Abstract
Much has been said about the specialization and universality of commercial law, giving rise to a fascinating debate that is far from over. The cross-border vocation of the ius mercatorum, which nonetheless bears the hallmarks of legal particularism in its DNA, has led today's jurists to speak of an 'a-national' legal order. In our view, this qualification by negation has the disadvantage of ignoring the cultural substratum and legal civilization in which business law has been shaped. Indeed, if this deeply proprium law has given rise to an undeniable uniformity on a European scale, the reasons for this phenomenon cannot be found solely in the unstoppable force of the market. Beyond the reasons of practicality, is there perhaps a deeper fluidity at the level of legal culture and legal anthropology that allows us to identify the specifically European characteristics of the evolution of business law?
