合同网络与小企业法案——通向欧洲原则之路

Contractual Networks and the Small Business Act:Towards European Principles

主要在欧洲语境下讨论合同网络问题。“合同网络”(contractual networks)[2]这个概念既包含多方合同,也包含互相关联的双方合同。合同网络是介于市场与等级(hierarchies)之间的混合组织形式。合同网络不同于市场合同,是因为其当事人不是去人格化的机构,而是基于资源互补性、经仔细挑选的参与者。因此其能完成市场所无法实现的资源整合。网络不同于等级组织,因为无论企业在经济上是否具有依赖性,其在法律上都是一个自主、独立的主体。合同网络的主要特征在于:相互依赖性、关系的稳定性、长期性和多方性。此外,竞争可以补充合作,正如商业伙伴可以在某些项目上合作而在另一些项目上展开竞争。合同网络的重要性在欧盟层面上正日益凸显,这也促使我们去反思以下两项政策:(1)在牵涉企业间的合作时,我们应该如何,以及根据怎样的因素,去区别合同法与公司法;(2)怎样去规制企业间的多方合同。在欧洲层面,合同网络至今也没有得到足够的承认,因为传统的交易合同(exchange contracts)与组织合同(organisational contracts)的二分法,至少在此是得到了默认的遵守。欧盟理事会(European Council)要求欧盟委员会(European Commission)为中小企业(SMEs:Small and Medium Enterprises)制定一套新的框架,而后者于近期启动了《小企业法案》(Small Business Act)项目,其中将包括一部针对中小企业的成文公司法。且不论合同网络从“欧洲合同法”的起草者以及国际私法那里受到的漠视,其确实已在政策制定上,尤其是中小企业间,获得了支持。无论是合同式还是组织式网络,在牵涉竞争、增长的政策时,其越来越频繁的应用都表明有必要去与相应的私法领域的管理相配合。本文建议:应该确定一套欧洲合同网络原则(PECON:Principles of Europeancontractual networks),并使其与现行的欧洲民法草案[3]相一致。笔者草拟了一些可行性的指导意见,并指出根据罗马I规则[4]协调实体法原则与国际私法原则的必要性。本文还提议:小企业法案应当吸收规范合同网络的指导性规则,无论该网络是国内的抑或是跨越欧洲的。

In this paper,I address the issue of contractual networks in the European context.The term“contractual networks”encompasses both multilateral contracts and networks of linked bilateral contracts.Contractual networks are hybrid forms of organisation located between markets and hierarchies.Networks differ from market contracts because the participants are not impersonal agents,but well identified players chosen on the basis of resource complementarities.They permit resource bundling that markets are unable to achieve.They differ from hierarchies because enterprises are autonomous and legally independent even if they may be economically dependent.The main characteristics of contractual networks are:interdependence,stability of relationships,long-term duration and multiplicity.Moreover,competition can also supplement cooperation as partners can cooperate on some projects whilst competing in other ways.The increasing importance of networks at EU level forces us to rethink two main policy issues:1)how,and according to which variables,we distinguish between contract and company law in relation to inter-enterprise coordination;2)how to regulate multilateral contracts among enterprises.So far,contractual networks have not been adequately recognised at European level where,at least implicitly,the traditional partition between exchange and organisational contracts has held firm.The European Council asked the European Commission to define a new framework for small and medium enterprises(SMEs),and thelatter recently launched theSmall Business Act program which will include a company law statute for SMEs.Despite the inattention of both European contract law drafters and private international law,networks,especially those among SMEs,have gained momentum in policy-making.The ever more frequent references to networks,both contractual and organisational,in relation to policies associated with competitiveness and growth suggest that it may be necessary to coordinate with the governance dimension associated with their private law regimes.The paper suggests that Principles of European contractual networks(PECON)should be defined and coordinated with the current DCFR.I sketch some of the possible guiding ideas and the necessity of coordinating substantive principles with private international law principles pursuant to the Rome I Regulation.It also proposes that the Small Business Act should incorporate guidelines concerning contractual networks,be they domestic or transeuropean.