Profile

Alberto De Franceschi is Full Professor of Private Law, Digital Law and Environmental Sustainability, and International Trade Law at the University of Ferrara.

 

Ambassador's Chair in Artificial Intelligence and Sustainability at Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (2024-2025).

Distinguished Visiting Professor at the University of California Los Angeles (2024).

Visiting Professor of EU Digital Law at Zhejiang University, Hangzhou (2021-2023).

Global Law Professor of Digital Law facing the Sustainability Challenge at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (2022).

Fellow of the Institut für Recht der Digitalisierung at University of Trier (2023).

 

Vice-Rector of the University of Ferrara (2021-2022).

Member of the National University Council at the Italian Ministry of University and Research, representing the Area of Legal Sciences (2019-2020).

 

2021-: Co-Chairman - together with Prof. William Boyd (University of California Los Angeles) - of the European Law Institute’s Sustainability and Environmental Law Special Interest Group (ELI Excellence Award Winner in 2021 and 2022).

 

2015-2024: Co-Chairman - together with Prof. Reiner Schulze (University of Münster) and Prof. Christoph Busch (University of Osnabrück) - of the European Law Institute’s Digital Law Special Interest Group (ELI Excellence Award Winner in 2019, 2020, 2023 and 2024).

 

2021-: Co-Reporter - together with Prof. Henrik Andersen (Copenhagen Business School) and Matthias Keller (Administrative Court of Aachen) - of the European Law Institute's Project on "Climate Justice - New Challenges for Law and Judges".

 

Expert of Italy, appointed by the Ministry of Justice, at:

- United Nations Commission for International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) – Working Group IV on E-Commerce (2021-);

- G7 Digital and Technology (2022);

- International Institute for the Unification of Private Law UNIDROIT (2023);

- Hague Conference of Private International Law (2023-).

 

Co-author of the European Commission’s Study for the Fitness Check of EU Consumer and Marketing Law.

Scientific coordinator at Italian School of the Judiciary.

Member of Scientific Committee of “EJNita” project, funded by the European Commission and led by the Italian Ministry of Justice, aimed at fostering the knowledge of European rules on judicial cooperation in civil matters.

 

DAAD-Ladislao-Mittner Award 2015 “For outstanding achievements in legal scholarship and for special merits concerning the cultural dialogue between Italy and Germany”.

 

Founding member and co-editor of the «Journal of European Consumer and Market Law» (C.H. Beck, Munich / Kluwer Law International, Alphen aan den Rijn / Nomos, Baden-Baden), of «The Italian Law Journal» (Edizioni Scientifiche Italiane, Naples) and of the International Journal of Digital Law and Governance (De Gruyter, Berlin).

 

Ordinary Member of the Academia Europaea - The Academy of Europe (2023-).

Ordinary Member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts (2023-).

 

His research deals with Italian and European Law Obligations and Contracts, with a specific focus on the regulation of the digital economy and on the environmental sustainability.

 

Education

06.07.2005: Master Degree in Law at the University of Padua (with a dissertation on “Sales Contract and Consumer’s Remedies”, supervised by Prof. Giorgio Cian).

 

13.04.2010: PhD in “Italian, European and Comparative Law of Obligations and Contracts” at the University of Ferrara (with a thesis on “Misleading Commercial Practices and Consumer Contracts”, supervised by Prof. Maria Vita De Giorgi. Mark: “Excellent”).

 

2008, 2010, 2012 and 2013: scholarship holder (for a total amount of 29 months) of the Max-Planck-Gesellschalft e.V. at the Max-Planck-Institut für Innovation und Wettbewerb / Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition in Munich.

 

2013 and 2014: Visiting Research Fellow at the Institute of European and Comparative Law at the University of Oxford (supervised by Prof. Dr. Stefan Vogenauer).

 

2015, 2016 and 2017: Scholarship Holder of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation at the Ludwig-Maximilians University of Munich (supervised by Prof. Dr. Hans Christoph Grigoleit).

 

2019: Visiting Fellow at the Law Department of the European University Institute, Florence (supervised by Prof. Dr. Hans-Wolfgang Micklitz).

 

Academic Career

  • 01.10.2015 – 30.9.2018: Assistant Professor of Private Law at the University of Ferrara (Italy).
  • 01.10.2018 – 30.11.2020: Associate Professor of Private Law at the University of Ferrara (Italy).
  • Since 01.12.2020: Full Professor of Private Law, Chair of Private Law, Digital Law and Environmental Sustainability at the University of Ferrara (Italy).
  • Since 06.11.2024: Ambassador’s Chair of Artificial Intelligence and Sustainability at Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Belgium).

 

Publications (selected)

Monographs

  • A. De Franceschi, I divieti negoziali di cessione del credito, Edizioni Scientifiche Italiane, Napoli, 2014.
  • A. De Franceschi, La circolazione dei dati personali tra privacy e contratto, Edizioni Scientifiche Italiane, Napoli, 2017.
  • A. De Franceschi, La vendita di beni con elementi digitali, Edizioni Scientifiche Italiane, Napoli, 2019.

 

Edited Collections

  • European Contract Law and the Digital Single Market: The Implications of the Digital Revolution, Intersentia, Cambridge-Antwerp-Portland, 2016.
  • Consumer Sales in Europe, Intersentia, Cambridge-Antwerp-Portland, 2016 (with Giovanni De Cristofaro).
  • Digital Revolution - New Challenges for Law, Beck - Nomos, Munich - Baden-Baden, 2019 (with Reiner Schulze).
  • Algorithmic Regulation and Personalized Law. A Handbook, Beck - Hart - Nomos, Munich - Oxford - Baden-Baden, 2021 (with Christoph Busch).
  • Harmonizing Digital Contract Law. The Impact of EU Directives 2019/770 and 2019/771 and the Regulation of Online Platforms, C.H. Beck, Hart, Nomos, Munich - Oxford - Baden-Baden, 2023 (with Reiner Schulze).
  • The New Shapes of Digital Vulnerability in European Private Law, Nomos, Baden-Baden, 2024 (with Camilla Crea).

 

Journals

  • International Journal of Digital Law and Governance, De Gruyter, Berlin (co-editor).