BREAK THE CODE ; ;I read with interest the recent article which suggests that the European Union will be taking forward plans for a European civil code (see [2000] Gazette, 30 November, 5).

;I sincerely hope the profession is going to campaign strongly against this unwarranted intrusion into our common law based legal system.

Even if the EU officials are now saying that any code will be minimalist and not totally subsume existing national civil law, all the evidence suggests that the EU will seek ;to build on it.

;The legal profession has readily accepted the massive overhaul of civil procedure under the Woolf reforms.

It needs this interference from the EU like a hole in the head.

;John Midley, Comptons, London, NW1.