European consumer law

EU consumer protection law

European consumer law concerns consumer protection within Europe, particularly through European Union law and the European Convention on Human Rights. Article 169 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union enables the EU to use its ordinary legislative procedure to protect consumers "health, safety and economic interests" and promote rights to "information, education and to organise themselves in order to safeguard their interests". All member states may grant higher protection, and a "high level of consumer protection" is regarded as a fundamental right. Consumers are entitled to a legislative "charter of rights" to safe and healthy products, fair terms, proper information free from misleading advertising and marketing, and rights of cancellation. Beyond these general principles, and outside specific sectors, there are four main Directives: the Product Liability Directive 1985, Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Directive 1993, Unfair Commercial Practices Directive 2005 and the Consumer Rights Directive 2011, requiring information and cancellation rights for consumers. As a whole, the law is designed to ensure that consumers in the EU are entitled to the same minimum rights wherever they make their transactional decisions, and largely follows inspiration from theories of consumer protection developed in California, and the Consumer Bill of Rights proclaimed by John F. Kennedy in May 1962. The European Court of Justice has continually affirmed the importance of ensuring more consumer rights than in commercial contracts, both because of information asymmetry, and inequality of bargaining power.

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