Produced under the auspices of an EU-funded Marie Curie research programme, this volume analyses vulnerability in European private law and scrutinises consumer protection in credit and investments in the context of the recent turmoil in financial markets and EU harmonisation initiatives in the area. It explores key issues such as responsible lending, the disclosure of information, consumer confidence, the regulation of consumer investment services and the protection of bank depositors. The chapters emanate from the 'Consumer Protection in Europe: Theory and Practice' duo colloquium which explored consumer protection in Europe in its theoretical and practical dimensions. These topics are even more relevant today given the passage of the Consumer Rights Directive, the appointment of an Expert Group on a common frame of reference, the Green Paper on European Contract Law and the ongoing deliberations surrounding the Common European Sales Law.

This volume analyses the theory and practice of European consumer protection in the context of consolidation initiatives seen, inter alia, in the revision of the Consumer Acquis, the Draft Common Frame of Reference and the proposal for an EU Consumer Rights Directive. The issues addressed are all the more significant given the revisions to the proposed Directive, the appointment of an 'Expert Group on a Common Frame of Reference' and the Commission's 2010 Green Paper on progress towards a European Contract Law. The contributions to this volume point to the arrival of a contested moment in EU consumer protection, questioning the arrival of the 'empowered' consumer and uncovering the fault lines between consumer protection and other goals. What emerges is a model of poly-contextual EU consumer protection law, a model that challenges the assumptions in both the 2010 Green Paper and the revised proposed Consumer Rights Directive.

Given the unprecedented recent turmoil on financial markets we now face radically challenged, 'post-Lehmann' assumptions on protecting the vulnerable in financial transactions. This collection of essays explores conceptions of, and responses to, unconscionability and similar notions across Europe with specific reference to financial transactions. It presents a detailed analysis of concepts of unconscionability in Europe against a backdrop of Commission initiatives aimed, variously, at securing a single market in financial services, producing greater coherence in EC consumer protection law and consolidating European private law. This analysis illustrates, for example, that concepts of unconscionability depend on context and can be shaped by a variety of factors. It also illustrates that jurisdictions may choose to respond to questions of unconscionability through a variety of legal instruments located in different branches of the law rather than through a single doctrine. Thus this collection illuminates many of the obstacles facing harmonisation in this area.

This book emanates from a duo-colloquium which explored the Europeanisation of private law in the context of efforts to consolidate the consumer acquis, the Draft Common Frame of Reference, the appointment of an Expert Group on a Common Frame of Reference in the area of European contract law, the passage of the Consumer Rights Directive and the proposed Common European Sales Law. This book, with fully updated contributions, critically reflects on whether the process of Europeanisation, which has shaped private law in the EU Member States, has now reached a significant turning point in its development, a point of punctuated equilibrium. Written by a team of leading authors, the topics covered will be of concern in all European legal systems and beyond.