Eu Consumer Law And Human Rights

Exploring the relationship between fundamental rights and consumer law in the EU, this book provides the first comprehensive analysis of the joint implications of the Lisbon Treaty and the Charter of Fundamental Rights. It examines the potential tensions that may emerge between consumer protection objectives and economic, market-oriented goals.

The Research Handbook on EU Consumer and Contract Lawtakes stock of the evolution of this fascinating area of private law to date and identifies key themes for the future development of the law and research agendas. This major Handbook brings together contributions by leading academics from across the EU on the latest developments and controversies in these important areas of law. The Handbookis divided into three distinct and thematic parts: firstly, authors examine a range of cross-cutting issues relevant to both consumer and contract law. The second part discusses specific topics on EU consumer law, including the consumer image within EU law, information duties and unfair contract terms. The final part focuses on a number of important subjects which remain current in the development of EU contract law and presents a number of innovative solutions to the challenges presented in parts one and two. This timely and insightful Handbook will provide both a comprehensive survey of this area of law for the novice researcher and fresh food-for-thought for scholars who have been researching this area of law for many years. Contributors include:E.A. Amayuelas, H. Beale, J.M. Bech Serrat, C. Busch, R. Canavan, P. Cartwright, O.O. Cherednychenko, G. Comparato, G. Cordero-Moss, A. Cygan, L. Gillies, M. Graziadei, M.W. Hesselink, G. Howells, C. Mak, V. Mak, H.-W. Micklitz, B. Pozzo, P. Rott, J. Rutgers, J.M. Smits, Y. Svetiev, E.T.T. Tai, C. Twigg-Flesner, W.H. van Boom, J. Watson, F. Zoll

This book examines the institutions that are producing consumer law at the international level, the substantive issues enshrined in these laws, and the enforcement mechanisms meant to ensure effective protection. The majority of existing research is devoted to the comparative perspective, between countries or between the US and the EU. This book investigates the forceful activities of international and regional organizations, and shifts the focus of research to the internationalization of consumer law, which is largely neglected in particular in the Western-centered political and legal debate. Much of what constitutes consumer law today is focused on banking and finance, and more broadly the financialization and digitalization of the global economy, and society has created a shift in international consumer law production. This book investigates the role that international organizations have on the creation and enforcement of consumer law, and will be of interest to consumer lawyers, practitioners, and officials in organizations such as the United Nations, European Union, and World Bank.

Acclaim for the first edition: As a whole, Stephen Weatherill crafts a detailed and wonderfully rich consideration of this dynamic issue and is a resource which practitioners in this area could ill do without. Weatherills thorough and thoughtful insights with regard to these issues provide an important basis for understanding the complexities and vagaries of market integration in the EU Community. Peter G. Fitzgerald, Canadian Law Library Review Steve Weatherill provides an excellent thought-provoking account of EU consumer law and policy. It will be required reading for all those interested in this important subject. Paul Craig, St Johns College, Oxford, UK This is a characteristically excellent book by Steve Weatherill, combining incisive legal analysis of an important policy field with an authoritative and up-to-date account of the underlying legal and constitutional framework. Grainne de Burca, European University Institute, Italy This new edition of Stephen Weatherills acclaimed book provides a comprehensive introduction to all facets of the EUs involvement in consumer law and policy. Consumers are expected to benefit from the EUs project of economic integration, enjoying wider choice and improved quality, and yet they need protection from the dangers that flow from malfunctioning and unfair markets. The EUs consumer law and policy is an attempt to have the best of both worlds a liberalised yet properly regulated trading space for Europe This highly esteemed book, now in a brand new edition, provides a comprehensive and up-to-date introduction to the subject, explaining the evolution of consumer law and policy in the EU in terms of both legislative and judicial activity. The book also situates EU consumer law and policy within its broader social, political and economic context, providing a window to a range of wider issues (and tensions) relating to Union regulatory strategies and their effect on the member states. It concludes with a newly written examination of the relationship between EU and national initiatives of market regulation symbiosis or disruption? A readable yet critically sound textbook, this fully updated edition will be indispensable for both postgraduate and undergraduate students of EU law. It will also appeal strongly to all academics, regulators and practising lawyers with an interest in EU trade law or indeed European law more generally.

In Rethinking EU Consumer Law, the authors analyse the development of EU consumer law on the basis of a number of clear themes, which are then traced through specific areas. Recurring themes include the artificiality of the EU’s consumer image, the problems created by the drive towards maximum harmonisation, and the unexpected effects EU Consumer Law has had on national law. The book argues that EU Consumer Law has the potential of enhancing the protecting of consumers throughout the EU and could offer a model for consumer law elsewhere in the world, but in order to unlock this potential, there needs to be a rethink with regard to the EU’s approach to consumer law and policy.

The Law of the European Union is a complete reference work on all aspects of the law of the European Union, including the institutional framework, the Internal Market, Economic and Monetary Union and external policy and action. Completely revised and updated, with many newly written chapters, this fifth edition of the most thorough resource in its field provides the most comprehensive and systematic account available of the law of the European Union (EU). Written by a new team of experts in their respective areas of European law, its coverage incorporates and embraces many current, controversial, and emerging issues and provides detailed attention to historical development and legislative history of EU law. Topics that are constantly debated in European legal analysis and practice are touched on in ways that are both fundamental and enlightening, including the following: .powers and functions of the EU law institutions and relationship among them; .the principles of equality, loyalty, subsidiarity, and proportionality; .free movement of persons, goods, services, and capital; .mechanisms of constitutional change – treaty revisions, accession treaties, withdrawal agreements; .budgetary principles and procedures; .State aid rules; .effect of Union law in national legal systems; .coexistence of EU, European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR), and national fundamental rights law; .migration and asylum law; .liability of Member States for damage suffered by individuals; .competition law – cartels, abuse of dominant position, merger control; .social policy, equal pay, and equal treatment; .environmental policy, consumer protection, public health, cultural policy, education, and tourism; .nature of EU citizenship, its acquisition, and loss; and .law and policy of the EU’s external relations. The fifth edition embraces many new, ongoing, and emerging European legal issues. As in the previous editions, the presentation is notable for its attention to how the law relates to economic and political realities and how the various policy areas interact with each other and with the institutional framework. The many practitioners and scholars who have relied on the predecessors of this definitive work for years will welcome this extensively revised and updated edition. Those coming to the field for the first time will instantly recognize that they are in the presence of a masterwork that can always be turned to with profit and that helps in understanding the rationale underlying any EU law provision or principle.

For almost three decades, the European Union (EU) has adopted measures to regulate consumer transactions within the internal market created by the EU Treaties. Existing legislation is largely based on directives harmonizing aspects of national consumer laws. This Brief argues that a more appropriate approach for EU consumer law would be legislation in the form of a regulation which is applicable to cross-border transactions only. The author considers the constitutional constraints of the EU Treaties, before examining the case for a cross-border-only measure. He argues that the cross-border approach is preferable, because it would provide clearer benefits for consumers seeking to buy goods and services across borders, while not upsetting domestic law unnecessarily—in particular in the context of e-commerce, with implications for industry, policymaking, and regional development. The Brief concludes by suggesting that a successful EU measure on cross-border consumer transactions could create a template for global initiatives for transnational consumer law.

The forthcoming Directive on Consumer Rights is part of a far-reaching European development in the field of consumer law and general contract law. The European Commission has initiated the long expected broad shift to full harmonisation. This puts the national laws and all lawyers applying it under new challenges. In future, the Member States will be prohibited from deviations not only "downwards" but also "upwards". In particular the relation between (EC and national) consumer law and general contract law is under question. The Czech EU Presidency in the first half of 2009 gave the occasion for a conference organised by the Charles University, the Acquis Group and the Czech European Consumer Center at Prague. Leading contract law scholars, policy makers and stakeholders from across Europe put the Proposal under close scrutiny from political, legal and practical angles. This volume contains the results of the conference and thus responds to the question of the extent to which the Proposal offers indeed perspectives for European consumer law. It also contains a position paper elaborated by the Acquis Group in the aftermath of the conference which highlights strengths and weaknesses and suggests improvements of the Proposal.

European Convention on Human Rights – Article 10 – Freedom of expression 1. Everyone has the right to freedom of expression. This right shall include freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas without interference by public authority and regardless of frontiers. This article shall not prevent States from requiring the licensing of broadcasting, television or cinema enterprises. 2. The exercise of these freedoms, since it carries with it duties and responsibilities, may be subject to such formalities, conditions, restrictions or penalties as are prescribed by law and are necessary in a democratic society, in the interests of national security, territorial integrity or public safety, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, for the protection of the reputation or rights of others, for preventing the disclosure of information received in confidence, or for maintaining the authority and impartiality of the judiciary. In the context of an effective democracy and respect for human rights mentioned in the Preamble to the European Convention on Human Rights, freedom of expression is not only important in its own right, but it also plays a central part in the protection of other rights under the Convention. Without a broad guarantee of the right to freedom of expression protected by independent and impartial courts, there is no free country, there is no democracy. This general proposition is undeniable. This handbook is a practical tool for legal professionals from Council of Europe member states who wish to strengthen their skills in applying the European Convention on Human Rights and the case law of the European Court of Human Rights in their daily work.

This is a truly international effort, and one with a strong commitment to human rights by the highly reputable authors coming from different jurisdictions! The many facets of today s consumer law are presented to the reader, including developing countries a fascinating effort in a dynamically emerging field of law! We are comprehensively informed about such bread and butter areas as advertising, unfair terms, consumer guarantees, product safety and liability, consumer credit, and redress. But traditional consumer law concepts and remedies are facing challenges in more complex areas, like services of general internet where consumers and private users should enjoy equal access to universal services , with the internet where speed must not be a pretext to eliminate standards of fair dealing, with risky investment services under the problematic paradigm shift from investor protection to investor confidence . A book to read, to think about, to work with for everybody interested in the future of consumer markets and law in a time of economic crisis! Norbert Reich, University of Bremen, Germany This is a richly interesting collection of essays, written by leading names in the field. It offers a thoroughly reliable survey of key tensions and challenges in modern consumer law and brilliantly combines thematic overview with detailed analysis. It will stimulate comparative thinking, it will provide a source of information and it will be welcomed by consumer law scholars all over the world. Stephen Weatherill, University of Oxford, UK Consumer law and policy has emerged in the last half-century as a major policy concern for all nations. This Handbook of original contributions provides an international and comparative analysis of central issues in consumer law and policy in developed and developing economies. The Handbook encompasses questions of both social policy and effective business regulation. Many of the issues are common to all countries and are becoming increasingly globalised due to the growth in international trade and technological developments such as the Internet. The authors provide a broad coverage of both substantive topics and institutional questions concerning optimal approaches to enforcement and the role of class actions in consumer policy. It also includes comparative insights into the influential EU and US models of consumer law and relates consumer law to contemporary trends in human rights law. Written by a carefully selected group of international experts, this text represents an authoritative resource for understanding contemporary and future developments in consumer law. This Handbook will provide students, researchers and policymakers with an insight to the main policy debates in each context and provide models of legal regulation to assist in the evaluation of laws and the development of consumer law and policy.