Full Harmonization of Consumer Law? A Critique of the Draft Directive on Consumer Rights

This contribution looks into the Proposal for a European directive on consumer rights as published by the European Commission on 8 October 2008. It specifically questions the European Commission's ambition to turn consumer law into an area suited for full harmonization: is it really true that consumer law should be almost exclusively a European competence (as the Commission seems to suggest by proposing maximum harmonization in some important areas of consumer law) and no longer one shared by the EU and the member states? The adoption of the Consumer rights proposal would mean that the national legislatures and courts are no longer competent in setting diverging rules. This far-reaching consequence justifies the question of what is the best level of regulating consumer protection. It is argued that this is dependent on a number of factors and that the Commission's approach to fully harmonise this area because it is consumer protection is not adequate