Category Archives: Consumer Law
‘Price calculation indications in online offers: Misleading or not? CJEU in NEW Niederrhein Energie und Wasser (Case C‑518/23)’
On 23 January, the CJEU provided further clarity on what amounts to a misleading omission in an invitation to purchase under the UCPD (Case C‑518/23). The case concerns an online electricity tariff calculator operated by the German company NEW Niederrhein Energie und Wasser. Based on customer input, the calculator generates a tariff offer that the […]
Santos, Morozovaite and De Conca, ‘No harm no foul: how harms caused by dark patterns are conceptualised and tackled under EU data protection, consumer and competition laws’
ABSTRACT Although several Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) studies have empirically investigated the harms caused by dark patterns, with policymakers and regulators regarding these harms significant, they have yet to be examined from a legal perspective. This paper identifies the individual, collective, material and non-material harms deriving from dark patterns, dissecting the role that harms play in […]
Twigg-Flesner and Howells, ‘Adapting Consumer Law to New Technologies’
ABSTRACT The task for this chapter is to examine how well consumer law is able to adapt to the use of new technologies in consumer-focused applications. Our central thesis is that a methodical approach is needed, comprising several steps and admitting different responses to different technological developments. The context for our discussion will be applications […]
‘Can a non-discrimination law lens enrich our understanding of consumer vulnerability?’
How to protect vulnerable consumers is one of the key issues of our time. The European ideal of a well-informed, observant and circumspect consumer that can reap the benefits of the integrated market made it necessary to recognise the needs of specifically vulnerable consumers. However, while EU strategic papers recognise the personal, situational and socio-economic […]
‘Recreation and Risk: The Book, The Website, The Links to Liability Waivers’
From time to time, liability waivers and exculpatory agreements have been a topic for the Blog. There was plenty of interest in the subject in connection with the OceanGate disaster in 2023. We also weighed in on the subject in connection with McKamey Manor. Last year, William Gordon Childs published Recreation and Risk, which provides […]
Stanescu and Damsa, ‘Research Methodologies for Consumer Contracts in the 21st Century New Wines, Old Bottles?’
ABSTRACT This chapter aims to provide an overview of some of the significant challenges posed by digitalisation to some of the fundamental concepts of contract law, such as offer and acceptance, consent, etc. It also outlines the research methods that will enable researchers to study consumer contracts in the digital age. Stanescu, Catalin Gabriel and […]
Bar-Gill, Ben-Shahar and Marotta-Wurgler, ‘A Companion Guide to the Restatement of Consumer Contracts’
ABSTRACT This short Essay, written by the Reporters of the recently published Restatement of Consumer Contracts, is intended as a companion to the Restatement. It highlights three areas, where the Reporters’ ambition was only partially reflected in the final version of the Restatement. The first was to ground the restated rules and principles in a […]
Tereszkiewicz, Południak-Gierz and Walczak, ‘The Digital Vulnerability of Insurance Consumers and Personalised Pricing of Insurance Products’
ABSTRACT This Chapter analyses the phenomenon of the personalised pricing of insurance products under the European Union regulatory framework on consumer and data protection law. Specifically, focusing on the personalised pricing of insurance products, the Chapter explores the complex relationship between the provisions of General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and those of the Unfair Commercial […]
Carmen Ungureanu, ‘The European consumer: a case of mistaken identity?’
ABSTRACT European consumers enjoy protection, if they are natural persons who act outside professional purposes and have as counterparts professionals (traders). Applying the test of the three conditions, it is possible that consumers who do not need protection to fall within the scope of the consumer protection laws. This is the reason why we are […]
Kelvin Hiu Fai Kwok, ‘An Autonomy Theory of Consumer Protection Law’
ABSTRACT This article sets forth a new autonomy theory of consumer protection law (CPL), drawing on Joseph Raz’s framework on personal autonomy and explicating the relationship between CPL interventions and the independence, rationality, and opportunity dimensions of autonomy. It seeks to contrast the autonomy perspective on freedom of choice and the corresponding role of CPL […]