ABSTRACT
The protection of weaker parties is one of the cornerstones of EU private international law. Consumers are traditionally regarded as typical weaker parties that deserve special protection at the level of private international law. The Brussels Ia Regulation and the Rome I Regulation do not protect all consumers. To be protected, consumers must meet the requirements of Article 17(1) of the Brussels Ia Regulation and Article 6(1) of the Rome I Regulation. These provisions include the requirement for the consumer to be domiciled/reside in the state in which the professional pursues or directs its business activity. This puts different consumers on different footing. In this article, the author argues that this differentiation may be justified for the purposes of applying default jurisdictional and conflictual rules. However, this criterion should not determine the scope of other protective rules, notably those that restrict party autonomy in consumer cases. Likewise, the Brussels Ia Regulation has several other provisions that do not protect consumers who fail to meet all the requirements of Article 17(1). The author argues that all these provisions must be de lege ferenda extended to all consumers. Finally, the author argues that for certain types of consumer contracts, the law of the place of conclusion of the contract (lex loci contractus) should be introduced in the Rome I Regulation as a default rule, to ensure better protection of those consumers who do not reside in a state to which the professional pursues or directs its business activities.
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Aleksandrs Fillers, Extension of consumer protection in EU private international law, Journal of Private International Law, volume 22, issue 1, pp 88-109. Published online: 8 May 2026.
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