EU Consumer Law

The EU is comprised of circa 445 million consumers based in 27 different countries. Although drawn from different traditions and cultures, all of these myriad consumers are supposedly the ultimate beneficiaries of the process of market integration in the EU (insofar as the internal market mechanism is designed to provide them with high quality goods and services at optimal prices). A closely related issue is whether the blueprint for EU law and policy in the consumer field has been adequately designed to turn its 445 million consumers from market passengers into market drivers. With all of this in mind, the module focuses on the following subject areas:

1. The Evolution of EU Consumer Law and Policy
2. The Concept of a ‘Consumer’; the ‘Vulnerable Consumer’ phenomenon; the importance of Behavioural Economics
3. Positive Harmonization
4. Negative Harmonization
5. Consumer Contract Law (Principles of Contract Law, Digital Contracts, Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts, Consumer Sales and Supply of Services Contracts)
6. Product Liability and Product Safety
7. EU Travel and Tourism Law (including Denied Boarding)
8. Consumer Rights (including Digital Contracts)
9. Unfair Commercial Practices
10. Litigation, Redress and Enforcement.
    
    

Learning Outcomes:

On successful completion of this module, students should be able to:

• Identify and describe the evolution of Consumer law and policy at an EU level
• Locate the relevant legislative and judicial texts
• Recall and correctly interpret substantive EU Consumer law
• Examine the extent to which EU Consumer law has transformed European consumers from market passengers into informed drivers of the internal market for goods and services
• Examine the legal principles underpinning digital contracts for the supply of goods and services
• Critically assess the problems inherent in the enforcement of EU Consumer Law
• Outline the importance of EU Consumer Law for businesses selling goods and services on a pan-European basis.

Assessment: 

• Assignment - 100%
  

  The assessment in this module (constituting 100% of the total marks available) is designed to measure your ability to produce a high calibre research essay/assignment within a relatively short space of time (an invaluable skill which will test your mettle as prospective practising lawyers/legal academics). You will be provided with a choice of four ‘take home’ essay topics/assignments in Week 9 of Teaching Term. By that point in time, you will have received a thorough grounding in the fundamentals of EU Consumer Law. You will then be afforded approximately five weeks to produce and submit a detailed essay/assignment (with an upper limit of 5000 words) during Assessment Week.

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