The Revision of the Consumer Acquis from a Competition Law Perspective

Abstract

The article considers the relationship between competition and consumer law. First, it notes that consumer law may help render markets more competitive but that it may also restrict competition, requiring the legislator to decide how to trade off consumer protection and competition. Second, it suggests that certain consumer law issues can be addressed using antitrust tools, which sheds some light on how the consumer acquis may be revised. Third, it explores the extent to which competition law is part of consumer law, challenging the approach whereby legality for competition law purposes is conditional on undertakings promising to implement measures to protect consumers, and suggesting a better role for competition law is the supervision of self-regulatory agreements designed to protect consumers.