TENDENCY TO CONCEPTUALISE EUROPEAN CONSUMER LAW

• Authors: Stefanicki R.
• Languages of publication: PL

Abstracts

EN

This article relates developments in consumer law where there is still a tendency to conceptualise consumer law as private law. The existing EU consumer protection rules are fragmented basically: firstly, the current directives allow Member States to adopt more stringent rules in their national laws and many of them have made a higher level of consumer protection and secondly, many issues are regulated inconsistently between directives or have been left open. The EU proposes, in a Green Book on possible changes in contractual law directives, a total harmonization of consumer legislation. The need for national courts to ask rather detailed questions may increase with the recent trend to total harmonisation of EC consumer law. The EU legislator believes that the future horizontal instrument should apply to all consumer contracts. That will prevent regulatory fragmentation at European level and help to streamline European legislation. The article examines the merit of the test of the average consumer as a basis for judicial and regulatory action. Contract law attempts in various ways to regulate the information that contracting parties exchange. Increasing the transparency information available to consumers is de lege lata undoubtedly beneficial. Current practices however, be reflected by author in concrete legislative and proposed legislation. The Commission intends to create a European Contract Law, that would in the not so near future replace the national contract laws.

Keywords

EN

CONSUMER LAW; EUROPEAN LAW; PRIVATE LAW

Discipline

• LAW_&_ADMINISTRATION: LAW & ADMINISTRATION

• Publisher: Polska Akademia Umiejętności
• Journal: Kwartalnik Prawa Prywatnego
• Year: 2008
• Volume: 17
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 683-711
• Document type: ARTICLE

Contributors

author

Stefanicki R.

• R. Stefanicki, Uniwersytet Wroclawski, Wydzialy Prawa, Administracji i Nauk Ekonomicznych, ul. Uniwersytecka 22/26, 50-145 Wroclaw, Poland

Identifiers

CEJSH db identifier

08PLAAAA04939381