Abstract:
This paper argues that the EU’s notion of the ‘confident consumer’ over-emphasises the significance of law, and harmonised law in particular, as an end in itself, without considering properly (i) all the various issues which affect consumer confidence, and (ii) whether the legal rules adopted by the EU really help to boost consumer confidence. It will first consider the ‘consumer confidence’ notion as reflected in the various directives, and link this to the general notion of the ‘average consumer’ before examining how the substantive provisions in these directives reflect the objective of enhancing consumer confidence. This will also take into account relevant judgments of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) on the interpretation of particular provisions. It will then argue that too much emphasis has been put on law for law’s sake, at the expense of establishing what legal rules would promote consumer confidence, particularly in the internal market
Twigg-Flesner, Christian, The Importance of Law and Harmonisation for the EU’s Confident Consumer (January 14, 2015). D Leczykiewicz and S Weatherill (eds), The Images of the Consumer in EU Law (Hart, 2015).
First posted 2015-11-08 09:47:59
Leave a Reply