulk transactions: (1) exceptions to freedom of contract due to lack of interest of the bulk contractor in selecting his contractual partner (e.g. the prohibition of discrimination); (2) rules taking into account the fact that the ability of bulk contractor to contract en masse is typically an indication of superior market power and therefore protecting the contractual partner against exploitation (e.g. regulation on standard terms and conditions); (3) rules protecting the market, which is endangered by companies acting illegally on a mass scale (e.g. disgorgement of profits under unfair competition law; the tort liability in the VW diesel case); and finally (4) rules enabling bulk business and competition between providers in the area of services of general interest (e.g. the concept of «suitability for bulk business" in the energy law).