This book analyses the founding years of consumer law and consumer policy in Europe. It combines two dimensions: the making of national consumer law and the making of European consumer law, and how both are intertwined. The chapters on Germany, Italy, the Nordic countries and the United Kingdom serve to explain the economic and the political background which led to different legal and policy approaches in the then old Member States from the 1960s onwards. The chapter on Poland adds a different layer, the one of a former socialist country with its own consumer law and how joining the EU affected consumer law at the national level. The making of European consumer law started in the 1970s rather cautiously, but gradually the European Commission took an ever stronger position in promoting not only European consumer law but also in supporting the building of the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC), the umbrella organisation of the national consumer bodies. The book unites the early protagonists who were involved in the making of consumer law in Europe: Guido Alpa, Ludwig Kramer, Ewa Letowska, Hans-W Micklitz, Klaus Tonner, Iain Ramsay, and Thomas Wilhelmsson, supported by the younger generation Aneta Wiewiorowska Domagalska, Mateusz Grochowski, and Koen Docter, who reconstructs the history of BEUC. Niklas Olsen and Thomas Roethe analyse the construction of this policy field from a historical and sociological perspective. This book offers a unique opportunity to understand a legal and political field, that of consumer law and policy, which plays a fundamental role in our contemporary societies.

This insightful book considers the phenomenon of the transformation of enforcement in European economic law while adopting a distinct global perspective. The editors identify and respond to the need for reflection on transformation processes in the area of enforcement by bringing together the leading international and European scholars in a variety of disciplines to share and compare experiences and learning in different areas of law. Rooted in a wide and regulatory understanding of enforcement, this book showcases the transformation of enforcement with reference to both European economic law (especially transnational commercial law, competition law, intellectual property law, consumer law) and to the current context of significant global economic challenges. Comparative perspectives facilitate the formation of a holistic perspective on enforcement that reaches beyond distinct theoretical accounts, political agendas, regulatory systems, institutional patterns, particular remedies, industry sectors, and stakeholder perspectives. As the first comprehensive and comparative analysis of the enforcement of European economic law that reaches beyond closely confined areas of law, it constitutes a crucial contribution to the theoretical and policy questions of how to design a coherent European enforcement architecture in accordance with essential principles and objectives of the EU economic order This unique study will have broad appeal. By exploring enforcement transformations from a legal and a cross-disciplinary perspective, it will be essential reading for scholars, practitioners and policymakers from different disciplines.

There remains an urgent need for a deeper discussion of the theoretical, political, and federal dimensions of the European codification project. While much valuable work has already been undertaken, the essays in this collection take as their starting point the proposition that further reflection and critical thought will enhance the quality and efficacy of the on-going work of the various codification bodies. The book's papers are written by: prestigious scholars on the foundations of European private law; representatives of the Common Frame of Reference, the Study Group, and the Acquis Group; and those who have not been involved in particular projects, but who have previously commented more distantly on their work - for instance, those belonging to the Trento Group and the Social Justice Group. With these groups' contributions, The Foundations of European Private Law represents the most comprehensive attempt so far to survey the state of the codification project; its theoretical, political, and federal foundations; and the future prospects for enforcement and compliance.

The book focusses on the enforcement of consumer law in order to identify commonalities and best practices across nations. It is composed of twenty-eight contributions from national rapporteurs to the IACL Congress in Montevideo in 2016 and the introductory comparative general report. The national contributors are drawn from across the globe, with representation from Africa (1), Asia (5), Europe (15), Oceania (2) and the Americas (5). The general report proposes a general introduction to the question of enforcement and effectiveness of consumer law. It then proceeds to identify the variety of ways in which national legislatures approach this question and the diversity of mechanisms put in place to address it. The general report uses examples drawn from the reports to illustrate common approaches and to identify more original or distinct unique approaches, taking into account the reported strengths and weaknesses of each. The general report consistently points readers to particular national reports on specific issues, inviting readers to consult these individual contributions for more details. The national contributions deal with the following areas: the national legal framework for consumer protection, the general design of the enforcement mechanism, the number and characteristics of consumer complaints and disputes, the use of courts and specialized agencies for the enforcement of consumer law, the role of consumer organizations and of private regulation in the enforcement of consumer law, the place of collective redress mechanism and of alternative dispute resolution modes, the sanctions for breaches of consumer law and the nature of external relations or cooperation with other countries or international organizations. These enriching national and international perspectives offer a comprehensive overview of the current state of consumer law around the globe.

The Unfair Commercial Practices Directive is the most important directive in the field of trade practices to have emerged from the EC but it builds upon European activity which has sought to regulate trade practices on both a sectoral and horizontal level. It is an umbrella provision, which uses general clauses to protect consumers. How effective this approach is and how it relates the existing acquis are fundamental issues for debate. This work provides a critical appraisal of the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive linking discussion of it to general debates about how fair trading should be regulated. It explains how the Directive fits into the existing acquis. It also examines national traditions where these are necessary to explain the European approach, as in the case of general clauses. The book will be a valuable tool for any student of consumer law seeking to understand the thinking behind the directive and how it will affect national laws. It will also influence policy makers by suggesting how the directive should be interpreted and what policy lies behind its formulation. Businesses and their advisers will use the book as a means of understanding the new regulatory climate post-the directive.

This book paves the way for, and initiates, the second-generation of research in European private law subsequent to the Draft Common Frame of Reference (DCFR) needed for the 21st century.The book gives a voice to the growing dissatisfaction in academic discourse that the DCFR, as it stands in 2009, does not actually represent the condensed available knowledge on the possible future of European private law. The contributions in this book focus on the legitimacy of law making through academics both now and in the future, and on the possible conceptual choices which will affect the future of European private law. Drawing on experience gained from the DCFR the authors advocate the competition of ideas and concepts.This fascinating book will be a must-read for European lawyers, private lawyers in the Member States and academics dealing with conceptual issues of the future of the national and the European private law. Advanced students in both law and international business will also find this book invaluable, as will US scholars interested in the US?EU comparison of different legal orders.

This book analyses the dichotomy between the goal of social inclusion and the effect of social exclusion through over-indebtedness since 2008 in Europe. Filling a vital gap in the current literature on the effects of the financial and economic crisis, this volume puts into context academic discussion with the real-life dimension of over-indebtedness. Reports from six European countries provide socio-economic and legal information on over-indebtedness as well as the regulatory and judicial responses to the problems entailed by over-indebtedness. They form the empirical background for five analyses of different aspects of the inclusion-exclusion dichotomy. It becomes clear that in the context of credit expansion, individual over-indebtedness has turned into a social issue, which the current design of the consumer credit and mortgage system in Europe has helped to produce while disregarding the consequential danger of social exclusion.

There is a considerable mismatch between theories on the influence of the EU outside its borders and concrete knowledge on whether and to what extent the suggested impact is of any practical relevance. The aim of this book, therefore, is to help close that gap in the knowledge concerning the role and function of the Court of Justice of the European (CJEU) outside its own borders in selected countries. Scholars from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Israel, Jordan, Russia, Switzerland, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine and the Eurasian Economic Union have researched and explored how their respective countries have been influenced by the CJEU. This title looks at 'why' along with 'how' these decisions have been utilized. All of this culminates in an effort to be able to rank the degree to which the CJEU is influencing non-EU jurisdictions according to a common scale. Looking across the selected countries, this title analyses the research provided by the scholars. This includes a brief description of the relationship and agreements between the EU and the country, a concise history of the country's judiciary, a full account of the extent to which the country's courts have cited CJEU judgements, and an analysis of that extent and the impact they have had. Other factors are explored as well, such as countries who want to join the EU might aim for more legal harmonization between them and the EU. These metrics are used to compare across the neighbourhood countries and draw conclusions about CJEU influence and impact outside of the EU. This comprehensive edited collection is an in-depth look at the actual impact of the CJEU in neighbourhood countries, providing crucial information in an overlooked field of EU law.

This book analyses the dichotomy between the goal of social inclusion and the effect of social exclusion through over-indebtedness since 2008 in Europe. Filling a vital gap in the current literature on the effects of the financial and economic crisis, this volume puts into context academic discussion with the real-life dimension of over-indebtedness. Reports from six European countries provide socio-economic and legal information on over-indebtedness as well as the regulatory and judicial responses to the problems entailed by over-indebtedness. They form the empirical background for five analyses of different aspects of the inclusion-exclusion dichotomy. It becomes clear that in the context of credit expansion, individual over-indebtedness has turned into a social issue, which the current design of the consumer credit and mortgage system in Europe has helped to produce while disregarding the consequential danger of social exclusion.

For many years, legislators around the world have responded to the particular needs of consumers by introducing dedicated rules for consumer sales contracts. In the European Union, a significant push came through the adoption of the Consumer Sales Directive (99/44/EC). Elsewhere in the world, legislation focusing on consumer sales contracts has been introduced, for example in New Zealand and Australia. This book offers a snapshot of the current state of consumer sales law in a range of jurisdictions around the globe. It provides both an overview of the law in selected jurisdictions and compares the application of these rules in the context of two case scenarios.

The Unfair Commercial Practices Directive is the most important directive in the field of trade practices to have emerged from the EC but it builds upon European activity which has sought to regulate trade practices on both a sectoral and horizontal level. It is an umbrella provision, which uses general clauses to protect consumers. How effective this approach is and how it relates the existing acquis are fundamental issues for debate. This work provides a critical appraisal of the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive linking discussion of it to general debates about how fair trading should be regulated. It explains how the Directive fits into the existing acquis. It also examines national traditions where these are necessary to explain the European approach, as in the case of general clauses. The book will be a valuable tool for any student of consumer law seeking to understand the thinking behind the directive and how it will affect national laws. It will also influence policy makers by suggesting how the directive should be interpreted and what policy lies behind its formulation. Businesses and their advisers will use the book as a means of understanding the new regulatory climate post-the directive.

This book looks at the consumer protection offered in a range of Asian countries, for example China, Japan, and South Korea in key areas such as consumer sales law, unfair terms, product liability, and unfair commercial practices. However, it is interesting to note that consumer protection is on the rise everywhere and to compare how this differs depending upon the legal cultures. It is also fascinating to reflect on the influence of models for law reform such as the EU laws. ASEAN has also affected the development of consumer policy for its member states. The book takes the form of national reports which explain the development of the law and also shed light on how the law works in practice. The book also contains thematic reports which look at each area of the law from a comparative perspective. Commentators from around the globe reflect on their impression of Asian consumer law based on their own differing legal systems and benchmarks. A must-read for anyone with an interest in consumer law in Asia and beyond, this book will form the basis of further research and discussion internationally.

Although American scholars sometimes consider European legal scholarship as old-fashioned and inward-looking and Europeans often perceive American legal scholarship as amateur social science, both traditions share a joint challenge. If legal scholarship becomes too much separated from practice, legal scholars will ultimately make themselves superfluous. If legal scholars, on the other hand, cannot explain to other disciplines what is academic about their research, which methodologies are typical, and what separates proper research from mediocre or poor research, they will probably end up in a similar situation. Therefore we need a debate on what unites legal academics on both sides of the Atlantic. Should legal scholarship aspire to the status of a science and gradually adopt more and more of the methods, (quality) standards, and practices of other (social) sciences? What sort of methods do we need to study law in its social context and how should legal scholarship deal with the challenges posed by globalization?

New Private Law Theory opens a new pathway to private law theory through a pluralistic approach. Such a theory needs a broad and stable foundation, which the authors have built here through a canon of nearly seventy texts of reference. This book brings these different texts from different disciplines into conversation with each other, grouping them around central questions of private law and at the same time integrating them with the legal doctrinal analysis of example cases. This book will be accessible to both experienced and early career scholars working on private law.

New Private Law Theory opens a new pathway to private law theory through a pluralistic approach. Such a theory needs a broad and stable foundation, which the authors have built here through a canon of nearly seventy texts of reference. This book brings these different texts from different disciplines into conversation with each other, grouping them around central questions of private law and at the same time integrating them with the legal doctrinal analysis of example cases. This book will be accessible to both experienced and early career scholars working on private law.

For many years, legislators around the world have responded to the particular needs of consumers by introducing dedicated rules for consumer sales contracts. In the European Union, a significant push came through the adoption of the Consumer Sales Directive (99/44/EC). Elsewhere in the world, legislation focusing on consumer sales contracts has been introduced, for example in New Zealand and Australia. This book offers a snapshot of the current state of consumer sales law in a range of jurisdictions around the globe. It provides both an overview of the law in selected jurisdictions and compares the application of these rules in the context of two case scenarios.

New technologies have always challenged the social, economic, legal, and ideological status quo. Constitutional law is no less impacted by such technologically driven transformations, as the state must formulate a legal response to new technologies and their market applications, as well as the state's own use of new technology. In particular, the development of data collection, data mining, and algorithmic analysis by public and private actors present unique challenges to public law at the doctrinal as well as the theoretical level. This collection, aimed at legal scholars and practitioners, describes the constitutional challenges created by the algorithmic society. It offers an important synthesis of the state of play in law and technology studies, addressing the challenges for fundamental rights and democracy, the role of policy and regulation, and the responsibilities of private actors. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

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.

Private Law in the External Relations of the EU is an innovative study of the interactions between EU external relations law and private law, two unrelated fields of law, inverted if private law is understood as regulatory private law - the space where regulatory law intersects with private economic activity. Here the link between the Internal Market and the global market - and thereby international law - is much more prominent. In this book, key questions about the relationship between EU external relations law and private law are answered, including: in what ways might European private law act as a tool to achieve EU external policy objectives, particularly in regulatory fields? How might the quickly developing EU external competence over the procedural dimensions of private law, including private international law, impact on substantive law, both externally and internally? And how is the legal position of private parties affected by EU external relations? In asking these questions, this edited collection opens up a field of enquiry into the so far underexplored relationship between these two fields of law. In doing so, it addresses three different aspects of the relationship: (i) the evolution of the EU competence, (ii) the ways in which EU private law extends its reach beyond the boundaries of the internal market, and (iii) the ways in which the EU contributes to the formation of private regulation at the international level.

This book analyses the founding years of consumer law and consumer policy in Europe. It combines two dimensions: the making of national consumer law and the making of European consumer law, and how both are intertwined. The chapters on Germany, Italy, the Nordic countries and the United Kingdom serve to explain the economic and the political background which led to different legal and policy approaches in the then old Member States from the 1960s onwards. The chapter on Poland adds a different layer, the one of a former socialist country with its own consumer law and how joining the EU affected consumer law at the national level. The making of European consumer law started in the 1970s rather cautiously, but gradually the European Commission took an ever stronger position in promoting not only European consumer law but also in supporting the building of the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC), the umbrella organisation of the national consumer bodies. The book unites the early protagonists who were involved in the making of consumer law in Europe: Guido Alpa, Ludwig Kramer, Ewa Letowska, Hans-W Micklitz, Klaus Tonner, Iain Ramsay, and Thomas Wilhelmsson, supported by the younger generation Aneta Wiewiorowska Domagalska, Mateusz Grochowski, and Koen Docter, who reconstructs the history of BEUC. Niklas Olsen and Thomas Roethe analyse the construction of this policy field from a historical and sociological perspective. This book offers a unique opportunity to understand a legal and political field, that of consumer law and policy, which plays a fundamental role in our contemporary societies.

This insightful book considers the phenomenon of the transformation of enforcement in European economic law while adopting a distinct global perspective. The editors identify and respond to the need for reflection on transformation processes in the area of enforcement by bringing together the leading international and European scholars in a variety of disciplines to share and compare experiences and learning in different areas of law. Rooted in a wide and regulatory understanding of enforcement, this book showcases the transformation of enforcement with reference to both European economic law (especially transnational commercial law, competition law, intellectual property law, consumer law) and to the current context of significant global economic challenges. Comparative perspectives facilitate the formation of a holistic perspective on enforcement that reaches beyond distinct theoretical accounts, political agendas, regulatory systems, institutional patterns, particular remedies, industry sectors, and stakeholder perspectives. As the first comprehensive and comparative analysis of the enforcement of European economic law that reaches beyond closely confined areas of law, it constitutes a crucial contribution to the theoretical and policy questions of how to design a coherent European enforcement architecture in accordance with essential principles and objectives of the EU economic order This unique study will have broad appeal. By exploring enforcement transformations from a legal and a cross-disciplinary perspective, it will be essential reading for scholars, practitioners and policymakers from different disciplines.

Although American scholars sometimes consider European legal scholarship as old-fashioned and inward-looking and Europeans often perceive American legal scholarship as amateur social science, both traditions share a joint challenge. If legal scholarship becomes too much separated from practice, legal scholars will ultimately make themselves superfluous. If legal scholars, on the other hand, cannot explain to other disciplines what is academic about their research, which methodologies are typical, and what separates proper research from mediocre or poor research, they will probably end up in a similar situation. Therefore we need a debate on what unites legal academics on both sides of the Atlantic. Should legal scholarship aspire to the status of a science and gradually adopt more and more of the methods, (quality) standards, and practices of other (social) sciences? What sort of methods do we need to study law in its social context and how should legal scholarship deal with the challenges posed by globalization?

The objective of this casebook, like others in the Ius Commune Series, is to help uncover common roots, notwithstanding differences in approach, of the European legal systems, with a view to strengthening the common legal heritage of Europe. The casebook covers the big legal families in the EU and contains judgments from the supreme courts and other courts of the Member States. In view of the importance of EC legislation (eg harmonisation directives and regulations) in this field, the consumer law casebook contains much material derived from Community law, such as extracts from directives (eg on unfair contract terms, distance selling, doorstep selling, product liability, unfair commercial pratices etc) and judgments of the ECJ and national court decisions. Furthermore, attention is paid to the way in which, when interpreting EC directives in the consumer field, the ECJ refers to concepts common to the legal systems of the Member States and how the courts of the Member States incorporate the concepts found in the directives (as interpreted by the ECJ) in their legal systems. The casebook also compares harmonised and pre-harmonised law, especially in the case law of the Member States. The casebook concentrates on private law in the field of consumer protection but also addresses topics, in particular in the field of enforcement, that are primarily a matter of public law. Please click on the link below to visit the series website: www.casebooks.eu/consumerLaw.

The Politics of Justice in European Private Law intends to highlight the differences between the Member States' concepts of social justice, which have developed historically, and the distinct European concept of access justice. Contrary to the emerging critique of Europe's justice deficit in the aftermath of the Euro crisis, this book argues that beneath the larger picture of the Monetary Union, a more positive and more promising European concept of justice is developing. European access justice is thinner than national social justice, but access justice represents a distinct conception of justice nevertheless. Member States or nation states remain free to complement European access justice and bring to bear their own pattern of social justice.

This book looks at the consumer protection offered in a range of Asian countries, for example China, Japan, and South Korea in key areas such as consumer sales law, unfair terms, product liability, and unfair commercial practices. However, it is interesting to note that consumer protection is on the rise everywhere and to compare how this differs depending upon the legal cultures. It is also fascinating to reflect on the influence of models for law reform such as the EU laws. ASEAN has also affected the development of consumer policy for its member states. The book takes the form of national reports which explain the development of the law and also shed light on how the law works in practice. The book also contains thematic reports which look at each area of the law from a comparative perspective. Commentators from around the globe reflect on their impression of Asian consumer law based on their own differing legal systems and benchmarks. A must-read for anyone with an interest in consumer law in Asia and beyond, this book will form the basis of further research and discussion internationally.