"Consumer law now constitutes a separate subject matter which the authors Hans-W. Micklitz and Norbert Reich tried to analyse in ... the fourth German edition of 'Europäisches Verbraucherrecht' of 2003... For the English edition, the authors, in cooperation with the publisher, decided to prepare a comprehensive version which we call 'Understanding European Consumer Law'..."--P. v.
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.
Traditionally, consumer law has played an instrumental role in the EU as a tool for market integration. There are now signs in the new EU legal framework and jurisprudence that this may be changing. The Lisbon Treaty contains provisions affecting consumer law and, at the same time, it grants binding legal force to the EU Charter, which in turn adds a fundamental rights dimension to consumer protection. This evolution, however, is still at an early stage and may be thwarted by conflicting trends. Moreover, it may generate tensions between social objectives and economic goals. This book provides the first comprehensive analysis of these developments and examines new avenues that may be opening for consumer law, focusing on three key areas: financial services, electronic communication and access to justice. Through a systematic analysis of relevant cases, the book traces the development of a human rights dimension in consumer law and details the ramifications that the post-Lisbon legal framework may have on consumer protection and policy. This book concludes by proposing new directions in consumer law, striking a compromise between social and economic demands.
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.
In recent years, EU consumer law has been subject to spectacular decisions by the European Court of Justice, with important consequences for the private law of Member States. Currently, it is under scrutiny by the EC Commission, which has just published a proposal for the revision of important aspects of the EU consumer law acquis. The authors have taken a broad horizontal approach at the European acquis, thereby reflecting on the history, the achievements and also the shortcomings of EC law.
This book looks at two technological advancements in the area of e-commerce, which dramatically seem to change the way consumers shop online. In particular, they automate certain crucial tasks inherent in the ‘shopping’ activity, thereby relieving consumers of having to perform them. These are shopping agents (or comparison tools) and automated marketplaces. It scrutinizes their underlying processes and the way they serve the consumer, thereby highlighting risks and issues associated with their use. The ultimate aim is to ascertain whether the current EU regulatory framework relating to consumer protection, e-commerce, data protection and security adequately addresses the relevant risks and issues, thus affording a ‘safe’ shopping environment to the e-consumer.
This edited volume covers the challenges currently faced by consumer law in Europe and the United States, ranging from fundamental theoretical questions, such as what goals consumer law should pursue, to practical questions raised by disclosure requirements, the General Data Protection Regulation and technology advancements. With governments around the world enacting powerful new regulations concerning consumers, consumer law has become an important topic in the economic analysis of law. Intended to protect consumers, these regulations typically seek to do so by giving them tools to make better decisions, or by limiting the consequences of their bad decisions. Legal scholars are divided, however, regarding the efficacy and effects of these regulations; some call for certain policies to be abolished, while others support a regulatory expansion.
For many observers, the European Union is mired in a deep crisis. Between sluggish growth; political turmoil following a decade of austerity politics; Brexit; and the rise of Asian influence, the EU is seen as a declining power on the world stage. Columbia Law professor Anu Bradford argues the opposite in her important new book The Brussels Effect: the EU remains an influential superpower that shapes the world in its image. By promulgating regulations that shape the international business environment, elevating standards worldwide, and leading to a notable Europeanization of many important aspects of global commerce, the EU has managed to shape policy in areas such as data privacy, consumer health and safety, environmental protection, antitrust, and online hate speech. And in contrast to how superpowers wield their global influence, the Brussels Effect - a phrase first coined by Bradford in 2012- absolves the EU from playing a direct role in imposing standards, as market forces alone are often sufficient as multinational companies voluntarily extend the EU rule to govern their global operations. The Brussels Effect shows how the EU has acquired such power, why multinational companies use EU standards as global standards, and why the EU's role as the world's regulator is likely to outlive its gradual economic decline, extending the EU's influence long into the future.
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.
