28 Maintaining the contractual relationship

This aim, recognised in the Principes directeurs under the heading of faveur pour le contrat,1. is also recognised in various provisions in the DCFR — for example those on interpretation,2. and on the power of the court to adapt a contract which is affected by invalidity.3. Also, the debtor's right to cure a non-conforming performance4. can be seen as being aimed at the preservation of the contractual relationship, as this right may avoid the execution of remedies, including termination. The same aim underlies the provisions which supplement the parties' agreement when there are points which the parties appear to have overlooked. In a sense, many rules of contract law — for example, the remedies available for non-performance — are ‘default rules’ that fill gaps in what the parties had agreed, thus helping to maintain an effective working relationship. But there are a number of rules dealing specifically with points which in some systems of law have led the courts to hold that there can be no obligation, even though it seems clear that the parties, despite the incompleteness of their agreement, wished to be bound. These include provisions on determination of the price and other terms.5. Further, the DCFR provides a more general mechanism to supplement the agreement in order to make it workable when it is necessary to provide for a matter which the parties have not foreseen or provided for, thus ‘favouring the contract’ and increasing contractual security.6.