The UNIDROIT Principles relating to international commercial contracts were initially intended to serve as a general part of the law of contracts specifically adapted to the exigencies of international commerce. It would appear however that the scope of the Principles is being extended beyond that originally intended. Indeed, a number of national legislators have used the Principles as an important source of inspiration in the process of codification of their domestic contract law. Does this extension of the sphere of influence of the Principles not constitute a part of the broader phenomenon of a rapprochement of legislative policies relating to contracts concluded between merchants and those concluded between other actors?