No sense of purpose or direction? The modernisation of European Consumer Law

Abstract

I. Introduction

When this Review last considered developments in the field of European consumer law two years ago, the central issues were questions of scope and competence. At that time, the Directive on Unfair Commercial Practices (UCPD) had just been adopted, and this marked the end of a reform process that had commenced with a Green Paper on EU Consumer Protection in 2001. Since then, however, the reform juggernaut has not come to a halt, and the last two years have seen a lot of activity towards further modernisation of European consumer law, culminating in the publication of the Green Paper on the Review of the Consumer Acquis in February 2007. This note will focus on the Green Paper and discuss the central proposals it contains. It may be observed at the outset that the Green Paper is of concern for several reasons: firstly, for some issues, the Commission has quite clearly already made up its mind, and one cannot help but feel that they were included to pay lip-service to the need for consultation; secondly, many issues are not analysed in sufficient depth, with the result that a distorted or superficial view is given; thirdly, there are gaps in the Green Paper which really ought not to be there if this is to be a thorough review of the current legislation. The presentation and substance of the Green Paper is very worrying, particularly if one bears in mind the desire to create a more coherent acquis.