In October 2008, the European Commission published the Proposal for a Consumer Rights Directive - a proposal that suggests far-reaching changes to the core of consumer contract law. Four current directives are replaced by a new overarching piece of legislation. In doing so, full harmonization should, for the most part, take the place of the minimum standard presently in force in the EU. Although a welcomed initiative, the extent and possible effects of the Proposal have certainly brought a number of issues to the fore. In January 2009, legal experts - from universities, legal practices, and the civil service - met at Manchester University to address the issues raised by the Proposal and to address the question of the extent to which the Proposal can indeed contribute to the modernization and harmonization of European consumer contract law. This book contains the proceedings of the conference, and includes papers that analyze, criticize, and suggest improvements for the Proposal.

This book asks what is European consumer access to justice, and how we can improve it by means of procedural and substantive laws?

The emergence of a pan-European contract law is one of the most significant legal developments in Europe today. The Emergence of EU Contract Law: Exploring Europeanization examines the origins of the discipline and its subsequent evolution. It brings the discussion up-to-date with full analysis of the debate on the Common Frame of Reference and the future that this ambiguous instrument may have in the contemporary European legal framework. One of the central themes of the book is exploration of the multi-level, open architecture of the EU legal order, and the implications of that architecture for the EU's private law programme. The analysis demonstrates that the key to understanding European contract law in the 21st century lies in adopting a perspective and mechanisms suitable for a legal order populated by multiple sources of private law. Legal pluralism is offered as a theoretical construct with the capacity to shape the future of European private law, shifting the analytical spotlight beyond the traditional, centralized, legislative means of regulation. In so doing, softer mechanisms are introduced for the governance of contract law; mechanisms that enable coordination between the different sites at which contract law operates. This reorientation in thinking about European contract law, indeed about Europeanization itself, enables the inevitable diversity and pluralism that is a feature of multi-level Europe to be captured within a framework that maximizes the opportunities for mutual learning and exchange across private law sites.

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.

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.

Online auctions have undergone many transformations and continue to attract millions of customers worldwide. However these popular platforms remain understudied by legal scholars and misunderstood by legislators. This book explores the legal classification of online auction sites across a range of countries in Europe. Including empirical studies conducted on 28 online auction websites in the UK, the research focusses on the protection of consumers’ economic rights and highlights the shortcomings that the law struggles to control. With examinations into important developments, including the Consumer Rights Directive and the latest case law from the CJEU on the liability of intermediaries, Riefa anticipates changes in the law, and points out further changes that are needed to create a safe legal environment for consumers, whilst preserving the varied business model adopted by online auction sites. The study provides insights into how technical measures as well as a tighter legislative framework or enforcement pattern could provide consumers with better protection, in turn reinforcing trust, and ultimately benefiting the online auction platforms themselves.

Situated within the context of the ongoing debate about European contract law, this book provides a detailed examination of the European Union's competence in the field of contract law. It analyses the limits of Union competence in relation to several relevant Treaty provisions which potentially confer competence on the Union to adopt a comprehensive contract law instrument and the exercise of Union competence in connection with the operation of the principles of subsidiarity, proportionality and sincere cooperation. It also explores the viability of several alternative and complementary routes to the adoption of such an instrument, including enhanced cooperation, an intergovernmental treaty and certain American techniques. Setting forth an elaborate account of the context for this debate and its chronological development at the European level, this book charts the discussions relating to the European Union's competence to regulate contract law and offers a comparative analysis of the approach taken to the approximation of contract law in the American setting. Setting forth a detailed account of the context for this debate and its chronological development at the European level, the book charts the discussions that have occurred within and outside the EU relating to the transnational competence to regulate contract law. Situating European constitutional law within the continued debate about European contract law, it also reflects upon the contract law structure of the United States and examines the viability of alternative and complementary routes to the adoption of a comprehensive instrument of substantive contract law.