European consumer law

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".^[1] All member states may grant higher protection, and a "high level of consumer protection" is regarded as a fundamental right.^[2] 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.^[3]

insolvent, of a product is strictly liable to compensate a consumer for any damage caused by a defective product.^[5] A "defect" is anything which falls below what a consumer is entitled to expect, and this essentially means that products should be safe for their purpose. A narrow defense is available if a producer can show that a defect could not be known by any scientific method, thought this has never been successfully invoked, because it is generally thought a profit making enterprise should not be able to externalise

financial crisis of 2007–2008, the European Court of Justice advised that even terms regarding repossession of homes in Spain had to be assessed for fairness by national courts.^[11] In Kušionová v SMART Capital a.s., the Court of Justice of the European Union held that consumer law was to be interpreted in the light of fundamental rights, including the right to housing, in the event that a home could be repossessed.^[12] Because consumer law operates through Directives, national courts have the final say on applying the general principles set out by the European Court of Justice