Сonsumer Rights, Competition and Intellectual Property Protection Regimes in the EaP Countries at the Cross Roads: EU Requirements and Reality

Abstract

Unlike the protection of the intellectual property or competition, the cooperation of the EU with the EaP countries in consumer protection matters belongs to the topics which are not prioritized by the bilateral and multilateral cooperation agenda and fora. Rooted in different contractual framework, the cooperation in consumer protection matters, in the cases of the competition and intellectual property rights protection, is linked mainly to the approximation of legislation and regulatory practices used by the EaP countries to fulfil their obligations. This article aims to compare the EaP countries practices dealing with the consumer protection, competition protection and intellectual property protection regimes in order to identify the potential impact the properly ensured competition and effectively enforced intellectual property rights can cause on the level of the consumer protection as an effect of the proper and due approximation of the relevant legislation to the EU standards.