Fairness of Contract Terms in European and Serbian Law

Abstract

Pursuant to its 2008 Stabilization and Association Agreement governing the process of EU integration Serbia is obliged to align its consumer protection standards with those of the EU. As part of this process in 2010 it adopted a new Consumer Protection Act that, inter alia, implements the Unfair Contract Terms Directive. This article compares the Serbian and European fairness regimes laid down in the tests of fairness, highlighting the advantages of the Serbian test. It argues that the Serbian test is preferable particularly because it resolves the saga on the relation between substantive and procedural fairness, and it allows the application of the test during performance of the contract. As a final note the paper highlights the potential dangers that may undermine the positive effects of the test and leave consumers unprotected.

Keywords: unfair contract terms, consumer protection, European law, Serbian law

JEL Classification: K12