Harmonised Protection of Consumer Behaviour: The Holistic Comparative Message About Its Effectiveness and Efficiency from Legislative and Judicial Perspectives

Abstract

The keystone of European consumer protection, the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (UCPD), was enacted to contribute to the proper functioning of the internal market and to achieve a high level of consumer protection by approximating the laws of EU member states. The EU, via the UCPD, explicitly banishes unfair commercial practices which could potentially harm consumers and implicitly protects certain types of consumer behaviour. Evidence from over 10 years of the application of this harmonised regime allows one to holistically explore the targeted actions and omissions and the impact of the UCPD on commercial practices and consumer behaviour in the EU. The purpose of this study is to explore the UCPD legislative and judiciary perspectives vis-a-vis consumer behaviour and protection. It is founded upon the comparative mapping of (1) the UCPD and (2) case law generated by its ultimate judiciary authority, the Court of Justice of the EU (CJ EU). The information yielded is assessed by focusing on whether the UCPD regime (3) effectively and (4) efficiently protects consumer behaviour. This generates a message about consumer behaviour genuinely or allegedly boosted by the (semi-)harmonised legislation and case law, and indicates both positive and negative viewpoints. The study culminates in conclusions and proposed improvements.