Summary.

Since the introduction of the European Unfair Contract Terms Directive (UCTD) there have been far-reaching developments in the digital landscape which have significantly altered the nature of consumer contracts. This timely book examines the changes that have taken place since the advent of the UCTD and analyses the challenges that they pose for consumers entering online standard form contracts today.

The book examines Directive 93/13 on Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts and its implementation with a twofold aim: first, to understand the extent to which the Directive has influenced and will influence fundamental notions and principles of contract law in the domestic legal systems of the Member States; second, it examines the extent to which the domestic legal traditions of the Member States have influenced the process of drafting of the Directive and, more importantly, will affect the way that the Directive is interpreted and applied in national courts. The focus is mainly on English law (including the 2005 Unfair Terms in Contracts Bill) and on Italian law, but frequent references are made to the French and the German systems. At the same time, the book has a broader, more 'European' concern, in that it aims to distill from the existing Community acquis and from the history and rationale of Directive 93/13 notions and concepts that could guide its interpretation. It is well known that Community law uses terminology which is peculiar to it, and that legal concepts do not necessarily have the same meaning in EC law and in the law of the various Member States: every provision of Community law must be placed in its context and interpreted in the light of its own objectives and rationale, and of the objectives and rationale of Community law as a whole. In this respect, this book aims to identify the contours and features of the emerging European legal tradition, and to assess the impact that this may have on the domestic traditions.

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.